Photos

On Friday, September 4th, 2015, Justin Viard, the Consul General of Haiti in Montreal was called back from his office by the Martelly-Evans administration for some undisclosed reasons. He was simply terminated without any viable explanation. It was a sudden revoke that caused many reactions of misunderstanding within the Haitian community of Montreal, because he earned a solid reputation with his active role in the lives of many Haitians living in the province of Quebec. He is a Lawyer (Faculty of Law from the University of Port-au-Prince ), a Member of the AMF (Financial Market Authority), Institute of Business Administration (IAE-third cycle) of France, member of the AMF Quebec, Lawyer body, and a University Professor. He served as the Regional Director of North PROMOBANK (2003 to 2008) and Regional Director of South UNIBANK (February 2009 to September 2010). On June 6, 2016, he has been reinstated by the transitional Government of Jocelerme Privert to his earlier post as the Consul of Haiti in Montreal replacing Kurdy Larèche, the former Vice Consul since 2012, who had held the position of Consul since Viard's dismissal.

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Here is a picture of Haiti Verification Commission. On April 28, 2016, an Independent Commission for Electoral Evaluation and Verification (CIEVE) was installed by the Provisional President Privert. The five members of the Commission included: (1) Mr. François Benoît, the leader, and former member of the Provisional Electoral Council (2005-2006); (2) Mr. Gédéon Jean, former member of the Independent Electoral Evaluation Commission created by presidential decree dated December 22, 2015 (under the Martelly regime); (3) Mr. Pierre Wilfrid Sanon, designated by the Haitian Association of construction companies; (4) Father McDonald Jean, appointed by the Anglican Church (former senator and member of the Council of the Wise in 2004); and (5) Mr. Michel Eric Gaillard, designated by the Order of Chartered Professional Accountants of Haiti. The primary objective of creating this Commission was to establish credibility of the 2015 election results and restore confidence and encourage participating players to trust the electoral council and to participate in the upcoming elections. However, the report submitted by the Commission on May 30, 2016, suggests that the first round of presidential elections held on October 25, 2015 was marred by massive frauds and that was to such an extent from higher administrative levels that the Commission has recommended rejecting the disputed results, and start re-poll from the beginning.

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Here is a picture of Roro Nelson who is a fugitive wanted by Government Commissioner Danton Leger.

Ronald Nelson, alias Roro Nelson, a close associate of former President Martelly was summoned by the Government Commissioner of Port-au-Prince on April 11, 2016 to appear before the court on April 15, 2016. Since he did not respond to the charges of theft, extortion, and embezzlement of state fund, an arrest warrant was issued against him on Thursday, April 14. During the Martelly regime, he captured properties of more than 50 expatriates. Now, he is a fugitive from Haitian justice. A travel ban has been issued against him. Recently, the Government Commissioner Danton Leger was shocked to see Roro on television performing with former President Michel Martelly in a Haitian musical event in Miami, Florida. Leger is planning to take the help of INTERPOL to arrest him and bring him to justice.

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Here is a picture of Jean Marie Liphete who was shot dead in Petion-Ville.

On Friday, May 27, 2016, Jean Marie Liphete, a former candidate for Deputy from Petit-Trou-de-Nippes under the banner PONT (Pou Nou Tout) was shot dead near l'enterprise AIDA. Jean Marie Liphete (born May 16, 1971) was an employee of the house AIDA, a Faculty of Law and Economics. In the last election, he obtained 43.21% of the votes, but he lost to Claude Luc Guillaume from Renmin Ayiti who received 56.21% votes. He never accepted this defeat, always proclaimed that he was a victim of unfair mechanism.

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Here is a picture of Kenneth Merten and Peter Mulrean at the chamber of Deputy with Cholzer Chancy.

On Thursday, April 28, 2016, Kenneth Merten, the Special Coordinator for Haiti and Peter Mulrean, the US Ambassador to Haiti, visited the Haitian Senate to assess the situation of the 2015 electoral process and ensure the installation of a democratically elected government in Haiti. They were on a mission in Haiti to exert pressure on the Haitian Senators and Deputies to stop the creation of an independent verification commission as per interim president Jocelerme Privert's plan and accept the election result which the majority of Haitians consider was marred by fraud. However, Privert did not bow down to the U.S pressure. He installed the Independent Commission for Electoral Evaluation and Verification (CIEVE) with the objectives of reviewing the previous election process with published results and to decide accordingly whether to move ahead with the unfinished election. In the meantime, such Commission has submitted its report on May 30, 2016, audited by a five-member panel. In its report, the Commission has recommended rejecting the disputed results of last year's first-round presidential election as it appears to be tainted by massive fraud and re-start the election from the beginning again. As per Francois Benoit, the leader of the CIEVE, it appeared that electoral fraud was masterminded at a "high level."

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Here is a picture of the 5 Independent Members of the Verification Commission. The 5 Independent Members of the Verification Commission established - From Right to Left: Francois Benoit, Gedeon, Pierre Wilfrid Sanon, Marc Donald Jean, and Michel Eric Gaillard.

On Thursday, April 28, 2016, at the National Palace, the Provisional President Jocelerme Privert accompanying the Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles installed the 5-member Independent Commission for Electoral Evaluation and Verification (CIEVE). The main objectives of installing this commission are, reviewing previous election processes and results, electoral court decisions, and restore confidence and trust before moving forward with the unfinished election. The five members of the Commission are: (1) Mr. François Benoît, the leader, and former member of the Provisional Electoral Council (2005-2006); (2) Mr. Gédéon Jean, former member of the Independent Electoral Evaluation Commission created by presidential decree dated December 22, 2015 (under the Martelly regime); (3) Mr. Pierre Wilfrid Sanon, designated by the Haitian Association of construction companies; (4) Father McDonald Jean, appointed by the Anglican Church (former senator and member of the Council of the Wise in 2004); and (5) Mr. Michel Eric Gaillard, designated by the Order of Chartered Professional Accountants of Haiti.

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Here is a picture of the future home of The Citadel food Hall in Little Haiti.

It is a fact that Miami serves up an abundance of culture at every neighborhood, on every street corner. The city is always in a constant state to remain poised for growth and change. Recently, Conway Commercial Real Estate and Urban Atlantic Group are planning to open a 10,000-square Food Hall called "The Citadel" on Little Haiti's northern boundary on NE Second Avenue. The space with about 20 favorite restaurants is slated to open sometime next year. There will be stalls for pizza, steak, sushi, Spanish tapas, and tacos. As per Thomas Conway, the principal of Conway Commercial, there will be places for bakery, coffee, wine bar and a butcher. It will have a nice blend of local and national operators who understand how neighborhoods develop through food. The Citadel will house multiple culinary concepts, creative workspaces, retail outlets, and a rooftop bar all out of a historical location.

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Here is a picture of Mr. Francois Benoit, President of Verification Commission.

Pierre Francois Benoit, the leader of the Independent Commission for Electoral Evaluation and Verification (CIEVE) has completed the audit of last election and concluded the findings of the commission after a month long review. As per his report dated May 30, 2016, after an examination of 25% random sample of the roughly 13,000 tally sheets from polling stations, the Commission has noticed about 628,000 untraceable votes. Lot of votes could not be traced to a voter or to a group of voters. It has been observed that often number of untraceable votes in the polling stations have surpassed the legitimate votes. Out of the total valid votes of 1,560,631 about 29% or 448,000 voters were untraceable and 180,250 were with fake CIN, making a total of 628,000 or 40% of total valid votes (1,560,631). It was further noticed that first place winning president candidate received more number of untraceable votes than the combined total of such votes to second and third place winners. The CIEVE has recommended throwing out the disputed results of last year's first-round presidential election and restart from zero, because it appeared to be tainted by fraud. As per Benoit, it appeared electoral fraud was masterminded at a "high level."

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Another Police Officer went down in Haiti. On Friday, May 27, 2016, a police officer named Loubens Desrameaux (born on May 15, 1983) was shot several times near the Place Dessalines at Champ de Mars in the afternoon by some unidentified motorcyclists. Loubens was off duty and was in civil uniform. He was shot several times while buying a bottle of Guinness from a street vendor. Loubens was a native of Sèka Kavajal in the Centre Department, near the Dominican border, and was graduated from the 22nd promotion and worked in the Motor Brigade of Intervention (Quad BIM) of the PNH.

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Haiti is an ideal location for business. Companies interested in doing business in Haiti can find lots of advantages that they would likely not be able to find anywhere else in the world.

Haiti has every potential to become an ideal location for every entrepreneur. It offers ample opportunities to invest and start business in some of its emergent sectors like, Energy, Agro-Industry and organic foods, Manufacturing, including textiles and apparel, Construction and building materials and Tourism including hotel furnishings and equipment. For U.S firms, interested to do business in Haiti, their first point of contact should be the U.S. Department of Commerce. The United States Export Assistance Center offices in the U.S as well as the Commercial Service (CS) offices located abroad will guide any interested U.S. firm of the best methods for finding an agent or distributor in Haiti. Since October 2011, the Commercial Section of the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince became a Department of Commerce Partner Post. Preparing the company statutes like Articles and Memorandum of Association normally take 10 days in Haiti with fees around HTG 15,000 - HTG 25,000, while registration with the Ministry of Commerce takes 78 days on average. Haitian law protects copyrights, inventions, industrial designs and models, patent rights, special trademarks, manufacturer's marks, and business names. Haiti's legislation encourages foreign direct investment. Import and export policies are non-discriminatory and are not based upon nationality. Most Haitian businesspersons speak English fluently. The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) offers insurance against political risks and financing programs for U.S. investments in Haiti.

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