International - Haiti Observer Blog

Kenneth Merten, continues, as some Haitians would call it, with his interference in Haiti's affairs. "The International Community will be in difficulty to assist Haiti if the electoral crisis continues" according to US State Depatment point man for Haiti affairs. He further stated that if the government in Haiti decides to create a Verification Commission, they most do their job quickly because the International Community suspects that the commission is going to try to remove one or two candidates out of the process.

Was that an order?

What do you think?

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The opposition group G-8 thinks that it would be a waste of their time to meet with the Organization of American States' mission (OAS), as a result declined to meet them. The OAS mission came to Haiti last Sunday to help find a solution to the current electoral crisis, following an invitation from President Michel Martelly. According to Mr. Samuel Madistin who is a member of the G-8, the OAS mission is not welcome and unable to play any role as a mediator. "The OAS doesn't help Haiti come out of crisis, instead creates more crisis," said Madistin, referring to the 2010 election where Jude Celestin was eliminated from the run off.

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Kandida Prezidansyèl pou pati PHTK a soti pou fè montre ke se li ki pwòp met tèt li epi li pa enfliyanse pa fòs etranje. Li konfime rankont li ak Koòdonatè Espesyal pou Ayiti nan Depatman Eta a, Kenneth Merten; sepandan li te di ke li pa t 'resevwa okenn dikte nan men l'. Li te tou deklare ke nan tan lontan, sa a te enpresyon l tou ke kominote entènasyonal la te toujou bay lòd, men jodi a li konnen pi byen.

English:
Jovenel Moïse, I did not receive any diktat from Kenneth Merten

The Presidential candidate for the PHTK went out of his way to show that he is standing on his own and not influenced by the by outside force. He confirmed his meeting with the Special Coordinator for Haiti at the State Department, Kenneth Merten; however did not receive any diktat from him. He also stated that in the past, this was his impression that the international community was command but today he knows better.

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On Wednesday, December 2, 2015, Haiti and the Dominican Republic have officially launched the 'Binational Observatory' with a mission to achieve mutual understanding between the two nations in the perspective of a sustainable social and economic development.

'Binational Observatory' is a consortium of universities from these two countries, created with an objective for this purpose which will work with the analysis of ongoing issues on four priority research themes, such as migration, education, environment and trade. 'Binational University Observatory is a consortium of 7 universities, 3 from Haiti (Quisqueya, the Episcopal University of Haiti and Notre Dame) and 4 from the Dominican Republic (the Universidad Educación y Cultura Acción Pro, the University Instituto Superior de Agricultura, the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra and the Universidad Pedro Henríquez Ureña).

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It seems like the U.S. Agency for International Development was not just an observer in the 2010 Haiti election but rather a major player. According to Al Jazeera, the agency gave close to $100,000 to a Haitian political movement Tét Kale (MTK) which has close ties to President Michel Martelly during the 2010 elections.

Al Jazeera reported that documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act reveal that the U.S. government provided close to $100,000 as support to MTK, through USAID. US law allows USAID to provide support to political groups without discrimination. This funding can not be used to influence election outcomes.

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Demonstrating how ingrained the prejudice those from the Dominican Republic feel against their Haitian neighbors is, hundreds of placard bearing demonstrators took to the streets of their capital to show their support for the Constitutional Court ruling made on September 23, 2013 that would see many thousands of people of Haitian descent, who currently hold, and have held as far back as the 1920's Dominican Republic resident status, stripped of their citizenship.

Going further, the mass also called for the erection of a wall to permanently separate their country from Haiti, with whom they share the island of Hispaniola. During the gathering they sang their national anthem and waved their flag to show their patriotism. The coalition's intent was, perhaps, to give affirmation to their government that their constitutional change was in line with the want of the population, in the midst of international outcry that the move is offensive and contrary to the statutes of a civilized country.

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Haitian activist Myrtha Desulme condemned the decision of Dominican Republic Constitutional Court ruling that stripped Dominican citizenship of Haitians who were born on Dominican soil after 1929. Dominican Republic and Haiti share the island of Hispaniola, in the Caribbean. Since the beginning of the twentieth century many Haitians crossed the border of Haiti to escape miserable poverty in homeland and work in the sugar cane plantation in Dominican Republic.

Myrtha said the decision of the Dominican court is racist and abominable, a crime against humanity. It will leave about 210,000 people stateless. Dominicans are now refusing to recognize their own citizens. As South Africa was boycotted during the apartheid era, Dominican Republic must be boycotted with same hatred. The whole global community should protest against the 23rd September ruling given in Santo Domingo, the capital city of Dominican Republic. We have to use the same blue print as was followed against South Africa until the Dominicans accept to come back to the norms of a civilized society.

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Uruguay deployed peace keeping force in Haiti since when chaos erupted at the end of Jean-Bertrand Aristide's presidency in 2004. It was a part of United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Uruguay has contributed almost 1,000 soldiers to the 9000 strong U. N peace keeping mission in Haiti. The force has been under intense scrutiny for years and is blamed for many reasons.

Last year at Port-au-Prince, the protesters clashed with the police while demanding withdrawal of this peace keeping force from the country. They were angry over an alleged sexual assault over an 18-year-old Haitian man by peacekeepers from Uruguay.

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A political position important to the Martelly-Lamothe government is decentralization. An example of this philosophy has been the creation of a program called Katye Pam Poze. Essentially a speak-out forum, community members meet at local coffee houses to discuss the needs of the community. Government officials then take their concerns and address them at either the local or state level.

Last week Prime Minister Lamothe and Interior Terrotoriales Communities (MICT) Minister Bazile, along with European Union (EU) Ambassador to Haiti, Perez, came together to inaugurate another decentralization project, Investment Fund of Local Authorities (FICT).

FICT is subsumed under Appui à la Gouvernance et à l'Investissement Local en Haiti (AGIL), which has received funding from the EU in the amount of $5.5 million Euros. Of this amount, FICT will be apportioned 120 million gourdes to be used for 16 impoverished communities in North and North East Departments. MICT will add an extra 12 million gourdes for the project.

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Dominican Media reported that the Haitian President Michel Martelly admitted that he lied over poultry products from the Dominican Republic.

According to Dominicantoday.com, Dominican President President Danilo Medina, during a meeting held on Sunday(6/30/13) with Michell Martelly and Haiti Foreign minister Pierre-Richard Casimir, the Haitian leader admitted that poultry products from the Dominican Republic are of good quality and that the Haitian ban was strictly economic.

The meeting was held during the summit of the Petrocaribe member nations in Nicaragua where the Haitian Government said that his country loses around $300 million in unpaid tax revenue due to chicken and eggs import from the Dominican Republic

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