Like many countries, France is seeing its COVID-19 cases rise — and nowhere as sharply as its overseas territories of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Low vaccination rates, fueled by suspicion of Paris, help explain the exploding pandemic in the Caribbean islands.Health workers from mainland France are arriving to the two Caribbean islands to help their overwhelmed colleagues deal with record COVID-19 cases. Hardest hit is Guadeloupe, where one in four people now tests positive for the disease caused by coronavirus—a number that doubled in a week. The situation is also alarming in Martinique. Hospitals are overflowing. Doctors say some basic medical equipment — like instruments to measure oxygen levels — are in short supply. The two islands are now under strict lockdown, with all but essential services open. But that hasn’t stopped some residents from heading to beaches—although they’re not supposed to. “People respect distancing and the beach isn’t crowded,” this beachgoer told French TV explaining her presence. Islanders are joining protests like those taking place in mainland France against COVID-19 vaccines and a new health pass required to access places like restaurants and movie theaters. FILE – Demonstrators hold up banners and placards, one of which reads as ‘freedom’, during a national day of protest in Capesterre-Belle-Eau, on the French Caribbean archipelago of Guadeloupe, on Aug, 7, 2021.As nurse protesting in Martinique told French radio that she will never get vaccinated — there are other ways, she said, to prevent COVID-19.  But those sentiments are not shared by the majority of French, especially on the mainland. Polls show most support the health pass. More than half are fully vaccinate — compared to about one in five in Guadeloupe and Martinique.  FILE – French Health Minister Olivier Veran (L) and French Overseas Minister Sebastien Lecornu (2nd L) talk with military medical staff during a visit at the CHU hospital in Fort-de-France, Martinique, on Aug. 12, 2021.Visiting Martinique last week, Health Minister Olivier Veran urged residents to get vaccinated. Coming out of a hospital there, he noted many of the patients in intensive care were very young and were previously healthy. Now, they’re hooked up to ventilators.  
But it’s a hard sell.  Suspicion of the French state is high — partly experts say, because of France’s colonial past and old health scandals… like a hazardous pesticide used on the islands’ banana plantations long after it was banned elsewhere. Critics also fault Paris for neglecting the islands’ health infrastructure. So multiple misgivings are surfacing now…along with COVID-19.   
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Days after a devastating earthquake hit Haiti, Tropical Depression Grace brought heavy rains and strong winds to the country.Forecasters said the storm could drop 12 to 25 centimeters of rain on southern Haiti through Tuesday, bringing the threat of flash floods and mudslides.It could also affect the search for survivors and aid efforts for the displaced, with the southern part of the country hardest hit by Saturday’s magnitude 7.2 earthquake.Injured people lie in beds outside the hospital in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 16, 2021, two days after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the southwestern part of the country.The quake was centered near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.The quake, which damaged houses, roads and bridges on the country’s southwest peninsula, displaced thousands of people. The streets of towns near the epicenter were lined with concrete as rescue workers and scrap metal salvagers dug through the rubble.”We must work together to provide rapid and effective responses to this extremely serious situation,” Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry said on Sunday. He had flown to Les Cayes on Saturday to survey the damage.Many residents of Les Cayes, the country’s third-largest city with a population of 90,000, stayed outdoors overnight, as aftershocks continued to rock the area through Sunday.The U.S. Geological Survey said on Saturday that the earthquake increased the risk of landslides in the area.The Dominican Republic and Mexico were among the countries that sent food and medicine to Haiti. Cuba dispatched a 235-member health care team.Just over a month ago, the country was left reeling after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home July 7. His wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.Some material for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
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The search for survivors of Haiti’s devastating earthquake continued Monday, as hospitals were overwhelmed with injured people. Hundreds of people waited on the steps of Les Cayes’ general hospital, and many patients were being treated on mattresses on the ground outside as the hospital ran low on pain pills and other drugs. Haitian authorities said Monday that the death toll from Saturday’s 7.2-magnitude earthquake had climbed to 1,419 — nearly 200 more than a previous figure released Sunday.  At least 6,000 more were injured and seeking treatment, before Tropical Depression Grace makes landfall on the island, possibly bringing heavy rain and flooding and increasing the risk of landslides. A tropical storm watch has been issued for the entire coast of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. People remove debris at the collapsed Le Manguier hotel in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 16, 2021, two days after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the southwestern part of the country.The quake was centered near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The quake, which damaged houses, roads and bridges on the country’s southwest peninsula, displaced thousands of people. The streets of towns near the epicenter were lined with concrete as rescue workers and scrap metal salvagers dug through the rubble.”We must work together to provide rapid and effective responses to this extremely serious situation,” Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry said Sunday. He had flown to Les Cayes on Saturday to survey the damage. Many residents of Les Cayes, the country’s third-largest city with a population of 90,000, stayed outdoors overnight, as aftershocks continued to rock the area through Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey said on Saturday that the earthquake increased the risk of landslides in the area, which is a major concern as Tropical Depression Grace, downgraded from a tropical storm on Sunday, bears down on the island of Hispaniola.  The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast the storm is likely to reach Hispaniola by Monday and will drop from 10 to 20 centimeters of rain in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the western and eastern sides of the island, respectively. The heavy rain could trigger landslides, hampering search and rescue efforts and preventing aid from reaching affected areas. The Dominican Republic and Mexico were among the countries that sent food and medicine to Haiti. Cuba dispatched a 235-member health care team.  Just over a month ago, the country was left reeling after President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home July 7. His wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.  Some material for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse. 
 
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Monday that Tropical Storm Fred had strengthened slightly on its approach toward the northwestern Florida panhandle region, where it was expected to bring heavy rains and a dangerous storm surge later in the day. In its latest forecast, the hurricane center said Fred is now about 145 kilometers from the coastal panhandle town of Apalachicola. The storm has maximum sustained winds of about 85 kilometers per hour and is expected to strengthen slightly before it comes ashore.  Tropical storm warnings are in effect for the region, and forecasters say some areas could see 10- to 20 centimeters of rain, as well as storm surges. Fred is expected to weaken and turn after it comes ashore and is likely to bring storms and heavy rains to the southeastern and mid-Atlantic sections of the eastern United States later in the week. Meanwhile, hurricane center forecasters continue to watch Tropical Depression Grace as it brings heavy rains to the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Cuba, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Flash floods are possible in all those areas, with the highest potential in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, which comprise the island of Hispaniola.  In Its latest advisory, forecasters say it is looking more likely that the weather system will track over only the southern portion of Hispaniola, sparing Haiti further hardship. The nation experienced a powerful earthquake Saturday just weeks after the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse left the nation in a political crisis. The current track of the system has it moving into the Gulf of Mexico where slow strengthening is expected in the next 24 to 48 hours.  
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center said early Monday that reconnaissance aircraft has found that Tropical Storm Fred “has slowed down a little,” but is expected to produce heavy rainfall and a dangerous storm surge along the coast of the Florida Panhandle later in the day.  Fred may have slowed its forward speed, but forecasters warned about the possibility of tornadoes and life-threatening surf and storm surges.  The weather forecasters cautioned that “a tornado or two” could be possible Monday morning over the Florida west coast and Panhandle, and during the late morning and into the afternoon from the Florida Panhandle northward into southwest Georgia and southeast Alabama. 
Once Fred makes landfall, it is expected to weaken, NHC said.  Meanwhile, Tropical Depression Grace is continuing to produce heavy rains in western Puerto Rico, the forecasters reported, and flash floods and mudslides are possible across the island of Hispaniola Monday.  On Hispaniola, tropical storm watches are posted for the entire coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti as Grace approaches. Haiti needs “grace” of another kind after suffering an earthquake Saturday, which came just weeks after the political crisis of a presidential assassination. Haiti has never fully recovered from a devastating earthquake in 2010.  
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The death toll rose to 1,297 on Sunday after a devastating earthquake struck Haiti a day earlier, civil authorities said.
 
Haiti’s Civil Protection service said the number of injured people also rose to 5,700. Hospitals were struggling to cope with those who had arrived for care.
 
Officials continued to search for survivors in the aftermath of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck Saturday morning. The quake was centered near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
 
The quake, which damaged houses, roads and bridges on the country’s southwest peninsula, displaced thousands of people.
 
Haiti Prime Minister Ariel Henry said on Sunday, “We must work together to provide rapid and effective responses to this extremely serious situation.” He had flown to Les Cayes on Saturday to survey the damage.Compounding the difficulties facing the country, a tropical storm watch has been issued for the entire coast of Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Tropical Depression Grace is expected to bring heavy rain to the island Monday, leading to flash flooding and mudslides. Many residents in Les Cayes, the country’s third-largest city with a population of 90,000, stayed outdoors overnight, as aftershocks continued to rock the area into Sunday.Haiti earthquake location map, Aug. 14, 2021 (Credit: USGS)The U.S. Geological Survey said on Saturday that the earthquake increased the risk of landslides in the area, which is a major concern as Tropical Depression Grace, downgraded from a tropical storm on Sunday, bears down on the island of Hispaniola.  
 
The U.S. National Hurricane Center forecast the storm is likely to reach Hispaniola by Monday and will drop from 10-20 centimeters of rain on Haiti and the Dominican Republic, the western and eastern sides of the island, respectively.
 
The heavy rain could trigger landslides, hampering search and rescue efforts and stalling aid reaching affected areas.
 
The Dominican Republic and Mexico were among the countries that sent food and medicine to Haiti. Cuba dispatched a 235-member health care team to Haiti.
 
Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), said Sunday that the U.S. had deployed a 65-person urban search and rescue team with specialized equipment, as well as medical supplies, as part of its disaster response.Firefighters search for survivors inside a collapsed building, after Saturday´s 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 15, 2021.Bruno Maes, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Haiti, told Reuters the U.N. was “calling for a humanitarian corridor in Haiti to allow quicker and safer transfer of goods and people.”
 
“We are really advocating for armed groups to allow this humanitarian aid to go to reach the people as soon as possible,” he said.
 
Due to security concerns, Jery Chandler, head of Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency, told Reuters that while authorities worked to create access for aid through Martissant, the government was sending most of the help by helicopters, planes and boats.
 
In Les Cayes Sunday, social media and wire reports showed rescuers, some using heavy equipment, searching through the rubble for survivors.
 
“Thanks to God and also to my phone, I’m alive,” Marcel Francois told Agence France-Presse. He was rescued from his collapsed two-story home in Les Cayes.
 
His younger brother Job Francois said Marcel Francois had called, sounding desperate, saying, “‘Come save me, I’m under the concrete’… He told me he couldn’t breathe, that he was dying.”Red Cross paramedics carry a girl injured during a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.The neighbors and Job spent hours freeing him and his 10-year-old daughter from the heavy debris, AFP reported.
 
Just over a month ago, the country was left reeling after President Moise was assassinated in his home July 7 and his wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.  
 
Humanitarian aid groups said the earthquake would only worsen the suffering in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas.
 
“We’re concerned that this earthquake is just one more crisis on top of what the country is already facing, including the worsening political stalemate after the president’s assassination, COVID and food insecurity,” Jean-Wickens Merone, spokesman for World Vision Haiti, said, according to the AP.
 Some material for this article came from the Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
 
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The powerful earthquake that hit Haiti on Saturday killed hundreds and injured thousands more. The destruction comes just 11 years after a temblor killed tens of thousands of people, if not hundreds of thousands. Some 100,000 buildings were destroyed in the 2010 quake.  
 
As rescuers search for survivors in the Caribbean nation, here’s a look at why Haiti has had so many devastating earthquakes over the centuries and why they are often so devastating.  
 What makes Haiti prone to earthquakes?  
 
The Earth’s crust is made up of tectonic plates that move. And Haiti sits near the intersection of two of them — the North American plate and the Caribbean plate.  
Multiple fault lines between those plates cut through or near the island of Hispaniola, which Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. What’s worse, not all of those fault lines behave the same way.  
 
“Hispaniola sits in a place where plates transition from smashing together to sliding past one another,” said Rich Briggs, a research geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Geologic Hazards Science Center.  
 
“It’s like a rock stuck in the track of a sliding glass door,” he said. “It just does not want to move smoothly because it’s got so many different forces on it.”  
 What caused the most recent quake?  
 
Saturday’s magnitude 7.2 earthquake likely occurred along the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone, which cuts across Haiti’s southwestern Tiburon Peninsula, according to the USGS.  
 
It’s the same fault zone along which the devastating 2010 earthquake occurred. And it’s likely the source of three other big earthquakes in Haiti between 1751 and 1860, two of which destroyed Port-au-Prince.  
 
Earthquakes are the result of the tectonic plates slowly moving against each other and creating friction over time, said Gavin Hayes, senior science adviser for earthquake and geologic hazards at USGS.
 
“That friction builds up and builds up and eventually the strain that’s stored there overcomes the friction,” Hayes said. “And that’s when the fault moves suddenly. That’s what an earthquake is.”
 Why can earthquakes in Haiti be so devastating?
 
It’s a combination of factors that include a seismically active area, a high population density of 11 million people and buildings that are often designed to withstand hurricanes — not earthquakes.  
 
Typical concrete and cinder block buildings can survive strong winds but are vulnerable to damage or collapse when the ground shakes. Poor building practices can also play a role.  
 
The 2010 quake hit closer to densely populated Port-au-Prince and caused widespread destruction. Haiti’s government put the death toll at more than 300,000, while a report commissioned by the U.S. government placed it between 46,000 and 85,000.
 
“I think it’s important to recognize that there’s no such thing as a natural disaster,” said Wendy Bohon, a geologist with Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology. “What you have is a natural hazard that overlaps with a vulnerable system.”  
 What does the future hold?  
 
Geologists say they cannot predict the next earthquake.  
 
“But we do know that earthquakes like this can cause similar-sized earthquakes on the next portion of the fault,” said Hayes of USGS. “And it’s quite a significant hazard in places that don’t have the construction practices to withstand the shaking.”  
 
Construction of more earthquake-resistant buildings remains a challenge in Haiti, which is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere.  
 
Before Saturday’s quake, Haiti was still recovering from the 2010 earthquake as well as Hurricane Matthew in 2016. Its president was assassinated last month, sending the country into political chaos.  
 
And while there have been some success stories of Haitians building more earthquake-resistant structures, the country has lacked a centralized effort to do so, said Mark Schuller, a professor of anthropology and nonprofit and NGO studies at Northern Illinois University.  
 
Haiti’s government has become increasingly weak, while non-governmental organizations focus on their own compartmentalized projects.
 
“There is technical knowledge in Haiti. There are trained architects. There are city planners. That’s not the problem,” Schuller said. “The problem is a lack of funding for coordination, and lack of political will from donors (to organizations providing aid).”
 
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The death toll in Haiti after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake has risen to more than 700, officials said Sunday.At least 1,800 people were injured and more remain missing amid widespread damage, authorities said. There also have been several aftershocks.The temblor struck Saturday near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Haiti earthquake location map, Aug. 14, 2021 (Credit: USGS)Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who took office just three weeks ago after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, said the government was mobilizing aid to the affected areas.”The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” Henry told The Associated Press. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”Henry declared a monthlong state of emergency for the country.”The needs are enormous. We must take care of the injured and fractured, but also provide food, aid, temporary shelter and psychological support,” Henry said. He later boarded a flight to Les Cayes, in the island nation’s southwest.Les Cayes, which is the largest town near the epicenter, reported collapsed buildings and major damage, officials said. Rescue workers were searching for survivors.Firefighters search for survivors inside a collapsed building, after Saturday´s 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 15, 2021.U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed Saturday morning about the Haiti quake, the White House said.“In what is already a challenging time for the people of Haiti, I am saddened by the devastating earthquake that occurred in Saint-Louis du Sud, Haiti, this morning. We send our deepest condolences to all those who lost a loved one or saw their homes and businesses destroyed,” Biden said in a statement. The United States a “close and enduring friend to the people of Haiti,” he added.He also authorized an immediate response by the U.S. and named U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power to coordinate the effort, according to the White House.In Les Cayes, the country’s third-largest city, resident Jean Marie Simon, 38, told Reuters he was at the market when the quake struck. As he ran home, he said he could hear the cries of people in distress.”I saw bodies being pulled out of the rubble, injured and perhaps dead people,” Simon said. “I heard cries of pain everywhere I passed through.” Landslides remained a significant danger after the quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Haiti’s Civil Protection service said a landslide had blocked the highway between Les Cayes and the town of Jeremie, Reuters reported.People in Port-au-Prince felt the tremor, and many rushed into the streets in fear, although there did not appear to be damage there, AP reported.Naomi Verneus, a 34-year-old resident of Port-au-Prince, told AP she was jolted awake by the earthquake.”I woke up and didn’t have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbor went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street,” Verneus said.The temblor was felt as far away as Cuba and Jamaica, although there were no reports of damage or injuries. At magnitude 7.2, the earthquake was bigger and shallower than the magnitude 7 quake that struck Haiti in 2010, killing up to 300,000 people.Red Cross paramedics carry a girl injured during a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.The country is also weathering a political crisis.President Moise was assassinated in his home July 7 and his wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.Martine Moise, posted a message on Twitter on Saturday, calling for unity among Haitians: “Let’s put our shoulders together to bring solidarity. It is this connection that makes us strong and resilient. Courage. I am always by your side.”To add to the country’s difficulties, Tropical Storm Grace is forecast to hit Haiti late Monday or early Tuesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.Humanitarian aid groups said the earthquake would only worsen the suffering in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas.”We’re concerned that this earthquake is just one more crisis on top of what the country is already facing, including the worsening political stalemate after the president’s assassination, COVID and food insecurity,” Jean-Wickens Merone, spokesman for World Vision Haiti, said, according to the AP.Other countries were also offering help to Haiti, including Argentina and Chile.(Some material for this article came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.) 
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Tropical Storm Grace is crossing the northeastern Caribbean Sea, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center, threatening to bring heavy rainfall to the Lesser and Greater Antilles over the next few days.Tropical storm warnings and watches are in effect as Grace moves with maximum sustained winds of 65 kph.A warning means tropical storm conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area, while a watch means that tropical storm conditions are possible within the watch area, generally within 48 hours.Tropical storm warnings have been issued for Saba and Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra, and the Dominican Republic from Cabo Caucedo to Samana.Grace has also produced a tropical storm watch for the southern coast of the Dominican Republic from the Haitian border to Cabo Caucedo.Meanwhile, the remnants of Fred are expected to redevelop into a tropical storm over the Gulf of Mexico Sunday, as it moves with maximum winds of 55 kph, the hurricane center said.Fred, however, could produce as much as 20 centimeters of rain to portions of Cuba on Sunday and as much as 7.6 centimeters across the Bahamas. Beginning Sunday night, forecasters predict Fred could bring heavy rainfall across portions of Florida and southern Alabama.  
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A 7.2 magnitude earthquake shook southwestern Haiti on Saturday morning, leaving hundreds dead, injured or missing, taking down buildings and cutting off communication to at least two cities. VOA’s Carolyn Presutti tells us more.
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The death toll in Haiti after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake rose to at least 304 on Saturday, the country’s civil protection agency said.Hundreds of people were injured or missing, and there was widespread damage, authorities said. There also were several aftershocks.The temblor struck near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.A truck is covered by parts of a wall that fell on it during an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who took office just three weeks ago after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise, said the government was mobilizing aid to the affected areas. “The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” Henry told The Associated Press. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded, fractured people.”Henry declared a monthlong state of emergency for the country.”The needs are enormous. We must take care of the injured and fractured, but also provide food, aid, temporary shelter and psychological support,” Henry said. He later boarded a flight to Les Cayes, in the island nation’s southwest.Les Cayes, which is the largest town near the epicenter, reported collapsed buildings and major damage, officials said. Rescue workers were searching for survivors.The residence of the Catholic bishop is damaged after an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were briefed Saturday morning about the Haiti quake, the White House said.“In what is already a challenging time for the people of Haiti, I am saddened by the devastating earthquake that occurred in Saint-Louis du Sud, Haiti, this morning. We send our deepest condolences to all those who lost a loved one or saw their homes and businesses destroyed,” Biden said in a statement.He also authorized an immediate response by the U.S. and named U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power to coordinate the effort, according to the White House.In Les Cayes, resident Jean Marie Simon, 38, told Reuters he was at the market when the quake struck. As he ran home, he said, he could hear the cries of people in pain and distress.Sacred Heart Church is damaged after an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.”I saw bodies being pulled out of the rubble, injured and perhaps dead people,” Simon said. “I heard cries of pain everywhere I passed through.”People in Port-au-Prince felt the tremor, and many rushed into the streets in fear, although there did not appear to be damage there, AP reported.Naomi Verneus, 34, a Port-au-Prince resident, told AP she was jolted awake by the earthquake.”I woke up and didn’t have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbor went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street,” Verneus said.A woman stands in front of a destroyed home in the aftermath of an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.The temblor was felt as far away as Cuba and Jamaica, although there were no reports of damage or injuries there. And at magnitude 7.2, the earthquake was bigger and shallower than the magnitude 7 quake that struck Haiti in 2010, killing up to 300,000 people.The country is also weathering a political crisis.Moise was assassinated in his home July 7 and his wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.Martine Moise posted a message on Twitter on Saturday, calling for unity among Haitians: “Let’s put our shoulders together to bring solidarity. It is this connection that makes us strong and resilient. Courage. I am always by your side.”To add to the country’s difficulties, Tropical Storm Grace is forecast to hit Haiti late Monday or early Tuesday, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.Humanitarian aid groups said the earthquake would only worsen the suffering in Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas.”We’re concerned that this earthquake is just one more crisis on top of what the country is already facing, including the worsening political stalemate after the president’s assassination, COVID and food insecurity,” Jean-Wickens Merone, spokesman for World Vision Haiti, said, according to the AP.Other countries were also offering help to Haiti, including Argentina and Chile.Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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At least 29 people were killed Saturday when a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, just days before a tropical storm is expected to make landfall. Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was mobilizing all available government resources to help victims in the affected areas. The epicenter of the quake was about 125 kilometers (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said, and widespread damage was reported. Jerry Chandler, Haiti’s director of civil protection, told the AP that the death toll stood at 29 and that teams will be sent to the area for search and rescue missions. Henry said on Twitter that the “violent quake” had caused loss of life and damage in various parts of the country, and he appealed to Haitians to unify as they “confront this dramatic situation in which we’re living right now.”  He declared a one-month state of emergency for the whole country. At a press conference, he said he would not ask for international help until the extent of the damage is known. A truck is covered by parts of a wall that fell on it during an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.Videos posted to social media showed collapsed buildings near the epicenter and people running into the streets.  People in Port-au-Prince felt the tremor, and many rushed into the streets in fear, although there did not appear to be damage there.  Naomi Verneus, a 34-year-old resident of Port-au-Prince, said she was jolted awake by the earthquake and that her bed was shaking.  “I woke up and didn’t have time to put my shoes on. We lived the 2010 earthquake and all I could do was run. I later remembered my two kids and my mother were still inside. My neighbor went in and told them to get out. We ran to the street,” Verneus said. The residence of the Catholic bishop is damaged after an earthquake in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 14, 2021.The impoverished country, where many live in tenuous circumstances, is vulnerable to earthquakes and hurricanes. It was struck by a magnitude 5.9 earthquake in 2018 that killed more than a dozen people, and a vastly larger magnitude 7.1 quake that damaged much of the capital in 2010 and killed an estimated 300,000 people. The National Hurricane Center has forecasted that Tropical Storm Grace will reach Haiti late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.  The earthquake struck more than a month after President Jovenel Moïse was killed, sending the country into political chaos, and humanitarian aid groups said the earthquake will add to the suffering. “We’re concerned that this earthquake is just one more crisis on top of what the country is already facing, including the worsening political stalemate after the president’s assassination, COVID and food insecurity,” said Jean-Wickens Merone, spokesman for World Vision Haiti. Catholic priest Fredy Elie, who began working with the Mission in Haiti Congregation after the 2010 earthquake, told The Associated Press that access to the area is hindered by criminal gangs and was pleading for help. “It’s time to open the road to those who want to help. … They need help from all of us,” Elie said.
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Tropical Storm Grace strengthened slightly early Saturday but is expected to weaken in the Leeward Islands later in the day as Fred weakened from a tropical depression to a tropical wave before it is expected to re-develop Sunday over the Gulf of Mexico.The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said that Grace was about 425 kilometers east-southeast of the Leeward Islands as it traveled west at 37 kilometers per hour, while Fred was located about 80 kilometers west of Havana as it moved west-northwest at 19 kilometers per hour.With an eye on Grace, the Dominican Republic issued a tropical storm watch “for the south coast of the Dominican Republic from Punta Caucedo eastward to Cabo Engano, and for the north coast from Cabo Frances Viejo eastward to Cabo Engano,” the NHC said.The NHC also said the tropical storm warning for the U.S. Florida Keys has been discontinued due to the weakening of Fred.
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A major earthquake struck western Haiti Saturday and was felt across the Caribbean where people fled their homes for fear that buildings might collapse.The magnitude 7 earthquake quake struck 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the town of Petit Trou de Nippes, about 150 kilometers west of the capital Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, the U.S. Geological Survey said.
 
The country is still recovering from a magnitude 7 earthquake closer to the capital 11 years ago that killed tens if not hundreds of thousands of people and flattened swathes of buildings, leaving many homeless.
 
“Everyone is really afraid. It’s been years since such a big earthquake,” said Daniel Ross, a resident in the eastern Cuban city of Guantanamo, adding that his home stood firm but the furniture shook.
 
The U.S. Tsunami Warning System said there was no tsunami warning after the quake.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Saturday that Tropical Storm Grace has joined Tropical Depression Fred over the Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea.  
 
The NHC said Grace is moving westward and has sustained 65-kilometer-per-hour winds and is expected to reach the Lesser Antilles by Saturday night. Grace is a small tropical storm, according to NHC, with tropical-storm-force winds extending outward up to 35 kilometers from the center.  
 
Tropical storm warnings are in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, St. Kitts and Nevis, Montserrat, Saba, Sint Eustatius, Sint Maarten, St. Martin and St. Barthelemy, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, including Vieques and Culebra.
 
Weather forecasters said, “disorganized Fred” is moving west-northwest into the Gulf of Mexico and produced heavy rain across Cuba and the Florida Keys, with winds of 55 kilometers per hour.  
 
A tropical storm warning is in effect because of Fred for the Florida Keys west of the Seven Mile Bridge to the Dry Tortugas. 
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Haitian Judge Mathieu Chanlatte, chosen to oversee President Jovenel Moise’s assassination case, has resigned from the investigation, citing personal reasons, in a letter Friday that bears his signature and the stamp of the court.The letter, obtained by VOA Creole, states that he is sending the case back to the dean of the civilian court of Port-au-Prince.The dean, Magistrate Bernard Saint-Vil, announced Monday that security had been tightened for the judge shortly after naming Chanlatte. Judges on the short list to oversee the case previously turned down the opportunity after reportedly receiving death threats.Moise was assassinated early on July 7 inside his home in a luxury suburb of the capital, Port-au-Prince. His wife, Martine Moise, was gravely injured and evacuated to Miami, Florida, where she received treatment.The case is now under the purview of the Haitian Justice Ministry. National Police spokesperson Marie-Michelle Verrier said earlier this week that the police had arrested 44 people in connection with the crime and had seized weapons, ammunition and cash in both U.S. and Haitian currencies.”Among them are 18 Colombians, four Haitian Americans and 22 Haitians,” Verrier said Monday during a news conference. “Among these 22 Haitians are 20 police officers.”FILE PHOTO: Interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph gives a press conference, July 20, 2021.Haitian Foreign Minister Claude Joseph expressed concern about the ability of the country’s justice system to adequately prosecute the case.”I would like to highlight the limitations, weaknesses and lack of experience of the Haitian judicial system in handling cases of such complexity, which have resulted in serious doubts about the capacity, on one hand, to justly carry out this investigation and, on the other hand, to find and bring to justice to those responsible,” Joseph wrote in French to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. Joseph has asked the U.N. to open an international inquiry into the Moise assassination.Guterres has not yet responded.”We’ve received the letter … which asked for assistance into the investigation of the assassination of President Jovenel and the prosecution of those who are responsible. We’re taking a look at the letter, and that letter will be answered,” U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told VOA.FILE – In this June 20, 2017, file photo, United Nations spokesman Stephane Dujarric fields questions for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, March 19, 2021.The letter also requests an international tribunal. Dujarric told VOA that one of the U.N.’s legislative bodies would decide on that.”Those [requests] would have to go through competent legislative bodies of the U.N., as we’ve seen them in the past for other various incidents around the world, be it the Security Council, the Human Rights Council or others,” he told VOA.American law enforcement officials from the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security are assisting Haiti with the investigation. Dujarric told VOA the U.N. mission in Haiti currently has four police advisers working with the National Police Inspector General and the Judicial Police.Jean Robert Philippe and U.N. Correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report.
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Nicaraguan police raided the offices of the storied opposition newspaper La Prensa on Friday.The National Police said in a statement that the raid was part of an investigation into “customs fraud and money laundering.” It said the newspaper’s offices “remain under police custody.”The raid came one day after La Prensa suspended its print edition because the government’s customs office had again withheld newsprint.La Prensa, founded in 1926, has been critical of President Daniel Ortega, who has also recently arrested dozens of opposition figures. Ortega’s regime has often used money laundering, tax issues and other accusations to raid nongovernmental and civic groups it disagrees with.Editor Fabián Medina, who was inside the building at the time, said via Twitter that the police “were looking for paper” used to print the daily. He said that later, police allowed reporters to return to their offices but were still in the building.La Prensa had said it would continue an online edition, but it was unclear how long it could continue to do so. La Prensa has been the country’s only newspaper with a print edition since another opposition paper, El Nuevo Diario, closed in 2019.Nicaraguan police stand watch during a raid at La Prensa, the only national newspaper, after President Daniel Ortega’s government opened customs fraud and money laundering investigations against the publication, in Managua, Aug. 13, 2021.On Thursday, the newspaper said in an editorial that “once again the Ortega-Murillo dictatorship has withheld our paper,” referring to Ortega’s wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo. “Until they release the raw material, we cannot continue with the print edition,” the newspaper said. The move also affects sister paper Hoy.The move marks the third time the government has withheld the newspaper’s paper or ink. The paper had ceased printing for about 500 days in 2018 and 2019 amid widespread protests against the regime.The nongovernmental Nicaraguan Center for Human Rights protested the raid and demanded respect for the employees inside the building.Nicaragua is scheduled to hold national elections November 7, and Ortega is seeking a fourth consecutive term. He placed an opposition vice presidential candidate under house arrest last week and then released her pending the outcome of an investigation.Over the past two months, Ortega’s government has arrested nearly three dozen opposition figures, including seven potential challengers for the presidency.On Monday in Managua, the opposition alliance National Coalition said in a statement that it did not recognize the current electoral process as a way out of Nicaragua’s political crisis and urged Nicaraguans not to recognize it either.Later Monday, authorities announced the arrest of opposition leader Mauricio Díaz Dávila, a candidate for congress and a former ambassador to Costa Rica. He had been called to the attorney general’s office on Monday as part of an investigation for alleged acts against the state.His political party, Citizens for Liberty, said he was arrested with violence. His ability to run for office had been canceled by the electoral court three days earlier. Party President Kitty Monterrey, whose Nicaraguan citizenship was withdrawn last week, called for his immediate release.
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce on Sunday a September “snap” election midway through his second term, national news media are reporting, citing unnamed sources. The reports say the election will be held on September 20, allowing only the shortest campaign permitted by law — 36 days. Canadian law allows a federal administration to serve up to five years, but the sitting government sets the election date and can call for early elections at any time. Trudeau’s Liberal Party was reduced to minority status in parliament in the most recent election in 2019.  Canadian leaders usually call early elections when they are ahead in opinion polls and believe they can improve their standing in parliament. The latest polls show Trudeau’s Liberals ahead of four other parties with 35.8% support — considered just enough support to secure a majority government, FILE – Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks during a news conference at the daycare inside Carrefour de l’Isle-Saint-Jean school in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, July 27, 2021.”It’s highly unlikely that the election will conclude with a change of government,” said Marcus Kolga, a senior fellow with the MacDonald-Laurier Institute. “The Liberals have a seven-point lead ahead of the Conservatives going into the election and current seat projections have them in majority territory.” That is a marked improvement from its standing earlier in the year, when Canada lagged far behind the United States in rolling out coronavirus vaccines. Since then, the country has surged ahead of its southern neighbor and has fully vaccinated more than 63 percent of its population. Trudeau, the son of the country’s most acclaimed modern prime minister — Pierre Trudeau — also receives high marks from analysts for his handling of Canada-U.S. relations before and during the administration of former U.S. president Donald Trump. Despite a series of high-profile trade disputes and, at one point, being described by Trump as “very dishonest & weak,” Trudeau managed to minimize friction and did not downgrade intelligence cooperation with the U.S. even when other allies did.  FILE – U.S. Ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman speaks during an event in Ottawa, June 2, 2014.”Over the last three American administrations no world leader has navigated the U.S. relationship better than Prime Minister Trudeau,” former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman told VOA.  Among other achievements, Heyman lauded Trudeau’s role in the re-negotiation of a crucial free trade agreement among Canada, the United States and Mexico. Kolga cited the government’s handling of the pandemic as a factor in the decision to go to the polls so early, but warned of a possible backlash. “There may have been some doubts about the effectiveness of the government’s response to the pandemic late last year before vaccines were administered, but there haven’t been any catastrophic failures and overall Canadians approve of the Trudeau government’s handling of the crisis,” he told VOA. “However, the timing of the election may be questioned by many Canadians, given the rising fourth wave and the lack of any credible reason to call an election beyond political opportunism.” That is the hope of Jagmeet Singh, leader of the leftist New Democratic Party, which stands third in the polls with 19.3% support. FILE – Canada’s New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh speaks at London Muslim Mosque in London, Ontario, Canada, June 8, 2021.”It is a mistake to call an election while we are still in the middle of a pandemic,” Singh’s office said in a statement provided to VOA. “A prime minister’s top priority should be to fight the pandemic and deliver the help people need.  “Instead, Justin Trudeau has made this selfish summer election and attempted power grab his priority. Our priority is to fight for people. We’re ready to fight for workers, to make sure the ultra-rich and big corporations pay their fair share, and to build a green and fair recovery that people deserve.” Some voters seem to agree. “I don’t want a federal election right now,” said Vanessa MacNeil, who is between jobs after moving with her husband and child from Alberta to Greenwood, Nova Scotia. “We’re still trying to find our new normal with COVID, none of the major parties have a ground-breaking change in stance on anything, this is just going to be 36 days of political mud-slinging because the Liberals want a majority. I have way more to worry about right now than grandstanding.” Kolga noted that if Trudeau secures another term he could end up outlasting his long-serving father, who was prime minister from 1968 to 1984, apart from a short period as opposition leader in 1979 and 1980. “It’s Trudeau’s election to lose,” University of Prince Edward Island professor and trade adviser Jeffrey Collins told VOA. “He is banking on the vaccine rollout, COVID spending, and reopening across the country.” Collins said the Liberals’ main rival at 28.7% support, the Conservative Party of Canada, has “struggled to resonate with enough swing voters” under its current leader Erin O’Toole. FILE – Canada’s Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole speaks during a conservative caucus meeting in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, June 23, 2021.For most analysts, the election is not about whether Trudeau can be defeated but whether he can gain a majority government, enabling his party to pass legislation without relying on the support of one or more other parties. “If the opposition is able to hold Justin Trudeau to a minority government, that would be seen as a defeat by Liberals, who are expecting to retake the majority government they lost in 2019,” Kolga said. Foreign policy will not be a big part of this election but there are some issues which will be fresh in the minds of voters.  “The Conservatives are going to go after the Trudeau government when it comes to China and they are going to accuse the government of being weak,” author and former Canadian intelligence analyst Phil Gurski told VOA. China just this month sentenced a Canadian citizen to death for drug trafficking and sentenced another to 11 years in prison for espionage.  
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The U.S. Treasury Department said on Friday it was imposing sanctions on two Cuban Ministry of Interior officials and a military unit over the Cuban government’s crackdown on protesters last month.The department said it was sanctioning Romarico Vidal Sotomayor Garcia and Pedro Orlando Martinez Fernandez and the Tropas de Prevencion of the Cuban Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces.”Today’s action shines a spotlight on additional perpetrators responsible for suppressing the Cuban people’s calls for freedom and respect for human rights,” said Andrea Gacki, director of the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.The Cuban Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request to comment.In July, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on the Cuban police force and two of its leaders.The protests erupted in July amid Cuba’s worst economic crisis since the fall of its old ally, the Soviet Union, and a record surge in coronavirus infections. Thousands took to the streets, angry over shortages of basic goods, curbs on civil liberties, and the authorities’ handling of the pandemic.Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has blamed the unrest on the United States, which in recent years has tightened its decades-old trade embargo on the island. He has said many protesters were sincere but manipulated by U.S.-orchestrated social media campaigns.The U.S. Treasury earlier announced sanctions on Cuba’s defense minister and an interior ministry special forces unit over allegations of human rights abuses in the crackdown that followed the protests, in which hundreds of activists were detained.
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Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro said his government would not give in to “blackmail or threats” after the United States urged him to make serious efforts toward holding elections if he wants sanctions relief.Washington’s call comes ahead of a Friday meeting in Mexico between representatives of both the leftist government and opposition leader Juan Guaido — considered interim president by the United States — before talks set for August 30 under mediation from Norway.Venezuela is suffering through a crippling economic crisis, exacerbated by a raft of fresh sanctions imposed by Washington following a contested election in 2018.In a state television broadcast, Maduro said his country would go to the talks “autonomously and independently and does not submit to blackmail or threats from the United States government.”Earlier, Maduro said he was seeking an “immediate lifting of all the criminal sanctions” led by the United States, which in 2019 said it no longer considered him the legitimate president after wide allegations of electoral irregularities.State Department spokesman Ned Price said the sanctions were aimed at “promoting accountability” on democracy and human rights.”We’ve also been clear that the Maduro regime can create a path to easing sanctions by allowing Venezuelans to participate in long overdue free and fair presidential, parliamentary and local elections,” Price told reporters.Doing so “requires the Maduro regime to engage in sincere discussions with the opposition — led by, of course, Interim President Juan Guaido — that result in a comprehensive negotiated solution to the Venezuelan crisis,” he said.Guaido is seeking guarantees over electoral conditions as well as the release of political prisoners including Freddy Guevara, who was recently detained.’For our political prisoners’Guaido declared himself Venezuela’s president in 2019 through his position as parliament speaker.The opposition-dominated parliament had claimed Maduro’s 2018 re-election was fraudulent, a view shared by the European Union and the United States.Former US president Donald Trump, vowing to crush leftists across the Americas, imposed sweeping sanctions to pressure Maduro including on Venezuela’s key export of oil.But Maduro has withstood the pressure with support from the nation’s military, Russia, China and Cuba despite a crumbling economy that has caused millions to flee.Biden has largely kept in place Trump’s stance on Venezuela while promising a more nuanced approach that relies on US allies.Neither Maduro or Guaido will attend the latest talks, and the government holds most of the cards.In a video retweeted on his official Twitter account, Guaido said: “Today there is unity in Venezuela supporting the possibility of a solution through a comprehensive agreement.” In a later tweet, he wrote: “For our country, for our political prisoners, for the struggle and the sacrifice of thousands, we are going to rise up and move on until we achieve it.”The government and the opposition last held negotiations in Barbados in 2019 that were also mediated by Norway and failed to make a breakthrough.
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Tropical Depression Fred is producing heavy rains over eastern Cuba, the National Hurricane Center reported early Friday.Fred is moving with maximum sustained winds of 55 kph. The center said Fred is expected to experience “slow strengthening” in the next few days and could become a tropical storm sometime Friday.Fred is expected to move along or just north of eastern and central Cuba through Friday night, forecasters say, and be near the Florida Keys and southern Florida on Saturday. Fred is predicted to be near the west coast of Florida on Sunday.Fred has resulted in tropical storm watches for several areas: the Cuban provinces of Ciego de Avila, Camaguey, Las Tunas, Holguin, and Granma; the Florida Keys west of Ocean Reef to the Dry Tortugas; and the southwest coast of Florida from Bonita Beach south and east to Ocean Reef including Florida Bay.Fred is expected to produce 2.5-7.5 centimeters of rain over Cuba and the eastern Bahamas, the NHC said, while bringing as much as12.5 centimeters in some locations. In the western Bahamas, Fred is predicted to dump 7.5-12.5 centimeters, with isolated maximum totals of 20.5 centimeters.Through Monday, 7.5-15 centimeters of rain is anticipated across the Keys, the southern and central Florida Peninsula, and north toward the Big Bend of Florida, with isolated maximum totals of 20 centimeters. The NHC said the rainfall could lead to urban, and small-stream flooding, and potentially lead to isolated moderate river flooding.
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The governments of Panama and Colombia agreed Wednesday to impose a daily limit on the number of migrants passing through the thickly jungled and roadless Darien Gap on the two countries’ border.The plan aims to limit crossings to 650 migrants per day in August and 500 in September. Migrants, mainly Cubans and Haitians, use jungle paths to travel from South America to Panama, in a bid to reach Mexico and then the U.S. border. Some people from Venezuela, Africa and Southern Asia also use the route.So far this year, Panama estimates more than 50,000 migrants have come through the dangerous Darien route, about double the number in 2018. Officials say about 16% of them are children or youths.The director of Panama’s immigration service, Samira Gozaine, said the agreement will bring improvements.“This is very positive for us, because Panama has seen days in which we get as many as 1,500 or 2,000 migrants entering in one day,” Gozaine. “One week, we got as many as 10,000.”An estimated 15,000 migrants are currently en route through Colombia heading for Panama.The agreement was reached during a teleconference between officials from Panama and Colombia, in which representatives of Mexico, the United States, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Peru also participated.The two countries said they will also cooperate to prosecute criminal gangs that rob migrants and traffic drugs through the largely roadless area.It remains to be seen how effective the agreement will be. The two countries’ efforts may lead some migrants to hike through even more difficult terrain.At present, the most common migrant route runs from the Ecuadorian border through Colombia to the town of Necocli, where ferries carry people across the Gulf of Uraba to the even smaller border town of Capurgana, Colombia. From there, they head into the Darien Gap.There has been a sharp rebound in the number of migrants from last year, when pandemic restrictions reduced mobility for locals and migrants alike.Panama and Colombia have depicted the limits as an attempt to ensure the migrants’ safety.The goal is to set “a number of migrants that can be received in a safe manner on the Panamanian side,” Panama’s foreign minister, Erika Mouynes, said last week during a visit to the area.Her Colombian counterpart, Marta Lucía Ramírez de Rincón, who also made the visit, echoed that concern, and added that ideally, they do not “want them to pass through Darien, where we know there are so many risks.”Recent rains have made the crossing even more dangerous.“It is a really worrisome situation, because if crossing the jungle during the dry season was dangerous, it is even more dangerous now,” said Santiago Paz, who works in the area for the U.N. International Organization for Migration. 
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President Joe Biden’s special envoy for Haiti, Ambassador Daniel Foote, met virtually with Haitian civil society representatives and politicians Wednesday.  “The special envoy looks forward to hearing ideas and solutions from the group to help their country move beyond its current challenges,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA.  Foote’s meeting made headline news in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, earlier this week.    The U.S. diplomatic effort to resolve the political void exacerbated by the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on July 7 was the subject of a bipartisan letter Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez sent to Biden on Monday.  “We implore your administration, in coordination with international partners, to engage in a diplomatic effort with a broad range of democratic actors across Haitian society to build the consensus and confidence needed to hold credible presidential and parliamentary elections,” the senators wrote, noting that the United States has “an important role” to play in helping Haiti overcome Moise’s death.  In an interview with VOA Creole on Monday, former Haitian Senator Jerry Tardieu said that although there is an element of skepticism among the opposition, most agree that inclusive, credible and honest elections are needed to move the country forward.     “There is unity,” Tardieu said, “because when I listen to Ann Avan, FND (National Front for Democracy), Tet Ansanm, when I listen to OPL (Struggling People’s Organization), Fusion (of Haitian Social Democrats), Unite (Unity), Veye Yo, Verite (Truth), the Democratic and Popular Sector (of opposition parties), they are all saying the same thing. That means we know what we need to participate in elections. Our differences are small, and I believe that as long as we put Haiti ahead of our personal ambitions, we can easily and quickly agree on a political agreement.”   The U.S. senators’ letter also calls on Biden to assist Haiti in the investigation of the Moise slaying.Haiti holds funeral for assassinated President Jovenel Moise in Cap-Haitien, Aug. 7, 2021.”We urge your administration to assist the Haitian authorities as they investigate this brutal attack and to cooperate with international partners to ensure justice and accountability for all individuals involved,” the letter states.     VOA asked White House press secretary Jen Psaki Wednesday if President Biden has responded to the letter.   “I’m not sure we’ve seen that letter. I’m not familiar with it,” Psaki responded.   Haitian National Police spokesperson Marie Michel Verrier told reporters police have made 44 arrests so far and seized weapons, ammunition and cash in both U.S. and Haitian currencies.    “Forty-four people have been questioned during our investigation. Among them are 18 Colombians, four Haitian Americans and 22 Haitians,” Verrier said during a Monday press conference. “Among these 22 Haitians are 20 police officers.”     Moise was killed at his private residence in a luxury suburb of Port-au-Prince in the early morning hours of July 7. His wife, Martine, was gravely injured and transferred to a Miami, Florida, hospital where she was treated.   The Moise case has now been turned over to the Justice Ministry, the national police said. Judge Mathieu Chanlatte will oversee the case, the dean of the Civilian Court of Port-au-Prince announced Monday. Security has been tightened for the judge, the court said.   Juan Gonzalez, the U.S. National Security Council senior director for the Western Hemisphere, told VOA in July that a team of eight FBI agents were on the ground in Haiti, assisting with the investigation into the slaying of President Moise.     “A number of officials from the Department of Homeland Security are helping on everything from tracing the weapons to the body armor and the cellphones that were being used and [doing] everything possible to get to the bottom of who was involved and who is responsible for the assassination,” Gonzalez said.   Haiti Foreign Minister Claude Joseph sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week, requesting an international inquiry into Moise’s assassination.     “I would like to highlight the limitations, weaknesses and lack of experience of the Haitian judicial system in handling cases of such complexity, which have resulted in serious doubts about the capacity, on one hand, to justly carry out this investigation and, on the other hand, to find and bring to justice to those responsible,” the letter, written in French, said.    U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told VOA the secretary-general received the letter but had not yet responded.   “We’ve received the letter … which asked for assistance into the investigation of the assassination of President Jovenel and the prosecution of those who are responsible. We’re taking a look at the letter, and that letter will be answered,” Dujarric told VOA.  He said the U.N. mission in Haiti currently has four police advisers working with the National Police Inspector General and the Judicial Police.     As for an international tribunal, which is part of Haiti’s request, Dujarric said one of the U.N.’s legislative bodies would make that decision.     “Those (requests) would have to go through competent legislative bodies of the U.N., as we’ve seen them in the past for other various incidents around the world, be it the Security Council, the Human Rights Council or others,” he told VOA.   Jacquelin Belizaire, State Department Correspondent Cindy Saine, White House Correspondent Patsy Widakuswara, United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer and VOA Spanish White House correspondent Jorge Agobian contributed to this report.
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A senior executive for Chinese communications giant Huawei Technologies committed fraud because of what she said during a meeting with a bank official, and what she did not say, a Canadian government lawyer told an extradition hearing Wednesday.Canada arrested Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei’s founder and the company’s chief financial officer, at Vancouver’s airport in late 2018. The U.S. wants her extradited to face fraud charges. Her arrest infuriated Beijing, which sees her case as a political move designed to prevent China’s rise.The U.S. accuses Huawei of using a Hong Kong shell company called Skycom to sell equipment to Iran in violation of U.S. sanctions. It says Meng, 49, committed fraud by misleading the HSBC bank about the company’s business dealings in Iran.The lengthy extradition proceeding is entering a phase which involves arguments over the U.S. government’s request to extradite Meng.Justice Department lawyer Robert Frater said the case against Meng is “about dishonest commercial dealings.”Meng met with an HSBC executive after a series of news stories connected Huawei with Skycom.”Ms. Meng’s statements (during the meeting) were dishonest because of what she did say and because of what she did not say,” Frater said.Meng told the bank official that Huawei “was not engaged in any activity that may cause HSBC to run afoul of U.S. sanction law,” Frater said.She also said Huawei was rigorous in its sanction compliance and demanded the same of any partners working in Iran.”The truth is, Huawei was in full control of Skycom,” Frater said. “Skycom is Huawei.”“The dishonesty was partly through painting a picture of distance through what Ms. Meng did say and neglecting to disclose the true nature of the relationship by omission. What we have here are sins of both commission and omission,” Frater said.Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes asked Frater why a large bank like HSBC would rely on the word of one person.Frater said Meng was important because she was Huawei’s CFO.Holmes wondered if it was Meng’s responsibility to explain risk to HSBC.”She is the one that gives them the information which they can assess the risk,” Frater said. “The message she is convening to them is you are at not risk at all because we are complying with all sanctions.”FILE – In this Aug. 31, 2020, photo, an employee wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus stands inside a Huawei flagship store in Beijing.Under further questioning from Holmes, Frater said some business could legally be done with Iran, and it was part of Meng’s job to know what the restrictions were.The judge also asked if Meng assured the bank there was no risk of sanction violations, wouldn’t they assume Huawei had control of Skycom.Frater said the message Meng sent was that Huawei “didn’t work with bad people.”Meng, who attended court wearing a face mask and an electronic monitoring device on her ankle, followed the proceedings through a translator.Holmes isn’t expected to rule on Meng’s extradition until later in the year. Whatever her decision, it will likely be appealed.Meng’s lawyers have denied any dishonesty on her part. They also argue HSBC was not placed at any risk and the charges against her are politically motivated.China’s government has criticized the arrest as part of U.S. efforts to hamper its technology development. Huawei, a maker of network equipment and smartphones, is China’s first global tech brand and is at the center of U.S.-Chinese tension over technology and the security of information systems.On Tuesday, a Chinese court sentenced Canadian entrepreneur Michael Spavor to 11 years in prison for spying. Spavor and fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig were arrested in December 2018 in apparent retaliation for Meng’s arrest.Spavor was sentenced by a court in Dandong, about 340 kilometers east of Beijing on the North Korean border. The government has released few details other than to accuse Spavor of passing along sensitive information to Kovrig, beginning in 2017. Both have been held in isolation and have little contact with Canadian diplomats.Earlier in the week, the Higher People’s Court of Liaoning province in the northeast rejected an appeal by Canadian Robert Schellenberg, whose 15-year prison term on drug smuggling charges was increased to death in January 2019 following Meng’s arrest.Meng remains free on bail in Vancouver and is living in a mansion.Canada and other countries, including Australia and the Philippines, face trade boycotts and other Chinese pressure in disputes with Beijing over human rights, the coronavirus and control of the South China Sea.China has tried to pressure Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government by imposing restrictions on imports of canola seed oil and other products from Canada.Meanwhile, Beijing is blocking imports of Australian wheat, wine and other products after its government called for an investigation into the origin of the coronavirus pandemic.
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