Haiti health workers say 13 children died in orphanage fire

February 14, 2020

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A fire swept through an orphanage run by a Pennsylvania-based nonprofit group in Haiti, killing 13 children, including infants, health care workers said Friday. Rose-Marie Louis, a child-care worker, told The Associated Press that she saw 13 children's bodies being carried out of the Orphanage of the Church of Bible Understanding in the Kenscoff area outside Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital.

Marie-Sonia Chery, a nurse at the nearby Baptist Mission Hospital, confirmed that 13 boys and girls had died. Louis, who worked at the orphanage, said the fire began around 9 p.m. Thursday and firefighters took about 1.5 hours to arrive. About seven were babies or toddlers and about six were roughly 10 or 11 years old, she said.

She said the orphanage had been using candles for light due to problems with its generator and inverter. Rescue workers arrived at the scene on motorcycles and didn't have bottled oxygen or the ambulances needed to transport the children to the hospital, said Jean-Francois Robenty, a civil protection official.

"They could have been saved,"' he said. ''We didn’t have the equipment to save their lives.'' Robenty said officials believed other children's bodies remained inside and emergency workers were trying to pull them out Friday morning.

Orphanage workers on the scene said they believed two bodies were still inside. The Associated Press has reported on a long-standing series of problems at two orphanages run by the Church of Bible Understanding.

The Church of Bible Understanding lost accreditation for its orphanage after a series of inspections beginning in November 2012. Haitian inspectors faulted the group for overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and not having enough adequately trained staff.

Members of the religious group were selling expensive antiques at high-end stores in New York and Los Angeles and using a portion of the profits to fund the orphanage. The Associated Press made an unannounced visit to the orphanage's two homes, holding a total of 120 kids, in 2013 and found bunk beds with faded and worn mattresses crowded into dirty rooms. Sour air wafted through the bathrooms and stairwells. Rooms were dark and spartan, lacking comforts or decoration.

The Church of Bible Understanding, based in Scranton, Pennsylvania, operates two homes for nearly 200 children in Haiti as part of a “Christian training program,” according to its most recent nonprofit organization filing. It has operated in the country since 1977. It identifies the homes as orphanages but it is common in Haiti for impoverished parents to place children in residential care centers, where they receive lodging and widely varying education for several years but are not technically orphans.

“We take in children who are in desperate situations,” the organization says in its tax filing for 2017, the most recent year available. “Many of them were very close to death when we took them in.” The nonprofit reported revenue of $6.6 million and expenses of $2.2 million for the year.

A member of the organization who identified himself only as “Jim” on a phone call referred questions on the fire to their lawyer in Haiti, whom he would not identify.

Weissenstein reported from Havana. Fox reported from Washington.

Protests choke communities in Haiti as aid, supplies dwindle

October 06, 2019

LEOGANE, Haiti (AP) — Gabriel Duvalesse squatted slightly as he prepared to push 50 gallons (190 liters) of cooking oil in an old wheelbarrow to an outdoors market an hour away so he could earn $1. It was his first job in seven days as deadly protests paralyze Haiti's economy and shutter businesses and schools. Opposition leaders and thousands of supporters are demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse amid anger over government corruption, ballooning inflation and scarcity of fuel and other basic goods.

Seventeen people have been reported killed and nearly 200 injured in the protests. The political turmoil is hitting cities and towns outside the capital of Port-au-Prince especially hard, forcing non-government organizations to suspend aid as barricades of large rocks and burning tires cut off the flow of goods between the city and the countryside. The crisis is deepening poverty in places such as Leogane, the epicenter of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake.

"We are starving," said 28-year-old Duvalesse, who has been unable to work. "I had to make $2 last one week." The United Nations said that before the protests even began, some 2.6 million people across Haiti were vulnerable to food shortages, adding that roadblocks have severely impacted some humanitarian programs. On Sept. 16, the World Food Program was forced to suspend all food deliveries to schools as demonstrations started.

Meanwhile, cash transfers to some 37,000 people in need were postponed. U.N. officials also said that private transporters are reluctant to deliver goods given the security situation, a problem that Leogane business owner Vangly Germeille knows well.

He owns a wholesale company that sells items including rice, soap, cooking oil and cereal to small markets. But his warehouse is nearly empty and he struggles to find truck drivers willing to go to markets to deliver the goods because of thieves and barricades.

"It's an enormous economic loss," said Germeille, a father of two who is thinking of moving to the Dominican Republic if things don't improve soon. "If there's no way to make a living here, I can't stay."

Rice, coconuts, milk and diapers are among the dozens of goods that people in this coastal community of more than 200,000 inhabitants say are hard to find since the protests began in mid-September. On Saturday, a grocery store near the town's center opened briefly to sell rice, said 40-year-old IT engineer Sony Raymond.

"In less than three hours it was gone," he said. "Leogane is basically paralyzed." The protests and barricades are increasingly isolating already struggling communities across Haiti, including those like Barriere Jeudi, where amateur bull fights on weekends provide some distraction from people's financial problems.

Bruinel Jean-Louis, who repairs refrigerators and stoves, said he hasn't been able to find much work because he can't travel to find the parts he needs. "It takes a very long time, and that also makes me suffer," he said as several bulls brayed behind him.

To make up for the financial shortfall, he sells halters for horses. Haitian economist Kesner Pherel noted that Haiti is a country of nearly 11 million people where 60% make less than $2 a day and 25% make less than $1 a day. He said the problem is worsening now that food is not going to Haiti's capital nor manufactured goods to rural areas, causing a stoppage to the economy.

The situation angers 62-year-old Carolle Bercy, who moved back to Haiti last year after working in financial services for 30 years in Connecticut, both in Stanford and Bridgeport. She said she has seen people fighting over fuel on the rare instances that a gas station opens, and she worries about the future of Haitians.

"It's unbelievable," she said. "No country on earth should go what Haitian people are going through."

Thousands rally against Haitian president, clash with police

October 05, 2019

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Thousands of protesters marched through the Haitian capital to the U.N. headquarters Friday in one of the largest demonstrations in a weekslong push to oust embattled President Jovenel Moïse.

At least two people were shot as police in riot gear blocked the main entrance to the airport and fired tear gas at the crowd, which threw rocks and bottles. Carlos Dorestant, a 22-year-old motorcycle driver, said he saw the man next to him shot, apparently by police, as protesters dismantled a barrier near the U.N. office.

"We are asking everyone in charge to tell Jovenel to resign," he said, his shirt stained with blood. "The people are suffering." Several protesters held up signs asking the U.S. for help. "Trump give Haiti one chance" read one, while another quoted a tweet by presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. A third referred to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who discussed the crisis with Haitians in Miami on Thursday.

The unrest on Friday came after almost four weeks of protests in which 17 people have been reported killed, the economy has been largely paralyzed, 2 million children have been kept from going to school and badly needed aid has been suspended, especially to rural areas. The U.S., United Nations and other important international players have yet to drop their support for Moïse, making it appear unlikely that he will step down, despite protests that have made gasoline, food and water scarce in some areas.

"We will continue until Jovenel leaves office," said Sen. Sorel Jacinthe, who was once the president's ally but joined the opposition earlier this year. The opposition has rejected Moïse's call for dialogue and created a nine-person commission it says would oversee an orderly transition of power, with many demanding a more in-depth investigation into corruption allegations which involve the use of funds from a Venezuela-subsidized oil program. Critics say Moïse has not looked into the former top government officials accused, including ally and former President Michel Martelly.

To protest against the alleged corruption and a shortage of basic goods, Haitians have taken to the streets in force. Opposition leader and attorney André Michel said the international community should recognize the protesters' demands and blamed Moïse for the country's economic and social problems.

"He has plunged the country into chaos," he said. Moïse's ally, former Prime Minister Evans Paul, also met earlier this week with the Core Group, which includes officials from the United Nations, U.S., Canada and France to talk about the political situation. He has said that he believes Moïse has two options: nominate an opposition-backed prime minister or shorten the length of his mandate.

Moïse, who owned a company named in the investigation, has denied all corruption allegations. He urges dialogue and says he will not resign. Laurent Dubois, a Haiti expert and Duke University professor, said there is no clear answer on what might happen next as the turmoil continues.

"The thing that haunts all of this is ... is this going to lead to the emergence of more authoritarian rule?" he said. Earlier Friday, police fired tear gas at thousands gathered under a bridge to urge the international community to withdraw support for the president. Some demonstrators were carrying guns, machetes or knives.

A police commander could be heard ordering officers to take up their positions. "It's become more than a protest!" he yelled. At various locations, water cannon trucks were on hand. Getta Julien, 47, said she had enough of the protests and the president as she stabilized portions of rice, beans and vegetables she had packed into foam containers.

"He has to go," she said. "He's doing nothing for the country. Nothing at all." Nearby, others cheered as Jacinthe arrived and greeted supporters, including an artist riding a white horse amid burning tires as he carried a large red and black flag that read, "Long live the economic revolution."

One protester, 38-year-old electrician Delva Sonel, said he did not want the international community to interfere. "We're trying to send a signal to the world that we're not a little country," he said. "We want to tell them to stay out of our business."

Some questioned why international leaders had not spoken publicly against Moïse even as he and his administration face corruption allegations. "How can they support this government if it represents everything that is wrong?" said Israel Voltaire, a 35-year-old attorney. "With us being a democratic country, it's like we're losing the war."

Haiti braces for new protest, demands that leader resign

September 30, 2019

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Opposition leaders are calling for a nationwide push Monday to block streets and paralyze Haiti's economy as they press for President Jovenel Moïse to give up power, and tens of thousands of their dedicated young supporters are expected to heed the call.

People stood in lines all day Sunday under a brutal sun to get water, gasoline and other basic supplies before the next round of protests that many worried would turn more violent than a demonstration Friday during which several homes and businesses were burned as police fired tear gas at protesters.

Several people have died in the past three weeks amid the political clashes. "I have a feeling that the country is going to change," said Yves Bon Anée, a mason standing next to eight empty plastic gallons that he would fill with gasoline at $2 a gallon for friends, family and himself. He planned to resell his portion to make some money because he hasn't been able to find work in weeks amid Haiti's crisis.

"My kids are suffering," he said of his three young boys. Opposition leaders and supporters say they are angry about public corruption, spiraling inflation and a dwindling supply of gasoline that has forced many gas stations in the capital to close as suppliers demand the cash-strapped government pay them more than $100 million owed.

Protesters also are demanding a more in-depth investigation into allegations that top officials in the previous government misused billions of dollars in public funds that were proceeds from a Venezuela subsidized oil plan meant for urgent social programs.

Moïse, who took office in 2017 following an election redo, has said he will not step down despite the unrest and instead called for calm, unity and dialogue during an address televised at 2 a.m. Wednesday. It was a rare appearance for the president since the new wave of protests began about three weeks ago.

Laurent Dubois, a Haiti expert and professor at Duke University, said he believes the country will face an increasing impasse unless the parties find a way to reach some kind of resolution. "There's a lot of fear, a lot of anxiety ... that things are going in a direction in Haiti that we haven't seen in a while," he said. "It seems like we're going into some kind of new phase in Haitian history, but what it holds will be difficult to predict."

Opposition leaders demanding Moïse's resignation say they envision a transitional government after the chief justice of Haiti's Supreme Court takes over as dictated by law if a president resigns. André Michel, an attorney and professor of human rights, said Haiti's current political system has generated misery, underdevelopment and corruption that have led to poverty, noting that the country's middle class has shrunk.

Michel said Haiti needs to rebuild a new society and state as he called on the international community to back the goal of opposition leaders to oust Moïse. "The will of the people is clear," Michel said. "If he insists on remaining as president, he will lead the country into chaos."

At a news conference Sunday, opposition leaders urged the dozens of supporters gathered around them to start blocking streets and to help them look for Moïse, whom they contend has gone into hiding. Among those leading the call to find Moïse was opposition Sen. Youri Latortue, who has denied corruption allegations that U.S. officials made against him more than a decade ago and once led a party allied with Moïse's Tet Kale faction.

"We're going to search for him everywhere," Latortue said.

On earthquake anniversary, Haitians trying to rebuild

January 13, 2018

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Eight years ago, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake upended life in Haiti, killing more than 300,000 people by some estimates and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes. For many of those left homeless, life hasn't yet returned to normal.

In the Delmas district in the north of the capital, Port-au-Prince, Camp Caradeux sprang up as a temporary home for 20,000 displaced people. Promises of new permanent homes have failed to materialize and Haiti's economy remains weak, leaving camp residents with nowhere to go. As a result, the camp is transforming into a village as people build cinderblock homes and try to create more normal lives.

Associated Press photographer Chery Dieu-Nalio visited Caradeux on the approach of the quake anniversary to document the life of its residents.

UN ending 13-year military peacekeeping mission in Haiti

October 06, 2017

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti that has helped maintain order through 13 years of political turmoil and catastrophe is coming to an end as the last of the blue-helmeted soldiers from around the world leave despite concerns that the police and justice system are still not adequate to ensure security in the country.

The U.N. lowered its flag at its headquarters in Port-au-Prince during a ceremony Thursday that was attended by President Jovenel Moise, who thanked the organization for helping to provide stability. After a gradual winding down, there are now about 100 international soldiers in the country and they will leave within days. The mission will officially end on Oct. 15.

Immediately afterward, the U.N. will start a new mission made up of about 1,300 international civilian police officers, along with 350 civilians who will help the country reform a deeply troubled justice system. Various agencies and programs of the international body, such as the Food and Agricultural Organization, will also still be working in the country.

"It will be a much smaller peacekeeping mission," said Sandra Honore, a diplomat from Trinidad and Tobago who has served since July 2013 as the head of the U.N. mission in Haiti known as MINUSTAH, its French acronym. "The United Nations is not leaving."

MINUSTAH began operations in Haiti in 2004, when a violent rebellion swept the country and forced then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide out of power and into exile. Its goals included restoring security and rebuilding the shattered political institutions. In April, the Security Council deemed the country sufficiently stable and voted to wind down the international military presence, which then consisted of about 4,700 troops.

Many Haitians have viewed the multinational peacekeepers as an affront to national sovereignty. U.N. troops are believed to have inadvertently introduced the deadly cholera bacteria to the country and have also been accused of causing civilian casualties in fierce battles with gangs in Port-au-Prince and of sexually abusing minors.

But the mission, with additional help from the U.S. and other nations, is also credited with stabilizing the country, particularly after the January 2010 earthquake, and building up the national police force.

"The job may not be complete but they have essentially done much of what they were originally designed to do in terms of preventing any kind of armed takeover of the state, in terms of increasing the safety of civilians," said Mark Schneider, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "It takes work to maintain that and Haiti needs to maintain that."

MINUSTAH, Schneider said, has been key in helping Haiti develop a credible civilian national police from "almost zero" to its current level of about 15,000 officers, which most experts believe is still too small for a country of nearly 11 million. The police force was intended to replace the army, which was disbanded by Aristide in 1995 because of its repeated role in a series of coups and that the Haitian government is now seeking to reconstitute over international objections.

"Haiti needs an atmosphere of peace so we can take responsibility for ourselves," said Haitian Sen. Jacques Suaveur Jean. "We don't need foreign soldiers." The new U.N. mission will consist of seven police units that can respond to major incidents, in addition to officers deployed throughout the country to advise and assist their Haitian counterparts. Civilians will also be working with the government to improve the country's justice system, which the State Department said in this year's annual human rights report has serious flaws, including severe prison overcrowding, prolonged pretrial detention and an inefficient judiciary.

Honore, in an interview ahead of Thursday's ceremony, cited the training and hiring of police officers as one of the U.N. successes. MINUSTAH had already been scaling back before the Security Council voted to end the mission. In the aftermath of the earthquake, which killed 96 U.N. personnel, including former head of mission Hedi Annabi, the number of troops reached more than 10,000. But when Honore arrived there were about 6,200 soldiers from around 20 countries, a figure that dropped again by nearly a third within two years.

The cholera outbreak, which started in October 2010 after peacekeepers from Nepal contaminated the country's largest river with waste from their base, killed an estimated 9,500 people and irrevocably damaged the reputation of the organization in Haiti. Many critics felt the U.N. did not adequately respond to the outbreak, something the organization sought to later remedy.

"It was a fundamental error because it undermined the image not just of MINUSTAH, but of the international community," Schneider said.

Associated Press writer Ben Fox in Miami contributed to this report.

UN set to wrap up Haiti peacekeeping mission in mid-October

April 13, 2017

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council is set to wrap up the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti by mid-October after more than 20 years, in recognition of "the major milestone" the country has achieved toward stabilization following recent elections.

The council is scheduled to vote Thursday on a draft resolution that extends the mandate of the mission, known as MINUSTAH, for a final six months during which the 2,370 military personnel will gradually leave.

The resolution will create a follow-on peacekeeping mission for six months to be known as MINUJUSTH comprising 1,275 police who will continue training the national police force. It says the new mission should be operational when the old mission's mandate ends on Oct. 15.

The United States is currently reviewing the U.N.'s 16 far-flung peacekeeping operations to assess costs and effectiveness. U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley told the Security Council on Tuesday that thanks to recent elections in Haiti "the political context is right" for a new and smaller mission.

The draft resolution recognizes the country's return to "constitutional order" and major steps toward stabilization following presidential and legislative elections. But it also recognizes the need for international support to strengthen, professionalize and reform the police — and to help the country promote economic development and face the "significant humanitarian challenges" following Hurricane Matthew which struck last October.

The draft reiterates the need for security in the country to be accompanied by efforts to address "the country's extreme vulnerability to natural disasters." Sandra Honore, the U.N. envoy for Haiti, told the council on Tuesday that "Haiti's political outlook for 2017 and beyond has significantly improved" following elections. This has opened "a crucial window of opportunity to address the root causes of the political crisis" that preceded the elections and address "the many pressing challenges facing the country," she said.

The draft resolution says that MINUJUSTH, in addition to helping train the police, should assist the government in strengthening judicial and legal institutions "and engage in human rights monitoring, reporting and analysis."

It would also authorize the new mission "to protect civilians under imminent threat of physical violence" in areas where it's deployed and "to use all necessary means" to carry out its mandate in supporting and training Haiti's police.

Jovenel Moise sworn in as Haiti's new president

February 07, 2017

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Jovenel Moise was sworn in Tuesday as Haiti's president for the next five years after a bruising two-year election cycle, inheriting a chronically struggling economy and a deeply divided society.

The 48-year-old entrepreneur took the oath of office in a Parliament chamber packed with Haitian lawmakers and foreign dignitaries from countries including the U.S., Venezuela and France. He smiled slightly as the Senate leader slipped Haiti's red and blue presidential sash over his left shoulder.

In his inaugural address during the day of prayer and platitudes, Moise gave a rough outline of his government's priorities and pledged to bring "real improvements" to the economically strapped nation, particularly the long-neglected countryside.

He urged unity and promised to strengthen institutions, fight corruption and bring more investments and jobs to one of the least developed nations in the world. "We can change Haiti if we work together," Moise said to applause on the grounds of what used to be the national palace, which was one of many buildings obliterated during a devastating earthquake that hit outside the capital in January 2010.

There's little expectation among citizens that Moise's new government can overcome Haiti's deep problems of poverty and economic malaise in the next five years, but he does have a majority in Parliament and some are hopeful the businessman-turned-politician will make steady advances.

"What we still really need in this country are the basics: working hospitals, better schools and security. I think it can be done," said Maxime Cantave, owner of a car wash and propane business in the Port-au-Prince district of Delmas 48.

Nearby, Charles Bichotte agreed but said he'd wait and see if Moise was sincere with his various vows. "We've heard so many pledges from our presidents but here we are, still struggling," said the houseplant vendor.

Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born politics professor at the University of Virginia, described the many challenges facing Moise as "herculean." "He has to revive domestic production, increase foreign and local investments, rebuild the moribund agricultural sector, create a sense of national solidarity, and generate a sorely lacking political stability," he said, adding that all this will have to be achieved amid diminishing international assistance.

But Fatton suggested that Moise might actually benefit from citizens' low expectations of political leaders following many years of broken promises and failed policies. "If he manages to deliver a modicum of change he may restore a sense of hope for the future," he said.

The Tuesday inauguration was the concluding step in Haiti's return to constitutional rule a year after ex-President Michel Martelly left office without an elected successor in place amid waves of opposition protests and a political stalemate suspending elections. A caretaker government was quickly created to fill the void and pave the way for elections.

While Moise won a Nov. 20 election redo with a dominating 55 percent of the votes cast, his critics suggest he did not gain a mandate as barely 20 percent of the electorate bothered to go to the polls. The results withstood challenges by three of his closest rivals.

That election victory came more than a year after Moise topped an initial vote in 2015 that was eventually thrown out amid suspicions of fraud. Senate leader Youri Latortue, who led the swearing-in ceremony Tuesday and leads a party allied with Moise's Tet Kale faction, told the new president that lawmakers were "ready to cooperate with you for the benefit of the country."

A businessman from northern Haiti, Moise had never run for office until he was hand-picked in 2015 to be the Tet Kale party candidate by Martelly. Some critics viewed Moise's ascent with suspicion, suggesting Martelly was using him as a proxy. Moise dismissed the criticism in an interview last year with The Associated Press, saying Martelly will still be a valued adviser but he is his own man. During his Tuesday speech, he thanked Martelly for choosing him as the Tet Kale candidate.

Moise comes to office with an unresolved judicial investigation hanging over him. Late last month, a Haitian judge questioned Moise about a confidential report leaked during campaigning that suggests he might have laundered money and received special treatment to get loans in years before he ran for the country's highest political office.

Moise asserts all of his business dealings have been above board. He has blamed rivals for trying to "create instability" in the deeply divided nation with a long history of political tumult and damage his reputation before his swearing-in ceremony.

The judicial examination into Moise is ongoing and it is unclear when it will be resolved. Moise asserted Tuesday that the "justice system will never be used for political persecution" under his administration.

Moise says he's ready for tests facing Haiti's next leader

November 30, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Repeating their stance from last year's annulled election, Haitian voters appear to have reached outside the intrigue-heavy political class to pick a first-time candidate to steer the deeply divided country as president for the next five years.

Jovenel Moise, an entrepreneur who routinely sticks to an optimistic tone, said Tuesday that he is looking forward to the challenge of building consensus with lawmakers and helping fix a political culture perpetually at war with itself.

"I am working hard to be close with the Parliament because there's no way a president can work without deputies, without senators," Moise told The Associated Press in his first interview with an international news agency since officials issued preliminary results indicating he won a Nov. 20 election redo in a landslide.

If the preliminary results withstand challenges by three of his closest rivals in coming weeks, Moise earned the presidency with 55 percent of the votes in a field of 27 candidates. He got 385,000 votes more than his nearest competitor, Jude Celestin, who had 19 percent of the vote.

Haiti's electoral council will not certify the preliminary results until all challenges are resolved by a special tribunal. Electoral winners are to be certified Dec. 29. In a presidential election held in October 2015, Moise finished at the top of 54 candidates in first-round results after ads for the government-backed candidate blanketed Haitian TV and radio for weeks. A businessman from northern Haiti, he had never run for office until he was hand-picked to be the Tet Kale party candidate by outgoing President Michel Martelly.

Opponents quickly alleged fraud by Haiti's electoral council and Martelly's political operation. An array of rights groups, local election monitors and others made similar charges. The disputed results were annulled following a review of a special Haitian commission.

Some critics continue to view his ascent with suspicion, suggesting Martelly is using the candidate as a proxy. Moise laughed off the criticism, saying it is mostly about the snobbery of political elites in the capital.

"In Haiti, when you come from the countryside, the people here in Port-au-Prince, they think they know everything. But it's not true and I'm the example. In the countryside you have good people also — with knowledge, with vision, with capacity," Moise said in the interview at his campaign office.

The 48-year-old father of three said Martelly would be an adviser when he becomes president, and he wants to study his predecessor's successes and mistakes. Other previous presidents will also serve as advisers, he said.

Moise laid out his top priorities for strengthening the hemisphere's poorest country, a plan that focuses on agriculture, education, energy reform, and foreign investment. Reviving an economically blighted countryside, including Haiti's southwest region, which was devastated by last month's Hurricane Matthew, is perhaps his main goal as he has repeatedly spoken about agriculture as the engine of his homeland's fragile economy.

Although almost 80 percent of rural households farm, agriculture receives less than 4 percent of the government's budget despite the persistent litany of natural disasters afflicting mostly subsistence farmers.

During his campaign, Moise touted his business background in agriculture as a central selling point. In 2014, he launched the Agritrans banana exporting joint venture with the government on about 2,470 acres (1,000 hectares) in northeast Haiti with a $6 million loan approved by Martelly's administration. He proudly refers to himself by his campaign moniker, "Neg Bannan Nan" — Banana Man in Haitian Creole.

His first business venture was an auto parts company in Port-de-Paix, and he also distributed drinking water and created a project to bring renewable energy to several towns. Moise's first hurdle is getting past electoral challenges from other candidates. Electoral authorities say they will thoroughly investigate all accusations of irregularities.

A revamped Provisional Electoral Council has been trying hard to show that the Nov. 20 election, organized with mostly Haitian resources, was clean in a country where accusations of vote-rigging and election fraud have long been common and are sometimes accurate. But three of the council's nine members declined to sign the preliminary tally sheet, one of them telling local radio that he was "uncomfortable" with the results.

A monitoring team from the Organization of American States said Tuesday that its observations were in line with Haiti's preliminary tally. Robert Fatton, a Haitian-born politics professor at the University of Virginia, said he wasn't surprised that losing political factions are claiming vote-rigging again. "This is the traditional way of dealing with defeat in Haiti," he said.

Fatton noted that in spite of some irregularities and logistical problems, the election was perceived by virtually all observers, both national and foreign, as fair and free. "The next few weeks and months will be bumpy and will test Jovenel Moise's statecraft and capacity to move the country in a new and hopeful trajectory," he said.

Haiti: Jovenel Moise apparently wins presidential vote

November 29, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Electoral officials in Haiti say Jovenel Moise apparently has won the presidency, based on preliminary results that give him 55 percent of the votes cast in the Nov. 20 election against 26 other candidates.

Moise was the leading candidate in first-round balloting last year and headed for a runoff. But that election was later annulled after a Haitian commission reported finding what appeared to be significant fraud and misconduct.

This time no runoff will apparently be needed because the candidate of ex-President Michel Martelly's Tet Kale party got over 50 percent in the election redo. Second-place candidate Jude Celestin had 19.5 percent in the preliminary count.

Haiti's presidential redo goes well; long vote count begins

November 21, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti's repeatedly derailed presidential election finally went off relatively smoothly Sunday as the troubled nation tries to get its shaky democracy on a firmer foundation after nearly a year of being led by a provisional government.

Polls closed late in the afternoon, and election workers set to work on an archaic and time-consuming process of counting paper ballots in front of political party monitors. The schools serving as voting centers where they gathered were lit by lanterns, candles and flashlights.

No official results were expected to be issued for eight days, and Provisional Electoral Council executive director Uder Antoine has said it might take longer than that. Voter turnout appeared paltry in much of southwestern Haiti, which was ravaged by Hurricane Matthew last month and was drenched by rain Sunday. But in the crowded capital of Port-au-Prince and other areas, voters formed orderly lines and patiently waited to cast ballots even as some polling centers opened after the 6 a.m. scheduled start.

"This is my responsibility as a citizen," said Alain Joseph, a motorcycle taxi driver and father of four who wore a bright pink sweatshirt to show his loyalty to the Tet Kale party of former President Michel Martelly. Pink is the faction's color.

Police reported some isolated incidents of voter intimidation and disruptions, including an attempt to burn a voting center in the northern town of Port Margot. Across the country of over 10 million people, there were 43 arrests for various charges such as illegal gun possession and assault. Hours after voting ended, a major fire raged at a central market in the hillside Petionville district above Port-au-Prince but the cause wasn't immediately clear.

Leopold Berlanger, president of the electoral council, told reporters that authorities were satisfied with how the day progressed even though balloting could not take place in two isolated districts. He said officials would examine complaints by people who couldn't find their names on voter lists.

In Cite Soleil, a volatile slum on the edge of Port-au-Prince where voting sometimes has slid into chaos, balloting was so brisk and orderly that even some polls workers were stunned. "I have to admit, I'm a little surprised just how smoothly things are going," said Vanessa Similien, an electoral office worker who was monitoring voting at a school in the desperately poor district.

The Caribbean nation's roughly 6 million registered voters did not lack for choice: 27 presidential candidates were on the ballot. The top two finishers will meet in a Jan. 29 runoff unless one candidate managed to win more than 50 percent of the votes or got the most votes while leading the nearest competitor by 25 percentage points.

The balloting will also complete Parliament as voters pick a third of the Senate and the 25 remaining members of the Chamber of Deputies. Helene Olivier, 72, said she was inspired to vote for the first time in her life in hopes a woman could tame Haiti's fractious politics. She said Fanmi Lavalas candidate Maryse Narcisse, one of two female presidential contenders, would improve the nation because of her gender.

"Women protect women. They make good changes. The men, they boss you and beat you too hard," Olivier said after casting her ballot at a high school in Petionville. Results of an October 2015 vote were annulled earlier this year after a special commission reported finding what appeared to be significant fraud and misconduct.

Haiti has had an anemic caretaker government for nearly a year, and the new president will face a slew of challenges.  With the depreciation of the currency, the gourde, the cost of living has risen sharply. Haiti is deeply in debt and public coffers are largely depleted. The southwest is in shambles from last month's Hurricane Matthew and parts of the north have been battered by recent floods.

In Bel Air, a rough hillside neighborhood of shacks in downtown Port-au-Prince, a group of men playing dominoes said their biggest hope from a new administration was simply regular garbage collection.

"All I know is the next government needs to start picking up the trash around here again. Under the interim government, we've had no garbage collection here at all," said Nicolas Michel, a math teacher and part-time welder.

After lengthy drift, Haiti votes for new leader

November 20, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Voters will have their say Sunday in a repeatedly derailed presidential election that leaders hope will get Haiti's shaky democracy on a sturdier track. The Caribbean nation's roughly 6 million registered voters don't lack for choice: 27 presidential candidates are on the ballot. The top two finishers will meet in a Jan. 29 runoff unless one candidate in the crowded field somehow manages to win a majority of the votes.

No results are scheduled to be released for eight days, but electoral council director Uder Antoine has said it might take longer. The balloting will also complete Parliament as voters pick a third of the Senate and the 25 remaining members of the Chamber of Deputies.

Results of last year's presidential election were disputed and then annulled after a special commission reported finding what appeared to be significant fraud and professional misconduct. Most Haitians typically stay away from the polls, in part because they are repelled by the chronic ineffectiveness and broken promises of their elected officials. But there are Haitians who say they are determined to vote, hopeful new leaders might be able to relieve Haiti's chronic poverty and political turbulence.

"Nothing will stop me from voting. We all have to step up and help solve Haiti's problems," said Mickenson Berger, who has been cutting hair on a Port-au-Prince street corner since his barber shop was destroyed in the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Haiti has had a caretaker government for nearly a year, and the new president will face a slew of immediate and long-term challenges.  With the depreciation of the currency, the gourde, the cost of living has risen sharply. Haiti is deeply in debt and public coffers are largely depleted. The southwest is in shambles from last month's Hurricane Matthew and parts of the north have been battered by recent floods.

Haiti is the poorest nation in the hemisphere and one of the most unequal in the world. "Public institutions remain weak, and life-crushing poverty remains the daily reality of most of its citizens. Environmental degradation has left the population and the country's productive infrastructure highly vulnerable to shocks," said Robert Maguire, a Haiti expert who is an international affairs professor at George Washington University.

A revamped Provisional Electoral Council, known as the CEP, has gotten high marks for organizing Sunday's vote with some $25 million from the government. It replaced a council that was marred by internal discord and widespread allegations of fraud.

"So far, this CEP has done a good job. Their credibility is very high," said Rosny Desroches of the Haitian group Citizen Observatory for Institutionalizing Democracy, which will have 1,500 observers monitoring the national vote.

Delegations from the Organization of American States and the Caribbean Community are here to watch the election. The European Union withdrew its monitors in frustration earlier this year after officials annulled results from the 2015 vote.

As always with Haitian elections, security is a big concern. The Haitian National Police, which has been strengthened with international assistance, is playing a far greater role in maintaining security than it did in previous electoral cycles.

A total of 2,026 U.N. police officers and 1,468 peacekeeper troops will assist nearly 9,500 members of Haiti's police force maintain security. There will also be some 5,400 security agents conscripted by the Provisional Electoral Council to help keep order at voting centers.

Support sought for kids left behind by UN troops in Haiti

July 14, 2016

PORT SALUT, Haiti (AP) — The first time Rosa Mina Joseph met Julio Cesar Posse he was hanging out in civilian clothes on the beach in her hometown in southern Haiti, where he was stationed as a member of a U.N. peacekeeping force.

Within weeks, she says, the Uruguayan marine was showing up every weekend at her family's shack, pledging his love in Spanish and broken Haitian Creole. But about a year later when his rotation ended, Posse quietly returned home. He left behind Joseph, a broken-hearted 17-year-old with an infant and no way to support the child without depending on struggling relatives.

"He promised me he'd marry me and would take care of me," Joseph, now 22, tearfully said in a recent interview at her mother's house in Port Salut, a town along the southwestern tip of Haiti. After years of mounting frustration, she and several other women with children fathered by peacekeepers say they will now pursue claims for child support against the absentee fathers and the U.N.

Haitian human rights attorney Mario Joseph said he will file civil suits in Haiti this month. Joseph's law firm also is involved in a high-profile claim on behalf of 5,000 cholera victims who blame the U.N. for introducing the disease. A U.S. federal appeals panel in New York is weighing whether the lawsuit can proceed or if the United Nations is entitled to immunity.

The peacekeeping force was sent to Haiti in 2004 to keep order following a violent rebellion that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Since then, some peacekeepers have been accused of rape and other abuse, of using excessive force and of inadvertently introducing cholera because of inadequate sanitation at a base used by troops from Nepal.

U.N. troops have been accused of sexual exploitation elsewhere as well, most recently in the Central African Republic, and "peacekeeper babies," have long been a legacy of their deployments, as they have for other military forces throughout history.

Rosa Mina Joseph, whose son was born in 2011, said she received an envelope with $300 in cash from the U.N. two years ago when it established paternity. She had to drop out of school to care for the son and her dreams of becoming a nurse have all but vanished.

Posse sent her $100 once from Uruguay, she said, but has not sent anything more. While Joseph was a minor at the time she gave birth, potential criminal charges against the marine would confront a difficult legal challenge: U.N. peacekeepers can't be prosecuted in the countries in which they serve under international agreements.

The Associated Press does not typically identify sexual assault victims, but Joseph gave permission as long as a photo of her face was not published. "I want him to take responsibility to care for his son because I don't have the means by myself," she said in the yard where she spends her days doing laundry and cooking.

The U.N. force in Haiti currently includes 4,899 uniformed personnel, a combination of military and civilian police, from more than a dozen countries. That's down from over 13,000 peacekeepers following Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake.

Ghandi Shukry, head of a Conduct and Discipline Unit in the U.N. mission, which is known by its French acronym MINUSTAH, said 29 claims for paternity have been submitted to the U.N. in Haiti. He said 18 of the claimants have been classified as "victims" by the world body because they were receiving some kind of support.

"We are not facing a current wave of paternity claims. They are all kind of old cases," said Shukry, stressing that any kind of sexual relations by peacekeepers and locals is prohibited. The U.N. official confirmed that Joseph and three other Port Salut women represented by the attorney did have paternity established in 2014 after DNA swabs from the mothers, children and peacekeepers were analyzed. He declined to discuss any of the cases in detail.

He said that two members of his unit maintain regular contact with the Port Salut women. MINUSTAH also put the women in touch with a Uruguayan military representative, he said, since the U.N. allows troop-contributing countries to investigate allegations and decide how to pursue paternity claims.

The Port Salut women, however, say contact with U.N. staffers or Uruguay military representative is rare and generally bewildering. A 2015 U.N. report by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon acknowledged that there were "numerous obstacles to having paternity recognized and to obtaining support for children of United Nations personnel, whether they were born as a result of sexual exploitation and abuse or not."

MINUSTAH's uniformed personnel are now barred from leaving bases alone or when wearing civilian clothing and mission rules have changed in recent years to prohibit any fraternization. "Not only sexual relations are prohibited; even having normal relations with the local population is prohibited," Shukry said.

Uruguay's Navy spokesman, Capt. Gaston Jaunsolo, acknowledged there have been a small number of paternity cases and said service members found guilty are sanctioned and barred from peacekeeping missions.

He confirmed that Posse continued in the Navy and said service members are forbidden to speak the press without permission. A listed phone number for Posse was out of service. His profile on a social networking site says he's looking for a young woman between 18 and 25 to start a family with.

The Uruguayan Army issued a statement to AP saying it's sent roughly 3,000 troops to Haiti since 2011 and four paternity allegations were made against that military branch. There's been one positive DNA test, the statement said, and no complaints have been made since 2014. It said the soldier who tested positive was punished but not discharged.

Meanwhile, the women struggling to raise their kids in Port Salut are eking out a living with the help of their families. Their children are sometimes teased by other kids who call them "MINUSTAH babies" or mockingly ask where their daddies are.

"When he's older I'll find a way to explain things. For now, the only thing I can say is that his father's not here," Joseph said as she held a snapshot showing her and Posse together at her 17th birthday party, a heart drawn on the back of it reading "Osemina y Julio."

AP writer Leonardo Haberkorn contributed from Montevideo, Uruguay.

Haiti lawmakers elect Senate chief as provisional president

February 14, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Lawmakers chose the Senate chief on Sunday to lead a caretaker government that will fill the void left by the end of President Michel Martelly's term last week and perhaps ease tensions that suspended elections and pushed deeply polarized Haiti into political crisis.

In the early hours of Sunday, Jocelerme Privert was elected as provisional president and sworn in after a plodding session by Haiti's bicameral legislature. He was formally installed in the afternoon before a crowd of Haitian officials and foreign diplomats.

The veteran politician was one of three candidates vying to lead an interim government that is supposed to last only 120 days. His new position will be that of a powerbroker who hopefully carries enough weight to quickly smooth political divisions that have left Haiti without a president chosen by voters or a completed Parliament due to the suspended elections. Prime Minister Evans Paul remains in office for now, but Privert and lawmakers are expected to choose a No. 2 official in coming days.

During a speech to lawmakers hours before their final vote, Privert promised that if selected he would lead a caretaker administration that would "foster confidence within all sectors of society," ensure stability and see that the electoral cycle is concluded "as soon as possible."

He submitted his resignation letter from the Senate to start his new post. An initial vote by legislators gave Privert just two votes more than Edgard Leblanc, a former Senate president who was being backed by Martelly's political faction. But after closed-door negotiations, Privert became interim president after 3 a.m. in a second round of voting that gave him a clear majority of hand-written votes from senators and lower house deputies.

Martelly, who was barred by Haiti's constitution from seeking a consecutive term as president, left office a week ago without a new elected leader in place. A runoff presidential election was delayed for a second time last month amid violent opposition protests and deep public suspicions about possible vote-rigging in favor of his chosen successor.

Less than 24 hours before Martelly was set to step down Feb. 7, top Haitian leaders managed to cobble together plans for a short-term provisional government and a roadmap to hold the postponed presidential and legislative runoffs. As Senate chief, Privert was a central figure in those talks.

Privert faces an uphill battle in bringing the troubled country and its perennially feuding politicians together. In recent days, some demonstrators took to the capital's streets to protest against his inclusion as a candidate for provisional president, while others marched to support him.

The elevation to interim leader is a dramatic transformation for Privert, who was jailed for over two years at the start of Haiti's last provisional government in 2004. Charges that were eventually dismissed alleged the former Cabinet minister orchestrated a massacre of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's opponents during the buildup to an armed rebellion that ousted Aristide. Privert always maintained he was a political prisoner and had no involvement in any killings.

Privert recently told The Associated Press that a new electoral council will be created soon to ensure that the postponed runoff voting is fair and transparent. The accord on the interim government says the vote should be held April 24, but Privert has stressed that the next council is responsible for confirming the date and all other electoral matters.

Haiti leader departs as he came: amid uncertainty, disorder

February 07, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Michel Martelly came to office promising a stronger Haiti following a messy election that provoked widespread skepticism. He is due to leave power Sunday at the close of his five-year term with few accomplishments and a legacy clouded by a new political crisis.

The singer-turned-politician had urged Haitians to set aside deep divisions at his May 2011 inauguration. But his hostile relations with Parliament resulted in gridlock. Many Haitians say Martelly squandered a golden opportunity to turn impoverished Haiti around as international aid poured into the country following a devastating 2010 earthquake that flattened much of the capital and surrounding areas. The disaster killed an estimated 300,000 people.

"He said he'd help the population and I hoped it was true. But here we are still struggling, same as ever," said fruit vendor Nadine Suzie, selling oranges on a street corner by piles of smoldering garbage. Haiti has long been one of the poorest and most unequal countries in the world.

Some who worked with him closely see Martelly as a charismatic but flawed leader who doomed his presidency by surrounding himself with an entourage of unsavory cronies, including a number from his previous career as "Sweet Micky," the self-proclaimed "bad boy" of Haitian pop music.

"It hurts me to say this because I still like him as a person, but the Martelly years were a big zero. There were people around him who were very corrupt and money had a way of disappearing," said Georges Sassine, a prominent industrialist who was tasked with overseeing the country's industrial parks until he was abruptly replaced in 2013.

Martelly's former prime minister, Laurent Lamothe, who was forced to resign under pressure in late 2014 after some 2 ½ years in office, is distancing himself from the president during his shambolic last days. He asserts Haiti made clear gains during their partnership but political feuding over the last year has rolled them back.

Lamothe told The Associated Press that the endless infighting between the president and Parliament "brought Haiti back to its old days of gridlock and self-serving policies that collapsed the economy and destroyed any progress that was achieved."

The dysfunction deepened last year when the mandates of the entire lower house and a third of the Senate expired in the absence of elections, leaving Martelly to rule by decree. Martelly came to office after winning an election process marred by allegations of fraud, and only international pressure got him in the runoff. He leaves on Sunday, less than a day after he and Haitian lawmakers reached an agreement to form a short-term provisional government under an interim president who will serve until a newly elected leader can take power May 14.

Violent opposition protests and deep suspicions of electoral fraud favoring his chosen candidate, Jovenel Moise, derailed a scheduled runoff last month. Martelly, through a party official, declined to be interviewed for this article. But at a Saturday ceremony with legislative leaders, the president somberly said: "Even though I didn't accomplish everything I hoped to get done for Haiti, we did our best."

While he's unpopular with some of those in the political class and many struggling to raise families, the forceful, self-confident leader still has many admirers among the young. "This is the first government in my lifetime that's worked to build up basic infrastructure," said 25-year-old student Pierre Richardson Olson in Haiti's crowded capital. "That's worth something, isn't it?"

Martelly's most ardent supporters insist he's been Haiti's best leader, while hardline critics often characterize him as a dictator who enriched himself illegally. His legacy is more complicated than either of those extremes.

Kenneth Merten, the U.S. State Department's special coordinator for Haiti, said it's easy to lose sight of accomplishments made during the Martelly years amid the current disorder. "I think we would have all hoped to see that more was accomplished. But I think it's important for people who don't really know Haiti to understand that there has been progress made," said Merten, attributing gains in large part to partnerships with the U.S. and other foreign powers that supported the pro-business president.

Haiti has more paved roads, more children in school, a stronger police force and less extreme poverty. The World Bank said that the local economy had its best performance in decades, with a real growth rate averaging 3.3 percent yearly from 2011 to 2014. Parts of the capital have seen new construction, including major hotel chains, and the number of people in dismal tent camps has dropped from 1.5 million after the quake to about 60,000 now.

But these gains, spurred by international aid, are fragile. Haiti's chronic problems of widespread poverty, lack of opportunity and exclusion remain entrenched. Martelly's government relied so heavily on Venezuela's Petrocaribe trade initiative, which provided subsidized oil to allied nations, that Haiti's debt to Caracas is nearly $2 billion. His government used savings from the program to fund building and social programs.

One of Martelly's final acts in office was releasing a Carnival song under his stage name, aiming sexually suggestive lyrics at a respected female journalist amid the political crisis. Some former insiders see this as a sign that he was never all that serious about improving Haiti.

"I think he saw power as an excuse to party," said Chantal Elie, a foreign affairs adviser to Martelly who quit after a year because she was fed up with various tensions, including, allegedly, frequent sexist comments by the president and officials close to him.

International community appeals for dialogue, calm in Haiti

January 24, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — The international community appealed for dialogue and calm in Haiti on Saturday after a presidential and legislative runoff was put on hold indefinitely.

The United Nations, international election observers and foreign governments urged the volatile Caribbean country's feuding political actors to negotiate a solution to an electoral impasse that threatens to soon become a constitutional crisis.

Haiti's charter requires a new government to take power Feb. 7, but election authorities say there is now no chance the country will meet that deadline to pick the next president. It is unclear whether an interim government will be set up, or another solution may be reached.

In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Haitians to work toward "peaceful completion of the electoral process without delay." Government officials have not addressed the impasse publicly since Friday afternoon, when the Provisional Electoral Council postponed the runoff a second time without naming a new date for the vote.

The splintering council cited what it called a "deteriorating security environment" to explain its decision, but there has also been widespread opposition to the vote on the part of civil society. The opposition presidential candidate had promised to boycott the runoff.

A day after protesters set fires and smashed windows, a few thousand anti-government demonstrators again took to the streets of Port-au-Prince on Saturday. Young men threw rocks and lit tire barricades on fire downtown, sending black smoke billowing into the air. Many called for new elections and the immediate removal of President Michel Martelly.

"He cannot stay a second longer," said Frantzo Nepha, an unemployed 24-year-old. Ruling party candidate Jovenel Moise said he was mystified that electoral authorities would again postpone the runoff without immediately providing a new date. The vote was originally supposed to be held Dec. 27.

Moise, whose top finish in the first round prompted allegations of vote-rigging, told reporters he believes he is the people's choice and called for the runoff to be held soon and peacefully. "Our generation has a responsibility to show other countries in the world that we are a civilized nation," he said.

Many Haitians are exasperated by the political infighting and disruptive protests. "It seems like politicians want to drag the Haitian people backward," said Karine Fenelon, as she picked out oranges at a roadside fruit stall.

Some blame the election mess on the international community and especially Washington, which they believe is far too involved in Haitian affairs. "All of these so-called friends of Haiti are stopping us from moving forward," mechanic Patrick Augustin said. "Martelly's government is always taking dictation from the U.S."

Haiti delays presidential runoff again in electoral dispute

January 23, 2016

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — A presidential runoff that had already been delayed once and faced deep public skepticism was put on hold indefinitely Friday, as Haiti's leaders sought to negotiate a resolution to what threatens to become a constitutional crisis.

The Provisional Electoral Council decided to postpone Sunday's vote because there is "too much violence throughout the country," council president Pierre-Louis Opont said at a news conference. In recent days, a number of election offices across the impoverished nation have been burned and the capital has been rocked by violent opposition protests calling for a halt to the runoff.

The council did not set a new date for the vote. It also did not say whether an interim government would take power after Feb. 7, when President Michel Martelly is required to leave office under the Constitution, or if he would remain until a replacement is elected.

Martelly had been expected to address the issue in a speech to the nation Friday evening, but he canceled his address as thousands of protesters erected flaming barricades, smashed car windows and hurled rocks at police in Port-au-Prince. Instead an extraordinary council of ministers was convened to discuss public order and security.

Government opponents have insisted that the first round of presidential balloting Oct. 25 was marred by massive fraud in favor of the president's hand-picked successor, businessman Jovenel Moise. The runoff was originally supposed to be held Dec. 27, then rescheduled for Sunday.

Jude Celestin, also a businessman and the other candidate in the runoff, said he would boycott the vote, though his name remained on the ballot. Neither candidate immediately returned phone messages seeking response to the electoral council's decision. In a statement, Celestin's "Group of Eight" opposition alliance welcomed the "fighting spirit of the Haitian people."

Protests have grown increasingly violent in recent days, prompting the council to conclude it was too risky to try to hold the vote. Haiti has only a shaky handle on security even with the assistance of troops and police from a U.N. peacekeeping force that has been in the country since a 2004 uprising ousted then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Schools that serve as election centers and voting stations in various towns have been attacked and set on fire in recent days, and election materials in a border town were hijacked by gunmen, Opont said.

Recent opposition-stoked protests in Port-au-Prince have ramped up the tension with rock-throwing partisans and burning street barricades. Thousands of demonstrators cheered in celebration Friday after hearing the vote would be postponed. Groups of mostly young men then proceeded to Petionville, a hillside district that is home to some of Haiti's wealthiest citizens, where they smashed windows, set vehicles alight and threw rocks at riot police. Security guards fired into the air.

In the evening, the smoldering remnants of scores of flaming barricades could be seen in downtown Port-au-Prince. Motorists were forced to swerve around burnt tires, shattered glass and piles of rocks, but roadside eateries began to reopen.

There has been growing concern that a flawed runoff might push the perennially volatile country of 10 million people to the edge of tumult, rolling back a decade of relative political stability and putting the brakes on foreign investment.

Elections are always a struggle in Haiti. It saw its first genuinely democratic election in 1990, closely followed by a coup d'etat. While there have been no shortage of opposition boycotts since, this is the first time that a presidential candidate is boycotting a runoff after qualifying for it.

Celestin recently told The Associated Press that Haiti was "moving toward a selection, not an election." He said the U.S. and other foreign governments that monitor Haiti were complicit for supporting flawed elections.

Haiti's Senate and various religious, business and civil-society groups had called for a halt to Sunday's runoff due to public suspicion of fraud and concerns about instability. Martelly had said the runoff would go on as scheduled and accused the opposition of trying to derail the vote with bogus accusations so a transitional government they would dominate could be set up.

Haiti officials postpone vote set for this weekend

December 22, 2015

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Less than a week before balloting was scheduled, Haitian authorities postponed the country's presidential and legislative runoffs because they said they needed to wait for recommendations from a special commission tasked with evaluating the widely criticized electoral process.

In a brief statement issued Monday evening, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council said the vote scheduled for Dec. 27 was postponed until further notice. They did not provide a new date for the final round of national elections. Council spokesman Roudy Stanley Penn said a new date will be announced once a commission created by presidential decree has concluded its work.

Last week, President Michel Martelly announced that a five-member commission would assess Haiti's electoral process ahead of the runoffs that opposition factions have threatened to derail because of suspicions of widespread fraud. It was expected to take three days to conclude its review and make recommendations to the government and the electoral council.

But the review panel has not yet been installed and various opposition factions objected to the commission's members, saying that the government didn't seek consensus with the 10 sitting senators and opposition leaders before the five members were chosen. The "Group of Eight' alliance led by second-place presidential finisher Jude Celestin said it was meant merely as a "cosmetic solution."

In Monday comments to The Associated Press, Martelly said the evaluation commission is intended to provide clarity to what he asserts are baseless fraud allegations stoked by the opposition. Once the commission finishes its work, he said he's confident the country can move ahead with the final round of elections "because we want it to be credible."

He said his government has lately been in talks with electoral officials, senators and opposition figures, including Celestin's camp, to find a way out of the electoral impasse. For weeks, the opposition alliance demanded an independent review of late October elections that it insists were rigged in favor of the government-backed presidential candidate. But the Provisional Electoral Council rejected their demands, arguing that they lacked the power to authorize a review of the official results.

Sauveur Pierre Etienne, one of eight presidential candidates who formed an opposition alliance with Celestin after preliminary results were issued last month, said Monday that it was only a matter of time before the electoral council would be forced to postpone the December vote.

"The government and CEP kept talking about the Dec. 27 date like it would happen but everyone knew that the runoffs could not take place then with so many questions," he said. Political analysts questioned whether runoff elections could feasibly take place in late December, especially when one of two presidential candidates in the runoff is alleging rampant fraud and not campaigning.

In their final results, the Provisional Electoral Council said government-backed Jovenel Moise had nearly 33 percent of the vote compared to 25 percent for Celestin, a former state construction chief who was the government-backed candidate five years ago. Celestin has dismissed the final results as a "ridiculous farce" and alleged that the CEP was complicit in vote-rigging in favor of Moise.

The office of Prime Minister Evans Paul said an evaluation commission was expected to be installed Tuesday. Martelly, who is blocked by the constitution from seeking a consecutive term, is due to leave office on Feb. 7.

Disorder as Haitians vote in long-delayed elections

August 10, 2015

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Delays, disorder and sporadic violence troubled Haitian legislative elections on Sunday as voters chose lawmakers for the next Parliament after a years-long wait.

The legislative elections had been postponed for nearly four years due to a political showdown between Haiti's executive and opposition, and they have been billed as a crucial test of the country's electoral system ahead of a presidential vote in late October.

Sunday's first round sought to fill two-thirds of the 30-member Senate and the entire 119-member Chamber of Deputies in the nation still struggling to recover from a 2010 earthquake that devastated the capital and surrounding areas.

But a number of polling stations across the Caribbean country of 10 million people had to wait for ballots a few hours after voting was supposed to start at 6:00 a.m. (1000 GMT). In sections of Port-au-Prince, voters also grew exasperated after being told they couldn't cast ballots because their names weren't on official voting lists.

"This is very frustrating. Are they trying to discourage voting?" gardener Gerald Henry complained after election workers turned him away. In the crowded capital, at least three voting centers were shut down by authorities after fistfights broke out as partisans attempted to stuff ballot boxes and engage in other visible irregularities. At one voting center in downtown Port-au-Prince, groups of young men ripped up paper ballots as heavily armed police shot into the air to re-establish order. Rocks were thrown in response before authorities closed the polling station.

Local media also reported the closure of numerous polling places in other sections of the country and scattered arrests of people accused of voting more than once. Observers from various political parties complained election officials did not give them access to voting centers.

Still, Haitian Prime Minister Evans Paul said the government was satisfied with how the legislative elections were handled, "despite the incidents that we would like to firmly condemn." Voting was extended for two hours at some polling stations due to ballot delays earlier in the day.

After voting ended, Pierre-Louis Opont, the head of the country's Provisional Electoral Council, told reporters that 54 polling stations, roughly 5 percent of the total, were closed Sunday amid violence and other disruptions. He also disclosed that a council staffer stole some of the elections material and vanished, but Oponte declined to provide more specifics other than the police were looking for him.

"We still don't know what his intention was," Oponte told reporters. Authorities were also trying to confirm reports of one election-related fatality. "We know that there were instances of violence throughout the country," Oponte said.

The vote took place roughly eight months after Haiti's legislature was dissolved because the terms of lawmakers expired before new elections could be held. It's the first election Haiti has held under President Michel Martelly, who took office in May 2011 and is in the final year of a five-year term. He has governed by decree since Parliament dissolved in January and cannot run for a consecutive term. In the absence of elections, Martelly has been accused of stacking the deck in his favor by appointing mayors and other municipal officials to replace those whose terms expired.

Roughly 5.8 million people were registered to vote and over 1,850 candidates from nearly 130 political parties competed. Elections in Haiti are never easy and the Provisional Electoral Council has long been criticized for votes plagued by disorganization, ballot irregularities and fraud allegations.

Final results were not expected for several days and a significant amount of work will be needed to get the next Parliament up and running after it is installed. The first round of Haiti's presidential election and the second round of local elections are set for Oct. 25.

After voting at a heavily secured polling station, Martelly was asked what he thought of Sunday's disorder. He told reporters: "I hope that the election officials are better organized for the presidential elections in October."

AP writer David McFadden contributed to this report from Kingston, Jamaica.

Haitians booted from Dominican Republic uncertain of future

June 19, 2015

FONBAYA, Haiti (AP) — Saint-Soi Souverin sat on a bench resting and thinking about his plight after being uprooted from his longtime home on the other side of the border in the Dominican Republic, far from the Haitian shelter where he is staying.

Dominican authorities deported the 35-year-old farm worker along with his wife and four children early this week, leaving Souverin to ponder what he will do in Haiti — a deeply poor country that he left at age 17 to find work in the relatively more prosperous Dominican Republic.

"I'm not taking this well," he told The Associated Press in Spanish as his small daughter fell asleep on the shelter's concrete floor Thursday. "They sent me here with two empty hands. Everything I own was left behind."

The Dominican Republic has long had uneasy relations with migrant workers like Souverin and it is becoming decidedly more unfriendly. Human rights activists worry that tens of thousands of people will face Souverin's plight in the coming weeks and months now that the Dominican government is pledging to deport non-citizens who did not submit applications to establish legal residency before Wednesday night's deadline. Most of those affected are from neighboring Haiti or of Haitian descent.

An estimated 460,000 Haitian migrants live in the Dominican Republic, which shares the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Officials have said nearly 290,000 people had enrolled in the immigration registration program, but only about 10,000 provided the required documents.

Many people had expected authorities to immediately start deporting people after the deadline passed, but the government said it would be a slow, developing process. The repatriations are not going to be "a witch hunt," Interior Minister Ramon Fadul said. "It will be a gradual process, as it should be, without any sudden surprises."

But Dominican officials also warned that people should start carrying documents to prove they are legal residents, to avoid deportation in case authorities stop them. Advocates for the migrants have criticized the registration plan as discriminatory regardless of the pace of deportations.

Dominican military officials and immigration agents have consistently raided communities with a high concentration of Haitians and detained people based on the way they look, said Wade McMullen, managing attorney for the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights in Washington.

"The Dominican Republic is shooting themselves in the foot, and it seems to be for short-term political gain," he said in a phone interview. "Over the long term, they're going to realize that there's not only going to be a significant economic impact, but that the human toll is going to be even greater."

One of those worrying about what will happen is 27-year-old Julio Mato, a moto-taxi driver who says he was born in the Dominican Republic to a Haitian mother and a Dominican father. During an interview by phone, Mato said many people he knows are fearful of being deported, and added that he doesn't understand why the Dominican Republic wants to chase off Haitians, who mainly work in low-wage jobs, often in construction and agriculture and as maids and gardeners.

"We live off the Haitians and the Haitians live off us," he said. Fadul expressed surprise at the number of people who sought to obtain legal residency, with dozens complaining they were turned away when the deadline expired at midnight Wednesday after standing in line for more than 24 hours.

"I don't know why in recent days thousands of people have come," he said, noting that the registration for legal residency began a year ago. "Who has brought them? Why didn't they come before?" The program began last June after legal challenges delayed its original launch in 2004. Non-citizens can qualify for legal residency if they can prove they have been in the Dominican Republic since before October 2011.

Souverin said he has lived in the Dominican Republic for nearly two decades and obtained an official document two years ago with help from a nonprofit organization only to have it seized at the border when he returned from a quick trip to Haiti.

He also accused school officials of seizing the papers of his Dominican-born children, forcing them to quit school, echoing a common complaint among migrants. "I don't like this one bit," he said. "Why do they treat me this way?"

The government implemented the registration program amid international criticism of a 2013 decision by the Dominican Supreme Court that people born in the Dominican Republic to non-citizens did not qualify for citizenship under the constitution unless they had at least one parent who was a citizen or legal resident. The ruling rendered thousands effectively stateless. Officials said they will grant citizenship to some 50,000 people in this category.

Souverin is now one of nearly 50 deported migrants staying at the shelter in Haiti, including women who are breastfeeding their babies. He said he doesn't know what he is going to do or how he will provide for his family.

"I don't have a house," Souverin said. "I lost all my resources."

Associated Press writer Evens Sanon reported this story in Fonbaya, Haiti, and Danica Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. AP writers Ezequiel Abiu Lopez in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and Pierre Richard Luxama in Fonbaya contributed to this report.