All posts tagged: Haitian

Haitian authorities say 28 alleged gang members killed by police, residents | Conflict News

Haitian authorities say 28 alleged gang members killed by police, residents | Conflict News

Published by Sam

Armed gangs attacked a wealthy suburb of the capital, police say, as part of an effort to bring down the government. The Haitian National Police have reported that 28 alleged gang members were killed by state security forces and armed residents in the latest clashes in the capital city of Port-au-Prince. A Tuesday attack targeting the upscale suburb of Petion-Ville overlooking the capital had been announced over social media by Jimmy Cherizier, a former elite police officer turned leader of the powerful gang coalition calling itself Viv Ansanm (Haitian Creole for “Living Together”). The latest violence comes in the wake of the collapse of Haiti’s government last week and more than three years of constant turmoil following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021. Cherizier has called for the resignation of the Presidential Transition Council (CPT) now leading the country. “The Viv Ansanm coalition will use all its means to achieve the departure of the CPT,” Cherizier said on Monday. The police say that two vehicles carrying alleged gang members tried to enter Petion-Ville …

Fox News Debunks Donald Trump’s Claim About Haitian Migrants

Fox News Debunks Donald Trump’s Claim About Haitian Migrants

Published by Sam

Former President Donald Trump got shut down by Fox News host Howard Kurtz over the politician’s “debunked” claims that Haitian migrants were eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio. During an interview on Media Buzz that aired on Sunday, Kurtz asked Trump why he would not publicly set the record straight that migrants hadn’t chowed down on slews of cats and dogs in the city like he irresponsibly claimed. “But when you said, you know, ‘It’s gone viral, they’re eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats,’” Kurtz told Trump. “Why not say, ‘Now, well, look, that turned out not to be true.’” Trump then admitted he doesn’t know if his claim is “true or not true.” “You don’t know if it’s true or not true,” Kurtz argued. “It’s been debunked by the officials.” “What about the goose? The geese?” Trump questioned. “They’re all missing. It was one guy with two geese.” “I have no idea. I said something. The big problem is that you can’t put 30,000 people into a 50,000-person town or city and expect …

Haitian aid workers worry American Christians donors could worsen crisis

Haitian aid workers worry American Christians donors could worsen crisis

Published by Sam

(RNS) — As the security crisis in Haiti continues, the humanitarian aid group Haiti Family Care Network is urging U.S. Christian donors to refrain from worsening the situation by donating to orphanages and to redirect their efforts instead toward initiatives helping parents support their children. “There are actually better ways to care for the needs of children than building and supporting orphanages,” said Heather Nozea, chair of the network, which is part of Better Care Network, based in Guatemala. In 2021, five humanitarian organizations created Haiti Family Care Network to change how relief for children works in the impoverished, often chaotically led nation. In 2011, the year after a 7.1 magnitude earthquake killed some 300,000, mostly around the capital, Port-au-Prince, orphanages proliferated from about 300 to 754, despite their failures to provide appropriate care for children. “Everyone assumed that the best way to respond was by building and supporting new orphanages and it became a solution to problems without actually addressing the real problem,” said Nozea, who has worked in Haiti for eight years for …

Preparations Ramp Up for Global Security Force to Quell Haitian Violence

Preparations Ramp Up for Global Security Force to Quell Haitian Violence

Published by Sam

U.S. military planes filled with civilian contractors and supplies have begun landing in Haiti, paving the way for a seven-nation security mission, led by Kenya, to deploy to the troubled Caribbean nation in the coming weeks, American officials say. But even as the security situation worsens and millions of Haitians go hungry, a military-style deployment that is estimated to cost $600 million has just a fraction of the funding required. Biden administration officials would not say whether a precise date for the deployment date had been set. The Kenyan government did not respond to requests for comment. Several military flights, including at least seven from Charleston Air Force Base in South Carolina, have landed at Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, the capital, in the past week, according to the U.S. Southern Command. Contractors were being flown in to help secure the airport before building a base of operations there for the international security force. More planes carrying construction contractors and equipment were expected in the coming days. “The deployment of the multinational security support …

Residents flee as Haitian gangs launch new gun and arson attacks in capital | Haiti

Residents flee as Haitian gangs launch new gun and arson attacks in capital | Haiti

Published by skeptic

Gunmen have launched a string of fresh attacks in Port-au-Prince, burning homes and exchanging gunfire with police for hours in one of the biggest outbreaks of violence since Haiti’s new prime minister was announced. The attacks, which forced hundreds to flee their homes, began late on Wednesday in neighborhoods including Solino and Delmas 18, 20 and 24, south-west of the main international airport, which has remained closed for nearly two months. “The gangs started burning everything in sight,” said a man called Néne, who declined to give his last name out of fear. “I was hiding in a corner all night.” He and a friend were carrying a dusty red suitcase between them that was stuffed with clothes – the only things they could save. The clothes belonged to Néne’s children, whom he had rushed out of Delmas 18 around dawn during a pause in the fighting. Neighborhoods that once bustled with traffic and pedestrians were like ghost towns shortly after sunrise, with a heavy silence blanketing the area except for the occasional bleating from …

Haitian Gangs Launch New Attacks Amid Transitional Council Delays

Haitian Gangs Launch New Attacks Amid Transitional Council Delays

Published by skeptic

Gangs attacked affluent neighborhoods in Haiti early Monday, killing at least a dozen people, according to witnesses. The upscale neighborhood of Petionville outside the capital, Port-au-Prince, was one of those attacked, and at least 12 bodies were found, according to residents and media. Gunmen looted homes in the Laboule and Thomassin communities before sunrise, forcing residents to flee. Until now, both communities had been mainly peaceful amid the gang attacks in Port-au-Prince. The attacks also targeted Haiti’s power company, which said Monday that four substations “were destroyed and rendered completely dysfunctional.” The attacks have left much of the capital without power. According to The Associated Press, the recent attacks have led to concerns that gang violence would not subside in Haiti, even though Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced last week that he would resign once a transitional council was established. The gangs had demanded that Henry resign. The establishment of a seven-member transitional council, which will work to replace Henry, has been experiencing significant delays as political parties disagree over who should sit on the …

Haitian National Arraigned For Rape Of 14-Year-Old Girl At Massachusetts Hotel

Haitian National Arraigned For Rape Of 14-Year-Old Girl At Massachusetts Hotel

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Authored by Alice Giordano via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), A 26-year-old Haitian national has been charged with raping a 14-year-old girl at a Massachusetts hotel being used to house illegal immigrants under the Gov. Maura Healey administration. Cory Alvarez was arraigned on the charges of child rape on Thursday, March 14, at the Hingham District Court. The alleged assault took place at the Comfort Inn in Rockland, according to a press release issued by police. Rockland is located about 22 miles south of Boston. Patrol Lt. Thomas MacDonald of the Rockland Police Department told The Epoch Times that since the state secured the 100-room hotel as a shelter for illegal immigrants in October, the police have taken on a heavy volume of calls related to the property. “We’re there a lot, he said. Lt. McDonald said that Mr. Alvarez, the victim, and her family are among the illegal immigrants being housed at the Rockland hotel. The attack in Massachusetts has drawn national outrage with some levying blame against President Joe Biden for it. “Biden …

Haitian Migrant Boat With Guns, Drugs & Night Vision Intercepted Off Florida As Caribbean Crisis Spreads

Haitian Migrant Boat With Guns, Drugs & Night Vision Intercepted Off Florida As Caribbean Crisis Spreads

Published by skeptic

Haiti’s domestic security has rapidly deteriorated as widespread gang violence and civil unrest plague the failed state. A warning from the US Department of Defense on Tuesday explained that a “mass migration” wave from Haiti to South Florida is imminent.  The ‘Caribbean crisis’ appears to be in the early stages of spreading to the US. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced Friday that a migrant boat with dozens of Haitians, firearms, and drugs, along with night vision, was recently intercepted by Florida Fish and Wildlife agents just off the Florida coast, according to Fox News.  “Our Florida Fish and Wildlife offices interdicted a vessel that had 25 illegal immigrants, potential illegal immigrants from Haiti in their boat. In their vessel, they had firearms, they had drugs, they had night vision gear, and were boating very recklessly, which would potentially endanger other folks,” DeSantis said at a press conference where he signed three pieces of legislation to deter illegal immigration.  “That vessel was interdicted near the Sebastian Inlet and those illegal aliens were turned over to the Coast …

Haitian Gang Leader Threatens Transitional Council Politicians

Haitian Gang Leader Threatens Transitional Council Politicians

Published by skeptic

As violence continued in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, a powerful gang leader on Thursday threatened political leaders who are set to take part in a planned transitional council to govern the Caribbean nation. Under pressure from the United States, unpopular and unelected Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced Monday that he would step down once the transitional council was in place. The White House confirmed Thursday that Henry is in Puerto Rico. The calm following Henry’s announcement eventually gave way to a resurgence of violence late Wednesday, including a shootout in one neighborhood of the capital and an attack on a police academy on Thursday. Haitian authorities have expanded a nighttime curfew until Sunday. In a seven-minute audio message that was shared widely on the WhatsApp platform Thursday, gang alliance leader Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier threatened the politicians who are to take part in the transitional council. “Don’t you have any shame?” Cherizier said, directing his remarks at politicians who he said were looking to join the council. “You have taken the country where it is …

Haitian PM’s resignation paves way for uncertain transition

Haitian PM’s resignation paves way for uncertain transition

Published by skeptic

Haitians call for the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry outside the Marriott Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 8, 2024. RICARDO ARDUENGO / REUTERS After several days steeped in a wave of violence, the outcome seemed inevitable, and many in Haiti were impatient to see it happen. Ariel Henry, the unpopular transitional prime minister who was sworn in to lead the country in July 2021, announced his resignation in an address dated Monday, March 11, and posted on social media shortly after midnight on Tuesday. “The government I lead, after tonight’s cabinet meeting, has agreed to set up a transitional presidential council,” said the 74-year-old leader, in Haitian Creole. Read more Subscribers only Crisis in Haiti prompts thousands to flee to Dominican Republic The members of this transitional council “will be appointed after an agreement between different sectors of national life,” continued Henry, a former neurosurgeon who had been appointed as prime minister by President Jovenel Moïse two days before the latter was assassinated. It is not yet known when Henry, who has …