In the spotlight: results and prospects in Haiti
Armed gangs have controlled the poorest neighborhoods of the Haitian capital for years.
They have extended their power to Port-au-Prince and its surroundings where they are increasing the number of villainous kidnappings.
(Illustrative image) AP - Odelyn Joseph
Text by: Christophe Paget Follow
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The end of the year is approaching, the Haitian press analyzes 2021 and projects itself into 2022. But the results and the prospects are quite bleak.
2021 will have been the year of insecurity: according to a survey published by
AlterPresse
, "
62.2% of those questioned believe that civil insecurity is the biggest problem facing the country
". They were only 9% to mention it in 2015. "
949 cases of kidnapping, this is the first time that kidnapping has reached such a level in the country
", recalls the Initiative for civil society. In an interview with AlterRadio /
AlterPresse
, the organization calls on "
political and economic actors and actors to stop funding violence in Haiti, but rather to strengthen the national police and the armed forces
".
But still according to the same poll, the confidence of Haitians is very low: "
For"
about 83% of those polled
"politicians do not care about their fate.
"
►
See also:
Insecurity in Haiti: strike and negotiations to free 17 hostages continue
Health and economy
"
Health from one crisis to another
", headlines
Le Nouvelliste
, for whom between May and last June, the Covid-19, killing 72 people, "
exposed all the weaknesses of the Haitian health system: the centers the most famous hospital staff had not been able to resist this murderous wave
”.
And the daily stresses that obscured by the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, "
the vaccine campaign will never be able to take off in five months
", with 1% of the population vaccinated today.
Regarding the economy, Haiti Press Network headlines on "
gloomy prospects
" for 2022, with already high inflation: "
food is expensive in Haiti
", explains economist Thomas Lalime.
►
To listen
:
Haiti: state of health, 1 month after the earthquake
Haitian migrants
According to the AlterPresse survey, 82.4% of those questioned "
express their desire to
leave Haiti at any time the opportunity arises
".
At the same time, the online agency recalls in a long article "
the ordeal of migrants from Haiti in the Americas
", with Mexico which "
becomes a kind of funnel for Haitian migration
[...] while the real possibilities of arriving in the United States narrowed more and more, because of the measures of migratory hardening put in place
"by the American president Joe Biden.
AlterPresse
says that the country has "
tried everything
" on its common border with Guatemala to avoid the arrival of caravans in the United States: "
Repression, militarization, administrative detention, harassment and assaults, even sexual, against migrant women and migrants from the South.
"Which, according to the site,"
only complicated the living conditions of these migrants
"and the caravans continued on their way.
The 12 Haitian personalities of 2021
Le Nouvelliste
made the list of the twelve personalities who, according to him, marked the year: from the writer Jean d'Amérique - he received this year a cascade of prizes (including the RFI Théâtre prize for
Opera Dust),
to soup joumou inscribed on the list of intangible cultural heritage of Unesco.
Also in this list, missing: Gabriel Fortuné, the former mayor of Les Cayes who died in the earthquake of August 14, Jovenel Moïse, the assassinated president ... And artists: the musician Bedjine and Gessica Géneus, the actress and director of the film
Freda, who received a
standing ovation at Cannes.
In Argentina, outbreak of Covid-19
At the time of the New Year's holidays, in one day on Tuesday, December 28, there were "
33,000
people infected
", "
20 dead on Tuesday
". But "
for the moment, the government is not adding any restrictions,
" says
Clarin
. Yet the increase is staggering, notes the newspaper: “
New infections have tripled in just one week.
"
La Voz
published a map of the country, with the number of cases appeared Tuesday in each province in mind, that of Buenos Aires with 11,695 people infected, and just behind, Cordoba 8520 case - Cordoba province where ten days 34,000 people caught the Covid-19.
This Tuesday,
Pagina12
visited the test centers in the city of Buenos Aires, where early in the morning the queues stretched out for entire blocks: “
They had to wait for hours in the heat without being ultimately sure of being able to be tested,
”reports the newspaper.
The personnel of the centers,
contacted
by
Pagina12
, speaks, in fact, of a lack of personnel.
In
La Nacion
, it is the vaccination rhythm complained of by a neurologist, Conrado Estol: "
An extremely slow rhythm, in weekend mode
", according to him.
Today,
Clarin
reports
70% of the population has received its two doses.
►
To read also:
Covid-19: two cruise ships deprived of access to land in Argentina
Time capsule in Richmond
In the United States, the capsule found in Richmond, Virginia, under the statue of Southern General Robert E. Lee, was opened this morning.
The statue had been unbolted, recalls the
New York Times
, by decision of the governor of Virginia Ralph Northam, who saw in it the "
conflicting symbol of a system which enslaved human beings
".
So, what was in that famous capsule in the form of a copper box? First, it must be said that the expectations were high, since, recalls
USA Today
, a newspaper article from 1887 stated that it contained "
a photo of former President Abraham Lincoln in his coffin
". And in fact no, "
the long-awaited photo was not there
", headlines the
New York Times
.
Instead, a drawing of a woman meditating beside a coffin, printed at the time in
Harper's Weekly
magazine
.
Also in the box, various books and manuscripts, among others a bible, Confederate coins, a Confederate uniform button, a fragment of ammunition from the Battle of Fredericksburg - during the Civil War.
As for the famous photo of Lincoln's coffin, according to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, it may still exist, regardless.
The
Washington Post
notes that as of Tuesday, workers continued to dig the foundation for the statue, possibly in search of a new capsule.
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