Color Daily Caribbean

.
Haitian authorities have charged 10 American missionaries with child kidnapping and criminal association for allegedly trying to take 33 Haitian children out of the country illegally.

Haiti's government has suggested the case could be transferred to the United States but, for the moment, the ten have been returned to a jail in the capital Port-au-Prince where they have been held since their arrest last Friday.

These American missionaries never expected to find themselves in a Haitian jail.
They are members of a Christian charity called New Life Children's Refuge. They say they are in Haiti to help orphans.

Laura Silsby heads the charity.

"We came here with the intention of being able to offer and share God's love and share hope with these children," said Laura Silsby.
Some of the group members belong to Central Valley Baptist Church in Idaho.
The church's website says the missionaries were rescuing children from orphanages in Haiti and taking them to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic.
The missionaries were arrested as they tried to cross the border in a bus with 33 children.

Silsby denies her group did anything illegal.

"Our understanding was that, we were told by a number of people, including Dominican authorities, that we would be able to bring the children across," she said.
But Haitian officials say the Americans did not get the required permission from Haitian authorities.
Silsby says it was a misunderstanding and her group had only good intentions to help the children who range from two months to 12 years old.
"We came here to Haiti to help the children that have no one, children who have no mother or father, no hope of having someone to care for them," said Silsby.
But many of the children do have living parents according to SOS Children's Village, the aid group now caring for the children. SOS spokesman George Willeit.
"An elder girl, maybe eight or nine-years-old told us crying, 'I am not an orphan," said George Willeit. "I do have my parents. I thought I was going to boarding school or to a summer camp."
Some of the parents say they chose to give their children to the missionaries.
"They didn't kidnap my kid," said one of the mothers. "I gave them my daughter because she was going to have a better life."

Haiti's prime minister sees it differently.
"For me, it's not Americans who've been arrested," said Jean-Max Bellerive. "It's kidnappers who have been arrested."
The case has ignited fears of children being victimized by child traffickers in a country with a weakened government.
Haiti has now suspended adoptions to try and protect its children who remain helpless in the wake of the earthquake.

Controversial former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide says he would like to return home to assist in rebuilding Haiti in the wake of this week's earthquake. The former Haitian leader lives in forced exile in South Africa.

Mr. Aristide says he and his family are ready to leave for Haiti at a moment's notice.
"As far as we are concerned, we are ready to leave today, tomorrow, at any time, to join the people of Haiti, to share in their suffering, help rebuild the country," he said. "Moving from misery to poverty with dignity."
Aristide has been in exile in South Africa since being ousted in a bloody rebellion in February 2004. He was hastily flown out of Haiti in a U.S. aircraft and said later that he had been kidnapped, an allegation the United States rejected.
Aristide did not offer any indication of when or how he could return to Haiti but said friends have offered him the means to do so.
"Friends from around the world have confirmed their willingness to organize an airplane carrying medical supplies, emergency needs and ourselves," he said.
Aristide who addressed the media at an airport hotel near the country's main airport, said that he should be at home, helping Haitians.
"Many people remain buried under tons of rubble and debris, waiting to be rescued. When we think of their suffering we feel deeply and profoundly that we should be there, in Haiti, with them, trying our best to prevent death," he said.
Aristide, a priest turned politician, became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1990, but was overthrown in a coup the following year and went into exile in the United States.
He was restored to power with U.S. assistance in 1994, but was prohibited from standing for a consecutive second term. In 2000 he was once again elected president in a contested election, but by the time Haiti celebrated its bicentennial of independence in January 2004 there were widespread protests against his rule.
There were charges he failed the poor, turned a blind eye to drug-related corruption and authored violent assaults on his political opponents.
In South Africa, Aristide turned to academia, became an honorary research fellow at the University of South Africa, learned Zulu and earned a doctorate in African languages.

.
The United Nations is gearing up for a huge operation to help hundreds of thousands of victims of the powerful earthquake that struck Haiti on Tuesday. U.N. and international agencies are sending disaster experts and essential relief supplies to the stricken Caribbean Island.

The earthquake hit a number of areas including the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, where some four million people live. The World Food Program, which has a large staff on the ground, says the level of destruction indicates many of these people have been affected and will require help.
The Director of the WFP office in Geneva, Charles Vincent, says the first priority is to save lives.
"To rescue people that are buried, that are trapped, etc.…followed very rapidly by a big problem of water, sanitation, epidemic-problems of diseases that might be bred in that kind of situation," Vincent said.
Vincent says shelter and food are also critical needs. He says WFP has extensive stocks of food in the country and will distribute supplies to the victims as soon as possible. He says WFP is also airlifting energy biscuits for 30,000 people.
The Red Cross says up to three million people have been affected.
Describing the earthquake as a "catastrophe", Haiti's envoy to the U.S. said the cost of the damage could run into billions.
A number of nations, including the U.S., Britain and Venezuela, are gearing up to send aid. The Inter-American Development Bank said it will immediately approve a $200,000 grant for emergency asssistance to Haiti which is aimed at providing food, water, medicine and shelter for earthquake victims.

.
U.N. mission chief, Hedi Annabi, believed to be among the dead

Thousands of people are feared dead, and many are missing, including many members of the United Nations mission to Haiti.

France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told French radio he believes the U.N. mission chief, Hedi Annabi, is dead.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck just outside the capital Tuesday, collapsing the main hospital, the presidential palace, several ministries and the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping mission.
Roads are blocked and communication and power lines are out across the city, making it difficult to determine the extent of the casualties and damage. A Brazilian military official has confirmed four Brazilian soldiers with the U.N. mission are dead.
Aid agencies in Haiti are responding to the disaster as offers of international aid pour in.
The Red Cross in Geneva says up to 3 million people have been affected. The international aid agency says there is an urgent need for search and rescue volunteers as well as field hospitals, emergency health, water purification and telecommunications.
The organization says it has volunteers in the country and expects another team to arrive in Haiti later Wednesday.
The quake was also felt in the Dominican Republic, where some people ran out of their homes as walls and windows shook.
Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's poorest country. Recent development efforts have suffered severe setbacks because of political violence, lawlessness, corruption and natural disasters.
Seventy percent of the population lives on the equivalent of less than $2 per day.

.
A massive earthquake has struck near the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, causing damage across the impoverished region. Experts say it is the largest quake to hit the area in some 200 years.
Experts with the U.S. Geological Survey say the earthquake struck about 10 kilometers from Port-au-Prince on Tuesday afternoon. The initial quake registered at magnitude 7 on the Richter Scale and was followed by several other shocks, including one that measures 5.9.
Julie Dutton is a geophysicist with the U.S. Geological Survey:
"It is a pretty significant earthquake," said Julie Dutton. "Given the size and location, we are anticipating some significant damage from the region."
According to wire service reports, witnesses say a hospital in the capital collapsed and that many buildings were damaged. Additional information from the island has been slow in coming, as telephone service from abroad has been disrupted.
Geophysicist Julie Dutton says she expects the damage to be severe, partly because the region is not accustomed to major quakes.
"This is actually the largest earthquake we have seen in the last 200 years in this region," she said. "There has not been a earthquake of Magnitude 6 range since the 1970s."
The quake was also felt in Dominican Republic which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Residents there say some people ran out of their homes as the quake rattled walls and windows.
In Washington, the White House announced that President Barack Obama is "closely monitoring the situation" and that the United States stands "ready to assist the people of Haiti."

.
Those supporting greater autonomy for France's overseas departments of Martinique and French Guiana are voicing disappointment after voters rejected the drive in referendums.

Voters in Martinique and French Guiana resoundingly rejected efforts to reduce French control of the two overseas departments. Results from Sunday's referendums showed that nearly 79 percent of Martinique residents and almost 70 percent of those in French Guiana voted against greater autonomy.
In a statement, French President Nicolas Sarkozy hailed the outcome, saying it reflected the strong ties between the territories and metropolitan France. Both Martinique, in the Caribbean, and South America's French Guiana were granted French department status, when Paris relinquished total control more than half a century ago.
Champions of greater autonomy have argued it would allow the territories greater say in key issues like development, education and employment. And some - like politician Alfred Marie-Jeanne, a leader of Martinique's independence movement -- voiced deep disappointment at the results.
In remarks broadcast on French radio, Marie-Jeanne said the loser of the referendum was Martinique -- and that the vote reflected people's fears, not their aspirations.
But others, like Chantal Meignan, a senior member of Mr. Sarkozy's ruling UMP party in Martinique, said the vote marked a victory for the population.
Meignan told French radio the Martinique residents had other concerns than wanting more autonomy. She says the next step is to simplify administration procedures for the territories. Voters in both departments will vote on that measure in separate referendums, later this month.
The referendums come a year after Martinique and another overseas French territory, Reunion, were rocked by violent protests and strikes caused by low wages and high prices. Unemployment in France's overseas territories is generally far higher than in mainland France. Reports show food and fuel are also more expensive - despite government efforts to cut prices.