AP-

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —

Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said Thursday his government could collapse because political opponents are capitalizing on its inability to address the staggering fallout of the Jan. 12 earthquake. Bellerive, who has been more visible than President Rene Preval since the deadly quake, told The Associated Press in a 40-minute interview that he has two immediate fears — how the 1.2 million people living in the streets will deal with the impending rainy season and the danger of political divisiveness.
“You have the feeling that everyone is trying to do his little part and accuse the other one of not doing his part,” Bellerive said, including Haitian politicians, international groups and the business community. “Everyone is trying to create conflict when we have the same enemy right now: It’s misery, it’s disaster.”
Bellerive had been prime minister for two months when the earthquake struck, have replaced a predecessor ousted mainly by senators from Preval’s party. He is the sixth person to hold the post since 2004 in this politically unstable nation.
Preval took power under a U.N.-sanctioned election after two years of a U.S.-backed interim government that filled the void after the 2004 ouster of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Bellerive, an economist whose prior responsibilities included coordinating international aid for this deeply poor nation, said he understood criticism that Haiti’s leaders did not do enough to help in the days after the magnitude-7 earthquake killed 200,000 people and leveled nearly every government ministry along with 38 percent of the capital.
“Because we didn’t have any administration we could not give the services the population is entitled to. So they say there isn’t any government,” he said.
Since the quake, Bellerive said, he has spent sleepless nights worrying about impending rains — and their threat to cause landslides and floods that are constant killers in this Caribbean nation.
He said he has struggled to find solutions for those displaced by the quake. Most are still in the streets, trying to cope with poor sanitation and not enough food.
Then there is the potential for a constitutional storm.
A legislative election scheduled for this month has been canceled, threatening parliament’s legitimacy. A presidential election planned for later in the year is also in question, with Preval’s term expiring in 12 months.
In a country where peaceful transitions to power are rare, that could give opportunities to political rivals, Bellerive said.
“I am not asking for a truce, but I believe we have a serious problem that we have to face right now as a nation,” Bellerive said. “The government is not able to resolve this situation alone.”

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Eight American missionaries were freed from a Haitian jail and left for Miami Wednesday, nearly three weeks after being charged with kidnapping for trying to take 33 children out of the quake-stricken country.
Reporters watched as the U.S. Air Force C-130 cargo plane carrying the group took off from the tarmac. Officials from the U.S. Embassy and State Department, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media, confirmed that the Americans were on the plane.
The group’s rapid departure from Haiti began earlier Wednesday when Judge Bernard Saint-Vil said eight of the 10 jailed missionaries were free to leave without bail after parents of the children testified they voluntarily handed their children over to the missionaries.
“The parents of the kids made statements proving that they can be released,” he said, adding that he still wanted to question the group’s leader and her nanny.
Hours later, just after dusk, the bedraggled and sweaty-looking group walked out of the Haitian jail escorted by U.S. diplomats. They waited until they were safely inside a white van before flashing smiles and giving a thumbs up to reporters.
The missionaries, most from two Baptist churches in Idaho, are accused of trying to take 33 Haitian children to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 29 without proper documents. Their detentions came just as aid officials were urging a halt to short-cut adoptions in the wake of the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.
The missionaries say they were on a humanitarian mission to rescue child quake victims by taking them to a hastily prepared orphanage in the Dominican Republic and have denied accusations of trafficking.
Group leader Laura Silsby originally said they were taking only orphaned and abandoned children, but reporters found that several of the children were handed over to the group by their parents, who said the hoped the Baptists would give them a better life.
Saint-Vil said he still wants to question Silsby and nanny Charisa Coulter about their visit to Haiti in December before the earthquake, but he asked for Coulter to be hospitalized because of her diabetes.
Earlier Wednesday, Coulter of Boise, Idaho, briefly received treatment but was then taken back to jail.
“We are very pleased that Paul, Silas, Drew, and Steve have been released by the Haitian court,” said Caleb Stegall, a Kansas district attorney who has been helping some of the defendants. “Their families are relieved and anxious to have them safely home, and we are turning all of our energies toward bringing them back as safely and quickly as possible,”
Gary Lissade, the attorney for freed detainee Jim Allen, said he expected the charges to be dropped against the eight.
A legal group issued a statement on behalf of Allen, who is from Amarillo, Texas.
“My faith means everything to me, and I knew this moment would come when the truth would set me free,” Allen said in a statement issued by the Liberty Legal Institute in Plano, Texas. “For those whose cases have not been resolved, we will continue to pray for their safe return.”
Members of Bethell Baptist Church in north Topeka, Kansas, were elated that their youth pastor, Drew Culberth, had been freed, although a few of them worried what would happen afterward.
“Oh, goodness, I’m going to cry so hard,” said Emily Phillips, a 16-year-old participating in the church’s regular weekly program for children Wednesday night. “I want to tackle him, but I know that probably won’t be the best response.”
Silsby’s sister in Idaho, Kim Barton, said learning that her sister could not leave Haiti was difficult.
“At this point I don’t have any comment. I don’t know any more than you do,” Barton said.
The group earlier had been embarrassed by revelations that a man who briefly served as their legal adviser and spokesman in the Dominican Republic is wanted on people-smuggling charges in the United States and El Salvador.
U.S. marshals say they are hunting for Jorge Puello, who was already being pursued by authorities in the Dominican Republic on an Interpol warrant out of El Salvador, where police say he led a ring that lured young women and girls into prostitution. He also had an outstanding warrant for a U.S. parole violation.
Puello said he volunteered to help the missionaries after they were jailed and said he never met any of them before they were detained.
Puello — who surged into the spotlight by providing food, medicine and legal assistance to the jailed Americans — acknowledged in a phone interview with the AP on Tuesday that he is named in a 2003 federal indictment out of Vermont that accuses him of smuggling illegal immigrants from Canada into the United States.
He said he is innocent of the accusations.
Puello said he was in Panama and preparing to return to El Salvador to fight the charges against him there. His whereabouts could not be confirmed.
Puello’s involvement with the Americans began to unravel when authorities in El Salvador noted his resemblance to the suspect in the sex trafficking case. He acknowledged on Monday that he is in fact the suspect but said he was wrongly accused and will fight the charges.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — France’s national anthem blared across the tarmac on Wednesday as Nicolas Sarkozy made the first visit ever by a French president to Haiti, once his nation’s richest colony — offering aid to a country prostrate after a catastrophic earthquake.
Haitian President Rene Preval greeted Sarkozy as a brass band played the Marseillaise to start a quick tour of the earthquake ravaged capital and a French field hospital.
The two, both in dark suits, boarded an olive-drab helicopter and peered out of an open side door for an aerial tour of the devastated capital.
Some Haitians are welcoming France’s new interest in their nation as a counterbalance to the United States, which has sent troops there three times in the past 16 years. But Sarkozy’s visit is also reviving bitter memories of the crippling costs of Haiti’s 1804 independence.
A third of the population was killed in an uprising against exceptionally brutal slavery, an international embargo was imposed to deter slave revolts elsewhere and 90 million pieces of gold were demanded by Paris from the world’s first black republic.
The debt hobbled Haiti, it seemed for life.
A country plagued by natural and unnatural calamities was desperately poor and mismanaged even before a magnitude-7 earthquake smashed up the capital Port-au-Prince on Jan. 12, killing more than 200,000 people and leaving more than a million homeless.
Haitian politicians this week diplomatically skirted the question of French reparations — a demand put to Paris by ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2004. That suggests Sarkozy’s four-hour visit could herald a new era.
French officials say Sarkozy will announce details of “a French plan for the reconstruction of Haiti” — if Haitian officials agree. It differs little from proposals from Haitian, U.S. and U.N. officials to decentralize power away from the devastated capital and boost agriculture and tourism.
Another bit of help came from Air France on Wednesday. The airline said it will resume commercial flights to Port-au-Prince, operating twice a day, five times a week, beginning Friday. One will go to Miami while the other will fly to the Guadaloupe capital of Pointe-a-Pitre, where passengers can fly on to Paris.
The trip brings Sarkozy to an island where, French officials acknowledge, fascination with things French duels with strong, lingering resentments.
One official close to the French presidency, briefing reporters in Paris on condition of anonymity, hinted that France is not deaf to calls for reparations, calling Sarkozy’s visit “an occasion to show that France is mobilizing to give Haitians control of their destiny and pay past debts.”
France has already said it was canceling all of Haiti’s 56 million euro (US$77 million) debt to Paris.
In 1825, crippled by the U.S.-led international embargo that was enforced by French warships, Haiti agreed to pay France 150 million francs in compensation for the lost “property” — including slaves — of French plantation owners.
By comparison, France sold the United States its immensely larger Louisiana Territory in 1803 for just 60 million francs. The amount for Haiti was later lowered to 90 million gold francs.
Haiti did not finish paying the debilitating debt — which was swollen by massive interest payments to French and American banks — until 1947.
But Haiti’s wealth already was destroyed. It had been the world’s richest colony, providing half the globe’s sugar and other exports including coffee, cotton, hardwood and indigo that exceeded the value of everything produced in the United States in 1788.
By the early 1780s, half of Haiti’s forests were gone, leading to the devastating erosion and extreme poverty that bedevils the country today.
France’s other former colonies in the region — Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Martin, St. Barts and French Guiana — all have voted to remain part of France and send legislators to the French parliament.

(This version CORRECTS name of French Guiana sted Guiana.)

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — It will take three long years to clear the rubble left by Haiti’s devastating earthquake, said President Rene Preval who admitted even he’s still afraid to sleep under concrete in case another quake strikes.
In a rare exclusive sit-down interview, Preval told Associated Press Television News on Monday that Haiti faces a long reconstruction process that will result in fewer people living in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
“It will take 1,000 trucks moving rubble for 1,000 days, so that’s three years. And until we move out rubble, we cannot really build,” Preval said.
Sitting in the airport police station that serves as the country’s temporary government headquarters, Preval calmly laid out the difficulties of rebuilding an impoverished country amid aftershocks and the threat of more earthquakes.
He said the government has destroyed some hastily rebuilt structures in the capital, but he said that until alternative housing plans can be completed, the government’s ability to regulate reconstruction will be limited.
Asked about residents’ assertions that local corruption has interfered with the international aid effort, he replied: “It is possible that there have been irregularities.”
“However,” he said, “I should point out that the government isn’t the direct manager of most of this humanitarian assistance.”
He referred further questions to relief organizations and local and international governments engaged in food distribution.
International aid groups have taken pains to at least make Haiti’s government the titular head of the relief. But district mayor’s offices in Port-au-Prince have been put in control of some food coupon distribution, and some irregularities have been reported.
The president, whose five year term is scheduled to end next year, has rarely spoken publicly with his own people in the weeks since a magnitude-7 earthquake pummeled Haiti’s capital city on Jan. 12.
More than 200,000 people were killed. The presidential palace and his own private residence were destroyed, as were most government buildings and the headquarters of a 9,000-member U.N. peacekeeping force that guarantees his security.
Since then, Preval said Monday, he has been staying with friends until a “light, earthquake-proof” structure can be built to replace his home.
“Like you, I am nervous to be under cement,” he said.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Monday said his country will spend up to $12 million to build Haiti’s government a temporary base to replace official buildings damaged in the quake.
Despite Haitians’ desperate need for shelter, many abandoned houses that survived the quake still stand empty because nobody is quite sure they can withstand another quake.
At least 54 aftershocks have shuddered through Haiti’s shattered capital since Jan. 12. They have toppled weakened buildings faster than demolition crews can get to them, sending up new clouds of choking dust. On Monday, three children were killed when a school collapsed in the northern city of Cap-Haitien. It wasn’t clear what caused the collapse, which occurred after a late-night tremor and heavy rains.
“I tried sleeping in the house for a night, but an aftershock came and I ran outside,” said Louise Lafonte, 36, who beds down with her family of five in a tent beside her seemingly intact concrete house. “I’m not going inside until the ground calms down.”
That may be awhile. Seismologists say more, damaging aftershocks are likely and there’s even a chance of another large quake following quickly after the initial catastrophe in the capital of 3 million people.
In 1751, a large quake hit the island that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic. About a month later, another one destroyed Port-au-Prince.
A magnitude-7.4 quake that killed more than 18,000 people in northwestern Turkey in 1999 was followed three months later by another of magnitude-7.2 only 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the initial epicenter.
“There are many other examples like that of two significant earthquakes following each other,” said Eric Calais, a geophysicist at Purdue University who said he warned the Haitian government two years ago that the country was vulnerable to a major quake.
The prospect of another quake is on the minds of planners trying to rebuild the country and on those trying to prevent more deaths.
U.N. inspectors have advised people to stay away from dozens of structures.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimated at the end of January that there was a 90-percent likelihood of at least one more magnitude-5 quake in the coming month, a 15 percent likelihood of one of magnitude-6 or greater, and a 2 percent possibility of a shock as great, or bigger, than the Jan. 12 quake.

Associated Press writers Paisley Dodds and Jonathan M. Katz contributed to this report

January 28, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 28 (New America Media) – Haitians living in the United States are deeply impacted by the devastating earthquake that hit their island homeland earlier this month, according to a poll sponsored by New America Media.
A shocking three out of five respondents said they had lost some of their “loved ones.” Two-thirds felt the situation in their country was so dire they were willing to move back to Haiti for a period of time to help with the reconstruction.

A large majority of those interviewed said that they have been sending remittances back home on a regular basis but are now willing to increase the amount. Seventy-eight percent of Haitian adults in the United States reported having sent a financial contribution to help victims of the earthquake.
Additionally, 62 percent indicated that they were willing to adopt or foster a Haitian orphan from the earthquake. Three-fifths felt that the United States should welcome at least 50,000 new Haitian refugees to alleviate the calamity in the island nation.
Pollster Sergio Bendixen, president of Bendixen and Associates which conducted the poll on behalf of NAM, said that Haitian Americans were also aware of the long-term challenges Haiti faces. “The Haitian community in the United States indicates that for them, the most important long-term need is improving the nation’s health and education systems,” Bendixen said.
“Thirty-seven percent of those polled said the health and education systems needed to be addressed; 24 percent said strengthening the security and safety of the people should be the top priority, while a majority also agreed that Haiti would benefit from the opening of American markets to Haitian agricultural produce and manufactured goods.” Haitians in the United States are not concerned about the large U.S. military presence in their homeland.
The Haitian Diaspora in the United States also gave high marks to President Obama and his government (96 percent) and to the United Nations (88 percent) for their response to the earthquake. But three-fifths of the respondents also said the Haitian government has become unresponsive, and 63 percent disapproved of the way president Rene Preval and the Haitian government conducted themselves in the aftermath of the earthquake. Moreover, more than three-quarters of Haitian Americans believe that the $100 million pledged by the Untied States to help the country recover was not enough. They would like to see more than $1 billion given.
The diaspora in the United States is split on whether the Haitian government is still a viable entity. Forty-six percent agree that Haiti will never be able to govern itself, while 41 percent disagree that Haiti is a failed state.
The NAM poll also found that more than 90 percent of Haitians in the United States follow the events in Haiti “closely,” mostly through English language television. The large majority — 87 percent — characterized coverage of the earthquake by CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBC as fair and comprehensive, and less than 10 percent felt it has been “unbalanced and sensationalistic.”
According to Risk Management Solutions, a catastrophe modeling firm, the Haitian earthquake caused an estimated 250,000 fatalities. Disease, starvation and lack of medical care could push the death toll higher. “We’re too close to events, but the impact [the earthquake] has among Haitians, as well as among the rest of the world, may be among the worst catastrophes in the last century,” Bendixen said.
“This poll should help the American public, as well as our policymakers, understand the strain and emotional connection between Haitian Americans and their native country,” said Sandy Close, executive director of NAM. “Some of the responses regarding the respondents’ concerns for the recovery effort may also be useful in helping shape U.S. and international policies aimed at rebuilding the nation.”

The NAM poll interviewed 400 respondents between January 22-24, 2010, in English or in Creole, depending on their language of preference. According to the U.S. Census, there are approximately 800,000 Haitians living in the United States.

http://us.oneworld.net/article/368711-poll-haitian-diaspora-grieving-ready-help