Haiti
Haiti’s President Defends Choice for Prime Minister
Haitian President Jovenel Moise defended his choice for prime minister Wednesday, following complaints that Fritz-William Michel is a virtual unknown who should not have been named.
Opposition lawmakers say Michel has close ties to Deputy Gary Bodeau, president of the Chamber of Deputies, and that he was not chosen by consensus. Continue reading
Cholera close to elimination in Haiti
It has been six months since the Directorate of Epidemiology, Laboratories, Research (DELR) has identified any cases of cholera across the country, a great first since October 2010. The departments of Nippes and Grand’Anse, meanwhile, have not registered cases for more than 18 months.
“Since the fourth week of 2019, there are zero confirmed cases of cholera. However, we continue to have cases of acute diarrhea. Suspicious cases are not confirmed by laboratory tests,” said Dr. Natan Zéphirin, MSPP’s technical advisor in an interview Tuesday.
Between January and April, there has been an increase in the percentage of sampling among suspected cholera cases from 79% to 97% thanks to the transport system of the MSPP and the support of the labo-motorcycle nurses. 98% of suspected cholera cases were addressed and 91% of them were addressed in less than 48 hours between epidemiological week 01 (early January 2019) and 13 (end of March 2019) by mobile rapid response teams of the MSPP. Continue reading
New Prime Minister’s cabinet appointed
New Prime Minister Fritz William Michel’s cabinet was announced Wednesday evening. The cabinet is composed of 18 ministers and Michel is responsible for keeping both the portfolio of planning and external cooperation.
Fritz William Michel was named Prime Minister of Haiti on July 22 following the resignation of Jean-Michel Lapin earlier that day. Continue reading
Republican senator favors TPS extension to Haitian immigrants
U.S. Senator Marco Rubio presented a congressional law inviting the Department of Homeland Security to grant a 18-month extension of the Temporary Protection Status (TPS) to Haitian immigrants residing in the United States.
“The situation in Haiti remains unstable, the government and the people still have to recover from a series of natural disasters and a public health epidemic that has caused extremely difficult conditions,” he said.
Rubio also said that the new Haitian leaders give the United States a new opportunity to provide Haiti with the means to advance the common principles of freedom and democracy. Continue reading
Continued operations against members of Arnel’s gang
The Secretaries of State for Public Security, Ronsard Saint Cyr and Eddy Jackson Alexis, revealed Wednesday that the entire national security system was set in motion during the operation that led to the capture of gang leader Arnel Joseph.
The intelligence services of the Primature and the Ministries of Interior and Justice had joined forces to effectively hunt down the gang leader. The system worked well, explains Mr Saint Cyr thanking the citizens who collaborated with the police.
Asked about the inability of police to apprehend the gang leader of the Village of God, Mr. Saint Cyr argued that it was impossible to apprehend the gang leader in the slum. Only motorcycles had access to the area. Continue reading
Tech
Little Haiti students immerse in STEM training
Little Haiti youth interested in exploring all-things technology over the summer received backing from the City of Miami. The City Commission approved a $27,180 grant to fund the iTech Magnet High School’s summer STEM program, which seeks to immerse both middle and high school students into the growing field of technology. The initiative was sponsored by Mayor Francis Suarez, who used his share of the city’s anti-poverty initiative dollars to fund the summer program. Continue reading