Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Haiti
Newsline: Haitian lawyer questions US ambassador
A top Haitian lawyer is perplexed by U.S. Ambassador Kenneth H. Merten, who has stoked controversy over whether Haitian President Michel Martelly holds U.S. citizenship in violation of Haiti’s constitution. Stanley Gaston, president of the Port-au-Prince Bar Association, questioned why Mr. Merten invoked U.S. privacy laws when he discussed Mr. Martelly’s citizenship at a news conference with the Haitian president last week. “Listen to me good,” Mr. Gaston told reporters in the Haitian capital. “If President Martelly is not an American citizen, then the United States doesn’t have to go into this debate at all.” At last week’s news conference, Mr. Merten said: “President Martelly is not American. He is Haitian.” The ambassador, however, also appeared to obfuscate matters by adding that U.S. privacy laws are “very strict.” “I don’t have the right to discuss the file, whether they are a president or one of my friends, without the permission of the person concerned,” Mr. Merten was quoted as saying. His reference to a “file” was not explained. A Haitian parliamentary commission is investigating allegations that Mr. Martelly might hold dual U.S.-Haitian citizenship or might have renounced his Haitian citizenship before he ran for president last year. In either case, he would be ineligible to hold his office. Before he ran for president, Mr. Martelly was an entertainer who frequently performed in Miami. He owns a house in Palm Beach, Fla.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/20/embassy-row-lawyer-questions-ambassado/
Newsline: Sean Penn made ambassador for Haiti
Sean Penn was officially made an ambassador at large for Haiti for his relief work for the country, still reeling from the devastating earthquake two years ago. Penn was offered the job by the Haitian foreign minister Laurent Lamothe at the Cinema for Peace benefit at the Montage Hotel in Beverly Hills. “I do accept,” Penn said, adding it would be useful to “change being called hey you (bleep), to hey Mr. Ambassador!”
http://dailycaller.com/2012/01/16/sean-penn-made-ambassador-for-haiti/
Newsline: Haitian Embassy Agent in TurksCaicos Denies Involvement in Human Trafficking
An agent for the Haitian embassy in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) was forced to deny allegations that he and the Haitian government would be involved in human trafficking. These accusations are coming from the local Haitian community in TCI who also would allege that the embassy agent, Donald Metellus, would be a participant in the victimization of children born in TCI to Haitian nationals. Metellus claims that persons in the TCI Haitian community are trying to ruin his reputation. “The allegation are as quoted by him that I have being taking money from the Haitian Government on behalf of the illegal Haitians who migrate to the Turks and Caicos Islands by boats on several occasions, to feed them; and also accused me of being dishonest and saying that I have also being paying the TCI Immigration authorities not to issue documents to Haitian children who born in this territory…” Metellus says he has been assisting TCI immigration officials and at not time received money from the Haitian government of from the TCI government and also added that at time he has had to spend his own money to assist detained Haitians who arrive by boat. The TCI Ministry of Immigration and Border Control would be spending millions of dollars to repatriate Haitian migrants entering the country by illegal means.
http://defend.ht/news/articles/political/2411-haitian-embassy-agent-in-turkscaicos-accused-of-human-trafficking
Newsline: US diplomats question Haiti’s lawmaker elections
The legitimacy of Haiti’s election could be in question after officials released results showing 18 legislative candidates suddenly received thousands of votes and were named winners,U.S.diplomats said Friday. The U.S. Embassy said it was troubled by final election results released late Wednesday that gave victories to 17 Chamber of Deputies candidates and one Senate candidate who ended up with far more votes than they had when preliminary returns were announced April 4. “We have found no explanation for the reversals of 18 legislative races in the final results, which in all except two cases benefited the incumbent party” of outgoing President Rene Preval, the U.S. Embassy said in a statement. “Without a public explanation and review … the legitimacy of seating these candidates is in question.” The final numbers from the March 20 runoff elections also confirmed preliminary results that showed pop singer Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly won the presidential contest in a landslide over a former first lady. The embassy statement noted, for example, how a candidate from Preval’s Unity party was third in the preliminary results but finished first in the final results after collecting 55,000 votes.
Consular affairs: Canadian embassy in Haiti still closed for business
More than a year after the earthquake, the Canadian Embassy in Haiti is still not open to Haitians who want to visit relatives in Canada. “You have to get to the Dominican Republic,” said a Winnipeg woman trying to bring her mom in Haiti for a visit to get a break from the devastation caused by the earthquake and a more recent cholera outbreak. “The Brazilian embassy is open. The American embassy is open. The French embassy is open. The Canadian Embassy is not,” said the woman, who feared publicizing her name could hurt her mother’s chances of getting a visa. The Embassy of Canada in Port-au-Prince was damaged by the earthquake and services are extremely limited, the federal government says. “C.I.C. had to balance its processing capacity with its desire to help those with family in Canada,” a Citizenship and Immigration Canada spokeswoman said in an email. “We will continue to process family class applications from Haitians affected by the disaster as quickly as possible.” But Haitians looking for a visa have to submit their applications to other offices in the area. The closest is in the neighbouring Dominican Republic, a 10-hour bus ride from Port-au-Prince.
Newsline: Call for tenders to repair Canadian embassy in Haiti
It could cost as much as $5 million to fix the Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince, which was badly damaged in last month’s earthquake. Diplomats have been working out of makeshift offices in the garage and the few other parts of the building left untouched by the quake. Hasty renovations have already been undertaken to allow embassy staff to treat the enormous demand for entry into Canada.
Newsline: Haitians pack embassies in Port-au-Prince in hope of a visa
Despite baking heat, hundreds of Haitians queue up every day before embassies and consulates in Port-au-Prince, in the hope of getting a visa that will allow them to leave behind their ruined country. But only very few have a real chance of getting out of Haiti, an extremely poor nation devastated on January 12 by the quake whose death toll has already reached 170,000. People stand in line for hours, holding children by the hand and carrying documents, confident that their particular quake tragedy will move diplomatic officials. They often have nothing to back up a visa request beyond their wish for a better life. There are many such stories, but they are basically one and the same: those standing in line have relatives abroad that they would like to join, they lost their home in the quake, they have children who are nationals of another country, they lack opportunities within Haiti, they lost their job, the university they used to attend collapsed. Canadian and French diplomatic missions are among the favourites, due to the language factor. In Haiti, many people speak French as well as Creole. There are also long queues at the US Embassy, and at the Embassy of the Dominican Republic, which shares with Haiti the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
Newsline: WFP – Haiti is the most complex quake relief operation
Haiti will need more food – and for a much longer time than anticipated – World Food Programme executive director Josette Sheeran said in assessing the needs and conditions in Haiti. She said Haiti’s lack of infrastructure, which was made worse by the January 12 earthquake, has made the relief work a nightmare. The capital is still shaken by steady aftershocks, and buildings are unstable.
Newsline: Haitians crowd outside Canadian embassy
Crowds continue to gather outside the Canadian embassy in Port-au-Prince – Haitians hoping to escape the city more than a week after it was rocked by a massive earthquake. Authorities says a staggering two million people are homeless while thousands are still without a steady supply of food and water. Outside the capital, members of Canada’s Disaster Assistance Response Team are in the quake-ravaged town of Jacmel, while Canadian soldiers in the town of Leogane are continuing efforts to help.
Newsline: Haitian Embassy Mobilizes Grief Counselors
The Haitian Embassy in DC has mobilized a team of grief counselors to deal with the incredible loss and uncertainty. Every range of emotion imaginable is going through the Haitian embassy. The counselors are finding the staff and volunteers who are there to help those grieving are the very ones who are seeking counseling. The team has been talking with local Haitians who are dealing with enormous grief in the community and those right inside the embassy staff and volunteers.
