FREE Thanks to our ADVERTISERS Please Support SOUTH FLORIDA’S MOST READ HAITIAN NEWSPAPER THEM! JULY 1 - 15, 2020 | Vol. 20 No. 460 www.lefloridien.com PHONE: 305.610.7481 L’ancien chef paramilitaire Emmanuel ‘Toto’ Constant renvoyé en Haïti près moult atermoie- ments bureaucratiques, Toto Constant, un chef A‘Toto’ Constant a fina- paramilitaire au passé lement été déporté par trouble l’administration américaine vers Haïti le 23 juin dernier. Il Le nom de ‘Toto’ Constant est a été placé dans un vol spécial associé aux périodes les plus avec 23 autres migrants haïtiens sombres de l’histoire récente eux aussi sous le coup d’un ar- d’Haïti. Aujourd’hui âgé de rêté d’expulsion. Les réactions 63 ans, l’ancien chef paramili- suite au retour de ‘Toto’ Con- taire avait en effet terrorisé les stant en Haïti sont partagées. Haïtiens pendant des années à Beaucoup redoutent que le travers l’escadron de la mort passé tumultueux de l’ex-chef qu’il a avait fondé, le FRAPH paramilitaire ne vienne ren- (Front Révolutionnaire Armé forcer le chaos qui règne déjà pour le Progès d’Haïti). Cette en Haïti. Pour le moment, les milice a vu le jour en 1993, soit autorités haïtiennes ont placé deux ans après le coup d’État ‘Toto’ Constant en prison en at- de 1991. tendant de voir comment gérer L’ancien chef de l’escadron de la mort baptisé FRAPH, Emmanuel ‘Toto’ Constant, condamné en 2000, par contumace, à son cas. Suite à la page 10 une peine de travaux forcés à vie, devra faire face à la justice haïtienne après avoir laissé le pays en 1994. À son arrivée, l’accusé a été appréhendé par des agents de la police judiciaire ensuite gardé à vue aux ordres de la justice. Know Your Candidates: Haitian-American Women Running for Office ÉDITORIAL (LE FLORIDIEN) Haïti : les gangs -- Haitian-Ameri- cans have had an veulent-ils prendre impact on Florida’s le pouvoir ? Page 4 Government over the past twenty years. It all start- U.S. risks 100,000 new ed in 1993 with Dr. Marie Flore Lindor-Latortue State Rep. Dotie Joseph Gepsie Metellus Linda Julien Philippe Derose in ican elected into Councilman of the The advancement women will be on Covid-19 cases a day, our very own Mi- public office of The Village of El Portal continues this the State Primary Fauci warns Page 6 ami-Dade County, United States of and in 2000 he went year’s election be- Election ballots, where he was the America in mod- on to become May- cause many Hai- August 18. first Haitian-Amer- ern times. He was or. tian-American Continued Page 3 The Trump Exclusive USA TODAY poll: Biden widens his lead, Administration Makes It Harder for Asylum but Trump keeps the edge on enthusiasm Seekers to Receive resident Donald cluding among those who are Work Authorization Trump is falling fur- lukewarm to the presumptive Page 6 P ther behind Demo- Democratic nominee. crat Joe Biden in the race for the White House, a Biden leads Trump by 12 Un jeune Haïtien new USA TODAY/Suffolk percentage points, 53%- d’origine signe un Poll finds – but the presi- 41%, the nationwide survey dent’s real opponent seems shows. In a three-way ballot nouveau contrat au to be himself. test, including a third-party Page 14 line, Biden leads the Repub- FC Barcelone Opposition to Trump is by lican incumbent 46%-37%. far the biggest factor propel- ling support for Biden, in- Continued on page 8 LE FLORIDIEN 2 HAITI - CORONAVIRUS JULY 1 -15, 2020 | VOL. 20 NO. 460 In Haiti, coronavirus spreads in slums, showing challenge for Latin America PORT-AU-PRINCE/HAVANA (Reu- ONE STRONG SUIT ters) - Berthony Clermont shares a two- room flat without running water with Given the reluctance of many Haitians 10 relatives in the Haitian capital’s Cite to go for treatment, many believe the Soleil slum, so when he fell ill with the toll from COVID 19 is far higher than novel coronavirus, they all did. the 100 deaths officially registered to date. A funeral homes company director “I tried staying at home at the beginning in Port-au-Prince, who asked not to be but it was difficult to isolate myself as named, said deaths had doubled since the house is too small,” said the 45- mid-May, though only some of the ex- year old. Mistrustful of the dilapidated cess had death certificates confirming public healthcare in Haiti - the poorest the cause as coronavirus. country in the Americas - Clermont and his family treated themselves at home However, Haiti and the broader region with herbal teas. has one strong suit - a younger popu- lation compared to some other parts of Clermont’s plight is shared by many the world. Older people appear to be in Haiti and, more broadly, across the more vulnerable to the serious effects of Caribbean and Latin America. Home to A member of the health personnel with the medical charity Medecin Sans Frontieres or Doctors COVID-19. 654 million people, it is the most un- Without Borders (MSF) gets ready at the dressing area before attending to patients infected with the equal region in the world, according to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Port-au-Prince, Haiti June 23, 2020. REUTERS/Jeanty Junior Less than 9% of the population of Latin AugustinREUTERS the United Nations. America and the Caribbean - and just 4.5 % in Haiti - is aged 65 and above. As governments in Europe and some breaks by reacting more swiftly and fear negligent treatment should they be That compares with 20% in the Euro- parts of Asia have managed to stem the comprehensively, these two regional hospitalized. pean Union and 16% in North America. spread of coronavirus, Latin America heavyweights are hitting record num- and the Caribbean have emerged as one bers of daily cases. While official data puts confirmed -cas This may help explain why Haiti has so of the epicenters of the pandemic. es in Cite Soleil at 73, Clermont, who far defied early predictions of a devas- Their epidemic curves stand to rise also works as a local community ac- tating death toll, according to Ronald With confirmed cases globally hitting even more sharply as both are planning tivist, reckons a majority of its around Laroche, a doctor who set up and runs a the 10 million mark on Sunday, the re- to ease quarantine restrictions on their 250,000 inhabitants has contracted the network of low-cost health centers and gion accounts for around a quarter of struggling economies, defying the cau- virus. hospitals in Haiti. those. tionary tale of Chile, where a partial re-opening appears to have led to an ex- So far, Haiti has confirmed just 5,722 Poor living conditions have likely also From Argentina to Mexico, nearly one plosion in cases. cases nationwide. helped people build resilience while in five of Latin America’s urban popu- the hot and humid tropical climate may lation lives in crowded slums, like Cite Carlos del Rio, a Mexican-born infec- “There is a certain denial,” said Erneau have reduced the virus’ virulence. de Soleil. tious disease expert with Emory Uni- Mondesir, a doctor at the MSF facili- versity, said that - given very low levels ty. People were consequently failing to “We think the virus, which has caused In such poor, densely-packed neighbor- of testing across the region - the most take precautions and arriving at hospital so much damage in other countries, is hoods - with little or no access to run- worrying aspect was not the number of too late, when they were already criti- not behaving the same way here,” said ning water, sanitation and health facil- confirmed cases but the levels of mor- cally ill, he said. Patrick Dely, director of epidemiology ities - residents struggle to follow even tality. Haiti is reliant on initiatives by foreign at the National Laboratory. “The ques- the basic hygiene guidelines that ex- aid organizations given its shambolic tion now is why?” perts recommend to prevent contagion “Latin America has just 8% of the healthcare system. While the situation with the highly infectious virus. world’s population but it currently ac- there is extreme, healthcare coverage Some warn the situation in Haiti could counts for 45% of daily deaths,” he throughout much of Latin America and quickly deteriorate if the country goes And, given a large informal labor sector told Reuters. “What has lacked in many the Caribbean is patchy. ahead with its plans to reopen interna- and insufficient government welfare, countries is leadership and a clear strat- tional airports at the end of this month. many people cannot afford to quaran- egy. Europe had a much more energetic Many are counting instead on natural Haitians flying back from New York tine - even when they are ill. response.” remedies - often distributed in Haiti by and Miami risk bringing with them priests of the Afro Caribbean Voodoo more virulent versions of the virus. Sauveur Desroches, 55, said that even In a worst-case scenario, if restrictions religion who are also treating patients after he started feeling sick with the vi- are relaxed further, the COVID-19 in their temples. “It could be a massacre,” said Laroche. rus, he kept working for four days at a death toll could climb to 340,476 peo- construction site in Port au Prince. ple in Brazil and 151,433 people in “Without traditional medicine, those Mexico by October, researchers from who live beyond the metropolitan areas “But then my body just gave way and the University of Washington’s Insti- would have serious problems,” said Eu- I had to stay in bed,” said Desroches, tute for Health Metrics and Evaluation vonie Georges Auguste, deputy leader receiving treatment at an emergency (IHME) warned this week.