Press Review of the Americas

In the News: In Haiti, even a Church participates in arms trafficking

The number of killings increased again in March 2023 in Haiti, due to gang violence. © AP/Matias Delacroix

Text by: Justine Fontaine Follow

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The Episcopal Church, a Protestant Anglican church, is accused of illegally importing weapons and ammunition into Haiti. A priest of this church was arrested last August. Le Nouvelliste reveals new advances in the investigation conducted by the Office of Financial and Economic Affairs (BAFE) of the Haitian judicial police.

According to investigators, the Church treasurer repeatedly authorized payments of tens of thousands of dollars to international arms dealers' accounts. The priest arrested this summer also received money from the Haitian Parliament. Finally, one of his lawyers is the same as that of Vitelhomme Innocent, the leader of the Kraze Baryè gang.

Haiti: homicides on the rise in March

The number of murders increased again last month in Haiti, due to gang violence, concludes a report by the Citizen Organization for a New Haiti (OCNH), relayed by Rezonodwes on its website. In total, from March 1 to 31, 195 murders were recorded, including 10 children and 4 members of the police, also specifies Le National.

United States: portrait of Donald Trump's judge

Juan Merchan is the name of the judge who is expected to preside over the hearing in Manhattan court on Tuesday, where former President Donald Trump is due to appear to be notified of the exact charges against him. This magistrate has nearly 20 years of experience in the New York courts. He came from Colombia with his family when he was a child, says The Hill. Donald Trump did not hesitate to criticize him before the hearing, accusing him of being biased, says Rolling Stone magazine: he "hates me", wrote the billionaire in capital letters on his social network, "we must change the judge".

What Donald Trump accuses him of is having presided over the hearings in two cases whose outcome was unfavorable to the Trump Organization, the billionaire's historic company, decrypts the site Politico. In January, the company was fined just over $1.5 million, the maximum amount allowed by law, for falsifying its accounts in order to pay less taxes.

Two sources inside the New York courts, interviewed by Politico, do not question the professionalism of Juan Merchan. But to rule out any suspicion of bias, they believe that it would have been more prudent to choose another magistrate in his place.

Immersed in a Colombian armed group

The Washington Post publishes a rare report in immersion with members of the Gulf Clan. This is a group with which Colombian President Gustavo Petro announced the end of the ceasefire on March 20. The criminal organization, described by a researcher cited in the article as an "Amazon equivalent" in the drug trafficking market in northern Colombia, is accused by the government of playing a role in blockades launched by miners in the region.

Journalists from the American daily went to meet members of the Gulf Clan, in the middle of the rolling and green countryside of central Colombia, in the Medellín region. In the surrounding villages, the criminal organization replaces an absent state, settling conflicts between inhabitants or financing health costs that the municipality cannot afford for a patient. The organization wants to negotiate with the government, says Jeronimo, one of its leaders interviewed by the newspaper. However, according to researchers quoted by the newspaper, the group has taken advantage of the ceasefire to expand its activities, and currently has no interest in giving up anything during peace negotiations.

An analysis that illustrates the progress of the "total peace" plan wanted by President Gustavo Petro, in power for less than a year. After - among other things - a deadly attack by a large armed group (the ELN) against soldiers last week, which killed 9 people, recalls the Colombian media Semana, this flagship project of the head of state has lead in the wing. Among the myriad of armed groups still active in the country, FARC dissidents (i.e. those who did not accept the peace signed in 2016 by this guerrilla), now say they are ready for formal peace negotiations. This is in any case what they ensure in a video published this Monday on social networks. Again, this news should not be enough to really revive the left-wing government's "total peace" project.

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• Haiti
• Criminality
• Press review
• Press Review of the Americas