Category: America

With feather headdresses, grass skirts and body paint, thousands of indigenous demonstrators camped out in Brazil’s capital Monday to protest far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s policies and an initiative that could take away their ancestral lands.Pounding wooden tent poles into the ground, the protesters set up the “Fight for Life” camp outside the seat of power in Brasilia, near the trio of modernist buildings housing the presidency, Congress and the Supreme Court.The protest camp, which opened Sunday, will hold a week of demonstrations and other activities against what the organizers, the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), call Bolsonaro’s “anti-indigenous agenda,” seeking to exert pressure ahead of a crucial Supreme Court ruling on native lands.”We’re living in a time of much oppression, of setbacks on the protections and laws the indigenous movement has fought so hard for all these years,” APIB representative Kleber Karipuna told AFP.A member of the Kayapo tribe carries bows and arrows at a protest camp in Brasilia, Brazil on Aug. 23, 2021.Indigenous groups in Brazil accuse Bolsonaro of systematically attacking their rights and trying to open their lands to agribusiness and mining.A similar protest in June erupted into clashes, with three indigenous demonstrators injured and three police wounded by arrows.The latest camp opened peacefully. Organizers said there were 4,000 indigenous protesters from 117 ethnic groups.’Case of the century’The tension has peaked with a Supreme Court case opening Wednesday on the issue of how indigenous lands are protected.The agribusiness lobby argues Brazil’s constitutional protection of indigenous lands should only apply to those whose inhabitants were present in 1988, when the current constitution was adopted.However, indigenous rights activists say native inhabitants were often forced off their ancestral lands, including under Brazil’s 1964-1985 military dictatorship, which wanted to develop the Amazon rainforest.Having now returned, they should have the right to benefit from the protected status of official reservations, their lawyers argue.Indigenous men from the Krenak tribe perform a ceremony at a protest camp in Brasilia, Brazil on Aug. 23, 2021.The case centers on a reservation in the southern state of Santa Catarina but will set legal precedent for dozens of similar cases throughout Brazil.Protest organizers called it “the most important court case of the century.””If the Supreme Court accepts the so-called … ‘time frame’ argument in its ruling on land demarcation later this month, it could legitimize violence against indigenous peoples and inflame conflicts in the Amazon rainforest and other areas,” the United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Francisco Cali Tzay, said in a statement.On the other hand, if the ruling goes in the indigenous groups’ favor, it could also deflate a bill before Congress that would enshrine the 1988 “time-frame argument” in law.That bill, which passed a lower house committee vote in June, is one of several that indigenous activists and environmentalists say Bolsonaro and his allies are trying to use to further the advance of agriculture and industry into Brazil’s rapidly disappearing forests.”It’s a very important case at a time when we are seeing numerous setbacks in terms of indigenous rights,” Juliana de Paula Batista, a lawyer with the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), told AFP.Surging deforestationBrazil is home to around 900,000 indigenous people. They make up less than 0.5% of the population of 212 million, but their reservations cover about 13% of the country.Environmentalists say protecting indigenous reservations is one of the best ways to stop the destruction of the Amazon, a critical resource in the race to curb climate change.Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has surged since Bolsonaro took office in 2019. In the 12 months through July, a total of 8,712 square kilometers (3,364 square miles), an area nearly the size of Puerto Rico, of forest cover was destroyed, according to official figures.
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Migrants from Latin America, Africa and Asia are flooding the streets of Necoclí, a town in Colombia across the Gulf of Urabá from the Panamanian border. More than 11,000 migrants are stranded at the port as more arrive with plans to travel north to the United States. Jair Diaz filed this report from Necoclí, narrated by Cristina Caicedo Smits.Camera: Oscar Cavadia  
David Parra also contributed to this report.
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Haitian officials reported Sunday that the death toll from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in Les Cayes rose to 2,207.According to Haiti’s Civil Protection service, more than 50,000 homes have been destroyed and 344 people remain missing.22.08.21 #Sitrep8: #BilanPartielHumain| De nouveaux corps ont été trouvés dans le Sud. Le bilan humain pour les trois départements passe désormais à:✅2207 morts✅344 personnes disparues ✅12 268 blessés. ✅52 923 maisons détruites ✅77 006 maisons endommagées#Haïtipic.twitter.com/8A5KU4nWUl— Pwoteksyon sivil (@Pwoteksyonsivil) August 22, 2021More than 12,000 people were injured in last Saturday’s earthquake.The United Nations estimates that more than 1 million people were affected by the latest crisis to hit the Caribbean island country. Tens of thousands of houses have been reduced to rubble, rendering their inhabitants homeless.More Than 1 Million Haitians Affected by Quake, UN EstimatesDesperation is growing among hundreds of thousands of earthquake survivors who have little or no access to reliefThe quake was centered near the town of Petit-Trou-de-Nippes, about 125 kilometers west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, at a depth of 10 kilometers, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.Aid has trickled into the area partly because of the roads and bridges damaged by the quake and the subsequent drenching by a tropical storm. But efforts to bring water, food and medical supplies have also been stymied by gangs that have attacked convoys and hijacked trucks.The country has been reeling since President Jovenel Moise was assassinated in his home July 7. His wife, Martine Moise, was injured in the attack.    
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Hurricane Grace pummeled Mexico with torrential rain on Saturday, causing severe flooding and mudslides that killed at least eight people, authorities said. The storm was one of the most powerful to hit the country’s Gulf coast in years. Grace was whipping up maximum sustained winds of 201 kph (125 mph), a Category 3 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, when it slammed ashore near the resort of Tecolutla in Veracruz state in the early morning.The state government said eight people were killed, including six from a single family. All but one of the victims died in the state capital, Xalapa, including a young girl killed by a mudslide that hit her home, the government said.Meanwhile, an adult was killed by a collapsed roof in the city of Poza Rica farther north in the state, Veracruz Governor Cuitlahuac Garcia told a news conference.”The state of emergency has not ended,” he added.Floating coffinsLocal television showed severe flooding in Xalapa, with coffins from a local business floating down a waterlogged street. The nearby River Actopan burst its banks, shutting down a local highway, state authorities said.Grace also caused power outages and brought down trees. Images posted on social media showed damage to buildings and cars submerged by the deluge of rain the storm brought.Garcia said several rivers in Veracruz would flood and urged the local residents to take cover.A tree, uprooted when Hurricane Grace slammed into the coast with torrential rains, fell on a house, in Tecolutla, Mexico, Aug. 21, 2021.Television footage also showed flooding in Ciudad Madero in the southern reaches of the state of Tamaulipas near the border of Veracruz. Mexican state oil firm Pemex’s Francisco Madero refinery is in Ciudad Madero.Mexico City’s international airport said some flights were canceled because of the hurricane. National power utility Comision Federal de Electricidad reported 565,000 electricity users were affected by outages. Grace weakened quickly as it moved across Mexico’s mountainous interior, and by 1 p.m. CDT (1800 GMT) it was a tropical storm, with top winds of 75 kph (45 mph).Up to 18 inches of rainThrough Sunday, the Miami-based National Hurricane Center forecast Grace would dump 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 inches) of rain over swaths of eastern and central Mexico, and up to 45 cm (18 inches) in some areas. The heavy rainfall will likely cause areas of flash and urban flooding, it said.Veracruz and its waters are home to several oil installations, including Pemex’s port in Coatzacoalcos and its Lazaro Cardenas refinery in Minatitlan in the south. Grace hit land well to the north of these cities. Earlier in the week, Grace pounded Mexico’s Caribbean coast, downing trees and causing power outages for nearly 700,000 people, but without causing loss of life, authorities said. It also doused Jamaica and Haiti, still reeling from a 7.2 magnitude earthquake, with torrential rain.
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Tensions in Haiti were rising Saturday about a lack of aid to remote areas hardest hit by last week’s earthquake that killed more than 2,000 people in the impoverished Caribbean country. Many Haitians whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed by the magnitude 7.2 quake that struck on August 14 said they were unsure how to even start rebuilding. Exasperation over the time it is taking for aid to come through began to boil over Friday, with residents attacking aid trucks in several towns across the south of the nation. A confrontation also erupted after former President Michel Martelly visited a hospital in the city of Les Cayes, where one of his staff members left behind an envelope of money that set off a violent scramble. Former Haitian President Michel Martelly arrives at the OFATMA hospital to visit patients and medical personnel in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 20, 2021.Another food delivery was cut short Saturday afternoon at a church near Les Cayes’ airport after a frustrated crowd turned hostile, prompting aid workers to abort the operation. “We are concerned about the deteriorating security situation that may disrupt our assistance to vulnerable Haitians,” said Pierre Honnorat, head of the U.N. World Food Program in Haiti. The official death toll from the earthquake stood at 2,189 people, with an estimated 332 people missing. Residents in towns across the southern rural countryside were still digging for bodies believed to lie underneath the rubble. Possible survivorOn Saturday morning, Haitian and Mexican rescue workers carefully removed layers of concrete debris from a collapsed house in Les Cayes in search of a person who might still be alive a full week after the quake. On Friday night, the team made an unlikely discovery using sonar equipment that showed signs of possible respiration or movement. “We’re hoping for a miracle,” said Luis Alva, one of the Mexican rescue workers with Rescate Internacional Topos. Tens of thousands of homes are in ruins, leaving many families with no option but to sleep outside despite torrential downpours at night. The hurricane season in the Caribbean runs until the end of November, and Prime Minister Ariel Henry has warned residents to brace for more storms. U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Twitter that the USS Arlington naval vessel was heading to Haiti carrying helicopters, a surgical team and a landing craft to assist in the relief effort. Several countries, including the United States, have already dispatched aid and rescue teams. The U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF, said its first shipment of 9.7 tons of medical and hygiene supplies and water arrived in the capital, Port-au-Prince, on Friday, and another 30 tons of supplies are expected to land in the coming days. Meanwhile, a search and rescue team from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) set off from Port-au-Prince on Saturday morning to help in the quake zone. Paths blockedReaching the worst-hit areas has been hindered by landslides and damage to a highway. Gang fighting has complicated travel between Port-au-Prince and southern parts of the country where crops and access to drinking water have been destroyed. Some animals kept for food were also killed. Officials and residents in small towns and rural areas continued to tally the dead and missing. For countless others, the earthquake has upended their lives in quieter but enduring ways. Manithe Simon, 68, stood in front of her collapsed home in Marceline on Friday, shocked at how quickly her honeymoon had turned into a nightmare. Only days before the quake, Simon and Wisner Desrosier had finally decided to marry in a service in the nearby Baptist church. They had been together 44 years and raised four children together. Now, the bedroom where she had posed for wedding photographs in a sleeveless white dress, flower petals decorating her bed, lay in a heap of rubble. “Our wedding was so beautiful, even though it was raining cats and dogs that day,” she said. “But now we have lost everything.” 
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Career diplomat Oscar Maurtua was sworn in as Peru’s new foreign minister Friday to replace a leftist professor who resigned just weeks into the job over controversial comments he made before taking the role.Maurtua already served as foreign minister in the early 2000s under centrist President Alejandro Toledo, and will now serve the far-left administration led by Pedro Castillo, a former elementary school teacher.His appointment is crucial to Castillo’s political future, as his Cabinet will face a confirmation vote from the opposition-led Congress before the end of the month. He was sworn in during a ceremony at government headquarters that was broadcast on state television, without further government comment.Maurtua replaces Hector Bejar, who resigned under intense pressure because of comments he made before taking the minister job that resurfaced in recent days. He had said last year that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency was partly responsible for the creation of Maoist rebel group Shining Path.Maurtua has also served as Peruvian ambassador to several countries, including Canada and Thailand.
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Haitians left hungry and homeless by a devastating earthquake swarmed relief trucks and in some cases stole desperately needed goods Friday as leaders of the poor Caribbean nation struggled to coordinate aid and avoid a repeat of their chaotic response to a similar tragedy 11 years ago. The attacks on relief shipments illustrate the rising frustration of those left homeless after the Aug. 14 magnitude 7.2 earthquake, which killed nearly 2,200 people, injured more than 12,000 and destroyed or damaged more than 100,000 homes.“I have been here since yesterday, not able to do anything,” said 23-year-old Sophonie Numa, who waited outside an international aid distribution site in the small city of Camp-Perrin, located in the hard-hit southwestern Les Cayes region. “I have other people waiting for me to come back with something.”Numa said her home was destroyed in the quake and that her sister broke her leg during the temblor.“The food would help me a lot with the kids and my sister,” she said. George Prosper was also in the large, anxious crowd awaiting aid. “I am a victim. I was removed from under the debris,” the 80-year-old Prosper said. “I don’t feel well standing up right now. I can barely hold myself up.” In the small port city of Les Cayes, an AP photographer saw people stealing foam sleeping pads from a truck parked at a Red Cross compound, while others stole food that was slated for distribution, said Jean-Michel Saba, an official with the country’s civil protection agency. Police managed to safely escort the food truck away, Saba said. He did not say how much was taken. People also stole tarps from a truck in a community outside Les Cayes.Similar thefts appeared to take place in the small town of Vye Terre near Les Cayes, where a second AP photographer witnessed a group of men pulling large sacks from a half-opened container truck. People then grabbed the sacks and rushed off. One man who made away with a parcel of food was immediately surrounded by others who tried to grab it from him as people nearby screamed.The frustration over the pace of aid has been rising for days and has been illustrated by the growing number of people crowding together at aid distribution sites. But Friday was the first time there had been such widespread stealing.Some of the trucks that were looted were part of the convoy of the United States-based nonprofit group Food For The Poor. The trucks were transporting cases of water, bags of rice and beans and cases of Vienna sausage.“Although this unfortunate situation took place, our drivers were able to remain safe and the trucks were not damaged” spokeswoman Soraya Louis said in a statement. “… Our staff members in Haiti are working on assessing the damage and figuring out how to continue the task at hand in reaching even the furthest of the localities in need.”Complicating aid matters, officials began restricting access to the bridge connecting Les Cayes to the small, quake-impacted port city of Jeremie, meaning aid distribution had to be delivered there by boat or plane. The quake wiped out many of the sources of food and income that the poor depend on for survival in Haiti, which is already struggling with the coronavirus, gang violence and the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. Most of the devastation happened in Haiti’s already impoverished southwestern region.As of Wednesday, more than 300 people were estimated to still be missing, said Serge Chery, head of civil defense for the Southern Province, which includes the small port city of Les Cayes. In that community, a group of Mexican rescuers focused Friday night on a quake-damaged two-story home where equipment that allows them to detect sounds beneath the rubble caught noise.Pressure for coordinated aid efforts mounted this week as more bodies were pulled from the rubble and the injured continued to arrive from remote areas in search of medical care.International aid workers on the ground said hospitals in the areas worst hit by the quake are mostly incapacitated and that there is a desperate need for medical equipment. Prime Minister Ariel Henry on Friday asked international governments and aid groups to funnel all of their donations through the country’s civil protection agency, “which will specify the needs of each town, each village and each remote area not yet attended.”U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed, on a two-day mission to Haiti, met with Henry on Thursday and also visited quake victims in the city of Les Cayes. She said Friday that she was “particularly impressed by the work” of Haiti’s civil protection agency, and that the agency “must be empowered to lead a coordinated response.” Henry said earlier this week that his administration will work to not “repeat history on the mismanagement and coordination of aid,” a reference to the chaos that followed the country’s devastating 2010 earthquake, when the government was accused of not getting all of the money raised by donors to the people who needed it. Mohammed said doing things differently this time “will require investing in long-term development and supporting government leadership.”The Core Group, a coalition of key international diplomats from the United States and other nations that monitors Haiti, said in a statement Wednesday that its members are “resolutely committed to working alongside national and local authorities to ensure that impacted people and areas receive adequate assistance as soon as possible.”
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The U.S. government on Friday once again extended a ban on nonessential travel across its land borders from Canada and Mexico, citing efforts to minimize the spread of the delta variant. The ban limits border crossings by land or ferry, though flights between the U.S. and Canada and Mexico remain unrestricted.The Department of Homeland Security has extended the travel restrictions on a monthly basis since the coronavirus pandemic began last year. The restrictions, set to end on August 21, have been extended through at least September 21.”In coordination with public health and medical experts, DHS continues working closely with its partners across the United States and internationally to determine how to safely and sustainably resume normal travel,” the department said on Twitter.Nonessential travel restrictions do not apply to U.S. citizens or lawful permanent residents, who have been permitted to enter Canada since August 9 upon presentation of proof of an approved vaccination. But the United States has not reciprocated for visitors from other countries. Members of Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, have criticized the ongoing restrictions for separating binational families and hurting businesses reliant on cross-border tourism. Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican, recently introduced legislation to loosen nonessential travel restrictions for families and businesses.”The cost of President Biden’s inaction is devastating to North Country families, businesses, and communities hopeful that the United States would restore travel across the border,” Stefanik said in a Friday statement. “It is shameful that while the Canadian government has opened travel for fully vaccinated American travelers, President Biden would still deny northern border communities access to family, travel, and commerce.”Organizations such as Let Us Reunite have also been lobbying the federal government to loosen land border restrictions, pointing out discrepancies in the application of travel policies and citing a need to reconnect with family members across the border.Founder Devon Weber said that the group has attracted over 3,000 members and has held meetings with dozens of congressional offices about loosening travel restrictions since its inception last year.Weber, who has dual citizenship, moved from New York to Canada in February 2020. Because her French-Canadian husband doesn’t have a U.S. passport and they can’t afford multiple plane tickets, Weber has visited her family in New York only once during the pandemic.She described the lack of air travel restrictions as “classist” and said Let Us Reunite hopes to make it easier for binational families to visit each other by car and boat.”There’s just sort of this hodgepodge of closures with no rhyme or reason to them and that is very frustrating to folks,” Weber said. “It’s bureaucratic paralysis. The border closure is rolling over every 30 days, and there is no comment from the White House and nothing more than a tweet from DHS the day of the closure.”The Biden administration has provided few details on when or how the restrictions will end. It may require all foreign nationals entering the U.S. to be fully vaccinated, according to Reuters, but no official plans have been announced.Meanwhile, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise domestically since the more transmissible delta variant took hold in July. Over 70% of U.S. adults have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and infections are occurring primarily among the unvaccinated. Some information for this report came from Reuters.
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The United Nations warned Friday that desperation was growing among hundreds of thousands of Haitian earthquake survivors who have little or no access to the shelter, food, medical care and other essential relief they need.More than 2,000 people have died as a result of the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit southwestern Haiti a week ago. The United Nations estimated that more than 1 million people were affected by the latest crisis to hit the Caribbean island state. Tens of thousands of houses have been reduced to rubble, rendering their inhabitants homeless.Aid is slow to reach survivors of the disaster because roads are blocked by debris from the earthquake. Heavy rains and flooding from Tropical Storm Grace also have made it difficult for aid workers to reach people in need.A resident crawls away with a donated bag of rice after residents overtook a truck loaded with earthquake relief supplies, in Vye Terre, Haiti, Aug. 20, 2021.World Food Program official Marianela Gonzales said she was awakened by the earthquake Saturday inside her home in the capital, Port-au-Prince. In the few seconds it took her to realize what was happening, she said, hundreds of people died. Two days later, she headed for Les Cayes, one of the hardest-hit areas.”WFP was here, even before the earthquake, supporting over 200,000 people who cannot even afford any meal per day,” Gonzales said. “So the earthquake happened on the same people. The roof fell on the same people and Tropical Storm Grace rained on the same people for the next few days. … Definitely hard to be here today to enter these hospitals, to see people in the streets without a roof to sleep under, especially children.”Police stand guard near the entrance of a Red Cross center after people entered and took off with several foam mattresses, in Les Cayes, Haiti, Aug. 20, 2021, six days after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the area.The WFP estimated 215,000 people in earthquake-hit areas urgently need food assistance. The agency is using air, sea and road routes to transport essential supplies to the affected areas. And a U.N. Humanitarian Air Service helicopter managed by WFP is transporting staff, medical supplies and other essential needs. The agency said it needed $2.5 million for that operation.Other U.N. and private agencies are ramping up their relief efforts. The U.N. children’s fund estimated that children accounted for nearly half of the 1.2 million people affected by the earthquake. The director of the U.N. information service in Geneva, Alessandra Vellucci, said a UNICEF assessment found that 95 of 255 schools were either damaged or destroyed just weeks before classes were to start. “UNICEF is rushing lifesaving supplies including medicine, safe water, hygiene and sanitation material to points in the affected areas even as flooding and mudslides hamper relief efforts,” Vellucci said.UNICEF appealed for $15 million to assist 385,000 people over the next eight weeks.The World Health Organization warned of possible outbreaks of cholera, dengue, meningitis and other infectious diseases and the continued spread of COVID-19. This comes at a time when most hospitals, it said, are overwhelmed with patients and require emergency support and medical supplies and equipment.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Grace is back over open water after crossing Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula and is likely to become a hurricane once again by late Friday, while in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Henri is likely to reach hurricane status Saturday.In its latest advisory, the hurricane center says Grace is in the Gulf of Mexico about 425 kilometers east of Tuxpan, Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 110 km/h.Forecasters expect the storm to continue strengthening in the warm waters and regain hurricane strength by the time it makes landfall later Friday.  Hurricane Grace Makes Landfall on Mexico’s Yucatan PeninsulaHeavy rainfall associated with Grace could trigger flash and urban flooding as well as mudslides throughout regionThe governor of the Yucatan state of Quintana Roo, Carlos Joaquín, told reporters that over 300 people were evacuated in the path of the storm, mainly from Carrillo Puerto and Tulum. He said the storm knocked out power in some areas of Cancun and Playa del Carmen, Cozumel, Puerto Aventura, and Tulum.  Emergency crews worked early Friday to clear downed trees from roadways and video from the area shows buildings damaged and boats driven onto land by the storm.Forecasters expect Grace to bring heavy rain to areas of Mexico Friday, with as much as 45 centimeters in isolated areas.Meanwhile, in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Henri, at last report, was about 600 km off the coast of the southeastern U.S. state of North Carolina with maximum sustained winds of about 100 km/h.  While it is moving to the west-northwest, forecasters expect it will turn to the north Friday and move up the U.S. east coast.  The hurricane center expects Henri to gain strength as it accelerates north over the next 24 hours and reach hurricane strength by Saturday.  The forecasters say Henri is expected to approach the coast of southern New England on Sunday. It is likely to create swells along much of the east coast of the U.S. and Canada through the next two to three days.Some information in this report was provided by the Associated Press news service.
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A radio journalist was shot and killed in the Mexican Gulf coast state of Veracruz Thursday, according to his station and state authorities.Jacinto Romero Flores was gunned down in the community of Potrerillo, in the township of Ixtaczoquitlan, according to Hugo Gutierrez Maldonado, the head of Veracruz state security agency, via Twitter. Gutierrez said state police were carrying out an operation in the area following the killing.Romero worked for Ori Stereo 99.3 FM. The station expressed its sadness for his death. “The media are not the cause nor the effect of violence in the country, but we do suffer the consequences for carrying out journalism and communication,” it said in a statement.The State Commission for Attention to and Protection of Journalists condemned the killing and called on the state prosecutor’s office to open a full investigation, including into what role if any Romero’s journalism played in his murder.Press freedom organization Article 19 said Romero had received threats. The U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists said via Twitter that it had “learned of and strongly condemns the murder of reporter Jacinto Romero in the state of Veracruz and urges authorities to undertake a swift, transparent and exhaustive investigation into the killing.”Veracruz has for years been one of Mexico’s most deadly states for reporters. Multiple organized crime groups operate within the state and have infiltrated local and state government. Journalists marched late Thursday in the port city of Veracruz to protest Romero’s killing.Press groups say nine journalists were killed in Mexico in 2020, making it the most dangerous country for reporters outside of war zones. Romero is at least the fifth journalist killed in Mexico this year.Earlier this month, the Jalisco New Generation cartel publicly threatened to kill a prominent television news anchor.
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The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on three senior Cuban officials, the latest in a series of actions in response to the crackdown on recent anti-government protesters on the island.The penalties targeted two top defense ministry officials for their role in suppressing the rare demonstrations in the communist-ruled nation, where hundreds were jailed, the Treasury Department said in a statement.Washington “will continue to hold accountable those who enable the Cuban government to perpetuate human rights abuse,” said Andrea M. Gacki, head of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control.”Today’s action exposes additional perpetrators responsible for suppressing the Cuban people’s calls for freedom and respect for human rights.”After previously slapping sanctions on defense minister Alvaro Lopez Miera and the Cuban police, the latest move hits Roberto Legra Sotolongo and Andres Laureano Gonzalez Brito of the Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces.They also cover Abelardo Jimenez Gonzalez, who is in charge of prisons at the Interior Ministry.”Cuban security forces have detained more than 800 people in response to the protests, with many being held in ‘preventative jail,’ and the whereabouts of multiple people still unknown,” the statement said.Adding them to Treasury’s sanctions blacklist freezes any property they have in the United States and bars any transactions using the US financial system.President Joe Biden has warned Havana that more actions are possible, and Washington has called for the release of detained protesters, while trying to find ways to ensure internet access for the Cuban people.
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The U.S. National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Grace made landfall in the predawn hours Thursday near the city of Tulum on Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula. The Florida-based center said the storm came ashore about 15 kilometers south of Tulum with 130-kilometer-per hour winds and a dangerous storm surge of about one to two meters above normal tide levels. The heavy rainfall associated with Grace could trigger flash and urban flooding as well as mudslides throughout the region.Ahead of the storm, Quintana Roo State Governor Carlos Joaquín told reporters state and municipal civil protection officials will tour hotels in Tulum to evacuate those facilities unequipped to handle a Category One hurricane. A storm in that category has winds ranging from 119 kilometers to 153 kilometers per hour on the Saffir-Simpson scale of hurricane intensity.Forecasters expect Grace to move across the Yucatan Peninsula Thursday, and over the southwest Gulf of Mexico late in the day or early Friday. It is expected to continue to weaken as it crosses the peninsula but regain some strength once it moves back over water. The forecasters also say they expect Grace to be a hurricane once it makes landfall over Mexico’s mainland coast. At last report, the hurricane center said Grace’s winds had dropped to 75 kilometers per hour.Meanwhile, forecasters continue to watch Henri, which, at last report, was about 845 kilometers off the coast of North Carolina and a very strong tropical storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour, approaching hurricane strength.Weather forecasters expect Henri to become a hurricane within the next 24 hours and take a turn to the north. Forecasters are advising people in the coastal northeastern United States and Canada to continue monitoring the progress of the storm as it is likely to affect those areas early next week. (Some information for this report was provided by the Associated Press news agency.) 
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The death toll from a devastating earthquake that struck Haiti over the weekend rose by almost 250 on Wednesday to 2,189, the Caribbean nation’s civil protection agency said. “The toll from the earthquake is 2,189,” the agency said on Twitter. More than 12,260 people were injured when the quake hit the southwestern part of Haiti on Saturday, about 160 kilometers to the west of the capital Port-au-Prince, according to the updated toll.   The civil protection agency added that 332 people have been reported missing and rescue operations were ongoing. Tremors continue to rock the area.   Tens of thousands of buildings were destroyed and damaged in the impoverished country, still recovering from another devastating earthquake in 2010. Haiti has also been beleaguered by gang violence, Covid-19, and political chaos, which spiked last month after the assassination of president Jovenel Moise.   The government has declared a month-long state of emergency in the four provinces affected by the quake.  
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Pressure for a coordinated response to Haiti’s deadly weekend earthquake mounted Wednesday as more bodies were pulled from the rubble and the injured, in search of medical care, continued to arrive from remote areas. Aid was slowly trickling in to help the thousands who were left homeless.  International aid workers on the ground said that hospitals in the areas worst hit by Saturday’s quake are mostly incapacitated and there is a desperate need for medical equipment. But the government told at least one foreign organization that has been operating in the country for nearly three decades that it did not need assistance from hundreds of its medical volunteers.  Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ariel Henry said Wednesday that his administration will work to avoid “repeat history on the mismanagement and coordination of aid,” a reference to the chaos that followed the country’s devastating 2010 earthquake, when the government was accused of not getting all the money raised by donors to the people who needed it.  People look for goods while an excavator removes rubble from a destroyed building after Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude quake, in Les Cayes, Haiti, August 18, 2021.In a message on his Twitter account, Henry said that he “personally” will ensure that the aid gets to the victims this time around. The Core Group, a coalition of key international diplomats from the United States and other nations that monitors Haiti, said in a statement Wednesday that its members are “resolutely committed to working alongside national and local authorities to ensure that impacted people and areas receive adequate assistance as soon as possible.” Haiti’s Civil Protection Agency put the number of deaths from the quake at 1,941 and said more than 10,000 people were injured. The magnitude 7.2 earthquake destroyed more than 7,000 homes and damaged more than 12,000, leaving about 30,000 families homeless, officials said. Schools, offices and churches were also demolished or badly damaged. The U.S. Geological Survey said a preliminary analysis of satellite imagery after the earthquake revealed hundreds of landslides. Crowds demand aid Tensions were growing Wednesday over the slow pace of aid efforts. At the airport in the southwest city of Les Cayes, one of the hardest-hit areas, throngs of people gathered outside the fence at the terminal after an aid flight arrived and crews began loading boxes into waiting trucks. One of the members of a Haitian national police squad on hand to guard the shipments fired two warning shots to disperse a group of young men. Angry crowds also massed at collapsed buildings in the city, demanding tarps to create temporary shelters that were needed more than ever after Tropical Storm Grace brought heavy rain on Monday and Tuesday. One of the first food deliveries by local authorities — a couple dozen boxes of rice and premeasured bagged meal kits — reached a tent encampment set up in one of the poorest areas of Les Cayes, where most of the warren’s one-story tin-roofed cinderblock homes were damaged or destroyed by Saturday’s quake. A boy injured after Saturday’s 7.2 magnitude quake cries while being treated at the Ofatma Hospital, in Les Cayes, Haiti, August 18, 2021.But the shipment was clearly insufficient for the hundreds who have lived under tents and tarps for five days. “It’s not enough, but we’ll do everything we can to make sure everybody gets at least something,” said Vladimir Martino, a resident of the camp who took charge of the precious cargo for distribution. Gerda Francoise, 24, was one of dozens who lined up in the wilting heat in hopes of receiving food. “I don’t know what I’m going to get, but I need something to take back to my tent,” said Francoise. “I have a child.” The quake wiped out many of the sources of food and income that many of the poor depend on for survival in Haiti, which is already struggling with the coronavirus, gang violence and the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. “We don’t have anything. Even the (farm) animals are gone. They were killed by the rockslides,” said Elize Civil, 30, a farmer in the village of Fleurant, near the quake’s epicenter. Civil’s village and many of those in the Nippes province depend on livestock such as goats, cows and chickens for much of their income, said Christy Delafield, who works with the U.S.-based relief organization Mercy Corps. The group is considering cash distributions to allow residents to continue buying local products from small local businesses that are vital to their communities. Large-scale aid has not yet reached many areas, and one dilemma for donors is that pouring huge amounts of staple foods purchased abroad could, in the long run, hurt local producers. “We don’t want to flood the area with a lot of products coming in from off the island,” Delafield said. She said aid efforts must also take a longer view for areas like Nippes, which has been hit in recent years by ever-stronger cyclical droughts and soil erosion. Support for adapting farming practices to the new climate reality — with less reliable rainfall and more tropical storms — is vital, she said. Etzer Emile, a Haitian economist and professor at Quisqueya University, a private institution in the capital of Port-au-Prince, said the disaster will increase Haitians’ dependence on remittances from abroad and assistance from international nongovernmental groups. “Foreign aid unfortunately never helps in the long term,” he said. “The southwest needs instead activities that can boost economic capacity for jobs and better social conditions.”  Medical equipment needed One of the country’s most immediate needs now is medical equipment.  “The hospitals are all broken and collapsed, the operating rooms aren’t functional, and then, if you bring tents, it’s hurricane season. They can blow right away,” said Dr. Barth Green, president and co-founder of Project Medishare, an organization that has worked in Haiti since 1994 to improve health services.  A nurse walks next to beds with people injured by the earthquake on Saturday, at a hospital in Les Cayes, Haiti, August 18, 2021.Green was hopeful the U.S. military would establish a field hospital in the affected area.  U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crews concentrated on the most urgent task, ferrying the injured to less-stressed medical facilities. A U.S. Navy amphibious warship, the USS Arlington, was expected to head for Haiti on Wednesday with a surgical team and landing craft. Green noted that his organization has “hundreds of medical volunteers, but the Haitian government tells us they don’t need them.”  He said Project Medishare was deploying nonetheless, along with other organizations. He said he sensed caution on the part of the government after bad experiences with outside aid following previous disasters. At the public hospital in L’Asile, deep in a remote stretch of countryside in the southwest, the obstetrics, pediatric and operating wing collapsed, though everyone made it out. Despite the damage, the hospital was able to treat about 170 severely injured quake victims in improvised tents set up on the grounds of the facility.  People were arriving from isolated villages with broken arms and legs.  Hospital director Sonel Fevry said five such patients showed up Tuesday.  “We do what we can,” Fevry said. Mercy Corps said about half of L’Asile’s homes were destroyed and 90% were affected in some way. Most public buildings where people would normally shelter also were destroyed. The nearby countryside was devastated: In one 10-mile (16-kilometer) stretch, not a single house, church, store or school was left standing. 
 
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A growing number of U.S. governors say they will help resettle Afghan refugees in their states following a rapid Taliban takeover of Afghanistan that blindsided Western nations and left them scrambling to evacuate ambassadors and allies.At least 10 governors offered support this week as the Pentagon looked to secure temporary space for up to 22,000 Afghan allies in the United States. As of Monday, the first 2,000 Afghans were placed at the Fort Lee military base in Virginia, with thousands more refugees expected to arrive at bases in Texas and Wisconsin in the coming weeks.”The chaotic and heartbreaking scenes out of Afghanistan over the last several days … is the result of a rushed and irresponsible withdrawal,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, a Republican, said. “Many of these Afghan citizens, our allies, bravely risked their lives to provide invaluable support for many years to our efforts, as interpreters and support staff, and we have a moral obligation to help them.”To date, California, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wisconsin have offered refuge or indicated a willingness to resettle refugees. The governor of Guam, a U.S. territory, also offered to house evacuees.Humanitarian organizations estimate that nearly 80,000 Afghan allies and their families have applied for special immigrant visas (SIVs) to the U.S., a program the government set up to expedite the process of resettling Afghan allies.An Afghan child sleeps on the cargo floor of a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III, kept warm by the uniform of Airman 1st Class Nicolas Baron, during an evacuation flight from Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug 18, 2021. (U.S. Air Force/Handout via Reuters)”More than 70,000 … have participated in the SIV program since 2005. Our military has done an outstanding job supporting this effort,” said Garry Reid, director of the Afghanistan crisis action group for the Department of Defense.Afghan allies are generally people who had helped the U.S. war effort by acting as translators for the military, cultural guides or sources of information.The International Rescue Committee estimates that more than 300,000 Afghans have helped the American mission over two decades, though far fewer will qualify for refugee protection in the U.S.’Wisconsin is ready’“We have been in contact with federal partners about resettlement efforts for Afghan people who are seeking refuge at Fort McCoy,” Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said in an official statement. “As we learn more information, Wisconsin is ready to assist these efforts and help these individuals who served our country and are now seeking refuge.”The Taliban have promised a peaceful transition of power with no retaliation against former soldiers or government officials, though Reuters reported Wednesday that at least three anti-Taliban demonstrators were killed in protests in Jalalabad after members of the Taliban opened fire.Since it is unlikely the U.S. will be able to absorb so many refugees in a compressed time frame, President Joe Biden has turned to other countries for help.FILE – Afghan refugees who supported Canada’s mission in Afghanistan wait to board buses after arriving in Canada at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Aug. 13, 2021.Canada announced last week it would resettle approximately 20,000 refugees. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also urged the international community to accept Afghan refugees.“The world is watching. We cannot and must not abandon the people of Afghanistan,” he said.Thousands per dayAfter the U.S. military secured the international airport in Kabul on Monday, the Pentagon ramped up evacuation efforts and now estimates it can remove between 5,000 and 9,000 people from Afghanistan per day.The hasty evacuations follow a sooner-than-expected collapse of the Afghanistan government as Taliban forces swept the country, emboldened by the removal of U.S. troops. Meeting little resistance from the Afghan military, the Taliban reclaimed the Afghanistan capital of Kabul in mere days, despite previous predictions from national security officials that doing so could take months.In a Monday address to the nation, Biden said large-scale evacuations didn’t start sooner because the Afghan government didn’t want to incite a “crisis of confidence” in the Afghan military’s ability to fight the Taliban.“American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves,” Biden said. “We gave them every chance to determine their own future. We could not provide them with the will to fight for that future.”Some information for this report came from Reuters
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