#Arielle Boisvert

[follow-up-news]

Haiti opened a new political chapter Thursday with the installation of a transitional council tasked to pick a new prime minister and prepare for eventual presidential elections, in hopes of quelling spiraling gang violence that has killed thousands in the Caribbean country. Ariel Henry, the prime minister who had been locked out of the country for the past couple of months due to the violence, cleared the way for the transition by presenting his resignation in a letter signed in Los Angeles. The document was released Thursday in Haiti on the same day as the new transitional council was sworn in to choose a new prime minister and Cabinet. Henry’s outgoing Cabinet chose Economy and Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as interim prime minister in the meantime. It was not immediately clear when the transitional council would name its own choice for interim prime minister. The council was officially sworn in at the National Palace in downtown Port-au-Prince early Thursday as the pop of sporadic gunfire erupted nearby, prompting some officials to look around the room. The council had been urged to seek a safer venue because gangs have launched daily attacks in the area.

[ausetkmt]

Haiti's top gang leader threatens politicians as fires break out in capital

PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 14 (Reuters) - A powerful gang leader in Haiti has issued a threatening message aimed at political leaders who would participate in a planned transition council, as fires broke out amid a fresh surge of violence in the Caribbean nation's capital.

Nearby countries bolstered their border security and withdrew staff from embassies while plans to send a long-awaited international security force remain uncertain.

After unpopular Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced on Monday he would step down once the council was in place, the capital, Port-au-Prince, was initially quieter, but violence appeared to be flaring up again as of late Wednesday, with a shootout in one neighborhood and an attack on the police academy early on Thursday.

A fire broke out at the main penitentiary, emptied of prisoners by armed men earlier this month. Thick black smoke earlier billowed out from the facility, but the fire appeared to be out by Thursday afternoon, when local media showed heavily armed police entering the partially blackened site filled with mounds of trash.

Reuters could not immediately establish if any people had remained in the jail or what sparked the blaze.

A police union said the national police chief Frantz Elbe's house had also been set on fire on Thursday. It did not say whether anyone had been hurt or give details on Elbe's whereabouts.

Haiti is struggling to resolve a long-running political and humanitarian crisis. Heavily armed gangs have taken over much of the capital, and rights groups have reported widespread killings, kidnappings and sexual violence. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

Henry, who was never elected, had been appointed prime minister by President Jovenel Moise in 2021, shortly before Moise was assassinated. Henry repeatedly postponed elections.

The comments from gang alliance head Jimmy "Barbeque" Cherizier were recorded on Wednesday and distributed via a rambling seven-minute audio message widely shared on Thursday morning on messaging platform WhatsApp.

"Don't you have any shame?" said Cherizier, directing his remarks at politicians who he said were looking to join the council. "You have taken the country where it is today. You have no idea what will happen," he added.

"I'll know if your kids are in Haiti, if your wives are in Haiti ... if your husbands are in Haiti," he said in an apparent threat to their families. "If you're gonna run the country all your family ought to be there."

In his remarks, Cherizier said the resignation of Henry was only "a first step in the battle" for the island nation of around 11 million.

Haiti's government again extended a nightly curfew through Sunday, in an order signed by acting Prime Minister Michel Boisvert. Henry has been stranded abroad since trying to return from a trip to Kenya to secure support for a security mission.

Regional bloc CARICOM has detailed the political parties and other social sectors set to make up the nine-member transition council that will take over from Henry. Negotiations over the council were brokered by Caribbean leaders and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but formal appointments are yet to be made.

On Wednesday, the leader of a party declined an offer of a voting member of the council, backing instead an alternate three-member transition council that would empower former coup leader Guy Philippe, who was recently imprisoned in the United States and is seeking an amnesty for gang leaders.

EMBASSY REDUCTIONS

With Haiti's political future in limbo and the timing of the long-delayed Kenyan-led security mission unclear, the already sparse international presence in Haiti has been further receding.

Canada announced a reduction to its embassy staff that will leave only essential employees in the country, and said the embassy was temporarily closed to the public. That follows similar drawdowns by the United Nations and at the U.S. embassy.

The country's main cargo port said that despite military reinforcements, it would not receive vessels until further notice, as it assesses damages to containers and infrastructure.

Major passenger cruise line Royal Caribbean Group also suspended for a week its regular visits to Labadee, its private resort in northern Haiti.

Fearing a spread of instability in the region, Britain said it was bolstering security in the Turks and Caicos Islands, an overseas territory, as did the governor of the U.S. state of Florida. The Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispanolia with Haiti, closed its shared border with Haiti last year and has regularly deported Haitians.

The U.S. southeast coast guard said, "At this time, irregular migration flows through the Caribbean remain low."

Dominican media reported that aviation authorities in a press conference rejected a U.N. statement claiming that an airbridge would be set up from the country to bring humanitarian aid to Haiti, maintaining the airspace would remain closed.

Aid group Mercy Corps said Port-au-Prince residents were being reduced to "forced nomads," seeking refuge from shootings in temporary shelters with family or strangers and battling constant uncertainty, food shortages, trauma, illness and overcrowding.

Marie Love Elucien, 25, who lost her home and shop due to gangs, told Mercy Corps that she was most afraid for her young daughter: "I'm worried she's going to have a fit and become paralyzed because every time she hears the shots she jumps and screams.

"She cries incessantly and no one can touch her; she becomes hysterical and uncontrollable," she said.

More than 360,000 people are internally displaced in Haiti, according to U.N. estimates.

Gina Antoine, a 43-year-old pregnant mother of three, told Mercy Corps that she was exhausted from moving between neighborhoods and could not run anymore.

"We face inhumane situations daily, walking among corpses. Gangs can attack at any moment," she said. "I have nowhere else to go. I wish everything could return to normal."

[gacmediadaily]

Jill Wagner has booked another holiday movie for Great American Family.

The star of A Merry Christmas Wish and Christmas Miracle For Daisy will join Paul Greene (I’m Glad It’s Christmas, When Calls the Heart) in the new original movie Bringing Christmas Home. The flick will premiere as part of the network’s annual Great American Christmas franchise, which returns October 20 with original movie premieres Saturdays and Sundays.

In Bringing Christmas Home, retired military officer, now Military History professor, Caroline Upton (Wagner) is enlisted to assist antiques store owner, Russell Carlisle (Greene) in finding the family of WWII Army officer Orin Newton before Christmas with the hope of returning precious personal artifacts – Orin’s dress uniform, medals, and a stack of love letters from his beloved Alice who waits for him back home. Epaulettes and insignia provide initial clues, though the search seems to dead end when Caroline discovers Orin was captured and listed as MIA. Caroline and Russell then search the love letters for clues as to what happened to Orin and whether he ever made it home to Alice.

Executive producers of Bringing Christmas Home are Wagner, Greene, Brad Krevoy, Amy Krell, Lorenzo Nardini, Wagner, Mike Rohl, Jameson Parker, and Susie Belzberg Krevoy. Arielle Boisvert produces. Anthony Epp, Doran S. Chandler, and Bradley Goodman are Supervising Producers.

Mike Rohl directs Bringing Christmas Home from an original screenplay written by Casie Tabanou and Alison Spuck.

[keynewssuriname]

Overgangsraad neemt roer over na aftreden Haïtiaanse premier Henry

De Haïtiaanse premier Ariel Henry heeft formeel zijn aftreden aangekondigd. In een kort schrijven, gedateerd van 24 april en afkomstig uit Los Angeles, bevestigt hij zijn vertrek. De brief is donderdag via sociale media door zijn regering verspreid. Henry verbleef sinds eind februari in Puerto Rico, gedwongen door omstandigheden. Twee weken geleden kondigde hij al aan dat hij zijn functie zou neerleggen zodra een overgangsraad en een interim-premier zouden worden benoemd. Dit voorstel voor een tijdelijke regering kwam van de Caribische gemeenschap Caricom. De overgangsraad, bestaande uit negen leden, wordt vandaag beëdigd. Voormalig minister van Financiën, Patrick Boisvert, begint direct als tijdelijke premier van Haïti. De overgangsraad heeft een mandaat tot 7 februari 2026. Tegen die tijd moet er een nieuwe premier zijn benoemd, moeten er verkiezingen zijn gehouden en een nieuwe kiescommissie worden samengesteld. De raad zal ook helpen bij het uitstippelen van de plannen voor een nieuwe regering. In zijn brief beschrijft Henry het aftreden van zijn regering als een "patriottische daad". Hij benadrukt dat zijn regering de natie heeft gediend in moeilijke tijden. Haïti kampt al geruime tijd met bendegeweld en armoede. Eerder dit jaar escaleerde het geweld: gewapende bendes namen de internationale luchthaven over, bestormden de grootste gevangenis van het land en stichtten brand in onder andere politiebureaus en ziekenhuizen in de hoofdstad Port-au-Prince. Op dat moment was Henry in Kenia om een deal te sluiten over een VN-missie die het bendegeweld zou aanpakken. De premier kon daarna niet terugkeren naar zijn land omdat bendeleiders zijn onmiddellijke vertrek eisten. De situatie in Haïti blijft chaotisch. Meer dan 100.000 inwoners zijn sinds het geweld de hoofdstad ontvlucht. Velen verblijven in provisorische schuilplaatsen met een tekort aan water, voedsel en medicijnen. Bendes hebben controle over de aanvoerlijnen van hulpgoederen en hebben Port-au-Prince vrijwel volledig afgesloten, zowel over land als via zee en lucht. Dit meldde de directeur van UNICEF deze week. Read the full article

[newstfionline]

Friday, April 26, 2024

Campus Protests Over Gaza Intensify Amid Pushback by Universities and Police (NYT) A wave of pro-Palestinian protests spread and intensified on Wednesday as students gathered on campuses around the country, in some cases facing off with the police, in a widening showdown over campus speech and the war in Gaza. University administrators from Texas to California moved to clear protesters and prevent encampments from taking hold on their own campuses as they have at Columbia University, deploying police in tense new confrontations that already have led to dozens of arrests. At the same time, new protests continued erupting in places like Pittsburgh and San Antonio. Students expressed solidarity with their fellow students at Columbia, and with a pro-Palestinian movement that appeared to be galvanized by the pushback on other campuses and the looming end of the academic year. The demonstrations spread overseas as well, with students on campuses in Cairo, Paris and Sydney, Australia, gathering to voice support for Palestinians and opposition to the war.

Trump 2.0: How some US allies are preparing for a second term (Reuters) Germany is waging a charm offensive inside the Republican Party. Japan is lining up its own Trump whisperer. Mexican government officials are talking to Camp Trump. And Australia is busy making laws to help Trump-proof its U.S. defense ties. Everywhere, U.S. allies are taking steps to defend or advance their interests in the event former President Donald Trump returns to power in November elections, an even chance based on recent opinion polls in swing states. They want to avoid the cold slap that Trump’s “America First” policies dealt them last time around, which included trade wars, a shakeup of security alliances, an immigration crackdown and the withdrawal from a global climate accord.

Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns, allowing U.N. force, elections (Washington Post) Embattled Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has submitted his resignation, clearing the way for a new government to accept the deployment of a U.N.-approved security force and lead this beleaguered Caribbean nation to elections. Henry is to be succeeded by Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert, who has been leading the government since Henry left the country on a diplomatic trip two months ago. Boisvert is to work with a panel of representatives from several political parties until a new government is appointed. Henry, Haiti’s de facto leader since the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021, proved ineffective at reducing endemic gang violence or restoring order in the hemisphere’s poorest nation. Haiti’s presidency has been vacant since Moïse’s still-unsolved killing; its national assembly empty since the last senators’ terms expired in early 2023. Henry has been locked out of the country since February, when a coalition of armed gangs shut the airport down.

Rishi Sunak vows to boost UK defence spending (BBC) On Tuesday, U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he would be putting the British defense (or “defence,” in this case) industry on a “war footing” by raising military spending to 2.5% of GDP by the end of the decade. “In a world that is the most dangerous it has been since the end of the Cold War, we cannot be complacent,” Sunak said in a statement. He described the new defense spending goal as the “biggest strengthening of our national defense for a generation.” The new target will cost the U.K. about 75 billion pounds ($93 billion) over the next six years. He also announced a 500 million pound ($620 million) aid package for Ukraine.

Portugal’s democracy turns 50 (Reuters) Thousands are expected to take to the streets to celebrate the 50th anniversary on Thursday of Portugal’s “Carnation Revolution” that toppled the longest fascist dictatorship in Europe and ushered in democracy. Antonio Oliveira Salazar ruled Portugal from 1932 to 1968, but the regime lasted for a further six years under successor Marcelo Caetano, only crumbling on April 25, 1974. The almost bloodless revolution was conducted by a group of junior army officers who wanted democracy and to put an end to long-running wars against independence movements in the African colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau. The military coup by the “April’s Captains” group touched off rapid decolonisation, ending more than five centuries of Portuguese empire in Africa.

Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by US to hit Russian-held areas, officials say (AP) Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday. Long sought by Ukrainian leaders, the new missiles give Ukraine nearly double the striking distance—up to 300 kilometers (190 miles)—that it had with the mid-range version of the weapon that it received from the U.S. last October. For months, the U.S. resisted sending Ukraine the long-range missiles out of concern that Kyiv could use them to hit deep into Russian territory, enraging Moscow and escalating the conflict. That was a key reason the administration sent the mid-range version, with a range of about 160 kilometers (roughly 100 miles), in October instead.

A Gen Z Resistance, Cut Off From Data Plans (NYT) In the night, the mountain air not quite chill enough to still the insects, young people gathered around a glow. The light attracting them was not a phone screen, that electric lure for people almost everywhere, but a bonfire. From around the blaze, music radiated. Fingers strummed a guitar. Voices layered lyrics about love, democracy and, most of all, revolution. Moths courted the flame, sparking when they veered too close, then swooning to their deaths. For months now, these hills of Karenni State in eastern Myanmar have been severed from modern communications. The military junta that seized power in a coup three years ago, plunging the country into civil war, has cut off the populations most opposed to its brutal rule. In these resistance strongholds, where people from around the nation have congregated, there is almost no internet, cell service or even electricity. Locals play music to pass the time.

Syria’s child soldiers (Daraj) After more than a decade of war in Syria, where some 90% of the population now lives in poverty, children are working as fighters for the armed factions to help feed their families. To feed his family, Marwan Qaiquni had no other option but to have his two children, Rabah and Shehadeh, to work as day soldiers with the armed opposition groups in northwestern Syria. Rabah and Shehadeh, who earn up to $4 a day, guard Turkish military points or are stationed on the first and second front lines. The brothers are among hundreds of children and adults who have resorted to such work in the war-torn country in recent years. A UN report last June said that armed groups have recruited children throughout the conflict and civil war in Syria. And that the number of children recruited has risen steadily over the past three years—from 813 in 2020 to 1,296 in 2021 and 1,696 in 2022. These children are exposed to harsh and traumatic experiences that affect their psychological and social development, said psychological researcher Ahmed Jumaa.

Signs Suggest That Invasion of Rafah Is All but Inevitable (NYT) After weeks of delays, negotiations and distractions, Israel appeared to hint this week that its assault of Rafah—a city teeming with displaced persons above ground and riddled with Hamas tunnels below—was all but inevitable. In what some analysts and residents of the city saw as a sign of preparations for an invasion, an Israeli military official on Tuesday gave some details that include relocating civilians to a safe zone a few miles away along the Mediterranean coast. Just a day earlier, Israeli warplanes bombed Rafah, increasing fears among some of the civilians sheltering there that a ground assault would soon follow. Such indicators that Israel may be preparing an invasion, said Marwan Shaath, a 57-year-old resident of Rafah, “are terrifying and mean they may really be close to starting an operation.” “Our bags have been packed for months now for the time of the evacuation.” Israel insists that a push into Rafah is necessary for achieving its goals of eliminating the militants sheltering in a network of tunnels beneath the city, capturing or killing Hamas leaders presumed to be there and ensuring the release of the remaining hostages captured during the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.

Hamas official says group would lay down its weapons if a two-state solution is implemented (AP) A top Hamas political official told The Associated Press the Islamic militant group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and that it would lay down its weapons and convert into a political party if an independent Palestinian state is established along pre-1967 borders. The comments by Khalil al-Hayya in an interview Wednesday came amid a stalemate in months of cease-fire talks. The suggestion that Hamas would disarm appeared to be a significant concession by the militant group officially committed to Israel’s destruction. But it’s unlikely Israel would consider such a scenario. It has vowed to crush Hamas following the deadly Oct. 7 attacks that triggered the war, and its current leadership is adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state on lands Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast war.

Climate change is bringing malaria to new areas. In Africa, it never left (AP) When a small number of cases of locally transmitted malaria were found in the United States last year, it was a reminder that climate change is reviving or migrating the threat of some diseases. But across the African continent malaria has never left, killing or sickening millions of people. Globally, malaria cases are on the rise. Infections increased from 233 million in 2019 to 249 million in 85 countries in 2022. Malaria deaths rose from 576,000 in 2019 to 608,000 in 2022, according to the World Health Organization. Of the 12 countries that carry about 70% of the global burden of malaria, 11 are in Africa and the other is India. Children under 5 constituted 80% of the 580,000 malaria deaths recorded in Africa in 2022.

Compassion is making a comeback in America (Vox) In 2011, a landmark study led by researcher Sara Konrath examined the trends in those surveys. The analysis revealed that American empathy had plummeted: The average US college student in 2009 reported feeling less empathic than 75 percent of students three decades earlier ... A few months ago, she and her colleagues published an update to their work: They found that empathy among young Americans is rebounding, reaching levels indistinguishable from the highs of the 1970s. For all their horrors, hard times can bring people together. In her beautiful book, A Paradise Built in Hell, Rebecca Solnit chronicles disasters including San Francisco’s 1906 and 1989 earthquakes, Hurricane Katrina, and 9/11. In the wake of these catastrophes, kindness ticked up, strangers stepping over lines of race and class to help one another. More recently, researchers chronicled a “pandemic of kindness,” as donations to charity and volunteering increased in the face of COVID-19.

[thebusinesspress]

Haiti Navigating Toward Stability: A New Prime Minister and Transitional Council

Port-au-Prince, Haiti has been grappling with unprecedented turmoil, where gang violence has wreaked havoc, leaving many grappling with the devastating aftermath. As Ariel Henry steps down from his role as prime minister, a new chapter unfolds for the resilient people of Haiti. With the installation of a transitional council, a beacon of hope emerges. Michel Patrick Boisvert, the Economy and…

[rzproduction]

Fleurs: Between Us Two from Math Grimard on Vimeo.

An experimental short film. ''Fleurs: Between Us Two'' opens a window into a relationship gone wrong as a young man calls for a tragic separation through the offer of an unexpected gift.

With Étienne Correia and Ariane Trépanier Voice over by Patrick Émannuel Abellard and Chanel Lallouz

Press: c-heads.com/2018/01/24/fleurs-us-two-experimental-short-film-relationship-gone-wrong/ tv.booooooom.com/2018/01/22/premiere-fleurs-between-us-two-matt-grimard/ ixdaily.com/grind/matt-grimard-us-two

Music by Dan Shure (Everything I Am - Kanye West, piano cover) Written and directed by Matt Grimard Cinematography: Ariel Methot Editing: Mathieu Grimard Graphic Design: Harrison Fun Stylist: Ariane Sylvain Set Design: Stéphanie L'Allier and Yola Van Leeuwenkamp and Mari Pasquette Makeup: Tania Guarnaccia Sound Design: François Bélanger @ Apollo Studio A.C.: Véronique Dagenais Set Photography: Samuel Boisvert Crew: Pierre-Luc Bouchard, Alix Lepage Produced by: Asmir Pervanic and Mathieu Grimard

Thanks to: Koma Post-Moderne Cinepool Apollo Studio Shed 401 Harrison Fun Agence acte 1 Dulcedo Management Agence Bridget Dechene Francis Desrosiers Lisa Arduini Jean-Pierre Demers Chanel Lallouz Cole Gurman Dominique Greffard Alessandra Rigano Juliette Leblanc Mathieu Arvisais Charles-Étienne Pascal

[netalkolemedia]

Ariel Henry mande Minis  finans lan poul pa retire yon goud nan kès ministè a bay CSPJ 

Nan yon korespondans Premye Minis Ariel Henry te voye bay Michel Patrick Boisvert, Minis Ekonomi ak Finans lan nan dat ki te 30 septanm 2022 a, Chèf gouvènman mande MEF pou li sispann debouse kòb nan benefis CSPJ, Paske konsèy la poko ka jistifye epi founi bon jan rapò yo.  Lokatè Primati a, nan korespondans li te adrese ak Minis Ekonomi ak Finans lan di otorizasyon ki te bay eksepsyonèlman…

[thecraggus]

Beneath its autotuned bubblegum pop Suicide Squad aesthetic, Disney's Descendants 3 (2019) is packing a surprisingly pointed critique of Trump era politics

Beneath its autotuned bubblegum pop Suicide Squad aesthetic, Disney's Descendants 3 (2019) packs a surprisingly pointed critique of Trump era politics #Review

Disney’s Descendants movies are big deals in the Craggus household, at least in the under-10 demographic where this latest instalment has been awaited with an eagerness that was only surpassed by me in relation to “Avengers: Endgame”. And like that ultimate crossover, “Descendants 3” sees heroes and villains old and new come together to face an existential threat to their universe, bringing the…

[winterfilmawards]

Sarah Deakins' "Yellow" is the color of fleeting moments that exist forever

Sarah Deakins' "Yellow" is the color of fleeting moments that exist forever @YellowTheFilm1 @sarahcdeakins

Sarah Deakins beautiful new short film Yellow is the story of connections among strangers; we effect and ripple through each others’ lives whether we are aware of it or not. Ten characters each experience a crossroads in their lives on a seemingly ordinary afternoon in an art gallery. Yellowis the first in a series of seven films, one for each color of the rainbow, each with a recurring theme of…

[ausetkmt]

Haiti crisis: What we know about the gang takeover that has killed dozens and displaced 15,000

Haiti is spiralling further into chaos after armed gang members freed thousands of prisoners, burned government buildings, and forced the prime minister out of the country.

Dozens of people are dead and roughly 15,000 have been forced to flee their homes due to gang raids, according to the Associated Press, with many now facing dwindling supplies of food and water.

The violence escalated on 29 February when Haiti’s powerful criminal gangs, which already controlled large parts of the economy and most of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, launched a series of attacks on police stations, prisons, and other government buildings.

With all the capital’s international airports now seized by gangs, prime minister Ariel Henry is trapped outside the country and facing both domestic and international pressure to resign.

The US has airlifted in extra military muscle to guard its embassy in Port-au-Prince, while Caribbean leaders are meeting in Jamaica to find a solution to the crisis.

So how exactly did this happen?

Former police officer Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier, who leads an alliance of armed groups in Haiti, gives a news conference in Port-au-Prince on 11 March, 2024

Gunfire, mass jailbreaks, and an absent prime minister

The heightened upheaval this month began while Prime Minister Ariel Henry was travelling to Kenya to push forward a United Nations deal that would bring 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti to help restore security.

On 28 February, leaders of Caricom — a trade bloc comprised of 15 Caribbean countries or territories — announced that Henry had pledged to hold elections by mid-2025, after promising and then failing to do so twice before.

We don’t know exactly why Haiti’s powerful criminal gangs chose that moment to strike. But one day later, they unleashed a wave of violence that killed at least four police officers and forced airports, businesses, and schools to close and numerous Haitians to flee their homes.

In a recorded video, gang leader and former police officer Jimmy Chérizier — known by his childhood nickname, “Barbecue” — declared that he planned to capture various government ministers and prevent Henry from entering the country.

“With our guns and with the Haitian people, we will free the country,” said Chérizier, who has previously claimed that he is a “revolutionary” rather than a mere crook.

Former police officer Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier, leader of the ‘G9’ coalition in Haiti

On Saturday night, gangs led a mass jailbreak at Haiti’s national penitentiary, reportedly releasing nearly all of its roughly 4,000 prisoners. Three people were found fatally shot outside the facility, while the other Port-au-Prince prison, which held 1,400 people, was also taken over.

Several prisoners and prison staff members were injured in the two raids, Haitian government officials said in less than reassuring statement.

“Our police officers, on the scene of several operations – facing the rampages of heavily armed criminals wanting at all costs to free people in custody, particularly for kidnapping, murder and other serious offenses, and not hesitating to execute civilians, burning and looting public and private property – thanks to various collusions, did not succeed in preventing the bandits from bringing out a large number of prisoners,” the statement read.

Only a small portion of inmates did not flee. Among them were reportedly the 18 Colombian mercenaries accused of orchestrating the assassination of a previous Haitian president, Jovenel Moïse, in 2021. Their attorney, Samuel Madistin, told The New York Times they remained in the prison out of fear for their lives.

Since Mr Moïse was killed, Haiti has faced widespread violence at the hands of gangs. According to a UN report, there were nearly 5,000 homicides in 2023 — twice as many as the prior year.

Haiti’s finance minister Michel Patrick Boisvert, who is acting prime minister while Henry is away, declared a state of emergency and imposed an evening curfew.

But by Sunday 10 March, the government was still struggling to quell the violence, with sporadic gunfire audible across Port-au-Prince while ordinary Haitians run low on basic supplies.

How did Haiti’s criminal gangs become so powerful?

On the afternoon of 13 November 2018, a police armoured vehicle drove into the La Saline neighbourhood of Port-au-Prince and unloaded its cargo of armed men, some of whom were wearing police uniforms.

What happened next was one of Haiti's worst massacres in decades. At least 71 people were killed, 11 raped, and 150 homes looted and destroyed, according to a report by human rights observers.

The leader of the slaughter, the report alleges, was Jimmy Chérizier – then a serving police officer, allegedly acting with the support of senior Haitian politicians who wanted to punish La Saline for its role in a huge wave of protests against then-President Moïse.

That was the first of many atrocities allegedly backed by Moïse's government, which experts say increasingly colluded with criminals to keep a lid on unrest.

"'Barbecue' is a Frankenstein['s monster] who has broken free from his master," Sorbonne University geographer Jean-Marie Theodat told AFP, a French news agency, on Sunday.

Haiti has long suffered from poverty and political stability. Founded in 1804 by Black revolutionaries who had broken the shackles of slavery, it was eventually forced at swordpoint to pay vast sums in compensation to French former slave-owners, creating a debt that would cripple its development for more than a century.

Haitian politicians have relied on armed gangs to enforce their rule since at least 1959, when the infamous dictator François "Papa Doc" Duvalier formed a paramilitary militia known as the Tonton Macoute – named after a mythological boogeyman.

The problem continued long after the Duvalier family were overthrown in 1986, as Haiti stumbled between military coups and foreign interventions.

In 1995 the Haitian military was disbanded after one coup too many, but that put thousands of armed men out of work while creating a power vacuum. When a rogue police official attempted another coup in 2001, it was armed civilians, not soldiers, that thwarted him.

Meanwhile, Haiti's position between Latin America and the US made it an attractive route for drug smugglers, creating a new line of commerce for the gangs.

Experts say that some progress was made under René Préval, the only Haitian leader to democratically win and complete two terms, who took a hard line on gangs.

But in 2010, Haiti was struck by a massive magnitude 7.0 earthquake that flattened Port-au-Prince, killing anything between 100,000 and 316,000 people. The Haitian economy was more or less destroyed, while thousands of former gang members escaped from jail.

Since then, democratic government has steadily crumbled in Haiti. Before his death, Moïse was accused of consolidating power and ruling by decree, repeatedly violating the constitution while refusing to step down at the end of his term.

While the reasons for his assassination remain murky, a New York Times investigation found evidence that he was preparing to name names about senior Haitian politicians and businessfolk involved in the drug trade.

For his part, Ariel Henry has repeatedly reneged on promises to hold elections, saying that gang violence would make it impossible to ensure that they are fair.

Hence, Haiti has been trapped in fiendish double bind. The United Nations has warned that security must improve before elections can be held. But the lack of elections has created a crisis of legitimacy that empowers and emboldens the gangs.

"For the last the three years, the gangs started to gain autonomy. And now they are a power unto themselves," University of Virginia professor Robert Fatton told AP.

Just ask Jimmy Chérizier, who gave an interview to AP earlier this year as he strolled through the slums of La Saline, flanked by armed guards and watched from above by a personal monitoring drone.

"The government of Ariel Henry is a de-facto government. It’s a government that has no legitimacy," he said. "I’m not a thief. I’m not involved in kidnapping. I’m not a rapist. I’m just carrying out a social fight."

What happens next?

Henry is currently stuck in the US territory of Puerto Rico, having been refused entry by the Dominican Republic (Haiti’s neighbour on the island of Hispaniola, which shares a land border with it).

Chérizier and other gang leaders are dead set on removing him, and have promised to temporarily stop the violence if he agrees to resign.

“We are going to call for a truce just to evaluate the situation,” Chérizier told ABC News. “Everywhere around Port-au-Prince that is currently blocked or inaccessible will be reopened and we will automatically stop the attacks on the police stations.”

A growing number of government officials within Haiti are also calling for Henry to resign, although according to the Associated Press he has rejected these calls.

On Monday US secretary of state Antony Blinken arrived in Jamaica for an urgent Caricom summit aimed at resolving the crisis. Whether Henry was allowed to attend this meeting is unknown.

One possible solution on the table: Henry could resign and be replaced by a transitional council, which would select an interim president and arrange the country’s first elections since 2016.

However, it’s hard to imagine how free and fair elections could take place under the current conditions of violence, in a country where armed groups have usurped such power from the government.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has approved an intervention plan that would send 1,000 Kenyan police officers to Haiti to help restore order. But this intervention faces several barriers.

For one, Kenya’s High Court has ruled it unconstitutional; for another, 1,000 police officers would not even replace the estimated 3,300 Haitian officers who have deserted since 2021.

The mission is also not very well funded: the US has pledged less than $200m, while Canada has said it will give $80m.

All of which leaves the future of Haiti, and the safety and prosperity of its people, severely in doubt.

[juno7haiti]

Ariel Henry a rencontré les membres du conseil d'administration de la BRH

.@DrArielHenry a rencontré les membres du conseil d'administration de la @BRHHaiti.-#Juno7 #J7Aout2021

Le premier ministre Ariel Henry a rencontré les membres du conseil d’administration de la BRH. Accompagné du ministre des Finances, Michel Patrick Boisvert, le premier ministre Ariel Henry s’est rendu, ce jeudi 26 juin, à la banque de la République d’Haïti (BRH)  pour rencontrer les membres du Conseil d’Administration de la banque centrale autour de l’évaluation de la situation économique et…

[uglyducklingpresse]

17 Years of 6x6 Poets

#1. Edmund Berrigan, Filip Marinovich, Sheila E. Murphy, Julien Poirier, Lev Rubinstein (tr. Matvei Yankelevich), Kathrine Sowerby   #2. John M. Bennett, Joel Dailey, Arkadii Dragomoshchenko (tr. Evgeny Pavlov with Benjamin Friedlander), Michael Ford, R. Cole Heinowitz, Genya Turovskaya   #3. John Coletti, Nathaniel Farrell, Eugene Ostashevsky, Elizabeth Reddin, Cedar Sigo, Samantha Visdaate   #4. Brandon Downing, W.B. Keckler, Anna Moschovakis, Dmitri Prigov (tr. Christopher Mattison), Aaron Tieger, Sam Truitt   #5. Micah Ballard, Mariana Ruiz Firmat, Frank Lima, Beth Murray, Philip Nikolayev, Keith Waldrop   #6. Carlos Blackburn, Joe Elliot, Arielle Greenberg, Mark Lamoreux, Alicia Rabins, Lewis Warsh   #7.David Cameron, Steve Dalachinsky, Joanna Fuhrman, Jason Lynn, Tomaž Šalamun (tr. Joshua Beckman), Jacqueline Waters   #8. Nicole Andonov, Jenna Cardinale, Arielle Guy, Yuko Otomo, Guillermo Juan Parra, Karen Weiser   #9. Jon Cone, Phil Cordelli, Dorothea Lasky, Julie Ritter, Laura Sims, Erica Weitzman   #10. Ilya Bernstein, Geoffrey Detrani, Paul Killebrew, Laura Solomon, Viktor Vida (tr. Ana Božičević), Dana Ward   #11. Sue Carnahan, C.S. Carrier, Christina Clark, a collaboration by Aaron McNally and Friedrich Kerksiek, Rick Snyder, James Wagner   #12. Guy R. Beining, Jibade-Khalil Huffman, Sawako Nakayasu, Cynthia Nelson, John Surowiecki, Novica Tadić (tr. Maja Teref & Steven Teref)   #13. Matthew Gavin Frank, George Kalamaras, Ann Lauterbach, Matthew Rohrer, Evan Willner, Lynn Xu   #14. Corina Copp, Randall Leigh Kaplan, Douglas Rothschild, Fred Schmalz, Lori Shine, Prabhakar Vasan   #15. Lawrence Giffin, David Goldstein, Anne Heide, Will Hubbard, Mikhail Lermontov (tr. Jerome Rothenberg and Milos Sovak), Emma Rossi   #16. Heather Christle, Amanda Deutch, Ossian Foley, John High, Anthony Madrid, Gretchen Primack   #17. James Copeland, Lucy Ives, Megan Kaminski, Mary Millsap, Zachary Schomburg & Mathias Svalina, Kevin Varrone   #18. Guy Bennett, Rebecca Guyon, Paul Hoover, Srečko Kosovel (tr. Ana Jelnikar and Barbara Siegel Carlson), Deborah Wardlaw Pattillo, Maureen Thorson   #19. Emily Carr, Julia Cohen, Natalie Lyalin, Lee Norton, Dan Rosenberg, G.C. Waldrep   #20. Emily Anicich, Billy Cancel, Michael Nicoloff, Frances Richard, Elizabeth Robinson, M. A. Vizsolyi   #21. Michael Barron, Julie Carr, Marosa di Giorgio (tr. Jeannine Marie Pitas), Farid Matuk, Amanda Nadelberg, Sara Wintz   #22. Lily Brown, George Eklund, Chris Hosea, Aaron McCollough, Ryan Murphy, Jennifer Nelson   #23. Miloš Djurdjević (tr. Tomislav Kuzmanović), James Hart III, Geoffrey Hilsabeck, Noelle Kocot, Aeron Kopriva, Maged Zaher   #24. Bill Cassidy, Helen Dimos, Pär Hansson (tr. Jennifer Hayashida & Tim Dinan), Aaron Kunin, Kyle Schlesinger, Rebecca Wolff   #25. Sherman Alexie, Noah Eli Gordon, Marina Kaganova, Karen Lepri, Fani Papageorgiou, Roger Williams   #26. Abraham Adams, Dot Devota, William Minor, Levi Rubeck, Martha Ronk, Steve Muhs   #27. Eric Amling, Antonio Gamoneda (tr. Sara Gilmore), Gracie Leavitt. Thibault Raoult, Marthe Reed, Judah Rubin   #28. Jon Curley, Katie Fowley, Dmitry Golynko, Dan Ivec, Alejandra Pizarnik (tr. Yvette Siegert), Matt Reeck   #29. Stephanie Anderson, Kate Colby, Steffi Drewes, Hugo Margenat (tr. by Vero González), Masin Persina, Adam Tobin   #30. Jon Boisvert, Ana Martins Marques (tr. Elisa Wouk Almino), Jeffrey Joe Nelson, Denise Newman, Anzhelina Polonskaya (tr. Andrew Wachtel), Hirato Renkichi (tr. Sho Sugita)   #31. Shane Anderson, Lewis Freedman, francine j harris, Carl Schlachte, Stacy Szymaszek, Sarah Anne Wallen   #32. James D. Fuson, Lyn Hejinian, Barbara Henning, Tony Iantosca, Uroš Kotlajić (tr. Ainsley Morse), Morgan Parker   #33. Amanda Berenguer (tr. Gillian Brassil & Alex Verdolini), Jeremy Hoevenaar, Krystal Languell, Holly Melgard, Marc Paltrineri, Cat Tyc   #34. Alex Cuff, Kristen Gallagher, s. howe, Aisha Sasha John, Claudia La Rocco, Grzegorz Wróblewski (tr. Piotr Gwiazda)   #35. Ted Dodson, Judith Goldman, Anna Gurton-Wachter, Kim Hunter, Katy Lederer, Bridget Talone   #36. Anselm Berrigan, Chia-Lun Chang, Cheryl Clarke, Lisa Fishman, Vasilisk Gnedov (tr. Emilia Loseva & Danny Winkler), Sarah Wang.

[artwalktv]

An experimental short film. ''Fleurs: Between Us Two'' opens a window into a relationship gone wrong as a young man calls for a tragic separation through the offer of an unexpected gift. With Étienne Correia and Ariane Trépanier Voice over by Patrick Émannuel Abellard and Chanel Lallouz Press: http://bit.ly/2Fdpre1 http://bit.ly/2CR0HTS http://bit.ly/2Fdprux *Berlin 2018 Lift-Off Film Festival online selection *Jersey City Popup Film Festival selection Music by Dan Shure (Everything I Am - Kanye West, piano cover) Written and directed by Matt Grimard Cinematography: Ariel Methot Editing: Mathieu Grimard Graphic Design: Harrison Fun Stylist: Ariane Sylvain Set Design: Stéphanie L'Allier and Yola Van Leeuwenkamp and Mari Pasquette Makeup: Tania Guarnaccia Sound Design: François Bélanger @ Apollo Studio A.C.: Véronique Dagenais Set Photography: Samuel Boisvert Crew: Pierre-Luc Bouchard, Alix Lepage Produced by: Asmir Pervanic and Mathieu Grimard Thanks to: Koma Post-Moderne Cinepool Apollo Studio Shed 401 Harrison Fun Agence acte 1 Dulcedo Management Agence Bridget Dechene Francis Desrosiers Lisa Arduini Jean-Pierre Demers Chanel Lallouz Cole Gurman Dominique Greffard Alessandra Rigano Juliette Leblanc Mathieu Arvisais Charles-Étienne Pascal

[jeng0312]

Fleurs: Between Us Two from Matt Grimard on Vimeo.

An experimental short film. ''Fleurs: Between Us Two'' opens a window into a relationship gone wrong as a young man calls for a tragic separation through the offer of an unexpected gift.

With Étienne Correia and Ariane Trépanier Voice over by Patrick Émannuel Abellard and Chanel Lallouz

Press: c-heads.com/2018/01/24/fleurs-us-two-experimental-short-film-relationship-gone-wrong/ tv.booooooom.com/2018/01/22/premiere-fleurs-between-us-two-matt-grimard/ ixdaily.com/grind/matt-grimard-us-two

*Berlin 2018 Lift-Off Film Festival online selection *Jersey City Popup Film Festival selection

Music by Dan Shure (Everything I Am - Kanye West, piano cover) Written and directed by Matt Grimard Cinematography: Ariel Methot Editing: Mathieu Grimard Graphic Design: Harrison Fun Stylist: Ariane Sylvain Set Design: Stéphanie L'Allier and Yola Van Leeuwenkamp and Mari Pasquette Makeup: Tania Guarnaccia Sound Design: François Bélanger @ Apollo Studio A.C.: Véronique Dagenais Set Photography: Samuel Boisvert Crew: Pierre-Luc Bouchard, Alix Lepage Produced by: Asmir Pervanic and Mathieu Grimard

Thanks to: Koma Post-Moderne Cinepool Apollo Studio Shed 401 Harrison Fun Agence acte 1 Dulcedo Management Agence Bridget Dechene Francis Desrosiers Lisa Arduini Jean-Pierre Demers Chanel Lallouz Cole Gurman Dominique Greffard Alessandra Rigano Juliette Leblanc Mathieu Arvisais Charles-Étienne Pascal

[ozkamal]

An experimental short film. ''Fleurs: Between Us Two'' opens a window into a relationship gone wrong as a young man calls for a tragic separation through the offer of an unexpected gift. With Étienne Correia and Ariane Trépanier Voice over by Patrick Émannuel Abellard and Chanel Lallouz Press: http://ift.tt/2FaGFoN http://ift.tt/2oAmef7 http://ift.tt/2GTL6oN *Berlin 2018 Lift-Off Film Festival online selection *Jersey City Popup Film Festival selection Music by Dan Shure (Everything I Am - Kanye West, piano cover) Written and directed by Matt Grimard Cinematography: Ariel Methot Editing: Mathieu Grimard Graphic Design: Harrison Fun Stylist: Ariane Sylvain Set Design: Stéphanie L'Allier and Yola Van Leeuwenkamp and Mari Pasquette Makeup: Tania Guarnaccia Sound Design: François Bélanger @ Apollo Studio A.C.: Véronique Dagenais Set Photography: Samuel Boisvert Crew: Pierre-Luc Bouchard, Alix Lepage Produced by: Asmir Pervanic and Mathieu Grimard Thanks to: Koma Post-Moderne Cinepool Apollo Studio Shed 401 Harrison Fun Agence acte 1 Dulcedo Management Agence Bridget Dechene Francis Desrosiers Lisa Arduini Jean-Pierre Demers Chanel Lallouz Cole Gurman Dominique Greffard Alessandra Rigano Juliette Leblanc Mathieu Arvisais Charles-Étienne Pascal