PORT-AU-PRINCE — Campaigning for Haiti's presidential runoff election kicked off Friday, though it appears there is only one candidate who will actively participate.
Government-backed contender Jovenel Moise, a little-known agricultural entrepreneur who led a crowded field of 54 candidates with nearly 33 percent of the vote in the Oct. 25 first round, attracted roughly 1,500 people to his first rally Friday evening. Big speakers pumped out bass-heavy songs featuring his campaign moniker, "Neg Bannann'' — Banana Man in Haitian Creole — and a group of women wore yellow banana costumes.
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Jan 5, 2016
SANTO DOMINGO — Cresnel Ceus no longer lives in the shadows. For the first time in 15 years, the Haitian migrant can move about this country without fear of being detained at any moment. Read more
Jan 5, 2016
PORT-AU-PRINCE— A commission probing Haiti's disputed presidential election reported Sunday that a first-round vote was plagued by irregularities, but indicated a final run-off can take place as scheduled in two weeks.
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Dec 28, 2015
PORT-AU-PRINCE—A decision to postpone a presidential runoff in Haiti could help the leading candidate address what may be his greatest liability: Most voters know hardly anything about him.
Ads for Jovenel Moise have blanketed Haitian TV and radio for weeks and he has held rallies across the country. Social media users have been bombarded with campaign pitches and slick images of him working at a banana exporting venture or decorating a Christmas tree with his family.
Yet few feel they know the political newcomer, a businessman who had never run for office until he was hand-picked by outgoing President Michel Martelly.
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Dec 28, 2015
PORT-AU-PRINCE— President Michel Martelly is defending much-criticized elections in divided Haiti and asserts that the opposition has spread unsubstantiated allegations about widespread electoral fraud purely to strengthen its position.
During an interview with The Associated Press, Martelly said he believed that disputed official results showing the government-backed candidate topped October's first round presidential vote was a genuine reflection of voters' will. Read more
Dec 28, 2015
Haitian authorities on Monday postponed presidential and legislative runoffs set for this weekend, saying they needed to wait for recommendations from a special commission tasked with evaluating the country's widely criticized electoral process.
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Dec 21, 2015
The Boston Redevelopment Authority’s 2015 report on Boston by the Numbers paints a picture of a rapidly growing city, diverse in age, race, and orig Read more
Dec 9, 2015
Advocates raise alarm over higher income thresholds in Dot, Mattapan
Mayor Martin Walsh will sign an executive order today that will create a new tri-tiered system to build and fund new units of affordable housing in the city of Boston.
The mayor and his policy advisors briefed reporters Tuesday on the revision of the city’s Inclusionary Development Policy (IDP), which has helped to create thousands of affordable units of housing since 2000.
The new iteration of the IDP – which will go into effect on New Year’s Day – mandates that developers of housing with 10 or more units set aside a percentage of those units for low or moderate-income residents – or “cash-out” by paying into a citywide fund that subsidizes low- and moderate-income housing projects.
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Nov 17, 2015
The Mattahunt Wheelock Partnership is expanding its cross-sector collaborative partnership for Haitian parent engagement to provide Haitian parents with the tools and the resources needed to become effective, vocal advocates for their children in Mattapan. This initiative is built on the success of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC)'s English for New Bostonians program and uses a comprehensive family-centered approach to replicate that successful effort to the Haitian immigrant population in the Mattapan area. Read more
Oct 28, 2015
PORT-AU-PRINCE— A young man stands on a busy street corner in the Haitian capital wearing the campaign logo of one presidential candidate on his sweat-soaked T-shirt, the name of another emblazoned on his sunglasses while he passes out flyers on behalf of a Read more
Oct 28, 2015
PORT-AU-PRINCE— Haiti's voters have spoken. But nobody's quite sure what they've said.
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Oct 20, 2015
JetBlue Airways is doubling down on its US-Haiti routes, adding bigger planes to its New York and Florida gateways and planning three-day-a-week summer season flights direct from Boston beginning next June. Read more
Oct 9, 2015
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. secretary-general is recommending that the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti stay for another year — which might be its final one.
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Oct 9, 2015
PORT-AU-PRINCE— U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stopped in Haiti's capital on Oct. 6 to discuss preparations for the country's upcoming elections and encourage people to refrain from disrupting balloting after a messy parliamentary first round in August.
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Oct 9, 2015
"There are so many candidates it's impossible to focus on it all and see if a few might actually have good ideas. Right now, this whole thing really gives me a headache,'' secretary Germithe Merzilus said with an exasperated sigh as a group of partisans walked by in matching T-shirts touting a campaign. Read more
Sep 23, 2015
Bostonians who hope to become US citizens will get an assist this month from city officials who are teaming up with a non-profit organization to help streamline the naturalization process.
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Aug 27, 2015
Yves Dambreville was a kaleidoscope of identities -- Boston police officer, community liaison, Haitian, American, veteran, family man. The 66-year-old former officer was shot and killed in Port-au-Prince Wednesday, according to the U.S. Department of State.
Dambreville, a 33-year veteran of the police force and a committed advocate for the Haitian and larger Caribbean communities, has left behind a legacy of cultural outreach, friends and coworkers said.
“We extend our sincere condolences to his friends and family,” the State Department wrote in a statement. The department said it was “providing all appropriate consular services,” but declined to provide further information, citing privacy concerns.
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Aug 10, 2015
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic— The main truckers union in the Dominican Republic on Monday blocked transport of all freight through border crossings into neighboring Haiti, citing concerns about their safety.
The Dominican truckers said they were protesting recent violence against them while in Haiti. They asserted that some 60 trucks were pelted with rocks in recent days and some were looted. Read more
Aug 10, 2015
PORT-AU-PRINCE— A hostile comment made by Haitian President Michel Martelly at a campaign rally has set off an uproar in his coalition government, leading a politically allied party to announce the resignation of three officials from his administration last week.
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Aug 5, 2015
The United States has updated its travel warning to its citizens, advising US citizens to "exercise caution" when visiting Haiti and "strongly" encouraging visitors to "obtain evacuation insurance." The advisory was issued by the US Embassy in Port-au-Princ Read more
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