By Garry Pierre-Pierre
Last month a delegation of Haitian professionals living outside of Haiti met with Interim-President Jocelerne Privert, and high on the agenda was ways that the Haitian Diaspora could help pay for the upcoming national elections.
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
In 2003 I watched in absolute horror as my colleagues and friends in the mainstream media beat a constant drumroll urging the country to go to war with Iraq. The reports were largely based on false information and at times fabrications. But Saddam Hussein was no angel, and few, if any reporters, felt compelled to buck the anti-Hussein mob.
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
Interim president Jocelerme Privet announced recently that removing the mountains of trash pilling up in seemingly every corner of Port-au-Prince, will be one of his top priorities.
President Privert’s announcement brought cheers to me. For more than four years I have lamented over the dirtiness of this capital city and other major cities across the politically-troubled Caribbean nation of more than 10 million people.
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
To those unfamiliar with the zero sum game that has come to define Haiti’s politics, this electoral crisis gripping the troubled Caribbean nation seems simple to solve. Although this impasse has been percolating for a while, it reached a boiling point in October when Jude Celestin, who was declared the second place finisher in the presidential elections, decided that the vote was deeply flawed and he would not participate in a runoff unless certain demands were met.
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
For more than two decades, Haitian Americans have been grumbling rightly that they don’t wield any significant influence in the affairs of their beloved homeland, despite being the largest donor to the country’s coffers. Haitians living outside of Haiti send more than $1 billion a year to friends and relatives in the form of remittances.
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
HAVANA, Cuba – In the early 1990s Cuba faced a double whammy: First it lost its economic patron, the Soviet Union and then the United States doubled down and clamped the vise grip on an already punishing embargo.
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
Editor’s note: Second of a three-part series
HAVANA, Cuba – Haitians and Cubans have been allies for quite some time, and that bond remains to this day. The two countries share warm relations, and Cuban doctors over the last 20 years have literally saved thousands of Haitian lives working in clinics in far-flung places in the mountainous country.
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
Editor’s Note, this is the first of three-part series comparing Cuba with Haiti
HAVANA, Cuba – The first thing I noticed when I landed at the airport in Cuba is the ubiquity of the 1950s American-made cars. Then I quickly realized how clean the air and ocean is, and how the streets are void of trash. The place is spotless and even in the countryside, peasants have trash disposals to ensure that towns are not overran with garbage.
This is a far cry from Haiti, where soot, trash and a putrid smell hits you instantly. Cuba and Haiti share many similarities. Both countries have been the subject of punishing embargoes from the United States and Haitians have been moving to Cuba since the turn of last century, largely to work in the sugarcane fields throughout Cuba. The eastern province of Oriente, the heart of Afro Cuba culture is decidedly Haitian influenced.
By Garry Pierre-Pierre
PORT-AU-PRINCE – Last week I spent a few days in Haiti covering the country’s elections. At stake was the presidency and the entire parliament, which is up for grabs, and those elections have been long overdue.
So naturally I am peppered with questions from friends and colleagues about Haiti’s latest sordid political chapter in the country’s continuous history of mismanagement and poor leadership.
PORT-AU-PRINCE – For the most part, people were euphoric during the Haitian presidential elections in December 1990. They were held a few years after Jean Claude Duvalier’s dictatorial regime had fled, and the interim junta in power had declared that the military and the people were involved in a “banboch democratic” or a democratic fete.