Photos

Here is a picture of Guichard DORE, the advisor to President Michel Martelly.

Guichard Doré is a former presidential adviser, specialist in education and governance, economist and sociologist. Following the installation of Jocelerme Privert as the Interim President, Guichard Dore, advisor to President Michel Martelly had said, his party PHTK has already made compromises by accepting to leave the presidential office as per February 5th accord, and therefore expects other parties to behave accordingly. In the last month, on May 4, 2016, he said, Privert's charge was to complete the electoral process begun in 2015. The agreement that had installed him to the power, made no mention of a verification commission. So President Privert's decision to launch this verification commission is in violation of the February 5, 2016 agreement and it must be widely denounced as illegal and unconstitutional. Privert must leave the task of completing the election to Prime Minister Enex Jean Charles. However, he wants to annul the elections, put the parliament out of business after May 9, and remain in the power in a transitional regime for 2 years.

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Here is a picture of Gwen Margolis, Member of the Florida Senate from the 35th district.

Gwen Margolis (born October 4, 1934), a Jewish by religion, is a Democratic member of the Florida Senate, representing the District 35, (1980-1992; 2002-2008; 2010-present). She was first elected to the chamber in 2010. In 1990, Margolis became the first woman to lead the chamber as the Senate president. She served in that role until 1992 and won an award for her leadership in the Senate. Earlier to that, she had served in the Florida House of Representatives from 1974 to 1980. Before joining politics, she was a real estate broker and an investor. On June 2, 2016, her 40 years in politics came to an abrupt end with the announcement of her plans to retire from the Florida Senate-- she has dropped her re-election bid. Margolis, at the age of 81 is the longest-serving senator currently in the Florida Legislature.

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Here is a picture of Cloves or Jirof as it is called in Haitian Kreyol.

Cloves (Jirof or jiwof in Haitian Kreyol) are cultivated mostly in Brazil, the West Indies (including Haiti), Tanzania, Madagascar and India. Its strong, distinct flavor is very popular in Haitian cuisine. Clove is widely used in every popular culinary style in whole or in a grounded state to impart a strong sweet but spicy and peppery flavor. Cloves have a long shelf life, lasting up to a year, if they are kept in a cool, dark place away from light. Cloves are used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine, and western herbalism and dentistry where the essential oil (clove oil in natural form) is used as a painkiller. Both cloves and clove oil have been used in Asian cooking for over 2,000 years. Arab traders introduced cloves to Europe in the fourth century. Clove contains "eugenol" which has great medicinal value for lowering the risk of digestive tract cancers and reducing joint inflammation. It also saves you from morning sickness, vomiting and diarrhea. Cloves stuck into an orange create a lovely fragrance in the home and may actually deter flies and other insects, naturally.

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The European Union(EU) and its Relationship with Haiti.

The European Union maintains relations and cooperation with Haiti both on the bilateral and regional basis."EU-CELAC or The European Union and Latin American and Caribbean Community (CELAC stands for Comunidad de Estados Latinoamericanos y Caribeños, in Spanish) have enjoyed a privileged relations since the formation of a strategic partnership in the first bi-regional Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) in 1999. The relationship between Haiti and EU stands on three main pillars based on the Cotonou agreement; they are: Political cooperation, Trade and commerce, and Development cooperation. The Cotonou Agreement forms the legal basis for EU-Haiti relations. The agreement is actually an ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, signed in Cotonou (in Benin) on 23 June 2000. It was concluded for a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020. It is a framework for the EU's relations with 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP). The fundamental principles of the Cotonou Agreement include equality of partners, global participation (States and non-state actors), dialogue and regionalization.

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A new political structure was formed with only one objective: to remove Privert from office. According to the group headed by Evans Paul, June 14, Jocelerme Privert must go,

The 120-day mandate of Jocelerme Privert's appointment as the interim president as per February 5th accord has ended on June 14, 2016 and has left Haiti in an uncertain power vacuum. His installation as the interim president came as per an agreement with the proposition that the interim President will hold his office for 120 days (since February 14, 2016) and remain responsible to organize the overdue presidential election before April 24, 2016 and install a new President on May 14, 2016. However, the unfinished election could not be completed following the audit of an Independent verification Commission which said the election of October 25, 2015, was marred by massive frauds. Neither the lawmakers could meet in a National Assembly to resolve the matter by deciding whether to elect a successor or extend Privert's term. On the last day of Privert's term as the president, the Haitian Tet Kale Party (PHTK) of former President Martelly and its allies formed a "general mobilization" force [called Entente Democratic (ED), or Democratic Agreement] with a single object of overthrowing Provisional President Jocelerme Privert from power. The former prime minister, Evans Paul, as the head of the platform has announced, continuation of Privert as the Interim President without any title or quality is against the law of the country and is a matter of a criminal offence. The three branches of government, such as, Executive, Legislative and Judiciary, should meet immediately to bring back the country onto the rail of the constitution.

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Here is the map of Miami showing Little Haiti among some of the most distressed neighborhoods in Miami in 2015.

In last May, the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners requested Florida International University's Metropolitan Center to prepare a community-based prosperity strategy for Miami-Dade County. The study must involve a comprehensive analysis of the economy to get into the root cause. As per the plan, the intended strategy would include a feasibility analysis of five pilot programs designed to build wealth in the distressed neighborhoods other than providing an immediate external robust look. The five initiatives proposed and analyzed in the report, which could possibly have the greatest impact in terms of wealth building, were, (a) Social Enterprise Incubators & Accelerators; (b) Community Land Trusts; (c) Community Benefits Agreements; (d) Children's Savings Accounts; and (e) Employee-owned Business Cooperatives. The glooming economy of the Haitians residents in Little Haiti is evident from a simple economic indicator: the average annual household income of Little Haiti residents is only $13,381 compared to the area mean income of $43,100!

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Here is a picture of Commissioner Frantz Lerebours, the spokesman of the National Police of Haiti (PNH).

Recently, the Commissioner Frantz Lerebours, spokesman of the National Police of Haiti (PNH) has reported a drop in the crime rate in the metropolitan area during the period between March to May, 2016. The figure for some sensitive crime rates between these periods were: (a) Rape: 64 in March, 43 in April and 34 in May; (b) Kidnapping: 10 in March, 3 during April and 1 in May; and (c) Homicide: 107 in March, 80 in April and 52 in May. While acknowledging his satisfaction in the drop in crimes, he has admitted that there were some more responsible factors other than policing which have contributed such drop. Following the publication of October 25 election results, Commissioner Frantz Lerebours arrested at least twelve people who defied all code of conduct for peaceful demonstrations, but later he was involved in an argument about the arrest of the former Head of the Port-au-Prince Prosecutor's Office, former District Attorney, Claudy Gassant and the former Communication Member of the Rene Preval National Palace and the General Secretary of the Haitian party Pitit Dessalines Assad Volcy. They did not allow the police to search their vehicles without the presence of a justice of the peace.

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Here is a picture of singer, actor and producer Jean-Claude Guillaume as he is fighting a major illness.

On June 15, 2016 at 5 am, the star Haitian singer and actor Jean Claude Guillaume died at New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton, Boston, Massachusetts after suffering for many months of colon cancer. He was diagnosed with this lethal disease back in February 2013. His health started to improve after a surgery, but the disease again came back in late 2015. His friends were surprised by his courage when the disease hit him hard. In last December, when his health soon deteriorated in a Boston hospital, there was a rumor of his death. However, that was nullified by Katie, his girlfriend, who took care of him in Boston. Guillaume turned to crowdfunding in June last year to support his treatment in Boston. Guillaume immigrated to the United States (Orlando) in June 1984 and started performing as a professional singer since 1991. He never lost hope in his suffering. His last song called "Temwanyaj, was produced to testify to the greatness of God.

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Here is a picture of Michel Stéphane Bruno who was assassinated in his car at Puits Blain 17.

Michel Stéphane Bruno (born May 8, 1974; assassinated June 15, 2016) was a Haitian consultant in Information Systems. He was passionate about technology and the knowledge economy-- a system of consumption and production that is based on intellectual capital. Over a decade, Bruno, a humble and modest genius had worked in the field of technology at national, regional and global level. With a diverse background, he had worked on applying ICT solutions (information and communications technology) to business, e-Governance, mobile technologies, e-business and m-commerce. His ultimate goal was to establish a vibrant, solutions-oriented IT environment which would create jobs and opportunities and help the emergence of a new class of entrepreneurs rooted in innovation. On Wednesday, between 8:00 and 8:30 am, he was shot dead by two motorcycle borne assailants at Puits Blain 17. When the bandits fired, he tried to flee with his Jeep Land Cruiser but received a single bullet and lost the control of his vehicle that collided with a wall. With him, Haiti has lost a visionary and creative genius, an amazing human being.

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Here is a picture of Haitian president Michel Martelly as he is riding a Polaris.

As per the news dated June 15, 2016, Senator Youri Latortue while investigating the use of PetroCaribe fund, has referred to the existence of a contract. The contract valuing $4.5 million out of the PetroCaribe fund to buy Polaris vehicles for the Haiti National Police (PNH) to facilitate their movement. The deal was signed by Jean-Max Bellerive, then Minister of Planning during Martelly regime in October 2011. As per Youri Latortue's investigation, the disbursements were made, but as per police chief, Michel Ange Gedeon, no such vehicle has yet been received by the police other than 20 such vehicles received as gifts from the Government of Canada since 2010. However, Harry Robert Tippenhauer ,the general manager of RHT Plaza, responsible to supply the vehicles said, they had not received any money out of that account as the said contract was cancelled by Laurent Lamothe then Minister of Planning and External Cooperation and head of government. Recently, a picture released shows former president Martelly is driving a Polaris car!

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