By C. K. Hickey, Oakland North | YouTube | Haiti Chery. The opening up of Oakland airport to Havana represents a unique cultural and political connection between Cuba and the US’ Bay Area. “Culture cures: culture leads to communication between countries, and communication leaves everybody better off than before.” – William T. Martinez
Continue reading →By David Swanson/Douglas Ou-ee-ii-jay-ii Jack, War Is a Crime. The great majority of Canadians are unaware of their status as world leaders in activities such as mine development, energy development, deforestation, consumerism, and weapons sales.
Continue reading →By Staff, Defend Haiti | Meagan Fitzpatrick and Staff, CBC News Online | Sheila Dabu Nonato, National Post. Canada Foreign Aid Minister Bev Oda — the woman responsible for the relocation of hundreds of thousands from the tent camps on Champs de Mars, Port-au-Prince, Haiti — has resigned. She was replaced by Julian Fantino, a former policeman risen to the ranks of police chief, Member of Parliament, and Defense Minister. Mr. Fantino has been followed in every political post by allegations of corruption.
Continue reading →By David Jessop, Caribbean Council via Stabroek News. The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA, is one of a growing number of US laws that are extra-territorial in effect and have been introduced on the grounds of security, to counter terrorism and organized crime, or to address tax evasion. In addition to extending US jurisdiction into the Caribbean, FATCA carries with it the possibility of being used to extend the reach of US law into areas that the legislation was not primarily designed to address.
Continue reading →By Nicole Simon, Le Nouvelliste | Translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The worst thing was to find this French friend, blonde with blue eyes, two days later, who admitted that she has visited the same store on Louverture Street with all her gear, and no one has ever denied her access. (English | French)
Continue reading →By Stephen Leahy, IPS | Envolverde. Threats to coral reefs have gone from worrisome to dire. Bleaching, overfishing, pollution and disease have largely wiped out the fabulous coral communities of the Caribbean, which has lost 80 percent of its corals since the 1970s, say scientists at the 12th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS). (English | Spanish | Portuguese)
Continue reading →By Fred E. Foldvary, The Progress Report | Ah, ça ira!: Lyrics by Ladré, music by Bécourt, Chansons historiques de France, YouTube | Edith Piaf, YouTube. July 14 is celebrated as Bastille Day in France. The Bastille was a prison in Paris that the people stormed and seized in 1789, starting the French Revolution that toppled King Louis XVI and the aristocracy. (Lyrics and videos included)
Continue reading →By Staff (WJL), HPN | Staff, Nouvel Observateur via RadioTV Caraibes | Translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Residents from the Jalousie neighborhood of Petion-Ville took to the streets Thursday, July 12, 2012 to call for a halt to the measures from Haiti’s Ministry of the Environment to demolish thousands of their homes. “It’s not right that a person should be offered only $465 after his house is demolished,” said a protestor. (English | French)
Continue reading →By Kim-Jenna Jurriaans, IPS | UPDATE from Haiti Chery. The United Nations is increasingly hiring Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) for its missions across the world, raising concerns over the use of firms known for participation in human rights abuses, as well as an overall lack of accountability structures governing these contractors within the U.N. system. UPDATE 1: DynCorp boasts of having trained 400 “Haitian police” and is awarded a $48.6 million contract to insert 100 contractors and 10 advisors into the “UN police force” in Haiti.
Continue reading →By Staff, Radio Metropole | Commentary and translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. With the reactivation of the defunct 2005 Council of Economic and Social Development (Conseil de Développement Economique et Social), Haiti establishes a permanent dictatorship with elections. The CESD replaces the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC). (English | French)
Continue reading →By Marcela Valente, IPS | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. More than 600 businesspeople lost their properties to the Argentina dictatorship of 1976 to 1983. “they took everything we had, our seven companies and the company plane. And it’s a miracle they didn’t kill us,” says Alejandro Iaccarino, a prosperous dairy industry businessman during the 1970s who is suing for millions of dollars in reparations.
Continue reading →By Staff (spp), Radio Kiskeya | Commentary and translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. In two incidents on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Saturday July 7, angry citizens lynched three suspected robbers before burning their bodies with lit tires. (English | French | Kreyol)
Continue reading →Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery | Dominique Thomas recipe in A Taste of Haiti, Hippocrene Books Inc., 2002. In Haiti, Mayi Moulin Ak Pwa is peasant fare. The ingredients are cheap, and the value is in the preparation.
Continue reading →By Alice Walker, PACBI. Recently I wrote a letter to Yediot publishers in Israel declining an offer they’d made to publish my novel The Color Purple…. I accepted the invitation to be interviewed by an Israeli paper because I feel it is important to speak directly to the Israeli people; both Jewish and Arab.
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