HAITI: Exhausted School System Gets a Second Chance

September is a particularly stressful time of year in Haiti. As schools open, parents across the country hope for help in the form of bonuses from employers or money orders from loved ones overseas. Many have already been skimping on food, medicine and other essentials just to pay for their children to attend classes.

HAITI: As Annan Visits, UN Mission Seeks Reinforcements

Faced with a rising tide of violence, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan paid a visit Thursday to Haiti, where he announced that the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) will seek to extend its mandate in this this impoverished Caribbean nation for another 12 months and request reinforcements at a UN Security Council meeting in New York next week.

HAITI: Storm of Killing in Neighbourhood Has Wide Implications for Nation

In this neighbourhood overlooking the placid bay of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, a ghostly silence wraps itself around the burned tin shacks, concrete hovels gutted and scorched black by flames, and jagged rocks that form the paths of the hillside slum, spattered with blood.

CARIBBEAN: Brain Drain, Single Economy Top Summit Agenda

It has been discussed peripherally for years at various summits, but Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders have never really sat down for a full-fledged discussion about the annual migration of hordes of their best and brightest to North America and Europe.

POLITICS: Haiti Returns to Caricom, But With Old Problems

As he prepares to take a seat alongside his fellow Caribbean leaders in St. Kitts on Jul. 4, Haiti's President Rene Preval knows all too well there are still lingering issues he has to deal with.

CARIBBEAN: Recognising the Legacy of Slavery

Slavery is inextricably intertwined with the history of the countries of the Caribbean, and a new Sites of Memory on the Slave Route project is focusing on the African influence in Aruba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba.

DEVELOPMENT: Reconstruction of Haiti – Part II

Brazil has expressed its staunch support for reconstruction in Haiti, signing several agreements with the new democratically elected government of René Préval to contribute to school lunch programmes, the promotion of sports as educational support, the production and use of ethanol fuel produced from sugar cane, and a massive vaccination campaign.

HAITI: Rebuilding Is an “Immense” Job, Preval Says

Haiti's new president René Préval visited Washington and the United Nations this week to press his case for support from the international community and private investors to help address Haiti's urgent social and economic problems.

DEVELOPMENT-HAITI: A Non-Military Solution

A proposal for producing energy from alternative sources along the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic could be a first step towards development for Haiti.

ARTS-HAITI: Young Photographers Lift their Masks

For a moment, it could have been lower Manhattan. Edgy photos hung on bright white walls inside an old brick warehouse. Men and women from around the globe stood captivated by black-and-white images of monsters and people.

HAITI: The Once and Future President Breaks His Silence

Almost a week after he was declared president, Rene Garcia Preval broke his silence Wednesday, telling the press about his presidential mission.

HAITI: Preval Declared President, Ending Electoral Crisis

After a week of vote-counting marred by charges of fraud, angry demonstrations and tense political discussions, Haiti has officially elected a president: Rene Garcia Preval.

CARIBBEAN: Region Awaits Verdict in Haitian Polls

Caribbean leaders have signaled their willingness to readmit Haiti into the fold following elections last week, but some have also called for a formal mechanism to expel members who fail to embrace electoral democracy.

HAITI: Resolute Voters Endure Long Lines, Longer Treks

In the pre-dawn darkness of a town with scarce electricity, the dusty streets churned with the quiet but hurried movement of a population determined to vote.

POLITICS-HAITI: U.S. Hopes for Smooth Elections

U.S. officials and analysts here are hoping that Haiti's elections next Tuesday will run smoothly and bring to power a credible government two years after Washington itself helped oust the last elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

HAITI: UN Official Predicts More “Collateral Damage”

As Haitians prepare to go to the polls next month to elect a new political leadership, human rights groups have urged the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the country against taking any military action that could harm innocent civilians.

POLITICS: Haiti Seeks Return to Caricom Fold

Two years after he was sworn in as Haiti's prime minister with the backing of the United States, Gerard Latortue is confident that the groundwork has been laid for Haiti's re-entry into the regional integration grouping Caricom.

HAITI: Undeclared War Escalates In Capital Slum

It was 1:30 in the morning and the sound was deafening - machine gun fire, the crack of rifles, and the boom of heavy artillery, as bullet tracers flew through the black sky like fireworks.

HAITI: General’s Death Revives Debate on Brazil’s Peacekeeping Role

The death of General Urano Bacellar, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Haiti, which some members of the military and government officials in Brazil are reluctant to accept was a suicide, rekindled the debate on the role this South American country should play in international security operations.

HAITI: Week Opens With a Funeral and a Protest

The streets of Haiti's usually congested capital were virtually devoid of vehicles Monday. Gas stations, stores and restaurants were shuttered across metropolitan Port-au-Prince.

HAITI: Clinging to Optimism in Electoral Limbo

Haiti looks and sounds like it is on the eve of elections. The Caribbean country has been virtually blanketed with posters, flyers and billboards urging Haitians to vote for 35 presidential candidates and some 1,300 legislative candidates.