International

Little Haiti in Miami has represented a point of reference for the Haitian community in Miami. I would say even the entire United States of America.

When there is trouble in Haiti, where do you think the media come to find more information? "Little Haiti"

When political candidates, elected officials, social activists want to show their support to the Haitian community, where do you think they come? "Little Haiti"

More importantly, when you want to have a good "Haitian Grio" with "Pikliz", where do you think you should go? "Little Haiti"

For all the above mentioned reasons and many more, we should not lose "Little Haiti" in Miami

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The process of Identifying and classifying Haitian-Dominican or any Dominican with Haitian origin has began. Within the next 30 Days, this Identification is to take place.

"Mezanmi Nin pot Dominikin Ki Gin Tit Tankou: Ti Pye, Mezadie, Petit Frere, ....Pap Citwayen Peyi Sa Anko"

The Dominican Government announced yesterday (Wednesday, October 23, 2013) that they will comply with the Constitutional Court ruling which outlines a foreigner's pathway to Dominican citizenship

This position of the Dominican government to follow the Court ruling came after a meeting by president Danilo Medina who has noted the full respect of the independence of the branches of government and constitutional powers. In the Dominican Republic

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The government of Haiti (GOH) is in hot water over allegations it has misappropriated a $3.4 million paid by Uruguay.

Five soldiers from the Uruguayan unit were charged in the sexual assault of a young Haitian soldier, Johnny Jean.

The GOH did not deposit the check into the Treasury, and hasn't been able to offer an explanation of where the money went. But Minister Pierre Richard Casimir of Foreign Affairs claims he received the money and transferred $1.8 million of it to the Ministry of Planning and External Cooperation for the Jalousie project. But Minister of Justice and aide to Prime Minister Lamothe, Brunache, disagrees, and says the funds for the Jalousie project came from the Petrocaribe loan.

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The U.S. State Department runs a program begun in 1995, the Diversity Immigrant Visa (DIV) program. It operates the lottery yearly, handing out permanent resident visas to countries that have delivered less than 50,000 immigrants to the U.S. within a five-year period. Haiti is one of the ineligible countries, which has exceeded the limit since the inception of DIV.

If an individual is chosen in the lottery, more requirements must be met, including a high school diploma or GED, and completion of a two-year vocational program.

Haiti has several strikes against it to become eligible for the DIV program. Foremost is the government of Haiti (GOH), which does not cooperate with the international community to lift Haitians out of poverty. An astonishing 70% of the populace lives well below the poverty line, and 80% of the 10 million population is illiterate. What fuels the illiteracy rate is the lack of a free education system. The GOH has a $2 billion initiative to make free education a reality, but it is not a high priority.

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Venezuela is one of the biggest contributors to the recovery efforts happening in Haiti since the 2010 quake. Involved in several projects to develop Haiti's infrastructure, they are pumping $341 million USD into housing, tourism, and healthcare services.

After a visit to Caracas in early October, Haitian Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, made an announcement that the government of Venezuela (GOV) has committed to building 4,400 new homes in Haiti, at a cost of $260 million USD. The bulk of the housing, 3,900 housing units, is to be built in Port-au-Prince that was hardest hit during the 7.0 magnitude trembler. Île a Vache, on track for tourism development, will be given 500 housing units. Ile a Vache is also to receive another $66 million USD from GOV, in part, for a new resort hotel. It doesn't stop there. Venezuela's Development Bank of Venezuela will pay for healthcare clinics for a cost of $15 million USD.

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The nonprofit organization, Little Haiti Optimist Club, had a ribbon-cutting early in September to open up their new Community Tech and Youth Center in Soar Park, Miami. With this new space, a remodel of the park building already in existence, the organization hopes to gives residents, young and old, access to classes and training that will edify and recreational activities that will help to unify.

The Optimist Club, which comprises members from local businesses, civic leaders and the community intends for the site to give tutoring, help with homework, and classes in Film, Business Entrepreneurship and Robotics. Their program for recreational activities include soccer, yoga, basketball, self-defense and a garden program for the community.

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Florida International University's Working Group for Haiti sponsored the Kiskeya CEO Summit in Port-au-Prince on September 3, 2013. Officials from the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Banks' International Finance Corporation sat on the sidelines to witness the discussions, affecting Haitian-Dominican Republic (DR) trade relations. Bilateral donors were also present.

Both Haitian and DR businesspeople discussed a just-released study on trade impediments between the two countries. Import-export relations have been strained due to, in particular, Haiti's sanction against poultry products exported by the DR. The reason behind the sanction was an outbreak of bird virus in the DR, which was quickly contained. The government of Haiti (GOH), however, refused to rescind the ban, causing tension between the two governments.

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Recently, Haiti was visited by a United States congresswoman for the Democratic Party, Corrine Brown who, with her long-standing career in politics, now represents Florida's 5th District.

Born in November of 1946, Brown has served, since 1993, on Congress, and the districts she represents include, Alachua, Putnam and Orange Counties. Extensively educated at some of the state's most prominent universities, she has earned many degrees including one in science and an honorary degree in law.

During her visit to Haiti, Corrine Brown was met by representatives of the Haitian Government including the President, Michel Martelly. The discussion between the two was about the continuance of the relationship between the two countries they represent. Mrs. Brown also used her visit to meet with Andolphe E.D. Guillaume, a legal advisor, to talk about the adoption procedures in Haiti, at IBESR (the Institute of Welfare and Research).

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Benedict Batraville was a resistance fighter for anti-American imperialist groups. America began occupying Haiti in 1915 under Woodrow Wilson. In order to weaken the resistance forces, Congress approved of replacing rebel leader, slaughtered Charlemagne Peralte, with his advisor, Batraville. He had a superior intellect and held information about Peralte's military strategy.

Benedict Batraville, known as Ti Benwa, agreed with the plan to allow imperialist forces to expand their occupation of the island. But he lay in wait to catch the troops at a disadvantage and push back with the insurgency.

The insurgents were successful and the Marines lost territory in Haiti. They understood in order to reclaim lost ground, they needed to find Batraville and finish him off. But he was not easy to apprehend. A master military strategist, who had advised Peralte, Batraville out-thought and out-flanked the Marines.

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The coming Bourassa by-election has shown that Haitian people are becoming more politically active. The soulful voice of Bran Van 3000 Stéphane Moraille, a mother, music lover and an experienced lawyer with expertise in copyright law has confirmed that she will seek nomination of New Democratic and use her voice for the exclusive use of the people of Bourassa. She further added that an MP should be in tune with the aspirations of all the citizens. The concern of a common family should be considered indifferently as the concern for the country as a whole. Her candidacy will be confirmed if she clears the highly competitive NDP nomination.

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