International

US team discusses help for troubled Haiti but cautious on troops

AFP

US officials on Wednesday held talks in Haiti on requests for international intervention to combat spiraling insecurity but President Joe Biden’s administration indicated reluctance over sending US troops.

The Biden administration said, however, that it was imposing US visa restrictions on Haitians blamed for the unrest and was working with Mexico on a UN Security Council resolution to draft targeted sanctions and take additional security measures.

Brian Nichols, the top US diplomat for the Western Hemisphere, and Lieutenant General Andrew Croft, deputy commander of the US Southern Command, will spend two days in the capital Port-au-Price where they will meet Prime Minister Ariel Henry and other key stakeholders, the State Department said.

The Haitian government on Friday formally requested international assistance as a cholera epidemic grows and law and order break down, with armed gangs seizing swathes of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest country including its largest fuel import terminal.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The US team will “talk about the request that was put forward by the prime minister and ensure that we are engaging actively with all sectors of Haitian society to make sure that the international community is responding to the needs of Haiti,” another US official told reporters on customary condition of anonymity.

The official said the United States was also looking to “expedite” new humanitarian assistance to fight cholera and provide fuel.

But the official indicated that Biden — a frequent skeptic of US troop deployments who last year ended the war in Afghanistan — was in no mood to include US boots in any potential force for Haiti, which the United States controlled for nearly two decades a century ago.

“The question of security presence is obviously an area where we are treading very carefully to make sure that we are doing the right things and not doing the things that in the past have not worked,” he said.

“I think it’s premature to really start thinking about whether the United States is going to put have a physical presence inside of Haiti.”

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the immediate deployment of a special armed force, warning of a “dramatic deterioration in security.”

But the US official said Washington’s focus was on upgrading the Haitian National Police, which was created in 1995 under the country’s first elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, to ensure civilian control and bring security.

The United States, long the key player in Haiti, has devoted $90 million since last year to strengthening the police as well as $171 million in humanitarian assistance.

International

Dominican court postpones hearing in deadly nightclub collapse case

10 reported dead after explosion in Dominican Republic

A Dominican court on Monday postponed until March a preliminary hearing against the owners of a nightclub that collapsed last year, killing more than 200 people.

The roof of the Jet Set nightclub collapsed in the early hours of April 8, 2025, during a concert by popular merengue singer Rubby Pérez, who died along with 235 other people.

Jet Set owner and manager Antonio Espaillat and his sister Maribel, who served as the club’s administrator, were arrested on charges of involuntary manslaughter but were later released on bail after posting approximately $842,500.

Both appeared at the Palace of Justice, where they were met by a small protest from relatives and friends of the victims.

“Thirty years in prison is not enough” and “President, we want JUSTICE,” read signs held by demonstrators.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

The preliminary hearing determines whether there is sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. The court decided to reschedule the hearing for March 16.

“We don’t want money and we’re not demanding anything else, only justice for those who died,” said Secundino Pérez, a 75-year-old shopkeeper who lost 12 friends in the Jet Set tragedy.

“Antonio and his family celebrated Christmas sitting at a table, celebrating their freedom,” said Edgar Gómez, who lost his daughter in the collapse.

The Dominican Republic’s Public Prosecutor’s Office maintains that the defendants “significantly altered” the structure of the nightclub. Prosecutors filed formal charges in November and requested that the case proceed to trial.

The charge of involuntary manslaughter carries a sentence of three months to two years in prison.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

“May your conscience never let you sleep. I lost my son,” a woman shouted through tears before the hearing, while others chanted, “Murderers, murderers, murderers.”

International

Venezuelan opposition leader dedicates Nobel Prize to Trump

U.S. President Donald Trump said last week that he was “eager” to welcome the opposition leader, who left Venezuela clandestinely with U.S. assistance, to receive her Nobel Prize in Oslo.

Machado dedicated her Nobel Prize to Trump, who nevertheless showed a very cautious attitude toward including her in any potential political transition in Venezuela.

The opposition leader said on Monday, after an audience with Pope Leo XIV, that “the defeat of evil is closer” in Venezuela following the U.S. military operation that overthrew and removed President Nicolás Maduro and his wife from the country.

Trump has claimed that he is now in control of the South American nation, stating that the primary objective at this stage is to stabilize the country before considering elections.

Venezuelan oil is Washington’s main objective, Trump added after Maduro’s overthrow.

20250501_mh_noexigencia_dui_728x90

International

Police hunt gunmen after fatal shooting in Corsica

A man was shot dead on the French Mediterranean island of Corsica, local media reported. The victim was identified as Alain Orsoni, former president of local football club AC Ajaccio, according to sources close to the investigation cited by French news channel BFMTV.

Orsoni, 71, was killed in the town of Vero, near Ajaccio, the island’s capital, while attending his mother’s funeral.

He was also a former member of the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FLNC), a nationalist organization that has long sought independence for the island, reports said.

BFMTV reported that the gunmen fled the scene and remain at large. Local police have opened an investigation into the shooting.