Foreign Policy Blogs

Haiti

Haitian Carnival Rediscovered its Radiance, Smiles and Colors

Haitian Carnival Rediscovered its Radiance, Smiles and Colors

With the second anniversary of the earthquake in the rearview mirror, Haiti’s grand cultural celebration resurfaced triumphantly through Jacmel’s mesmerizing launch of the 2012 Carnival season, though not without political drama.
Newspaper Le Matin called it a true popular jubilation and an explosion of madness. Radio Kiskeya reporters witnessed “a massive …

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Haiti: Occupy Haiti (II) – Earthquake Anniversary Series!

Haiti: Occupy Haiti (II) – Earthquake Anniversary Series!

Part two
Please, read part one here first: Occupy Haiti (I)
Armageddon, two years on…
Reconstruction year 2012…
“There was hope that the quake would bring an opportunity to break the country’s fatal cycle of struggle, catastrophe and indifference,” wrote the AP’s Jonathan M. Katz on the …

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Haiti: Occupy Haiti (I) – Earthquake Anniversary Series

Haiti: Occupy Haiti (I) – Earthquake Anniversary Series

Part one
Armageddon, two years on….
Haiti’s conventional image rarely extends beyond succinct summations of a corrupt, dangerous, impoverished and unstable place plagued by a litany of tragedies: man-made and nature-engineered. Perhaps then, it should surprise no one that the tarnished image prevailed, even two years after the cataclysmic devastation.
The reconfigured political …

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Haitian Heritage and Friends of Haiti to Host Earthquake Anniversary Event

Haitian Heritage and Friends of Haiti to Host Earthquake Anniversary Event

Pat Anthony, Charlotte Healthy Living Examiner
January 1, 2012
As many Charlotte residents continue to be concerned about the health of those in Haiti, Haitian Heritage and Friends of Haiti has an event planned in Charlotte on January 12th, 2012 local residents may want to attend.
The event, Remembrance & Reflection of January …

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Haiti: Resolving Age-old Land Disputes Instrumental to Martelly’s Success

Haiti: Resolving Age-old Land Disputes Instrumental to Martelly’s Success

Dancing for the cameras, bulldozed behind them
“Mayor Wilson Jeudi has just bulldozed the entire camp,” recounted Connie Watson, CBC Radio’s Correspondent in Haiti. “He showed up with the police at 6 o’clock this morning, stormed through with machetes and clubs, slicing all the tents and knocking down …

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Haiti: Duvalier’s Controversial Commencement Speech Sparked Outrage

Haiti: Duvalier’s Controversial Commencement Speech Sparked Outrage

“Here I am in Gonaives this morning after 26 years, answering your invitation, which provoked memories that are not necessarily pleasant,” declared former president-for-life Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier to the graduating class of Gonaives’ Faculty of Law. “Indeed,” continued the honorary speaker, “I’m referring to Jean-Robert Cius, Michaelson Michel and …

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Haiti: Christmas Comes Bearing the Gifts of Insecurity, Anxiety

Haiti: Christmas Comes Bearing the Gifts of Insecurity, Anxiety

As iconic personalities Oprah Winfrey and Robert Deniro traveled to Haiti on parallel humanitarian and business missions, growing insecurity stole the headlines, threatening to crush the spine of Martelly’s administration, and the spirit of Christmas with it.
Merely 15 days into December, two officers of the Haitian National Police (PNH  French …

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Haiti: Haitians Deserve a Prosperous Future, Mr. President, Not an Army

Haiti: Haitians Deserve a Prosperous Future, Mr. President, Not an Army

“In much of the world, and especially in our region, the military has been the source of the most thankless collective memories,” read a letter addressed to Haitian President Michel Martelly from former Costa Rican President Oscar Arias Sánchez, who advised his Excellency to reevaluate his military plans through a …

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Haiti: Martelly Shifts Gear on Foreign Policy at CELAC

Haiti: Martelly Shifts Gear on Foreign Policy at CELAC

“The Venezuelan cooperation is now number one,” said President Michel Martelly shortly before boarding his plane to Caracas, land of Hugo Chavez. “It gives most grants and aids to Haiti,” added the president at Toussaint Louverture airport’s diplomatic room ahead of his first official trip to Venezuela as a member …

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Haiti’s 2011 Year in Review: Political Paralysis Overwhelmed “Build Haiti Back Better”

Haiti’s 2011 Year in Review: Political Paralysis Overwhelmed “Build Haiti Back Better”

Haitians began 2011 with heavy hearts as they approached the first anniversary of the Jan. 12 earthquake that crippled their homeland and crushed 316,000 lives. Haitian leaders watched a steady stream of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) invade the country, carrying a $1-billion purse collected on behalf of the victims. Meanwhile the …

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Haiti: Continental Organizations Mobilize in Sao Paolo against UN Occupying Haiti

Haiti: Continental Organizations Mobilize in Sao Paolo against UN Occupying Haiti

“Haiti is a country that supported the fight for freedom in Latin America, a country that terrified slave owners across America and is now subjugated to foreign occupation that has nothing to do with humanitarian purposes, as proposed,” said Julio Turra, president of Unified Confederation of Workers (CUT French acronym). …

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Haiti: Martelly Sides with Cuba against Senseless U.S. Embargo

Haiti: Martelly Sides with Cuba against Senseless U.S. Embargo

President Michel Martelly took his first official trip to Cuba on Tuesday Nov. 15, 2011, a diplomatic mission he hoped would strengthen bilateral relations and traditional cooperation between Haiti and Cuba while identifying new avenues of cooperation.
“That does not make sense,” said Martelly, talking about U.S.’s embargo against Cuba. “Haiti …

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Haiti: PM Conille’s Damage Control to Absorb Major Political Crisis

Haiti: PM Conille’s Damage Control to Absorb Major Political Crisis

Facing his first major judicial-political crisis sparked on Thursday Oct. 27 following the unconstitutional arrest and overnight detention of Deputy Arnel Belizaire, Prime Minister Garry Conille created a three-member commission to help uncover the incident’s hierarchical authors and diffuse escalating tensions.
The “Belizaire Affair,” as it is now known, directed the …

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Haiti: Former President Carter in Haiti to Help Eradicate Filariasis by 2020

Haiti: Former President Carter in Haiti to Help Eradicate Filariasis by 2020

Accompanied by wife Rosalynn, US Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten and Haiti’s Public Health Minister Florence Duperval Guillaune, Former US President Jimmy Carter launched National Initiative to Eliminate Filariasis on Sunday Nov. 7, 2011, a massive $1.5 million medication distribution campaign to help eradicate Lymphatic Filariasis in Haiti.
Also known as …

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Haiti: Legislator’s Controversial Arrest Sparked Human Rights Abuse Debate

Haiti: Legislator’s Controversial Arrest Sparked Human Rights Abuse Debate

The apprehension and brief detention of a sitting legislator last Thursday was a prelude to looming political paralysis that also served as a catalyst for change, engaging citizens in substantive debates about institutional corruption decaying Haiti’s political and judicial systems.
The national consciousness came to life after government Commissioner Felix Leger …

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