As of Oct. 7 Puerto Rico’s teachers had been voting for a week on whether the Puerto Rican Teachers Union (SPM) should represent them. The island’s 40,000 teachers were previously represented by the 42-year-old Teachers’ Federation of Puerto Rico (FMPR),… Read morePuerto Rico: teachers vote on union
The US government is not currently scheduling any deportations to Haiti, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson Barbara Gonzalez said on Sept. 19. According to Gonzales, federal officials are evaluating conditions in the country, which was hit by four… Read moreHaiti: US holds up deportations
On Sept. 5 the Haitian Senate voted 16-0 with one abstention to approve a cabinet proposed by incoming prime minister Michele Duvivier Pierre-Louis. This ended a five-month period in which the country was governed by a caretaker cabinet. (AlterPresse, Sept…. Read moreHaiti: new PM faces storm aftermath
As of Sept. 6 more than 500 people had reportedly died in Gonaives, Haiti’s third largest city, following the passage of tropical storm Hanna; deforestation has left the Gonaives area vulnerable to flooding, and as many as 3,000 people died… Read moreHanna takes deadly toll in Haiti; Cuba weathers Gustav
Cuban punk rocker Gorki Aguila, lead singer of Porno para Ricardo, charged with “social dangerousness” because of his songs denouncing and deriding the government, was released with a $28 fine after calling upon his fans to hold a public protest…. Read moreCuba: dissident punk rocker scores political win
The Haitian Senate voted on July 31 to ratify the appointment of economist Michele Duvivier Pierre-Louis as prime minister. Twelve of the 18 senators present voted in favor, and five abstained; as required by the regulations, Senate president Kelly Bastien… Read moreHaiti finally gets a prime minister
A mission representing several Brazilian government ministries arrived in Haiti on July 19 for a two-week visit aimed at developing a plan for combatting hunger in the country. A pilot project will be modeled on Brazil’s Program of Acquisition of… Read moreHaiti: Brazil offers food program
Computers confiscated by US customs agents in Texas at the beginning of July finally arrived in Cuba on Aug. 1 in a cargo of 100 tons of humanitarian aid raised by the New York-based group Pastors for Peace in its… Read moreCuba: US computers reach Havana
On July 25 a jury in Brooklyn, New York, convicted right-wing paramilitary leader Emmanuel (“Toto”) Constant of mortgage fraud. He faces a 5-to-15 prison sentence in New York, followed by deportation to Haiti. “The trial proved there is rampant fraud… Read moreHaitian death squad leader convicted in New York —of mortgage fraud
On June 23 Haitian president Rene Preval nominated economist Michele Duvivier Pierre-Louis to succeed acting prime minister Jacques Edouard Alexis, who was forced to resign on April 12 following violent protests over the rising cost of food. Preval made two… Read moreHaiti: third try to appoint prime minister
Some 100 members of the 19th US-Cuba Friendshipment Caravan, an annual shipment of humanitarian aid organized by the New York-based group Pastors for Peace, arrived in Havana on July 5. Reverend Lucius Walker led the delegation, which was met at… Read moreCuba: US aid caravan reaches Havana
On June 12 Haiti’s Chamber of Deputies voted 57-22 with six abstentions to reject President Rene Garcia Preval’s latest nominee for prime minister, Robert Manuel. A commission assigned to study Manuel’s qualifications found that he failed to meet two requirements… Read moreHaiti: still no prime minister
