Haitian Money

White-Mark Entertainment contracts with Caribbean Fever Music Festival at Barclays Center

NEW YORK, USA (defend.ht/DML) - May 22, 2013: Today White-Mark Entertainment (WME) announced its contract with the 2013 Caribbean Fever Music Festival, a premier celebration of Caribbean cultures, cuisine, fashion and music. Presented in partnership with Irie Jamboree, Inc., the Caribbean Fever Music Festival is a three-day live event taking place during Labor Day Weekend on Friday, August 30 through Sunday, September 1, 2013 at the landmark Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn, New York.

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Two more shipments of rice from Vietnam to arrive in Haiti soon

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - After the arrival of a first, 10,000 ton shipment of rice in March from Vietnam, two other rice shipments, 15,000 and 18,000 tons, are expected to arrive in Haiti at the end of May and early in the month of June, respectively. On Friday, the Director of the Monetization Office of the Assistance Development Program, Michael Lecorps, said these shipments would reduce the high cost of life in Haiti.

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Loans between Pledged and Disbursed Health Aid

WASHINGTON, D.C. (defend.ht) - Now, aid groups will be able to obtain financing with a line of credit from Pledge Guarantee for Health, a public-private partnership between the United States and Sweden and commercial banks that aims to get aid recipients, working in health, the money they need faster.

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Carrefour-Feuilles in blackout, EDH apologizes

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Electricity of Haiti apologized to residents in one of Haiti's largest districts, Carrefour-Feuilles, for power rationing caused by the failure of the CAF 2-1 circuit. Although teams are working to repair the circuit, it fears armed intruders may make this operation difficult. This expands the extreme shortage of energy being felt in the metropolitan area.

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Leopard Haiti Fund Makes First Investment in dloHaiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht/LeopardCapital) – The Leopard Capital Haiti Fund made it's first investment into dloHaiti, a company owned by Silicon Valley executive Jim Chu. In March 2013, dloHaiti was runner-up in Imagine H2O's annual international competition recognizing the world's most promising water start-ups. Press release:

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Haiti wraps up 2013 Women, Creation and Production Trade Show

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - The Women, Creation and Production 2013 Trade Show, the 8th annual, organized by “Voix Essencielle” - Femmes en Democratie, that took place this past weekend was an opportunity for women of different regions of the country to present their creations for export.

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Las Pajas and the Lucky Haitians

LAS PAJAS, Dominican Republic (defend.ht/ReedYoung) - Yoni moved from Haiti to Las Pajas four years ago. His cousin helped him become a citizen after 2 years. If someone asks him if he is Haitian or Dominican, Yoni responds, “Soy legal” (I’m legal). He cuts sugar cane, earning about 300 pesos ($8) every two days. Yoni is also the proud new father of a two-month-old son.

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JetBlue readies for direct flights to Haiti

NEW YORK, USA (defend.ht) - It was first mentioned by its CEO David Barger in September of 2009 but today jetBlue is announcing that pending approval from the Haitian and U.S. governments it will begin offering daily non-stop flights from New York, Fort-Lauderdale to Port-au-Prince.

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Haiti accounts for $1 billion [US], 25% of Dominican exports

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (defend.ht) - Excluding the free zones, Haiti is the top destination for Dominican exports’ accounting for more than $1 billion, 25% of the market, not taking account informal exports and smuggling, a published Dominican report stated on Tuesday.

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Haiti: 90% of investment budget is from Petrocaribe

CARACAS, Venezuela (defend.ht) - Petrocaribe accounts for 90% of Haiti's budget for investment and has had a "stunning impact" on infrastructure development, the nation's economy and is currently being used to finance social projects such as Ede Pep.

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7th Summit of PetroCaribe Nations begins May 4

CARACAS, Venezuela (defend.ht) - The PetroCaribe Summit, that was postponed from March 25 because of the death of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and the country's elections will be held on May 4th, 2013 in Estado Nueva Esparta, Venezuela.

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Haiti minimum wage higher than D.R. denounce Dominican Unions

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (defend.ht) - The National Center for Dominican Workers (CNTD) Monday termed it a "shame" that Haiti's minimum wage, following the increase set by former President Rene Preval, is higher than that of the Dominican Republic. This comes as Dominican President Danilo Medina has agreed to regularize the statuses of Haitian citizens working in the D.R., who usually earn even lower wages as undocumented workers.

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Sources: There will not be an international airport in Les Cayes, South

LES CAYES, Haiti (defend.ht) - The population in the city of Les Cayes are in dismay at information circulating that the government would not be able to keep its promise of constructing an international airport in this southern city. Residents are demanding an explanation but an official statement on the matter has not been released by the administration.

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Haiti: Opening of the 3rd Summit on Finance and Applied Technology

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Le Group Croissance began Tuesday morning at the Karibe Convention Center in Petion-ville the 3rd edition of the Summit on Finance and Applied Technology, which will run from April 9 to 12 under the theme "Strengthening financial governance in Haiti."

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Commerce Ministry presents actions for a new state of business policies

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - The Ministry of Commerce and Industry presented at the Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday, an actions matrix developed from the General State of Investment (EGI) conference held a year ago. These actions, Acts, will join the extensive backlog of legislative proposals that Parliament has been incapable of sitting on for nearly 2 years.

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Victims of Tabarre Market Fires Decry Broken Promises

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Merchants at the public market in Tabarre mobilized on Wednesday to denounce that a year and a day ago after the market caught of fire, President Michel Martelly visited them to say there was a fund of $5 million [US] already available in the public treasury to repair the victims, but since, not a penny had been disbursed.

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Six oil exploration permits awarded behind closed doors

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - While the senate was hearing information on gold and copper mining contracts being signed without public knowledge, some information was missed in the tears and sobbing of the Director of the BME. 6 oil permits had also been signed, that should have required a convention and the attention of lawmakers.

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Haiti: State electricity company disconnected for arrears of payment

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Less than a week after Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe promised 24-hour electricity throughout Haiti within 6 months, the state-run company, Electricite d'Haiti, was disconnected for being 3-months in the arrears, putting the entire greater metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince in blackout.

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Dominican farmers fear loss of crops without Haitian laborers

SAN JUAN de la MAGUANA, Dominican Republic (defend.ht) - More than 20 major farm and livestock associations on Thursday warned Dominican authorities that 90% of their more than 9,400 hectares of crops could perish if Haitian laborers aren't allowed into the country.

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Doing Business in Haiti gets more difficult

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - According to the World Bank, doing business in Haiti has become more difficult despite the Martelly/Lamothe administration's slogan that "Haiti is Open for Business." From 2011 to 2012 the institution, which has a large stake in the current administration, said Haiti had fallen 8 slots, from being ranked 166 to 174.

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Book reviews

Haiti Noir

Book Review

The anthology edited by Edwidge Danticat puts a uniquely Haitian spin on the crime genre

"Danticat has succeeded in assembling a group portrait of Haitian culture and resilience that is cause for celebration." - Publishers Weekly