Moïse vows “just society” on day his ex-officials get massacre sanctions
As the United States revealed sanctions Thursday against two former members of the Moïse administration for their alleged role in a massacre, President Jovenel Moïse was marking Human Rights Day on social media.
“Human Rights Day celebrated on December 10 is an opportunity to recall the efforts of my administration to build a more just society,” Moise posted on Twitter. “As head of state, I won’t give up on any efforts to allow the Haitian people to fully enjoy their rights.’
The ex-officials, Fednel Monchery and Joseph Pierre Richard Duplan are suspected of facilitating the 2018 La Saline massacre that killed over 71 residents.
Moïse threatens to jail money exchangers as gourde’s value drops again
President Jovenel Moïse on Thursday decreed that money exchangers caught speculating on the Haitian gourde’s value will face up to 10 years in jail and fined up to $15 million gourdes.
The decree issued highlights the Haitian government’s frustration with regulating the country’s currency, whose value against the American dollar has begun depreciating again. The gourde’s value reached as high as 120 G in mid-August, fell to 60 G in October, then began significantly rising again in late November.
Eddy Labossiere, a Haiti central bank (BRH) consultant, said that the institution isn’t strong enough to prevent currency speculation.
“The BRH lacks an appropriate legal framework to prevent manipulation of the exchange rate by speculators in the formal, informal sectors,” Labossiere posted on Twitter on Thursday morning. “A decree with legal tools is needed.” Source