Haiti to send 400 police officers to Brazil for training as gangs seize more territory
Currently, Haiti only has about 10,000 police officers and 1,300 soldiers protecting a country of nearly 12 million people, said Fritz Alphonse Jean, leader of the transitional presidential council.
A total of 700 Haitian police officers and soldiers will be trained by foreign countries in upcoming months and will then join a Kenyan-led, U.N.-backed mission in its fight against gangs.
'Haiti is weak, and we need special training,' Jean said during a rare press conference held for international media.
Last week, 150 Haitian soldiers were deployed to Mexico for training as gangs that control up to 90% of the capital, Port-au-Prince, encroach on more territory.
From October 2024 to June 2025, more than 4,800 people across Haiti were killed by gang violence. Hundreds more have been injured, kidnapped, raped and trafficked, according to the United Nations.
Gang violence also has displaced more than 1.3 million people in recent years, with Jean noting that the government is trying to ensure that Haitians are able to return home soon. The government has started distributing money to some of the tens of thousands of people crowded into schools and makeshift shelters.
Jean is leading a council tasked with organizing general elections by February 2026, but ongoing gang violence is threatening that deadline.
'We are doing everything possible so we can hold elections,' he said, declining to provide a date.
Haiti hasn't held general elections in almost a decade, with its last president, Jovenel Moïse, slain at his private residence in July 2021. Gang violence has since surged in the aftermath of the slaying.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
7 hours ago
- The Sun
New Amy Bradley leads emerge following new Netflix doc 27 years after her disappearance from cruise ship
THE producer of the hit Netflix documentary about a missing woman who vanished on a family cruise more than 27 years ago says they have received new tips related to her case. Amy Lynn Bradley vanished without a trace in March 1998 after boarding the Royal Caribbean Rhapsody of the Seas with her parents, Ron and Iva, and her younger brother Brad. 6 6 6 The family trip began in Puerto Rico and first stopped in Aruba. Just three days into the trip, on March 23, Amy disappeared after spending the night socializing and dancing at the ship's nightclub until the early hours of the morning. She was last seen asleep on the balcony in the family's shared cabin, but no evidence suggests she fell or jumped from the railing. When her father woke up, he couldn't find his daughter and alerted the ship's security crew, but they found no sign of her, and cameras failed to capture any last movements. The case has gripped the true crime community for years, and alleged witnesses speak out in the documentary to suggest she may have been sex-trafficked. She was last seen dancing with a bass player who was performing with a band on the trip, Alister Douglas, whose nickname was "Yellow," although he has always maintained his innocence. His daughter, Amica, suspects her father was involved in Amy's disappearance and is seen in the three-part Netflix series grilling him during a tense phone call, in which he insists he has nothing to hide. Filmmaker Ari Mark, who worked with fellow producer Phil Lott on the series, spoke exclusively to The U.S. Sun after it became a Top 10 show on the streamer. He said, "[We're] very pleased with very pleased with how the series has been received. The 'buzz' around the show is incredible. "That's what we want. The more people that know Amy's story - the better." Asked if the team had received any possible leads since its release that have been passed on to police or the FBI, he said they had, but they don't want to get their hopes up just yet. "We have had a few leads come in, but I can't discuss them and they're not verified yet, so they may very likely be false leads," he said, as they can get hoax calls, or people getting information wrong. "This was always about one thing: finding Amy," he went on. "But to ensure that the audience is activated, they have to want to help. "To use Iva Bradley's words, they are 'over the moon' that Amy's story is finally getting this level of attention. Everyone in the world now knows her name. "I prefer to believe that Amy is alive. But there's so little tangible official 'evidence' in this case that it's impossible to know. "So much gray area, especially when it comes to timelines. "Remember, no cell phones and virtually no cameras, so we really can't track people's whereabouts, which means we can't take anything as fact." SEX WORKER MYSTERY One of the aspects only briefly touched on in the documentary is how the family's cabin was cleaned before the police were able to look for evidence and deem it a potential crime scene. Mark admitted the cleaner's identity remains unknown, and it is unclear whether a small table on the balcony could have been moved closer to the railing. Her sandals were placed side by side, and a t-shirt was lying on the arm of the chair she'd been sitting on, while her cigarettes were missing, and only an ashtray remained on the table. "Allegedly, 'cruise security' was responsible for questioning their crew," Mark said. He added that they did search for evidence that Amy had jumped or fallen into the water, saying, "They absolutely looked and came up with nothing. "They did find Amy's fingerprints around the cabin, but the whole family's fingerprints were all over the room, so it wasn't really 'evidence.'" One of the most shocking parts of the documentary saw experts review photographs published on a sex worker website years later that showed a woman clad in lingerie. The woman had strikingly similar features to Amy, and her family said they fear it could be her years on. Asked his opinion on the legitimacy of the photographs, Mark said, "I really don't know. We tend to air on the side of something happened to her vs accident. "One thing we do know with missing person cases is that there usually is some elusive piece of evidence out there, but the universe needs to align to bring that thing or person forward." FBI REWARD Asked about the theory that Douglas could have been involved in her disappearance, Mark confirmed his lie detector test was "inconclusive" despite reports he passed, but he was cleared by police. Mark simply said, "I feel awful for the Douglas family and what they've had to endure all these years." Does he have any advice for anyone who has information but is terrified to come forward? He said, "I would say to them: look at this family. Look at the pain this has caused. And look at the millions of people that want to help. "That has to be enough for someone to muster the courage to speak out." He added that Amy's family is "understandably shattered and lives in a constant state of not knowing." Mark added, "Gaining their trust has been a journey, but their warmth, sense of family, and strength has been something that everyone who worked on this show has admired and rallied behind." Timeline of Amy Lynn Bradley's last hours before her disappearance March 23, 1998, evening Amy Lynn Bradley and her brother, Brad, attended a dance party at the ship's disco, where they were seen with members of the ship's band. The ship was sailing from Aruba to Curaçao. March 24, 1998, 3:35 a.m. Brad Bradley returned to the family cabin, followed five minutes later by Amy, after a night of dancing and drinking. They sat on the balcony and talked before Brad went to sleep. March 24, 1998, 5:15 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. Amy's father, Ron Bradley, woke up briefly and saw Amy asleep on a lounge chair on their cabin's balcony. This is the last confirmed sighting of her by her family. March 24, 1998, 5:30 a.m. to 5:45 a.m. Three witnesses later claimed to have seen Amy on an upper deck of the ship with Alister "Yellow" Douglas, a member of the ship's band, and said he was seen leaving alone shortly after 6 a.m. March 24, 1998, 6:00 a.m. When Ron Bradley woke up again, Amy was no longer on the balcony, but her shoes were still in the cabin, and her cigarettes and lighter were missing. He began to search the ship for her. March 24, 1998, 6:30 a.m. The family reported Amy missing to the ship's crew and asked that passengers be prevented from disembarking, but their request was denied. The ship had already docked in Curaçao. March 24, 1998, 7:50 a.m. The ship made a public announcement for Amy to come to the purser's desk, but by this time, many of the passengers had already disembarked. A full ship search was conducted later in the day, but no sign of Amy was found. March 24-27, 1998 The Dutch Caribbean Coast Guard conducted a four-day air and sea search for Amy around Curaçao and Aruba, but no trace of her was ever found. Authorities initially considered the possibility that she fell overboard, but this theory was later dismissed. The FBI has a page dedicated to Amy's disappearance and a separate website that features images of what she could potentially look like today. The page states, "The FBI is offering a reward of up to $25,000 for information leading to the recovery of Amy Lynn Bradley and information that leads to the identification, arrest, and conviction of the person(s) responsible for her disappearance." She is described as standing at 5-feet-6-inches, and weighing 120 pounds with green eyes and short brown hair. 6 6 6
.jpeg%3Ftrim%3D0%2C0%2C0%2C0%26width%3D1200%26height%3D800%26crop%3D1200%3A800&w=3840&q=100)
The Independent
21 hours ago
- The Independent
More American citizens are trying to migrate to these Caribbean islands this year. Here's how to join them
Americans are racing to take advantage of Caribbean nations offering citizenship by investment schemes, programs that grant citizenship to oversees investors willing to put six-figure investments into their new home countries. "Up to 70% of all buyers right now are wanting citizenship, and the vast majority are from the US," Nadia Dyson, a realtor in Antigua, told the BBC. "We don't talk politics with them, but the unstable political landscape [in the US] is definitely a time last year, it was all lifestyle buyers and a few CBI. Now they're all saying 'I want a house with citizenship'. We've never sold so many before." Lawyers in the U.S. faced a similar deluge of calls about the programs during the 2024 election of Donald Trump, according to the American Bar Association. 'In general, it comes in uncertain times,' Betina Schlossberg, an attorney at Schlossberg Legal, told a 2024 ABA report. 'We never thought of people just running away from the United States. All of a sudden, people feel uneasy, and they want to be ready.' The investment consultancy Henley & Partners has clocked a similar tend, noting the majority of applications for such programs came from U.S. citizens over the last year, part of a general surge in interest that saw applications to these schemes increase 12 percent overall. A variety of Caribbean nations offer such programs, including Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Lucia. Dominica's program has the lowest door to investment of the group, at $200,000, while St. Kitts and Nevis has the highest barrier, at $250,000. Many of the programs also confer wider visa benefits. Investors in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St. Lucia get travel access to Europe's Schengen Area. The programs have attracted a measure of controversy on the islands themselves, as well as from the governments of the U.S. and Europe, who have expressed concern the investments could be used to avoid taxes or shield financial crimes. Nonetheless, their defenders point to success stories like Dominica's initiative raising more than $1 billion, or Antigua's program helping the country avoid bankruptcy. Similarly situated European nations — ones with equally desirable locations, with economies heavily dependent on tourism — also offer ' golden passport' schemes, including Italy, Greece, and Portugal, each with investment floors of about a quarter of a million dollars.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Three Grenadian men sentenced to decades in prison for killing of US couple in Caribbean
Three men from the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada who were convicted of killing an elderly US couple last year after hijacking their catamaran have been sentenced to decades in prison. They had escaped after their arrests but were recaptured shortly thereafter. Ron Mitchell, a sailor in his 30s who was accused of being the ringleader, received two life sentences late on Wednesday in the killings of Ralph Hendry, 66, and Kathy Brandel, 71. Atiba Stanislaus, a farmer in his late 20s, received 60 years for manslaughter and nearly 18 years for the rape of Brandel, among other sentences for a variety of crimes including kidnapping. Trevon Robertson, an unemployed man in his early 20s, received 56 years for manslaughter and other sentences for different crimes, according to local media reports. The New Today, a local newspaper, reported that prosecutors said the men bound and gagged the couple before throwing them overboard, with Mitchell accused of steering the yacht over Hendry. The two bodies were never found. Police at the time said the men had escaped in late February 2024 from the South Saint George police station. They hijacked the catamaran Simplicity on the following day and then headed to nearby St Vincent, where they were arrested, according to authorities. The non-profit Salty Dawg Sailing Association had said that Hendry and Brandel were 'veteran cruisers' and longtime members of the association, calling them 'warm-hearted and capable'. It said the couple was spending the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean.
