Environmentalist Alberto de Jesús is on a 1,100-mile journey from Venezuela to Puerto Rico by kayak to publicize the situation of Oscar López Rivera, an independence fighter who has been imprisoned in the US for 31 years.
More than 1,000 Haitians marched through downtown Port-au-Prince to protest a plan to destroy homes they’ve built on hillsides overlooking the city; many of them lost their previous homes in the 2010 earthquake.
Brazilian soldiers from the UN “stabilization” mission made three attempts to enter part of the State University of Haiti by force, the latest violation of a university space by UN troops.
Leading French cholera expert Dr. Renaud Piarroux thinks the Haitian epidemic could be stopped in months with chlorine and clean water—while the UN and the US media are pushing a dubious vaccination drive.
The American Civil Liberties Union released a report alleging widespread abuses by the Puerto Rico Police Department—including deadly force to suppress protesters, sexual assault, and targeting of racial minorities.
The Puerto Rican public school system is initiating a program to replace Spanish with English as the language used in teaching most courses, despite warnings from teachers that it won’t work.
In a new assertion of power by Haiti’s officially disbanded army, more than 100 people claiming to be former soldiers marched on Port-au-Prince in uniform; some carried weapons. Haitian police and UN troops made about 50 arrests.
Port-au-Prince assembly plant owners warned workers not to march on May 1, and rewarded them if they stayed at work by paying out an unprecedented $12 for a day’s work.
The Haitian Parliament’s lower house abruptly ended a session when a group of armed men in uniforms entered the legislature’s grounds. They claimed to be vets from the disbanded Armed Forces of Haiti.
As the Dominican election race heats up, the government charges that a retired general close to an opposition candidate is plotting to destabilize the government of Haitian president Michel Martelly.
Construction companies controlled by an influential Dominican politician have paid more than $2.5 million to Haitian president Michel Martelly since 2010, according to a Dominican television report.
Hundreds marched to demand justice for the women who were victims of the 1957-1986 Duvalier family dictatorship and to call for the departure of the UN troops stationed in Haiti.
