NewsTrust - Haiti - Most Recent Stories

Haitian Premier Says Loss of Support Led Him to Quit - New York Times

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 04:56:55 -0800

New York Times - Feb. 26 - BBC NewsHaitian Premier Says Loss of Support Led Him to QuitNew York TimesThe prime minister of Haiti, whose abrupt resignation on Friday threw the country into political turmoil once again, said he knew his job was finished when he called cabinet ministers to a meeting a day earlier: None showed up.Setback for HaitiMiamiHerald.comHaiti Without a Prime Minister Again: Is This Reconstruction or 'Deconstruction'?TIME (blog)Haitian president Michel Martelly promises to act quickly after prime minister ...Boston HeraldBusinessWeek -The Associated Pressall 450 news articles »

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Haiti: WikiLeaks Cables Expose How U.S. Blocked Aristide's Return After 2004 Coup

Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Aug. 11 (Investigative Report) - A new exposé on Haiti reveals how the United States led a vast international campaign to prevent former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from returning to his country while he was exiled in South Africa. It’s part of a series of reports by The Nation magazine and the Haitian weekly Haïti Liberté that draw from almost 2,000 U.S. diplomatic cables on Haiti released by WikiLeaks. The cables show that high-level U.S. and U.N. officials coordinated a politically motivated prosecution of Aristide to prevent him from "gaining more traction with the Haitian population and returning to Haiti."

NewsTrust Rating: 4.2 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Clinton Foundation Accused of Sending Haiti Shoddy Trailers Found Toxic After Katrina

Tue, 12 Jul 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Jul. 12 (News Report) - A new exposé in The Nation magazine reveals that trailers the Clinton Foundation donated to post- earthquake Haiti to use as temporary classrooms — and to double as hurricane shelters — are plagued by mold, shoddy construction. In at least one case, an air quality test revealed worrying levels of formeldahyde. The trailers were built by the same company that is being sued in the United States for providing formeldahyde-laced trailers to displaced residents after Hurricane Katrina. We speak with the journalists who broke this story, Isabel Macdonald and Isabeau Doucet. “What does it say about the reconstruction efforts in Haiti if the very first project approved by the commission that is supposed to ensure accountability and transparency in Haiti's rebuilding passes this kind of project and Bill Clinton himself has his hands all over it?,” says Macdonald. “He is the co-chair of this commission that is supposed to ensure Haiti is built back better.”

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Leaked WikiLeaks Cable: 2005 Democracy Now! Report on Haiti Killings Irked U.S. Embassy

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez - Jun. 24 (News Report) - Democracy Now! is mentioned in a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks that cites our 2005 report on a deadly raid in the poor neighborhood of Cité Soleil by United Nations forces. “You accurately reported on what was going on and the embassy was alarmed by it,” says our guest, longtime Haiti correspondent Dan Coughlin. “What they were upset about is there wasn’t PR push back on Democracy Now! by the U.N.” Another cable shows U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called embassies around the world to tell them to “get the narrative right” with editors and fight negative portrayals of U.S. deployment in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. [includes rush transcript]

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Haiti: Leaked Cables Expose U.S. Suppression of Min. Wage, Election Doubts and Elite's Private Army

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Juan Gonzalez, Amy Goodman - Jun. 24 (News Report) - Drawing on almost 2,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables on Haiti released by WikiLeaks, a partnership between The Nation magazine and the Haitian weekly, Haïti Liberté, exposes new details on how Fruit of the Loom, Hanes and Levi’s worked with the United States to block an increase in the minimum wage in the hemisphere's poorest nation, how business owners and members of the country's elite used Haiti's police force as their own private army after the 2004 U.S.-backed coup that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and how the United States, the European Union and the United Nations supported Haiti’s recent presidential and parliamentary elections, despite concerns over the exclusion of Haiti's largest opposition party, Lavalas, the party of Aristide. We speak with the reports' authors, longtime Haiti correspondent Dan Coughlin and Haïti Liberté editor, Kim Ives.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

WikiLeaks Haiti: Cable Depicts Fraudulent Haiti Election

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Nation - By Dan Coughlin, Kim Ives - Jun. 10 (News Report) - Confirming what Haitians already knew, a WikiLeaks document shows how US and international donors staged the phony presidential election.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average - 3 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

WikiLeaks Cables Reveal "Secret History" of U.S. Bullying in Haiti at Oil Companies' Behest

Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez - Jun. 03 (News Report) - The Nation magazine, in partnership with the Haitian weekly newspaper, Haïti Liberté, has launched a series of reports based on more than 19,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. Called "The PetroCaribe Files," the series begins with an exposé of how the United States—with pressure from Exxon and Chevron—tried to interfere with an oil agreement between Haiti and Venezuela that would save Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, $100 million per year. "It is really amazing to see an ambassador pushing around a president, and all his officials telling them what to do, trying to tell them what Haiti's interests are. It is the epitome of arrogance," says the report’s co-author, Kim Ives. We are also joined by veteran Haiti correspondent, Dan Coughlin.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average - 8 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

WHO report finds rich and poor nations now battle all kinds of diseases

Tue, 17 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Guardian - May. 17 - Progress has been made on key MDG health targets, but non-infectious diseases have spread to developing countriesThe world is experiencing a change in the geographic distribution of diseases. Traditionally, infectious diseases, which claim the lives of so many children, have affected poor countries and non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, cardiac ailments and cancer, have plagued rich countries.But the latest statistics released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday show that the income level of nations is no longer so important, and that all countries now face the burden of both kinds of diseases.Up to now, non-communicable diseases tended to be identified as the ills of opulence, limited to high-income countries, WHO's director of health statistics and informatics, Ties Boerma, told IPS.However, due to changes caused by the ageing population, improvements brought about by the global effort to meet the millennium development goals (MDGs), changes in birthrates and other factors, developing countries are now also fighting non-infectious diseases, he said.Boerma noted that the phenomenon began in urban areas of developing nations, among the most highly educated population groups, but it is now expanding rapidly. That was one of the central conclusions reached by WHO experts on the basis of the World Health Statistics 2011 report published on Friday.The study confirms that important progress has been made in improving the main health indicators, fighting poverty, bolstering gender equality and education, and moving towards the other goals outlined in the eight MDGs, which were agreed by the international community in the 2000 UN general assembly and have a 2015 deadline, Boerma said.Over the past 10 years, the rate of improvement of infant and maternal mortality rates – key MDG targets – has been twice as fast as progress made in the 1990s.Many countries are still lagging, some of them considerably, which means a huge effort is needed over the next five years to meet the MDGs, Boerma said. Nevertheless, the rate of progress is speeding up overall, he added.In the case of child mortality, the world is only halfway to the MDG target, while in the case of maternal mortality, the world is only one-third of the way there, the WHO expert said.The question of infant mortality will be evaluated again in September, when WHO and Unicef, the UN children's fund, release new statistics. For now, "we are still standing at 8.1 million" children under five who died in 2009, Boerma said, compared with 12.4 million in 1990.With respect to the situation in the Americas, he said the statistics show that "very good progress" has been made in many countries.In Brazil, Argentina and Chile, for example, "there have been steady but relatively fast declines in child mortality, and coverage intervention is high. And they also reduced the inequity between the poorest and the richest. Brazil has been a very good case study of where the poorest have benefited," he said, adding that Mexico has also progressed.At the other extreme, of course, is Haiti, he said, adding that the health indicators are still worrying in countries like Bolivia and Peru, which have made some advances but "still have a much longer way to go".Boerma cited the case of Cuba, pointing out that although it is not a rich country, it "spends quite a lot on health" and does so "in a very equitable way."Everybody has (free) access to health services," he said. "So in terms of life expectancy it ranks quite high and it has low child mortality and high coverage of intervention. So it is very successful in reaching the whole population and getting good value" for its investment, he added.The expert noted that the US "is not at the top" in terms of health statistics in the Americas. He said: "They are at the top when it comes to the amount of money they spend on health. But they are not at the top in terms of getting good results for their investments in health services."One reason," he said, "may be that coverage of the whole population is not so good. So much of the expenditure goes to relatively expensive curative interventions or interventions that benefit a smaller proportion of the population."The WHO study reported that average global life expectancy rose from 64 years in 1990 to 68 in 2009. In poor countries, the average is 56 years, while it has climbed to 80 years in wealthy countries.Life expectancy for women is five years longer on average than for men. That difference has held fairly steady, between four and five years, over the past two decades.The WHO figures show there is still a huge gap in health spending between low and high-income countries, averaging an annual $32 per capita in the former and $400 per capita in the latter.The study reports that high-income countries have, per capita, 10 times more doctors, 12 times more nurses and midwives and 30 times more dentists, on average, than low-income countries.HealthWorld Health OrganisationAids and HIVMillennium development goalsInfant mortalityMaternal healthMaternal mortalityUnited StatesBrazilArgentinaCubaBoliviaPeruHaitiUnited Nationsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

NewsTrust Rating: 3.8 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

“Sing Your Song”: Harry Belafonte on Art & Politics, Civil Rights & His Critique of President Obama

Mon, 16 May 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Harry Belafonte - May. 16 (Interview) - Legendary musician, actor, activist and humanitarian Harry Belafonte joins us for the hour to talk about his battle against racism, his mentor Paul Robeson, the power of music to push for political change, his close relationship with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the U.S. role in Haiti

NewsTrust Rating: 4.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Haitians Forced Out of Tents to Homes Just as Precarious

Sun, 24 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

New York Times - By Randal C. Archibold - Apr. 24 (News) - More than half of the Haitians driven into camps by the 2010 earthquake have moved out, but most of them appear to have been forced out or to have left to escape crime and living conditions.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Obamas Donated 14% of Their Income to Charity in 2010

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 00:00:00 -0700

The Chronicle of Philanthropy - By Lisa Chiu - Apr. 19 (News Report) - President Obama and his wife, Michelle, donated 14 percent of their income to charity in 2010, according to the couple’s 2010 tax return. The couple, which reported an adjusted gross income of $1.7-million in 2010, gave $245,075 to 36 charities.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.5 average - 7 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Using Tech To Document Haiti's Rape Epidemic

Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Wired - By Arikia Millikan - Mar. 31 (News Report) - While the UN has reported that about 50 percent of women living in Haiti’s shantytowns have been raped or sexually assaulted, documenting the individual events is a trying process. Victims will often not come forward for fear of incurring additional violence and ostracism within their communities, or out of frustration with the legal system. A medical certificate must be issued within 72 hours of the rape in for legal action to proceed, but they are only issued in a few hospitals and could take days to obtain. Many rape cases occur in Internally Displaced Persons camps, where it is especially difficult to identify and locate perpetrators — whose conviction, ultimately, is unlikely.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Haitians Deported From the U.S. Held in “Absolutely Horrific” Conditions

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Mar. 30 (News Report) - The United States resumed the deportation of Haitians back to Haiti in January even as the country remains ravaged by an earthquake and cholera epidemic. In February, one of 27 Haitians deported and sent directly to a Haitian detention center died of cholera-like symptoms. Citing inhumane conditions, the Center for Constitutional Rights has called for the Obama administration to extend the Temporary Protected Status for Haitian immigrants in the United States. Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman recently spoke with CCR’s Laura Raymond in Port-au-Prince. “The walls of the detention center here were covered in feces and vomit, and the bathrooms weren’t working, so men had to go to the bathroom in trash bags. And these conditions, during a cholera epidemic, are literally deadly,” Raymond says.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.9 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Long Night’s Journey into Day: Democracy Now!’s Exclusive Interview of Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Tue, 22 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Mar. 22 (News Report) - Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family returned to Haiti last week for the first time since a 2004 U.S.-backed coup forced him out of office. A 2005 U.S. State Department cable recently released by the online whistleblowing website WikiLeaks recounts how U.S. and French diplomats threatened to block several Caribbean countries and South Africa’s seating on the U.N. Security Council, unless South Africa kept Aristide in exile. This time, President Obama called South African President Jacob Zuma to tell him not to fly the Aristides home to Haiti. South Africa refused to comply. In a _Democracy Now!_ broadcast exclusive, Amy Goodman was there on Aristide’s flight from exile. Today, part two of her conversation on the flight with Aristide as the plane approached Haiti. [includes rush transcript]

NewsTrust Rating: 3.3 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Former President Aristide On His Party’s Exclusion from Haiti’s Election: “Exclusion is the Problem, Inclusion is the Solution”

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Mar. 21 (News Report) - In this broadcast exclusive, _Democracy Now!_ follows former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide flight’s out from South Africa and his historic return to Haiti after seven years of exile. Aristide returned two days before a delayed presidential run-off election was held on Sunday between pop star Michel Martelly and former First Lady Mirlande Manigat. Special thanks to Hany Massoud and Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Nicole Salazar, K.K. Kean and Kim Ives.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Democracy Now! Exclusive Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide: If Haiti’s Military is Restored, “We Are Headed Back to Misery”

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Mar. 21 (Interview) - Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family were flown on Friday by the South African government back to their home in Haiti after seven years in exile. Just before their journey, President Obama called South African President Jacob Zuma to try to prevent the trip. But the South African Government said it would not bow to pressure, so the Aristides boarded the flight in Johannesburg on Thursday night. _Democracy Now!’s_ Amy Goodman was the only reporter to join them on the journey. This is part one of our global broadcast exclusive conversation with Aristide as he flew over the Atlantic Ocean, approaching Haiti. “If we decide to go back when we had an army of 7,000 soldiers controlling 40 percent of the national product that would mean we are headed back to misery, instead of doing something to move from that misery to poverty with dignity,” Aristide says.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Amy Goodman Reports From South Africa on Aristide’s Planned Return Trip to Haiti After Seven Years in Exile

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 00:00:00 -0700

Democracy Now - By Amy Goodman - Mar. 16 (News Report) - Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has decided to return to Haiti this week ahead of Sunday’s presidential runoff election. Aristide has lived in exile in South Africa since 2004, when he was ousted in a U.S.-backed coup. Despite U.S. pressure on the governments of Haiti and South Africa not to allow him to return, Aristide and his family are planning to leave on Thursday. Amy Goodman is in South Africa to cover Aristide's return trip to Haiti. She joins us from Johannesburg along with K.K., an award-winning filmmaker and a personal friend of Aristide.

NewsTrust Rating: Not rated yet - See Info » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

EXCLUSIVE: Authorities Search and Copy U.S. Journalist’s Notes, Computer and Cameras After Returning From Haiti Reporting Trip

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Democracy Now - By Brandon Jourdan, Catherine Crump, Amy Goodman - Feb. 15 (News Report) - Independent journalist Brandon Jourdan recently returned from Haiti after being on assignment documenting the rebuilding of schools in the earthquake-devastated country. However, when he returned to the United States, he was immediately detained after deboarding the plane by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He was questioned about his travels and had all of his documents, computer, phone and camera flash drives searched and copied. This is the seventh time Jourdan says he has been subjected to lengthy searches in five years, and has been told by officials that he is “on a list.” Jourdan joins us in our studio. Catherine Crump, a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, says that Jourdan is not the only one facing such treatment by the Obama administration. Crump says many journalists and lawyers who often work abroad have also experienced similar interrogations—and the ACLU believes the First and Fourth Amendments must be honored within U.S. airports.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.1 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Duvalier = Aristide?

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

FAIR - By Isabel Macdonald - Feb. 10 (Press Release) - some media accounts are expressing concern about Aristide's return, in effect equating him with the bloody Duvalier. USA Today columnist DeWayne Wickham wrote a piece on February 8 headlined "U.S. Meekly Allows Despots to Return to Haiti." Wickham recounted some of the horrors of Duvalier's reign of terror, but for some unfathomable reason decided that Aristide poses a comparable menace to Haiti: His return might "push Haiti closer to turmoil," and the two of them are "old troublemakers...returning at a time when Haiti's democracy is most vulnerable to the havoc they almost certainly will produce."

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Haiti allows ex-president's return

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:00:00 -0800

Aljazeera - Feb. 01 (News) - Aristide, who was Haiti's first democratically elected leader, said earlier this month he was ready to return to his homeland "today, tomorrow, at any time". Aristide is a former priest and liberation theologist who rose to become Haiti's first democratically elected president. He was overthrown in a coup, restored to power, then ousted again in 2004. His return was forced by the threat of a US military invasion; debate has raged for years over what role the US played in his departures.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average - 9 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Some See a Cash Motive in Duvalier’s Return

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Ginger Thompson - Jan. 21 (News Report) - Though Mr. Duvalier has long been accused of looting $300 million from Haiti before fleeing nearly 25 years ago, his lawyers and friends have said that much of his money was squandered on a lavish lifestyle of jewelry, chateaus, fancy cars and a very expensive divorce from his ex-wife.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Catastrophe on camera: Why media coverage of natural disasters is flawed

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

The Independent - By Patrick Cockburn - Jan. 20 (Comment) - The media generally assume that news of war, crime and natural disasters will always win an audience. "If it bleeds, it leads," is a well-tried adage of American journalism. Of the three categories, coverage of war has attracted criticism for its lies,

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Review » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

A Former Dictator Reappears in Haiti

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

New York Times - By Randal C. Archibold - Jan. 17 (News) - Haiti’s political crisis took a stunning turn on Sunday when Jean-Claude Duvalier, the dictator known as Baby Doc who was overthrown in 1986, arrived unexpectedly in the capital from exile in France.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.6 average - 5 Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

'Baby Doc' Duvalier back in Haiti after long exile

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

palmbeachpost.com - By Jacob Kushner - Jan. 16 (News) - Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned Sunday to Haiti nearly 25 years after a popular uprising against his brutal dictatorship forced him into exile, The Duvaliers tortured and killed their political opponents, ruling in an atmosphere of fear and repression ensured by the bloody Tonton Macoute, their feared secret police force.

NewsTrust Rating: 4.0 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer

Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier surprises Haiti with return

Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:00:00 -0800

GlobalPost - Jan. 16 (News) - Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, a former dictator, mysteriously returned to Haiti Sunday for the first time since he was deposed in a coup 25 years ago.

NewsTrust Rating: 3.7 average (not enough reviews) - See Reviews » - Review It Visit NewsTrust | About | Sign Up | Disclaimer