With hundreds of descendants of Haitian migrants facing deportation, Haitian Lawyer Network's President Enzili Doto explains how Haitian and Dominican oligarchs exploit Haitian labourers and fuel xenophobia.
Showing posts with label haiti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label haiti. Show all posts
10 Jun 2015
UN peacekeepers gave Haitian women food in exchange for sex
United Nations peacekeepers gave more than 225 Haitian women food and medicine in exchange for sex, according to an internal report on exploitation that The Associated Press obtained. The draft by the Office of Internal Oversight Services looks at the way UN peacekeeping, which has about 125,000 people in some of the world’s most troubled areas, deals with the persistent problem of sexual abuse and exploitation.
Expected to be released this month, the report says major challenges remain a decade after a groundbreaking UN report first tackled the issue. Among its findings: About a third of alleged sexual abuse involves minors. “For rural women, hunger, lack of shelter, baby care items, medication and household items were frequently cited as the ‘triggering need,’ ” the report says.
23 Feb 2013
The UN tells Haiti: "Tough luck"
A year ago it was just a "conspiracy theory." Yes, UN peacekeeper troops brought cholera to Haiti and are responsible for the biggest outbreak the of the disease in modern times. They're response to request for compensation for thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands cases is: "too bad."
13 Jan 2013
Haiti and the 'Devil's Curse'
The true history of Haiti, and the role of foreign intervention in bringing about Haiti's poverty and political instability.
15 Jan 2012
UN peacekeepers spread deadly cholera
United Nations peacekeepers have carried a South Asian 'super bug' strain of cholera into the Western Hemisphere for the first time. The virulent form of cholera has already killed 7,000 people in Haiti, and more than 500,000 Haitians have been infected. Now, isolated cases have turned up in Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Boston, Miami, and even New York...
8 Jun 2011
Let them starve to protect US corporate interests
The Nation has teamed up with the Haitian weekly newspaper Haiti Liberté, to analyze some 2,000 Haiti-related diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks. The cables will be featured in a series of Nation articles posted each Wednesday for several weeks. The first in the series, "PetroCaribe Files," reveals, among other things, how the United State, with pressure from Exxon and Chevron, tried to interfere with an oil agreement between Haiti and Venezuela that would save Haiti, the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, $100 million per year or 10 percent of the country's budget.
The second piece, set to publish this week, "Let Them Live on $3/Day," reveals Washington's willingness to keep Haitian sweatshop wages at near slave labor levels to save American corporations a few bucks. US clothing makers with factories in Haiti, such as Hanes and Levi Strauss, were infuriated after the Haitian government raised the minimum wage from a puny slave wage of 24 cents an hour, to a slightly less puny slave wage of 61 cents an hour.
In a clear symbol of who it serves, the US State Department stepped in to exert pressure on Haiti’s president, who duly carved out a $3 a day minimum wage for textile companies. But, according to the Nation's expose, that was still too much: "Still the US Embassy wasn’t pleased. A deputy chief of mission, David E. Lindwall, said the $5 per day minimum “did not take economic reality into account” but was a populist measure aimed at appealing to “the unemployed and underpaid masses.”
At least 23 people have been killed and several more are still missing after seven days of heavy rain and flooding in Haiti. SKY
19 Jan 2011
Charges filed against 'Baby Doc' Duvalier in Haiti
Extraordinary drama unfolded Tuesday in Port-au-Prince as charges were filed against former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, government sources told CNN. The charges are related to financial corruption and may also include human rights violations, a source in the court told CNN.
A judge will have 30 days to investigate and decide whether the accusations merit moving forward with a case against Duvalier. Earlier in the day, the former leader was taken into custody at his hotel and transported to a downtown courthouse for a hearing. After hours of questioning, Duvalier was allowed to return to his hotel. A flurry of intense legal activity preceded Duvalier's emergence from the Karibe Hotel, where he had been since his mysterious return to Haiti on Sunday. More on CNN
Haiti's former leader Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier has been charged with corruption and embezzlement during his 1971-1986 rule, prosecutors say.
Mr Duvalier was allowed to go free after questioning, but a judge will decide whether his case goes to trial. BBC
17 Jan 2011
Ex-dictator 'Baby Doc' returns to Haiti
Ousted strongman Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Haiti on Sunday after some 25 years in exile as the country wrestled with a post-election crisis.
Duvalier, wearing a blue suit and a tie and accompanied by his wife, was making his way through customs at Port-au-Prince's international airport after arriving on an Air France flight, an AFP journalist witnessed.
The 59-year-old ex-dictator was ousted from power in 1986 by massive anti-government demonstrations after his family and supporters were accused of plundering tens of millions of dollars of state funds. AFP/Yahoo! News
28 Dec 2010
Haiti urged to halt cholera anti-voodoo lynchings
The head of Haiti's voodoo religion appealed to authorities on Thursday to halt bloody lynchings of voodoo priests by people who blame them for causing the Caribbean country's deadly cholera epidemic.
Since the epidemic started in mid-October, at least 45 male and female voodoo priests, known respectively as "houngan" and "manbo," have been killed. Many of the victims were hacked to death and mutilated by machetes, Max Beauvoir, the "Ati" or supreme leader of Haitian voodoo, told Reuters.
"They are being blamed for using voodoo to contaminate people with cholera," Beauvoir said.
He said the killers accused voodoo priests of spreading cholera by scattering powder or casting "spells" and complained that local police and government officials were not doing enough to halt the lynchings and punish the killers. Voodoo is recognized and protected by the constitution as one of Haiti's main religions.
"My call is to the authorities so they can assume their responsibilities," said Beauvoir, who fears more attacks against voodoo devotees. Most of the lynchings occurred in the southwest of Haiti but also in the center and the north.
4 Aug 2010
Wyclef Jean to run for president of Haiti
Speculation mounted Tuesday that Haitian singer Wyclef Jean will officially announce his candidacy Thursday for president of the Western Hemisphere's most embattled country.
CNN announced that Jean, who was born in Haiti but has lived much of his life in the United States, will appear Thursday night on Larry King Live to discuss his plans. The Associated Press quoted former legislator Pierre Eric Jean-Jacques as saying that the hip-hop superstar will run as part of Jean-Jacques' ``together we are strong'' coalition.
The reports are the latest to point toward a run for the former Fugees star. The Miami Herald reported Friday that Jean officially announced his intentions in a series of meetings, and that his lawyers were working on his paperwork.
11 Jul 2010
In Haiti, the Displaced Are Left Clinging to the Edge
Hundreds of displaced families live perilously in a single file of flimsy shanties planted along the median strip of a heavily congested coastal road here called the Route des Rails.
A planned tent city in Corail-Cesselesse, about 10 miles north of Port-au-Prince, is now home to about 5,000 displaced people whose previous camp was at risk from flooding or landslides.
Vehicles rumble by day and night, blaring horns, kicking up dust and belching exhaust. Residents try to protect themselves by positioning tires as bumpers in front of their shacks but cars still hit, injure and sometimes kill them. Rarely does anybody stop to offer help, and Judith Guillaume, 23, often wonders why.
“Don’t they have a heart, or a suggestion?” asked Ms. Guillaume, who covers her children’s noses with her floral skirt when the diesel fumes get especially strong.
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