2019
Recovery missing text/web file of updates.
File stamp 5/24/2019
Brides live in nonconducive environment for sure!
https://haitiantimes.com/2019/02/04/in-haiti-teenage-girls-are-faced-with-the-harsh-reality-of-the-streets/
This folder is to provide information on how to help families in Haiti through
Mary Davis's Ministry.
Box up anything wedding you'll share this love month - make St. Valentine's
biblically powerful in an incredible way!
February 2019
/https://aprayernotebook.net/each1helps1/docs/working/Bibles,-Brides,-and-Believers-for-Haiti.pdf
=====
Haiti Is At Crisis Pitch
1.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/haiti/article236506783.html#storylink=mainstage_lead
9:01 AM 10/25/2019
Aftershock of Haiti protests: Best Western shutting down, other hotels
temporarily closing
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
OCTOBER 22, 2019 07:04 PM, UPDATED OCTOBER 22, 2019 10:25 PM
After Haiti’s cataclysmic 2010 earthquake, the country rebuilt schools, churches
and its tourism brand. Airlines expanded service and luxury brand hotels,
boasting vibrant Haitian works of art, opened while others expanded.
But more than a year of recurring fuel shortages, violent protests and currency
devaluation is starting to take its toll as the owners of the Best Western
Premier, the first U.S.-branded hotel to return to Haiti in 15 years, announced
its permanent closure at the end of this month.
The surprise announcement comes on the heels of some temporary hotel closures
and staff layoffs in tourism and other sectors as conditions in the country
worsen. Haiti is facing a looming constitutional crisis, four unsuccessful
attempts to confirm a new government, a deteriorating security environment and a
sixth week of protests over demands that President Jovenel Moïse step down.
=====Article copy=====
Haiti's Political Crisis(5)
Thousands of Catholic faithful, clergy, and protesters joined the march showing
solidarity with suffering Haitians and calling on the government to take
responsible action that is in the best interest of the country. Rebecca
Blackwell AP
On Tuesday, thousands of Catholic faithfuls carrying rosaries and protest signs
took to the streets of the capital and other cities in a nationwide march
organized by the Conference of the Religious. While the Church has been critical
of Moïse, the protest is considered a bold move by religious leaders, who
announced that parochial schools would remain closed until the crisis is
resolved.
Addressing followers inside the Port-au-Prince cathedral amid chants of
“resignation,” and “Too much blood has been spilled. Jovenel has to go,”
Archbishop Max Leroy Mésidor called on Haiti’s leaders to listen to the voice of
the people and to “take a wise decision to permit people to live as people.”
“People cannot go on any longer,” Mésidor said. “We are fed up.”
With the deepening political crisis growing each day and fanning what the
Catholic Church calls “an unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” the economic
aftershocks risk hurting Haiti more than the devastating 2010 earthquake that
knocked down buildings and claimed numerous lives, experts said.
“The real economy is collapsing,” said economist Kesner Pharel. “The closing of
many firms, particularly in the tourism sector, like hotels and restaurants,
have a negative impact on the real economy. ... Many people in the fragile
middle class have lost their jobs in the closing of many companies that could
not survive the crisis.”
=====
Haiti Political Crisis(6)
People walk past Notre Dame Cathedral, destroyed in the 2010 earthquake, during
a march called by religious leaders in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday,
Oct. 22, 2019. While large
groups of marchers sang religious songs and prayed, many also chanted political
slogans calling for the resignation of President Jovenel Moise, including
“Jovenel must go,” and “Too much blood has been spilled.” Rebecca Blackwell AP
Meanwhile, a contract war between the presidential palace and three private
power providers — triggered by the Moïse administration’s sudden demand for
payments and threats by a presidential adviser that contracts can be canceled
and companies nationalized — risks plunging Haiti not just further into
blackout, but exacerbating the crisis.
“The incapacity of the political leaders to solve the political crisis is
greatly affecting the new fiscal year that started this month, and could affect
the economic growth for 2020,” Pharel said. He noted that the last five years of
political instability have “reduced the growth to less than 2 percent, which is
too weak to reduce poverty in the population.”
1mHxl.So.56.jpeg
More than 600 Haitian works of art adorn the upscale Best Western Premier in
Petionville. Designer Pascale Théard worked with more than 100 Haitian artists
to create its art, furnishings and accent pieces. But the Best Western Premier
announced it is shutting down amid Haiti’s economic and political crisis.
Jacqueline Charles MIAMI HERALD STAFF
Christopher Handal, the president of Carabimmo SA, said the decision to close
and terminate its franchise with Best Western International was “a financially
wise decision” that took a lot of courage.
“It saddens all of us to see that we have to send almost 100 people home.
However, we could not hold on any longer,” Handal said about the hotel located
in the upscale suburb of Petionville. “Since July 2018, we have been struggling
to stay open due to so many riots going on, on almost a weekly or monthly basis.
When the USA put the travel [warnings] to level 4, it also discouraged all
tourists, any foreigner or diaspora, to travel to Haiti.”
Designer Pascale Theard, who worked with more than 250 artisans and artists to
design everything in the hotel including the sheets, called what’s happening “a
terrible economic tsunami,” that will lead to other businesses closing.
“In September we did only 10 percent of our local sales and this month it is
going to be zero,” she said, referring to her own business, which sells handmade
leather purses and sandals. “The Best Western, from my experience, was a little
example of how great things happen when we, as Haitians, dream together, get
together and build together.”
Read Next
HAITI
Haiti’s recurring fuel shortage has country’s professional and working class on
edge
SEPTEMBER 20, 2019 11:21 AM
While Haiti’s economic malaise preceded Moise’s Feb. 7, 2017, inauguration, it
has deepened during his 32 months in office through a series of economic
missteps.
First, there was the August 2017 decision to “de-dollarize” the Haitian economy
by forbidding the use of the U.S. dollar and making the gourde, the domestic
currency, the only official currency in transactions. The decision was
eventually reversed, but not before the gourde further depreciated against a
strong U.S. dollar.
Then came the administration’s decision in July 2018 to increase fuel pump
prices by removing subsidies. Days of violent civil unrest accompanied by
rioting, pillaging and the cancellation of international flights quickly ensued.
At one point, a crowd of protesters even tried to gain access to the Best
Western. When they couldn’t get through the front door, they set a car parked
out front on fire.
The widespread protests were soon followed by more mass demonstrations in
October and November, and a nearly two week lockdown of the capital in February.
The lockdown led to “Do Not Travel” warnings from Canada and the U.S., an
Expedia block on hotel and airline reservations and a reduction of flights.
And just as tourism appeared to be making a comeback after an uptick in summer
travel, Spirit Airlines quietly canceled its Cap-Haitien service 14 months after
announcing its expansion to the city amid great fanfare, and American Airlines
announced a reduction to its daily Haiti service.
HaitiPoliticalCrisis(3)
Catholic faithful participate in prayers for Haiti at Christ the King Church
ahead of a march called by religious leaders in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday,
Oct. 22, 2019. Rebecca Blackwell AP
“I really hope that one lesson that is learned by all Haitians today by this
closure is that the country cannot go on living in such a manner,“ Handal said.
Steve Mc Intosh, a hotelier in the northern city of Cap-Haitien, said the crisis
“is the worst I’ve seen in Haiti in a while.”
Last week, he announced a temporary closure of one of his two hotels, the Mont
Joli. Considered a landmark, the 42-room hotel, which sits on a mountaintop
overlooking the historical city, first opened its doors in 1954.
“I have to tell you we’ve been closed for a few months now. We have no clients
coming to the hotel,” Mc Intosh said. “Our average occupancy rate is around 62
percent or 70 percent, and we have seen it for the past few months go down to 30
percent, 20 percent and for about a month now we have been at zero percent
occupancy.”
Compounding the hotel’s economic woes, Mc Intosh said, has been the inability to
get diesel over the past three weeks. Forced to ration fuel, some hotels have
been turning away guests because they don’t want to turn on generators and
operate at a loss.
Play Video
Duration 2:08
The Best Western Premier in Haiti
Haiti's Best Western Premier hotel is more than an upscale property. It is a
tribute to Haitian artisans with more than 600 pieces of artwork on display
inside. BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
Meanwhile, there is no propane available for cooking anywhere in the city and a
lot of businesses have had to put their staff on unpaid leave.
“They don’t have any food, any water, any propane gas, so the people are getting
angrier and angrier every day,” Mc Intosh said. “People are really angry and
frightened.”
Mc Intosh said his decision to close the Mont Joli came after a crowd showed up
at the hotel and someone threatened his security guard with a machete. Prior to
that, protesters had destroyed all of the windows in the restaurant at his other
property, the Roi Christophe, which is located next to a police headquarters and
jail.
Two weeks after the restaurant incident, protesters covered the parking lot with
charred glass bottles. The final straw, Mc Intosh said, was last week’s machete
incident.
“We have protests happening almost every day,” he said.
The repeated protests, which have turned violent at times, are creating what
some believe is the second biggest shock after the quake.
Bertrand Buteau, whose family owns the Satama hotel in Cap-Haitien and three
others in Port-au-Prince, said the Satama remains open “even though we don’t
have customers.” His brother Richard, who runs the Karibe in Petionville, said
their other properties are also functioning but with a reduced staff.
“Some hotels in the provinces have been suffering a lot from the effects of the
road blockages ... and are closing down temporarily until things get back to
normal,” Richard Buteau, a former president of the Haiti Tourism Association,
said.
HaitiPoliticalCrisis(7)
Thousands of Catholic faithful, clergy, and protesters joined the march showing
solidarity with suffering Haitians and calling on the government to take
responsible action that is in the best interest of the country. Rebecca
Blackwell AP
Businessman Fred Beliard said the occupancy at two of his properties in
Cap-Haitien is less than 10 percent while his Habitation Jouissant, located not
far from the Mont Joli, is temporarily closed due to the crisis.
Along the coast, the all-inclusive Royal Decameron Indigo Beach Resort & Spa on
the Côte des Arcadins in Montrouis says it’s still open although it has reduced
the staff by half and only nine of the 400 rooms are occupied due to roadblocks
cutting the hotel off from both Cap-Haitien and Port-au-Prince.
“We have been here since 2015 and we are doing everything to make it work,” said
Fernando Gracia, the property’s general manager for operations. “We are doing
everything to stay and help the community and tourism in Haiti.”
Frantz Duval, editor of Le Nouvelliste newspaper, said while the closure of the
Best Western Premier is a catastrophe and a dent on the image of Haiti, it is
only the tip of the iceberg. Everyone, he said, is worried about the future of
the country while the “politicians of all stripes play Russian roulette with the
country.”
In a tweet, Foreign Minister Bocchit Edmond, who is acting tourism minister,
said he was deeply saddened by the decision of some hotel investors to close
their doors, which has resulted in the loss of several direct and indirect jobs.
“Our dear Haiti is the only loser,” he said.
1 of 7
Thousands of Catholic faithful, clergy, and protesters joined the march showing
solidarity with suffering Haitians and calling on the government to take
responsible action that is in the best interest of the country. REBECCA
BLACKWELL AP
GALLERY
Profile Image of Jacqueline Charles
JACQUELINE CHARLES
305-376-2616
Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for
the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage
of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize —
the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.
2.
Google Search result summary:
"What are the current issues in Haiti?
Environmental issues in Haiti include an historical deforestation problem,
overpopulation, a lack of sanitation, natural disasters, and food insecurity. A
major reason for these environmental issues is that there is not sufficient
protection or management of the country's natural resources.
"Who runs Haiti government?
The government of Haiti is a semi-presidential republic, a multiparty system
wherein the President of Haiti is head of state elected directly by popular
elections. The Prime Minister acts as head of government and is appointed by the
President, chosen from the majority party in the National Assembly.
"Is it dangerous in Haiti?
There is a high level of crime in Haiti. Some areas are worse than others, but
there is a very real danger of violent crime everywhere in Haiti, and this
includes assault, armed robbery, murder, kidnapping, and rape. The exception is
Labadee, an area leased by a cruise ship company.
3.
NY Times [Les Cayes focus report]
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/world/americas/Haiti-crisis-violence.html
Protesters last week in Les Cayes, Haiti, surrounded a vehicle that had been
burned in a previous demonstration. Impassable roads have contributed to the
country’s emergency.
By Kirk SemplePhotographs by Meridith Kohut
LÉOGÂNE, Haiti — The small hospital was down to a single day’s supply of oxygen
and had to decide who would get it: the adults recovering from strokes and other
ailments, or the newborns clinging to life in the neonatal ward.
Haiti’s political crisis had forced this awful dilemma — one drama of countless
in a nation driven to the brink of collapse.
A struggle between President Jovenel Moïse and a surging opposition movement
demanding his ouster has led to violent demonstrations and barricaded streets
across the country, rendering roads impassable and creating a sprawling
emergency.
Caught in the national paralysis, officials at Sainte Croix Hospital were forced
to choose who might live and who might die. Fortunately, a truck carrying 40
fresh tanks of oxygen made it through at the last minute, giving the hospital a
reprieve.
“It was scary, really scary,” said Archdeacon Abiade Lozama of the Episcopal
Church of Haiti, which owns the hospital. “Every day, things become more
difficult, day after day.”
Though the country has been trapped for years in cycles of political and
economic dysfunction, many Haitians say the current crisis is worse than
anything they have ever experienced. Lives that were already extremely
difficult, here in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, have become
even more so.
Weeks of unrest around Haiti, coupled with rampant corruption and economic
malaise, have led to soaring prices, a disintegration of public services and a
galloping sense of insecurity and lawlessness. At least 30 people have been
killed in the demonstrations in the past few weeks, including 15 by police
officers, according to the United Nations.
“There is no hope in this country,” said Stamène Molière, 27, an unemployed
secretary in the southern coastal town of Les Cayes. “There’s no life anymore.”
Image
Newborns breathing with the help of oxygen tubes in the neonatal ward of Sainte
Croix Hospital in Léogâne, west of Port-au-Prince. Hospitals are
struggling with precarious supplies.
Newborns breathing with the help of oxygen tubes in the neonatal ward of Sainte
Croix Hospital in Léogâne, west of Port-au-Prince. Hospitals are struggling with
precarious supplies.
Image
Trash piling up in Port-au-Prince, the capital, where many public services have
collapsed.
Trash piling up in Port-au-Prince, the capital, where many public services have
collapsed.
Gas shortages are worsening by the day. Hospitals have cut services or closed
entirely. Public transportation has ground to a halt. Businesses have shuttered.
Most schools have been closed since early September, leaving millions of
children idle. Widespread layoffs have compounded chronic poverty and hunger.
Uncertainty hangs over everything.
Many Haitians with the means to flee have left or are planning to, while most
who remain are simply trying to figure out where they are going to get their
next meals.
Haiti was once a strategic ally for the United States, which often played a
crucial role here. During the Cold War, American governments supported — albeit
at times grudgingly — the authoritarian governments of François Duvalier and his
son, Jean-Claude Duvalier, because of their anti-Communist stance.
In 1994, the Clinton administration sent troops to restore Jean-Bertrand
Aristide to power after his ouster as president, but 10 years later, intense
pressure from the United States helped push Mr. Aristide out again.
Now, protesters are criticizing the United States for continuing to stand by Mr.
Moïse. The Trump administration has urged respect for the democratic process,
but has said little about the unrest in Haiti.
“If you look at Haitian history, governments are overthrown when the United
States turns on them,” said Jake Johnston, a research associate at the Center
for Economic and Policy Research.
The current crisis is a culmination of more than a year of violent protests, and
the product, in part, of political acrimony that has seized the nation since Mr.
Moïse, a businessman, took office in February 2017 following an electoral
process that was marred by delays, allegations of voter fraud and an abysmal
voter turnout.
Outrage over allegations that the government misappropriated billions of dollars
meant for social development projects provided the initial impetus for the
protests. But opposition leaders have sought to harness the anger to force his
ouster, calling for his resignation and the formation of a transitional
government.
The protests intensified in early September, at times turning violent and
bringing the capital, Port-au-Prince, and other cities and towns around the
country to a standstill.
Image
Frustration with the government has mounted, leading to demonstrations like this
one last week in the coastal town of Les Cayes.
Frustration with the government has mounted, leading to demonstrations like this
one last week in the coastal town of Les Cayes.
Image
Confronting security forces in Port-au-Prince this month. Opposition leaders
have sought to harness Haitians’ anger to force the resignation of President
Jovenel Moïse.
Confronting security forces in Port-au-Prince this month. Opposition leaders
have sought to harness Haitians’ anger to force the resignation of President
Jovenel Moïse.
“We’re not living,” Destine Wisdeladens, 24, a motorcycle-taxi driver, said at a
protest march in Port-au-Prince this month. “There is no security in the
country. There’s no food. There’s no hospitals. There’s no school.”
Mr. Moïse has been defiant, saying in public comments last week that it would be
“irresponsible” for him to resign. He has named a commission of politicians to
explore solutions to the crisis.
Amid the current turmoil, daily routines, never a sure thing in this vulnerable
country, have been thrown even more deeply into doubt.
With public transportation having ground to a halt, Alexis Fritzner, 41, a
security guard making about $4 per day, walks about 10 miles each way to work at
a clothing factory in Port-au-Prince. He has not been paid for more than a
month, he said, yet he still goes to work for fear of being fired.
“It’s because there are no other options,” he said.
The mounting problems at Sainte Croix Hospital here in Léogâne are emblematic of
the crisis. Though the town is only about 20 miles from Port-au-Prince,
near-daily barricades have impeded traffic. Suppliers in the capital have been
forced to close or have had trouble receiving imports, making medicine hard to
get.
At least one patient at the hospital died in recent days because of a lack of
crucial medicine, said the Rev. Jean Michelin St.-Louis, the hospital’s general
manager.
It has been hard to wrangle fuel to run the hospital’s generators, its only
power supply, he said. At times, ambulances have been blocked from crossing the
barricades despite promises from protest leaders to the contrary. Some of the
hospital’s staff members, including the chief surgeon, have not always been able
to make it to work because of the protests.
“It’s the first time I’ve been through such a difficult experience,” Father
St.-Louis, 41, said.
Image
At Sainte Croix Hospital in Léogâne, patients like Gislaien Milord face dismal
conditions. Recently the hospital was down to one day’s supply of oxygen,
forcing difficult choices.
At Sainte Croix Hospital in Léogâne, patients like Gislaien Milord face dismal
conditions. Recently the hospital was down to one day’s supply of oxygen,
forcing difficult choices.
Image
Lafontaine St. Fort says his leg was wounded by a police bullet during a
demonstration. “The reason why I went to the protest was to make a better life
for myself, and make a better country,” he said from his home in La Savane, a
poor neighborhood in Les Cayes.
Lafontaine St. Fort says his leg was wounded by a police bullet during a
demonstration. “The reason why I went to the protest was to make a better life
for myself, and make a better country,” he said from his home in La Savane, a
poor neighborhood in Les Cayes.
The crisis is particularly stark in Les Cayes, the most populous city in
southern Haiti, which has effectively been cut off from the capital by
barricades on the main road.
The city endured a total blackout for nearly two months. The power company
started to mete out electricity again earlier this month, though in tiny
increments — a few hours on one day, a few more on another.
The city’s public hospital shut down recently when protesters, angry over the
death of one of their comrades, smashed its windows and destroyed cars in its
parking lot. After the attack, the staff fled, said Herard Marc Rocky, 37, the
hospital’s head of logistics.
Even before the riot, the hospital was barely functioning. For three weeks, it
had been without power after running out of fuel for its generators.
Archdeacon Lozama, 39, who oversees an Episcopal parish in Les Cayes, said
demonstrators forbid him from holding services on two recent Sundays. “We
couldn’t open the doors,” he said. “People would burn the church.”
Thieves have stolen the batteries from solar panels that provide electricity to
the parish school. The keyboardist in the church music ensemble was recently
wounded by a stray bullet. And protesters manning a barricade took food that
Archdeacon Lozama was delivering by truck on behalf of an international charity.
“There’s no one you can call,” he lamented. “There’s no one in charge.”
Image
Street protests have intensified in recent months. The turnout can bring even
Port-au-Prince to a standstill.
Street protests have intensified in recent months. The turnout can bring even
Port-au-Prince to a standstill.
Image
Gas shortages have worsened daily, one of many persistent problems hobbling
already harsh lives.
Gas shortages have worsened daily, one of many persistent problems hobbling
already harsh lives.
People, he said, are desperate. “As they have nothing, they can destroy
everything. They have nothing to lose.”
Intersections throughout Les Cayes are scarred with the remains of burned
barricades made with wood, tires and other debris, vestiges of near-daily
protests.
“I’m hiding out here, I’m hunkering down, I’m not even on my porch,” said Marie
Prephanie Pauldor Delicat, 67, the retired headmistress of a kindergarten in Les
Cayes. “I’m scared of the people.”
Shop owners say sales have plummeted. Violent demonstrations have forced them to
curtail their hours, and it has become harder to restock merchandise.
Several regional opposition leaders, in an interview at a dormant nightclub in
Les Cayes, blamed infiltrators sympathetic to the government for the violence.
But they defended the roadblocks, saying they helped thwart the movement of
security forces accused of aggressions against residents.
“We get the support of the population despite it all, because all the population
has the same demand: the departure of Jovenel Moïse,” said Anthony Cyrion, a
lawyer.
A wellspring of opposition in Les Cayes is La Savane, one of its most forlorn
neighborhoods, where simple, rough-hewed homes line unpaved roads and the stench
of open sewers commingles with the salty perfume of the Caribbean Sea.
On a visit this month, reporters from The New York Times were surrounded by
crowds of desperate and angry residents, each with a list of grievances against
the government and accounts of utter despair.
One young man opened his shirt to reveal a bullet wound in his shoulder. Another
showed where a bullet had hit his leg. They blamed the police.
“We are all victims in many ways!” shouted Lys Isguinue, 48. “We are victims
under the sticks of the police! We are victims of tear gas! We are victims
because we cannot eat! We are victims because we cannot sleep!”
Image
Much activity in Haiti has ground to a halt, with shops and schools closed, and
incomes disastrously affected. Children in La Savane have been out of class
since early September.
Much activity in Haiti has ground to a halt, with shops and schools closed, and
incomes disastrously affected. Children in La Savane have been out of class
since early September.
Image
Venise Jules fights complete despair, and the hope that propelled her to vote
for Mr. Moïse has vanished. “He said everything would change,”
she recalled. “We would have food on our plates, we would have electricity
24/7, we would have jobs for our children and salaries would increase.”
Venise Jules fights complete despair, and the hope that propelled her to vote
for Mr. Moïse has vanished. “He said everything would change,” she recalled. “We
would have food on our plates, we would have electricity 24/7, we would have
jobs for our children and salaries would increase.”
Venise Jules, 55, a cleaning woman at a grade school and the mother of Ms.
Molière, the unemployed secretary, said her entire family had voted for Mr.
Moïse.
“He said everything would change,” she recalled. “We would have food on our
plates, we would have electricity 24/7, we would have jobs for our children and
salaries would increase.”
Ms. Jules, three of her five children and a cousin live in a narrow house in La
Savane made from mud and stone. The corrugated metal roof leaks when it rains.
The bathroom is an outhouse with a hole in the ground. With no running water,
the family has to fill buckets at a public tap several blocks away.
They cook over coal — when they have something to cook.
“I didn’t put anything on the fire today,” Ms. Jules said. It had been a full
day since she had eaten anything.
With the schools closed, Ms. Jules had been without work — or an income — for
weeks. Even when she worked, earning $47 per month, she had not been able to
amass any savings. Now she sends her children to eat at the homes of friends
with something to spare.
Her despair, she said, has driven her to consider suicide.
On a recent evening, she sat with Ms. Molière, her daughter, in their house as
it sank into the shadows of the night. Ms. Molière began to cry softly. Seeing
her tears, Ms. Jules began to cry as well.
“It’s not only that we’re hungry for bread and water,” Ms. Molière said. “We’re
hungry for the development of Haiti.”
“Haiti is very fragile,” she said.
Image
Blackouts in Les Cayes exacerbate people’s anxieties. “I’m hiding out here, I’m
hunkering down, I’m not even on my porch,” said one woman fearful of what anger
and desperation might drive people to do.
Blackouts in Les Cayes exacerbate people’s anxieties. “I’m hiding out here, I’m
hunkering down, I’m not even on my porch,” said one woman fearful of what anger
and desperation might drive people to do.
Harold Isaac and Meridith Kohut contributed reporting.
Kirk Semple is a correspondent covering Mexico, Central America and the
Caribbean. He is based in Mexico City. @KirkSemple
A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 21, 2019, Section A, Page 1
of the New York edition with the headline: All but Poverty and Despair Is at a
Halt in Haiti.
3.
Aug 28 article NYT
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/28/world/americas/haiti-protests-moise.html?searchResultPosition=2
"Haiti Gripped by Violent Protests Amid Calls for President’s Ouster
A burning barricade during a protest this week in Port-au-Prince.
A burning barricade during a protest this week in Port-au-Prince.Credit...Jean
Marc Herve Abelard/EPA, via Shutterstock
By Azam Ahmed
Sept. 28, 2019
MEXICO CITY — Burned-out cars, makeshift barricades and shuttered businesses
signaled a week of unrest in Haiti, where protesters are demanding the
resignation of President Jovenel Moïse and more violent protests are feared.
Streets, schools and banks were closed throughout the country, bringing the
economy to a standstill. Shortages of oil, power and food abound. The nation’s
currency is in free fall, and allegations of corruption linked to Mr. Moïse have
brought the nation to a crisis point.
“To me it is obvious: The president, particularly, doesn’t govern anything at
all right now,” said Fritz Jean, a former prime minister and past governor of
Haiti’s Central Bank. “In fact, we are in a state of vacancy right now.”
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Mr. Moïse has not been seen publicly since Wednesday morning, when he issued a
prerecorded address appealing for calm and offering to form a unity government
in the aftermath of several failed attempts to appoint a new prime minister, who
would be his fourth nominee in just over two years.
ImageA protest in Cité Soleil on Friday. Protesters looted businesses, blockaded
streets and set police cars ablaze.
A protest in Cité Soleil on Friday. Protesters looted businesses, blockaded
streets and set police cars ablaze.Credit...Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse
— Getty Images
Image
A demonstrator surrendering to security forces in Port-au-Prince.
A demonstrator surrendering to security forces in
Port-au-Prince.Credit...Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
The message was roundly rejected by the political opposition and by Haitians on
the street, who responded with spontaneous violent protests on Wednesday that
culminated in demonstrations around the country. The resulting damage — burned
and looted businesses, blockaded streets, cars set ablaze — has left Haitians
fearing the worst.
On Saturday, André Michel, a leader of the opposition, called for the country to
remain shut down “until the resignation of Jovenel Moïse. No gifts will be given
here.”
“Those who are guarding the barricades blocking streets need to remain,” he said
during a talk show on Saturday.
Though Haiti seems to exist in a perpetual state of fragility, the current
protests are the culmination of more than a year of turmoil, and almost three
years of discontent with Mr. Moïse.
Image
Jean-Marie Féthière, a senator, firing a gun outside Parliament on Monday. Two
were wounded.
Jean-Marie Féthière, a senator, firing a gun outside Parliament on Monday. Two
were wounded.Credit...Andres Martinez Casares/Reuters
Image
Fuel and food shortages, corruption and a weakening currency have helped spur
protests across Haiti.
Fuel and food shortages, corruption and a weakening currency have helped spur
protests across Haiti.Credit...Jean Marc Herve Abelard/EPA, via Shutterstock
The government is without a confirmed prime minister. Inflation is nearly 20
percent, growth is expected to be a paltry 1.5 percent, and the government has
not voted on a budget in two years. The Haitian gourde, the nation’s currency,
has fallen dramatically in the past five years.
“If he doesn’t leave the country without conditions, we will resort to looting,”
a protester, Cadet Jean Donis, said of the president.
The current round of confrontation began with Mr. Moïse’s attempts in July 2018
to end fuel subsidies, a move encouraged by the International Monetary Fund.
Though Haiti was in desperate need of cash, its people, the poorest in the
Western Hemisphere, revolted.
The government canceled the plans hours later, but violent protests persisted,
leaving at least seven dead. Fueling the discontent, in no small part, were
corruption allegations that have long dogged the nation, most recently alleging
misuse of billions in aid that flowed into the country after the 2010
earthquake.
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The fuel subsidy crisis precipitated the resignation of Prime Minister Jack Guy
Lafontant in July 2018. Mr. Moïse then named a new prime minister, Jean-Henry
Céant, a well-known lawyer and former presidential rival, to form a unity
government. Six months later, Mr. Céant was fired.
Image
Mr. Moïse has not been seen since Wednesday, when he issued a prerecorded
address appealing for calm.
Mr. Moïse has not been seen since Wednesday, when he issued a prerecorded
address appealing for calm.Credit...Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty
Images
Image
Smoke from burning tires in Port-au-Prince.
Smoke from burning tires in Port-au-Prince.Credit...Chandan Khanna/Agence
France-Presse — Getty Images
New problems surfaced months later, when Mr. Moïse was hit directly with
corruption allegations after a Haitian court published a wide-ranging report on
the nation’s mismanagement of a Venezuelan oil subsidy program.
The report noted that two companies controlled by Mr. Moïse before he took
office received the same government contract to build the same road in northwest
Haiti.
Though Mr. Moïse has denied the allegations, the report further outraged
anti-corruption organizations and his opponents.
A campaign spread widely on social media, calling for transparency and an
accounting of how the money was spent. Protests connected to the campaign
engulfed the nation in October and November of last year, bringing more violence
and death.
Image
Demonstrators running from police on Friday.
Demonstrators running from police on Friday.Credit...Chandan Khanna/Agence
France-Presse — Getty Images
Image
People watched Friday’s demonstrations from a rooftop.
People watched Friday’s demonstrations from a rooftop.Credit...Chandan
Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Since then, opposition senators have blocked Mr. Moïse’s next two choices for
prime minister. The most recent hearing took place on Monday, and ended in chaos
when a governing party senator, Jean-Marie Ralph Féthière, pulled out his gun
and opened fire in the Parliament yard, wounding a photographer for The
Associated Press and a bodyguard.
In the past week, oil tankers have delivered fuel to the country, but the
turmoil has made it difficult to resupply distributors.
The cycle of economic and political turmoil has sapped the nation and left it in
a state of gridlock. The most recent events, and in particular Friday’s
protests, have left Haiti reeling.
“We are telling the people who live in the Cité Soleil area and the Haitian
population to rise up to overthrow this government,” Francois Pericat, a
protester, told The Associated Press on Friday, referring to a poor and densely
populated part of the capital, Port-au-Prince. “President Jovenel Moise is not
doing anything for us, just killing us.”
Image
The capital, Port-au-Prince, has been roiled by protests all week.
The capital, Port-au-Prince, has been roiled by protests all
week.Credit...Chandan Khanna/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
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