D.R. urged to stop deporting people to Haiti as they flee
DAJABON, Dominican Republic (AP) — Human rights activists are calling on the Dominican Republic’s government for a temporary reprieve in deportations as neighboring Haiti’s crisis spirals and people attempt to flee over the closed border from a surge in deadly gang violence.
Small trucks with customized cages are ferrying dozens of Haitians every day from a detention center in San Cristobal to the border on the island of Hispaniola as the gang attacks paralyze parts of Haiti’s capital.
“If the government could postpone or diminish the push for deportations, it would be an achievement – an important contribution to the Haitian population,” said William Charpentier, coordinator for the Dominican-based National Coalition for Migrations and Refugees.
Charpentier said his organization has received complaints about Dominican authorities allegedly bursting into homes to arrest people believed to be Haitians, breaking belongings and extorting them at times.
The United Nations also has called on the Dominican Republic and other countries to halt deportations, noting that Haiti is extremely unsafe.
Roberto Alvarez, the Dominican Republic’s foreign minister, told reporters that the deportations are a result of a national security policy and that there is no choice but to continue them.
“We do it respecting international conventions and human rights treaties. We are not perfect. From time to time, situations occur. We try to correct them immediately,” he responded when asked about allegations of abuse.
More than 23,900 people have been deported so far this year, according to the Dominican government. More than 4,500 have been deported this month.
Scores of people have been killed since the attacks began on Feb. 29 across Portau-Prince, with gangs targeting police stations, the main international airport that remains closed and Haiti’s two biggest prisons, with more than 4,000 inmates released.
The attacks have left homeless about 17,000 people who have fled their neighbourhoods, according to the U.N.
“There is a lot of calamity to eat, a lot of fights. There is no life,” said Suson Chalas, a 32-year-old street vendor who lives in the Haitian border town of Ouanaminthe.
Alexis Yard, a 45-year-old Haitian who was recently at a bilateral market along the border, said he supports the presence of a foreign military force to help quell gang violence in his country.
“What we want is a change, to live well, to eliminate crime and be able to move freely about the country,” he said.
Plans for a U.N.-backed deployment of a Kenyan police force to fights gangs in Haiti have been temporarily halted, with the East African nation saying the force would be deployed once a transitional presidential council is in place to lead Haiti.
The council, which has yet to be created, would be responsible for selecting an interim prime minister and a council of ministers. Last week, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he would resign once the council is established.
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Souvenirs bearing the image of 70-year-old Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sell like T-shirts at a Taylor Swift concert.
Just outside of Mexico’s presidential palace, throngs of mostly Mexicans crowd around a booth selling plush talking dolls, earrings, plastic sandals, stickers, hats, mugs, lighters and even coloring books plastered with the face of the highly popular leader.
The populist López Obrador, best known by his nickname AMLO, has long had a feverish following, but he’s become a larger-than-life figure in Mexican politics after leading the nation for nearly six years.
Now, despite not being eligible to run for reelection in the upcoming June 2 presidential vote, the nationalist looms larger than any of the candidates competing for the helm of Mexico’s government.
“López Obrador is going to be present without even being on the ballot,” said Carlos Pérez Ricart, a political analyst at Mexico’s Center for Economic Research and Teaching. “For better and for worse, he has managed to make all national politics revolve around him.”
Armando Monter, a follower of López Obrador for 17 years, opened his memorabilia booth three months ago in downtown Mexico City, selling just a few dolls and keychains.
“It was really small, but then more and more people were interested,” said Monter. “Now, we sell pretty much everything because the image of the president is so loved.”
While presidential front-runner and López Obrador ally Claudia Sheinbaum attempts to mirror the president, her closest competitor, Xóchitl Gálvez, has sought to villainize him as she lags in the polls.
López Obrador has been part of Mexico’s national politics for decades, gaining a spotlight in 2006 when he narrowly lost the presidential election, which he insists was stolen. In 2018, he swept to victory, ousting the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) from the presidency.
Despite facing a range of controversies and high levels of violence in the country under his leadership, López Obrador is adored by many like 56-year-old Carmen Andrade, an informal vendor in the nearby state of Morelos.
Andrade traveled three hours by bus on Thursday to Mexico City, just to buy a small, $8 cartoon López Obrador doll for her home. She said the slog into the capital was worth it because he’s leaving office, and she wanted something to remember him by.
López Obrador has catered to working class voters in a way no other recent Mexican leader has, his popularity helped along by the nation’s strong economy.