The irony of independence “He took me across the border and sold me to the Dominican soldiers for $8,” said Andre Prevot, a young Haitian boy caught in the pervasive slave trade along Haiti’s border with the Dominican Republic (DR). Young Prevot met a man who promised him a good job in the DR; however, […]
President Michel Martelly, among other world leaders, joined the list of heads of state speaking at Columbia’s World Leaders Forum, officials said yesterday. In addition to Martelly, King Abdullah II IBN Al Hussein of Jordan and Atifete Jahjaga, president of the Republic of Kosovo will also speak at the world-renown event that provide a platform […]
Outcries over Uruguayan peacekeepers’ rape allegations of an 18-year-old Haitian man did not spark the country’s distrust and disgust of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Haitians have protested peacekeepers’ overwhelming presence in their homeland since they landed following the 2004 ousting of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide. Many people even demanded their […]
Exactly one week after an American delegation spearheaded by Kenneth Merten, U.S. ambassador to Haiti, met Haitian political actors in Petionville, news of a nomination invaded the Haitian airways. Leaders, the media and sources close to the president sang in unison: the designation of a third prime minister would, over the labor day weekend, escape […]
U.S. ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten American diplomats, under the leadership of U.S. Ambassador to Haiti Kenneth Merten, met the 16-member senate majority on Wednesday Aug. 24, 2011 in an attempt to break through the political stalemate depriving the country of a government, thus bringing major reconstruction efforts to a screeching halt. More than 100 […]
“One of the biggest problems in growing the Haitian economy is that there is really no facility that grants small business loans on reasonable terms,” said former U.S. President Bill Clinton at the launch of a new business loan program in Haiti. The entrepreneurial communities applauded the initiative that will not only help strengthen the […]
Barely a week after the Senate rejected former Justice Minister Bernard Honorat Gousse, President Michel Martelly’s second designated Prime Minister, an unsightly, distasteful aspect of Haitian history charged to the headlines and revealed the real incurable disease decaying the country’s progress. As political stagnation strangled the starved nation, some legislators dove head first into race […]
Controversial Procedures Please read part one first The Commission’s report indicated controversies existed around the last criteria. Rather than the parliament, ex-Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, of the provisional government that replaced ex-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s administration after his forced exile in February 2004, relieved Gousse of his duties as Justice Minister. According to the report, Former […]
Dangerous political deadlock The ratification process of former Justice Minister Bernard Honorat Gousse, President Michel Martelly’s second nominee for prime minister, came down to the controversial divide between the technical or procedural vote and the political or personal vote. “I would vote against Gousse even if the other 29 senators voted for him,” declared Senator […]
“Shut up,” said President Michel Martelly to members of the national press who, in his view, kept tourists and potential investors at bay, depicting Haiti as a desolate, hostile environment. “Why don’t you just shut up,” he reportedly reiterated during a short speech at the initial launch of Magic Haiti, a magazine dedicated to promoting […]
Since his swearing in as the 56th president of Haiti on May 14, 2011, Michel Martelly tried turning over every leaf around the globe, seeking new investment opportunities for his homeland. Consecutive trips to the United States and Spain respectively, after assuming office, attested to his aspirations: bring needed attention to the ravaged country. However, […]
Results from the latest Haitian-cholera study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) sparked an avalanche of blame and finger pointing across the country, demanding accountability and the redressing of grievances. “Today it is clear, about 5,000 people have died and there is one group of people responsible: it is MINUSTAH,” said Steven Benoit, outspoken […]
It bullied rivers over their banks, invaded roads, paralyzed cities and collapsed many houses, sending thousands of people seeking shelter, but it was not done. The week-long rain caused landslides and massive floods; still, it swamped vulnerable camps, trapped many people and, as of Tuesday, tallied 23 bodies for Haitian families to collect while six […]
If, as the report prepared for the U.S. Agency for International Development estimated, the death toll resulted from Haiti’s January 10 earthquake was between 46,000 and 85,000, many people wonder where Haitian leaders found the additional 231,000 bodies in their revised figures of 316,000 published earlier this year on the anniversary of the devastating earthquake. […]
“But, of course she was so fine. Once in her prime, she was sublime! She kept a flow that brought the fellows to their knees.” While few people still honor her existence with such passion, grace and enthusiasm, attendees filled the ballroom with praises and gratitude because it was her night. Exhausted and hurt, her face bears scars of […]