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After almost nine years in the country, MINUSTAH prolongs conditions of poverty and repression, securing the political and economic interests of the United States

[Translation of an interview from Brasil de Fato of São Paulo for May 9, 2013.  See original here and related articles here, here, here and here.]

By Márcio Zonta

The United Nations Mission for the Stabilization of Haiti (MINUSTAH) will be nine years old in June.  Created in 2004 by the UN Security Council, it brought the activities of foreign troops into the country after the coup against then President Bertrand Aristide.  He was kidnapped and deposed by United States forces, being forced into exile in Africa. (more…)

[Translations of two articles from AlterPresse Haïti for May 18 and 20. See originals here and here and related articles here, here, and here.]

Former soldiers march on flag day

Port au Prince, May 18 – More than a hundred people dressed in military fatigues claiming to be former members of the disbanded army marched in Port au Prince on May 18, the 209th anniversary of the Haitian flag, AlterPresse has learned.

With no announcement of their plans, the marchers, some of them armed, marched from Carrefour, at the southern edge of the capital, toward the center of Port au Prince.

“It is my heart that brings me here today, that is, the constitution of the country,” Serge Jean Guerrier, who claims he was part of the army disbanded in 1995, told AlterPresse. (more…)

[Translation of an article from the Dominican/Haitian website Espacinsular.org for April 10. See original here and related articles here and here.]

Port-au-Prince, April 10 – Without a doubt, this is not the first time Dominican politicians and businessmen have financed electoral campaigns in foreign countries. The best known case in Dominican-Haitian relations is that of Rafael Leónidas Trujillo and Elie Lescot, whom the Dominican dictator managed to bribe, according to [Dominican historian] Bernardo Vega, from the time he was minister of the interior under President Stenio Vincent in 1932 until he helped him become president in May, 1941.

Even more recently, during the last two decades, both Haitian and Dominican candidates, as a result of their connections in social and business circles, have benefited from donations coming from sources on the other side of the island and from the diaspora of both countries. This applies as much to the presidential level as in legislative and municipal elections. (more…)

[Translation of an article by the Spanish news agency Efe as published in El Nuevo Diario of Santo Domingo on April 12. See original here and related articles here and here.]

Santo Domingo, April 12 – The governments of the Dominican Republic and Haiti today denounced a plot organized by a former Dominican colonel to destabilize the presidency of Michel Martelly. The plan was denounced by Dominican Foreign Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso, Haitian Minister of Justice Michel Brunache and Dominican Attorney General Radhamés Jiménez, who attribute the plot to former Colonel Pedro Julio Goico Guerrero, known as “Pepe Goico,” one of the closest collaborators of former Dominican President and current presidential candidate Hipólito Mejía.

“This campaign is based on a false and baseless accusation against the integrity and honor of President Michel Martelly,” the officials said in a brief document read by spokesman for the Dominican presidency Rafael Núñez in a meeting with journalists in which questions were not allowed. (more…)

[Translation of an article from the Dominican/Haitian web site Espacinsular.org for April 2. See original here and related article here.]

Port au Prince, April 2 – Just days after receiving the Dominican government’s highest decoration, the Haitian head of state finds himself implicated in one of the most serious cases of corruption known in the Dominican Republic, the central figure of which is Dominican Senator Félix Bautista.

The results of an investigation made public on the eve of Palm Sunday by prize-winning veteran journalist Nuria Piera on her program “Nuria en el 9,” confirm as facts charges widely circulated in Haiti since last year on the radio program of analyst Michel Soukar and involving leaders in both countries within the framework of the reconstruction of Haiti, devastated in the earthquake of 2010. (more…)

((Haiti Press Network photo))

[Translation of an article from Le Matin for March 23. See original here and related article here.]

Secretary of State for Public Security Réginald Delva has ordered the former soldiers to go home. According to the minister, drastic measures are being taken to promote a climate of security in the country. Therefore, a set of arrangements against them has already been planned. Among others, they have already been formally prohibited from moving about on the streets in uniform. They have also been ordered to leave the occupied spaces quickly.

But these armed men have so far shown no inclination to obey. The are still occupying the Lamentin 54 camp [in Ouest province]. Instead of submitting to the government orders, they are rather asking President Martelly to fulfill his promises. (more…)

((Le Nouvelliste photo))

[Translation of an article from Haïti Liberté for February 24. See original here. Most universities in Latin America, including Haiti, are considered “autonomous” and thus protected from police and military intervention.]

By Thomas Péralte

It was around three in the afternoon on February 17, 2012, when Michel Joseph Martelly, at the head of a group of rowdy individuals, tried to force his way into the School of Ethnology (Faculté d’Ethnologie), which is on Magloire Ambroise Street, in Champ de Mars. In the company of his wife, Sophia Martelly, with no invitation of any kind, he wanted to attend an international symposium in progress on the theme “Ethnology and the Construction of the Political Nation, the People, the Citizen in Haiti,” conducted by foreign and Haitian professors. (more…)

[Translation of an article from AlterPresse Haïti for February 10.  See original here.]

Port au Prince, February 10 – Citizens are wondering about maneuvers, with weapons, that have been carried out for several weeks in different parts of the country by groups of former members of the military, wearing uniforms, who have taken over  camps of the disbanded armed forces of Haiti.

The training exercises have been observed particularly in the municipality of Carrefour, in the Ouest department south of the capital, in Gonaïves in the department of Artibonite to the north, and in the central plateau, in the northeast.

No relevant information has been released on the source of financing or on the sponsorship of these groups, who, since 2011, with no discussion or administrative orders, have assumed the position of “demobilized former soldiers” in order to resume military training exercises. (more…)

((Michel Martelly, Jean Bertrand Aristide - Haiti-Liberté photo))

[Translation of an article from Haïti-Liberté for October 20. See original here.]

By Thomas Péralte

With a view toward the reconciliation of all the sons of the nation of Haiti, President Michel Martelly has arranged meetings with the former heads of states, de facto and de jure, during a week called the “Week of National Reconciliation” or “Week of National Understanding.” During that week President Martelly met with five former presidents: Prosper Avril, Jean Bertrand Aristide, Jean Claude Duvalier, Boniface Alexandre and Henry Namphy, in their respective homes in the vicinity of the capital and in the Dominican Republic.

According to the presidential communications office, led by journalist Joseph Lucien Jura, the president’s move is aimed at encouraging dialogue and unity among all the actors and former leaders of the country. This week of reconciliation also has as an aim a national understanding, a space for discussing some major matters of state, among them: education, the army, MINUSTAH (Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haïti – United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti), the CIRH (Commission Intérimaire pour la Reconstruction d’Haïti – Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti). (more…)

((Clinton and Conille -- Haiti-Liberté photo))

[Translation of an article from AlterPresse Haïti for September 16. See original here and related articles here and here.]

Port-au-Prince, September 16 – The Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously on September 16 in favor of Dr. Garry Conille, adviser to former US President William Clinton, as prime minister.

After a session with practically no debate in which 90 representatives took part, 89 voted in favor of Conille. According to regulations, the president of the Chamber of Deputies does not vote.

After the Chamber of Deputies, the Senate will also have to decide on the choice of Conille. In the event of a favorable vote there, he will be enabled to present a statement of his general policies in each of the two chambers.

The 45-year-old Dr. Conille is a regular in the United Nations system, where he has held several positions in the past few years. Since June, 2011, he has been the humanitarian coordinator for Niger.

He has also played the role of head of office for the United Nations special envoy to Haiti, William Clinton.

Two other candidates for the position of head of government nominated by [President Michel] Martelly, Daniel Gérard Rouzier and Bernard Honorat Gousse, failed to obtain the approval of parliament, in June and August, 2011, respectively.

Bernard Gousse not likely to be confirmed as prime minister

[Translation of an article from AlterPresse Haïti for July 7. See original here and related articles here and here, the latter by Wadner Pierre.]

Port-au-Prince, July 7 – President Martelly’s official nomination on Wednesday, July 6, of Bernard H. Gousse to be prime minister has created a stir in Parliament.

Most of the representatives and senators have shown surprise and dissatisfaction at the announcement and may decide to disapprove Michel Martelly’s choice, as they did on June 21 in the case of businessman Daniel Gérard Rouzier. (more…)

[Abridged translation of an article from Haïti-Liberté for June 22. See original here.]

By Berthony Dupont

The meeting for approval of Prime Minister-Designate Daniel Gérard Rouzier ended in a setback for the Martelly camp and for the United States ambassador, who last week tirelessly expressed his support for the ultra conservative partisan of the neoliberal plan, who is Rouzier.

The meeting of members of the lower chamber of the parliament had in fact been scheduled for Monday, June 20, and was to begin at 1:00 in the afternoon. It was about 4:00 when it finally began, with the attendance of 73 representatives, among them the 13 new members declared by the Bureau du Contentieux Electoral National [National Bureau of Electoral Disputes] to be the winners in the controversial legislative elections of last March. It was President Michel Martelly who finally published the names of the 13 representatives and two senators in the official journal Le Moniteur… (more…)