Haiti

WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Colin L. Powell met yesterday with Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue and praised him for bringing stability to the Caribbean nation following the upheaval of two months ago. "Now we are in the process of rebuilding," Powell said, with Latortue at his side. "Haiti is in great need of financial support, other kinds of support," Powell said. He noted that the United States is working on recruiting UN peacekeepers for duty in Haiti once the US-led multinational force leaves the country next month.

A local sports hero, a New York real estate developer and a well-known architect are teaming up to build a soccer stadium in Haiti's notorious Cite Soleil, hoping to revive the seaside shantytown known throughout the hemisphere for its extreme poverty and gang battles. Foreign investors in Haiti have largely directed their efforts at rebuilding from a devastating 2010 earthquake, focusing their funds on Port-au-Prince and the overlapping cities that make up the capital and the country's sleepy coastlines.

A Haitian official says that six people have died in strong rains that destroyed their hillside homes. Nadia Lochard of Haiti's Civil Protection Office said Friday the five adults and one boy were killed when a mudslide crashed through their homes in the Morne Calvaire district above the capital. The rainy season in Haiti traditionally begins in April but this year it's come early. The capital of Port-au-Prince has been soaked nightly over the past two weeks with showers that have triggered flooding and rockslides.

Two Americans jailed for allegedly driving a group of would-be soldiers during a protest demanding the restoration of Haiti's army face up to three years in prison if convicted on conspiracy charges, a prosecutor said Monday. Prosecutor Jean-Renel Senatus said in his office at the courthouse that one of the Americans, Jason William Petrie, was of concern because he had confessed in jail to having ties to criminal gangs. "He has a lot of information he can give us," Senatus told The Associated Press.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - One of the last two US Baptist missionaries held on kidnapping charges in Haiti was released yesterday, but the group’s leader remained in custody. Charisa Coulter was taken from her jail cell to the airport by US Embassy staff more than a month after she and nine other Americans were arrested for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after the Jan. 12 earthquake. Coulter, wearing a red tank top and sunglasses, declined comment as she quickly got into a sport utility vehicle that took her to the airport.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Former Haitian exile Gerard Latortue was sworn in yesterday as the country's prime minister, promising to unite the country after months of bloodshed and political strife that led to the ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Under heavy security, Latortue took the oath of office in front of a crowd of 200 people, saying he was happy to serve his country. "This is an occasion for hope for all Haitians," he said. "Together we will form a responsible government that respects its institutions, and I will see that every dollar given to development...

Fashion designer Prajje Jean-Baptiste (above left) ran into attorney Vladimir Jeune and his fiancee, Phabiola Dumay, at the Horizons for Haiti benefit at the Harvard Club over the weekend. Jean-Baptiste happens to be designing Dumay's wedding gown.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - American missionaries accused of child trafficking in the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake returned home yesterday and urged the safe release of the two women left behind in a Port-au-Prince jail. Four of the eight freed Americans landed yesterday at Kansas City International airport to cheers and hugs. They declined to speak to reporters, but their attorney, Caleb Stegall, read a statement in which they said they were thankful to be home. “We hope and pray that our release will allow everyone to focus again on the dire...

JOHANNESBURG — Jean-Bertrand Aristide, ousted president of Haiti, will return within days to his homeland, ending seven years in exile, a South African official said yesterday. The former slum priest remains hugely popular, and his return could disrupt an election this month in his earthquake-ravaged country. In Haiti, an official with Aristide’s Lavalas Party confirmed that his “return is imminent,’’ but declined to say how or when he’s coming back. “It’s an important event for the people in Haiti because they have waited so long for...

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — Tropical Storm Tomas weakened over the Caribbean yesterday, but forecasters warned it was likely to regain power and threaten Haiti’s crowded earthquake refugee camps by the weekend. The storm has been blamed for five deaths in the eastern Caribbean, where tiny islands were still assessing the damage from the hurricane that swept through over the weekend. In preparation for a possible strike on Haiti, the US Southern Command pulled the USS Iwo Jima out of a humanitarian mission in Suriname for possible disaster relief in Port-au-Prince.

Two Americans jailed in Haiti were charged with conspiracy for participating in a street march that pressed for the return of the country's disbanded army, a Haitian government official said Sunday. Reginald Delva, Haiti's Secretary of State for Public Security, said Jason William Petrie and Steven Parker Shaw were charged Saturday night because of their involvement in last week's march. Petrie, 39, is from Barberton, Ohio; and Shaw, 57, is from Dighton, Massachusetts. "They were providing logistical support," Delva said by telephone.

Hundreds of former and would-be soldiers in Haiti refused government orders to disband and marched through the capital on Friday, a show of force that culminated in the evening with a tense exchange of gunfire with police outside an old military base. The ex-soldiers and their young recruits have been pressing President Michel Martelly to honor his campaign goal of restoring the armed forces, which was abolished in 1995 because of its abusive record, holding marches in the capital, often in mismatching uniforms.

Guests at Cannes have bid up to (EURO)200,000 ($255,656) at a Haiti fundraiser for items including a Bono-autographed guitar as the film festival's glitzy, global spotlight turned to charity. It was the first time the French Riviera festival has attracted attention for a cause not connected with a movie. Actor Sean Penn, director Paul Haggis and model Petra Nemcova brought their individual charities together for a black-tie dinner Friday evening to benefit their organizations and renew attention to the Caribbean country.

Haiti moved to crack down on a band of former and would-be soldiers who had been staging protests for more than a year, closing two old military bases they had occupied and locking up dozens of participants in a pro-army march including two Americans. National police spokesman Gary Desrosiers said the Americans were jailed because they were acting as if they were part of Haiti's military on Friday during a demonstration to demand that President Michel Martelly restore the country's armed forces, which was abolished in 1995 because of its abusive record.

Sean Penn tried to turn the conversation at the Cannes Film Festival to Haiti, hosting a fundraiser for the earthquake-ravaged and poverty-stricken country. It was the first time the festival has used its glitzy, global spotlight to attract attention for a cause not connected with a movie. Penn, director Paul Haggis and model Petra Nemcova brought their individual charities together for a black-tie dinner Friday evening to benefit their organizations and renew attention to the Caribbean country.

The Haitian government is drafting legislation for the newly emerging mining industry to help this impoverished Caribbean nation reap benefits, the new prime minister said Tuesday. Laurent Lamothe, who saw his Cabinet and policy plan approved hours earlier, told The Associated Press during an interview that the legislation will be sent to Parliament soon. It will lay out rules apportioning royalties for the government and setting protections for the people and environment that could be affected by mines.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The 5-year-old teetered on broomstick legs - he weighed less than 20 pounds, even after days of drinking enriched milk. Nearby, a 4-year-old girl hung from a strap attached to a scale, her wide eyes lifeless, her emaciated arms dangling weakly. In pockets of Haiti accessible only by donkey or foot, children are dying of malnutrition, their already meager food supply cut by a series of devastating storms that destroyed crops, wiped out livestock, and sent food prices spiraling.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — Hurricane Tomas weakened slightly yesterday after tearing off roofs and downing power lines in the eastern Caribbean. Forecasters said the storm could gain force and veer toward earthquake-stunned Haiti, where some 1.3 million people in tents and under tarpaulins are vulnerable to heavy rains and wind. With maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, Tomas was barely a hurricane. The US National Hurricane Center in Miami predicted more weakening during the next 24 hours before it begins to strengthen again around midweek.

The leaders of a band of armed men pressing for the return of Haiti's military met with President Michel Martelly while he was a candidate in hopes that he would bring back the army, a former sergeant said Monday. Jean Fednel Lafalaise gave few details about the meeting, but said Martelly reassured members of the group that the army would be reinstated if he was elected president. "This is what we are fighting for, this what we wanted," Lafalaise told reporters at an old military base outside the capital.

The independence of Haiti will be celebrated Friday from 9:30 a.m. to noon in festivities at City Hall Plaza, 45 School St. The event, organized by South Shore Haitians United for Progress, comes on the 209th anniversary of the adoption of the first Haitian flag during the revolution against its French colonization. Mayor Linda M. Balzotti will speak, as will officials from the Haitian consulate in Boston. Activities will involve hundreds of schoolchildren from the city's schools including performances of Haitian dances.