Fix This Fort!

By Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. At a visit to Haiti’s landmark Citadelle Laferriere, Martelly, to emphasize his disgust about the decrepit state of the 300-year old fort, took off in a huff, straight downhill on his motorcycle, leaving his motorcade to scramble after him down a steep and narrow mountain road. The result: an accident that gravely injured seven people and put in critical condition a journalist and a six-year old girl who had been inside her house.

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Standing Ovation and 11 Medals for Haitian Culinary Team! | Onze médailles pour la cuisine haïtienne en Floride!

By Evens Prosper, HPN | Translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. The culinary team that represented Haiti in Miami’s Taste of the Caribbean contest in Miami from June 20 to 24, 2012, won 11 medals for Haiti in several gastronomic categories, and Haiti received a three-minute standing ovation. (English | French)

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Canada’s Infamy Per Capita

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.

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Canada’s Foreign Aid Minister Swap in Haiti

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.

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Clear Caribbean Thinking Required on Extra-Territorial US Laws

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.

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Shopping in Petion-Ville While Black | Que dire d’être Noir dans la ‘république’ de Pétion-Ville ?

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)

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World’s Coral Reefs in State of Emergency | Arrecifes en situación de emergencia | Arrecifes em situação de emergência

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)

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Haiti’s Homeless | ‘Martelly ne peut pas détruire des maisons qu’il n’a pas construites’

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)

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U.N. Uses Private Military and Security Contractors

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.

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Haiti’s Puppet Masters By Another Name | Les marionnettistes d’Haïti par un autre nom

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)

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Suspected ‘Thieves’ Lynched In Port-au-Prince. Why? | Présumés ‘voleurs’ lynchés à Port-au-Prince. Pourquoi?

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)

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Radio Monopole Burned to the Ground: Arson Suspected | L’incendie de la radio Monopole, un acte d’origine criminelle?

By Joseph Serizier (with kft, gp), AlterPresse | Translation by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Radio Monopole, in Haiti’s city of Cayes, was burned to the ground early in the morning of June 27. In an interview, the CEO Herold Zamor said he had been openly criticized by highly placed people in the government and hypothesized that the fire was an act of arson. (English | French)

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Subsidizing Haitian Farmers Into Chemical Dependency

By Staff (TB), Haiti Libre | Commentary by Dady Chery, Haiti Chery. Local importers of fertilizers and the Haitian government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Monday, June 25, 2012, to fix a bag of nitrogenous fertilizer at $21 and sulfate fertilizer at $13. Chemical fertilizer is cheap now that it is subsidized. After the native strains of rice, corn, and other crops vanish, the fertilizer will cost its full price.

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