Press Review of the Americas

In the News: A policeman killed and two armored vehicles set on fire in Haiti

A police officer takes cover during an anti-gang operation in a Port-au-Prince neighborhood (illustration image). © Odelyn Joseph / AP

Text by: Margaux Ratayzyk

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Police have once again been targeted in Haiti. On the night of Wednesday, May 17 to Thursday, May 18, 2023, a policeman was killed in an ambush in Source Matelas, about thirty kilometers north of Port-au-Prince, the capital. Another officer was shot and wounded and two police armoured vehicles were set on fire by bandits armed with Molotov cocktails.

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This criminal and reprehensible act will not go unpunished "said the Haitian National Police (PNH), quoted by AlterPresse. The police also announced actions "to track down and apprehend thugs" before calling on their agents "to close ranks in the fight against armed gangs and not to be intimidated". According to AlterPresse, the HNP also continues to "solicit the frank collaboration of the population" to support it in the "dismantling of gangs".

Chile: a ministerial employee accused of abortion by her partner

In Chile, the Minister for Women and Gender Equality defended an employee of the Ministry accused by her partner of illegal abortion. "Following the report, police officers went to the home, where the woman was bleeding," La Tercera said. "His vital prognosis is not engaged," reassures the daily. But an investigation was still opened by the regional prosecutor's office. La Tercera reports that for her part, the ministerial delegate concerned, Cristina Martín "filed a complaint against her companion for domestic violence".

Colombia: confusion over the fate of the four missing children in the jungle

The entire Colombian press was rapped around what looked like a "beautiful story". The Colombian president had announced Wednesday, May 17, 2023 on his Twitter account the rescue of four children, including a baby, lost in the Amazon jungle. They had been missing for about ten days after the crash of the small plane on which they were travelling. But Gustavo Petro finally backtracked by deleting his tweet the next day. In reality, the emergency services on the ground still have no news of the missing minors.

According to an editorial in El Espectador, this story "that upsets the country" is indicative of an abandonment of the state. "The small plane in which they crashed on May 1 was in a jungle area [in the south of the country] where the government is not present," the Colombian newspaper said. For him, this accident, whose causes remain unknown, "shows the face of another Colombia, one where there are no airports, only runways. That of a lawless country where a light aircraft can take off overloaded and then crash. Enough to confirm, "once again," says the daily, that "Colombia has abandoned the Amazon."

Discovery of fresh footprints

Meanwhile, research continues. Three lifeless bodies, all adults, have already been found. But the children are still missing. "The authorities hope that they survived the crash and wander in the jungle until they stumble upon civilization or are found," El País wrote on its Latin America website. The soldiers, says the daily, "discovered the baby's bottle and fresh footprints of the children near a stream." So many discoveries that revive the hope of finding them alive in a dense and hostile environment.

El País adds that the four children come from an indigenous community and therefore "know the jungle well".

United States: The Andy Warhol Foundation before the Supreme Court

This is a major conflict for the art world: is artistic borrowing theft? The Supreme Court of the United States ruled against the Andy Warhol Foundation on Thursday, May 18, 2023, on this issue. The highest court ruled that the famous photographer Lynn Goldsmith should have received royalties from the foundation. It was she who took a picture of the singer Prince, who inspired Andy Warhol, the master of pop art. These copyrights concern a reproduction of the screen printing by a magazine. "This decision could have a significant impact on artistic creation," USA Today insists. The case, explains The New Republic, "will make it easier to bring a lawsuit for infringement". This concerns "artists whose works are used or borrowed by others without permission," says the magazine.

But some see it as a form of artistic restriction, such as Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan, quoted in The New Republic. For her, this decision "will stifle creativity in all its forms and hinder new arts, music and literature." And to conclude that "our world will be impoverished".

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  • Press Review of the Americas
  • Haiti
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