SOPUDEP is a private non-profit school in Haiti that has served the poorest and most vulnerable children of the community of Petion-Ville since 2001. The children who attend SOPUDEP school would never have a chance at an education save for this wonderful project. Most of them also receive their only hot meal every school day through the school's Hot Lunch Program. Given the latest rise in food prices and the hardship this has caused Haitian families, the Hot Lunch Program is an indispensable component SOPUDEP's work in the community.
On July 29, approximately 200 former members of the Haitian armed forces took over several old military buildings in Haiti. The ex-soldiers were protesting the disbandment of the Haitian Army and the fourteen years of back pay they allege the government still owes them. The army was disbanded in 1995 by then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was overthrown in 2004 by a coup organized in part by former military members. The pay the soldiers demand covers the time after the 1995 disbandment to today. The soldiers claim that since the president's actions were illegal, they still were technically employed by the government.
August 12, 2008 marks the first anniversary of the kidnapping of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, 53, a tireless human rights and anti-imperialist activist who was the national coordinator of the September 30th Foundation.
Lovinsky was kidnapped around 10 p.m. after dropping off a human rights delegation that he had been chaperoning around Haiti (see Haiti Libert?, Vol. 1, No. 4, Aug. 15, 2007).
In a detailed report, the Rwandan government is accusing France of being complicit in the “preparation and execution” of the 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 people. The report released by the Rwandan Ministry of Justice Tuesday accuses top French officials, including former prime minister Dominique de Villepin and the late former president Francois Mitterrand, of playing a major role in the genocide. We speak with investigative journalist Linda Melvern, author of two books on Rwanda. Melvern testified in July 2007 before the Rwanda commission investigating France’s role in the genocide. [includes rush transcript]
In recent years, Haiti seems to insert itself into every U.S. presidential election. Refugees, military occupations, and sweatshop legislation have all become campaign issues.
This election year, Haiti has entered the fray even before the Republican and Democratic conventions. Last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fined IDT, a New Jersey-based telecommunications company, $1.3 million for not disclosing its 2003 - 2004 long-distance phone contracts with Haiti. During that time, the FCC claims that IDT paid Teleco, the Haitian national phone company, an illegally low rate for long-distance calls that it handled between Haiti and the U.S.
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