The Haitian Senate approved an 18-month extension of the state of emergency President René Préval decreed after the Jan. 12 earthquake devastated the capital area—sparking opposition protests.
Cuban president Raúl Castro led some 800,000 in the traditional May Day march to Havana’s Plaza de la Revolución, saying survival of the socialist system will require “extraordinary sacrifices.”
The Haitian government declared a moratorium on evictions of homeless residents from improvised encampments on private property.
As of April 25 students were continuing an occupation of the Río Piedras campus of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in San Juan to protest plans to cut next year’s budget by $100 million.
Former US president Bill Clinton said that the international community needs to stay involved in Haiti if it wants to prevent violence from breaking out there.
The Haitian government and international agencies have intensified efforts to relocate Port-au-Prince residents left homeless by the January earthquake.
Agents of the National Police of Haiti began removing some 1,300 families—about 7,335 people—from Port-au-Prince’s Sylvio Cator soccer stadium.
Haitian president René Préval expressed his satisfaction with the results of an international donors meeting held by the UN in New York to discuss rebuilding Haiti.
3,000 Dominicans marched in Cotuí to protest the Pueblo Viejo gold mine, operated by Toronto-based Barrick Gold.
Former US presidents George W. Bush (2001-2009) and Bill Clinton (1993-2001) visited Haiti for one day on March 22 to call for international aid for the country.
On March 12 several hundred Haitian students and activists gathered at a memorial service for Jean Anil Louis-Juste, a sociology professor shot dead in downtown Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12.
The US military said 700 paratroopers withdrew from Haiti over the weekend, leaving a total of 11,000 soldiers in the country. Some 100 Canadian troops are also scheduled to leave.
