Haiti
VIDEO: Port Au Prince Erupts As Calls For Haiti President’s Departure Intensifies
After a week of demonstrations calling for the ouster of Haiti President Jovenel Moise, things came to a boiling point in Haiti on Friday, Sept. 27 in the capital city. Haitian Times’ contributor Harold Isaac reports. Continue reading
Haiti Unrest: Shops And Police Station Looted As Thousands Protest
A police station was looted and stripped bare, and shops and banks were attacked in the capital, Port-au-Prince. Police responded by firing tear gas and live ammunition.
Fuel shortages, rising prices and allegations of government corruption have fuelled weeks of protest.
Mr Moïse cancelled his speech at the UN this week to appeal for calm. Continue reading
Haitian Police Use Tear Gas, Live Ammunition To Break Protests
Haitian police used tear gas and live ammunition on Friday to disperse increasingly violent protesters in the capital, witnesses said, as anger over the economic and political problems in the country grew.
Haitians are protesting widespread food and fuel shortages, a weakening currency, double-digit inflation and graft accusations lodged against public officials in the impoverished Caribbean nation. Continue reading
Haiti no longer hosting first phase of Olympic Games
Concacaf will no longer host the first phase of the Olympic Games, Group C, in Haiti because of the political turmoil in the country. Puerto Rico will instead host Group C of the games Haiti’s national women’s football team will have to travel to Puerto Rico on Tuesday. Continue reading
Catholic bishops make public plea to Moise
Faced with this situation of social unrest, the Conference of Haitian Bishops call on President Jovenel Moise to draw the consequences of his irresponsibility.
“Is there violence more atrocious than living constantly in insecurity? Is there worse than the misery that takes away all hope? No people must accept misery, poverty and violence in a defeatist way. Therefore, the highest officials of the state must assume their responsibilities to ensure the smooth running of the country and the institutions; they are morally responsible for the safety and well-being of the population. And, in the first place, the President of the Republic,” wrote the Catholic bishops in a statement published on Friday.
“If the country is on fire, it is because of their irresponsibility? How can they not know what everyone knows? In a jump of awareness that they measure the extent of their accumulated failures and draw the consequences. It is now that they must act to change lives in Haiti. Tomorrow will be too late.” Continue reading
New York
Haitian-American Sues Cardinal Hayes High School, Alleging Catholic Priest Abused Him In 1980s
He was just 15 when husky friar Brother John Justin O’Connor angrily forced him to come to his office for showing up to school late one morning in 1986.
O’Connor proceeded to stuff his hand down the 15-year-old’s pants and fondled him, setting off a lifetime of anxiety, depression and alcoholism. Continue reading
South Florida
Disillusioned Haitian American voters not sure about Trump
For Bernard Sansaricq, voting for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election was a clear choice.
The Haitian-born Republican activist was president of the Haitian Senate in 1994. Officially obtaining U.S. citizenship in 2006, Sansaricq was dedicated to establishing democracy in his native country. He said he was hopeful in 2016 when Trump, as a Republican nominee, visited Miami’s Little Haiti. Trump claimed then that he would be their “greatest champion” and hold former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accountable for what he saw as her failures in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake impacting at least 3 million people in the island nation. Continue reading