minustah in haiti

MINUSTAH Lieutenant General José Luiz Jaborandy dead

Here is a picture of MINUSTAH Lieutenant General José Luiz Jaborandy who died on August 31.

Lieutenant General Jaborandy, who led MINUSTAH as Force Commander, has died. He assumed the leadership post in March 2014.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed sorrow in a press release, sharing ". . . he was grateful to the Lt. General for his leadership and dedication to the cause of peace . . . shown during his deployment."

Ban sent the Jaborandy family his deeply-felt sympathies and to the Brazilian government. Jaborandy was born in Brazil.

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UN Peacekeeper Fire on unarmed Haitian Protestors

Here is a picture of a protest taking place on December 12, 2014 against the Government of Michel Martelly. One thing that was very different in this protest, instead of security being provided by Haitian police, this time it was reinforced by UN peacekeepers who did not hesitate to fire on the protesters.

This was taking place as the government is trying to calm the situation. Haiti's opposition parties are pleased Prime Minister Lamothe has agreed to step down. President Martelly made the decision to ask for Lamothe's resignation, following the Consultative Commission's (CC) recommendation he leave to help break the political impasse so far irresolvable.

The crisis the government faces is the possibility Martelly could rule by decree in January, if Haitians can't go to the ballot box and vote by January 11th. Failure to hold elections by then means the Senate will lack a quorum of 16 senators, and cannot hold sessions, effectively dissolving Parliament. The CC recommends a consensus government be put in place, partially made up of opposition members, and breaking up the electoral council. Lamothe appeared on a national broadcast to announce his resignation and point to his accomplishments: a reduction in poverty and cutting the crime rate in half.

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