Croix-des-Bouquets Kwadèbouke
Aerial view of the Port au Prince area. Croix-des-bouquets is in the top-right corner
Croix-des-Bouquets Location in Haiti
Coordinates: 18°34′34″N 72°13′37″W / 18.57611°N 72.22694°W / 18.57611; -72.22694Coordinates: 18°34′34″N 72°13′37″W / 18.57611°N 72.22694°W / 18.57611; -72.22694
Country	Haiti
Department	Ouest
Arrondissement	Croix-des-Bouquets
Area
• Total	645.5 km2 (249.2 sq mi)
Elevation	67 m (220 ft)
Population (7 August 2003)[1]
• Total	229,127
• Density	355.0/km2 (919/sq mi)

Croix-des-Bouquets (Creole: Kwadèbouke) is a city in the Ouest Department of Haiti. It is located 12.9 kilometers (8.0 mi) to the northeast of Haiti's capital city, Port-au-Prince. Originally located on the shore, it was relocated inland after the 1770 Port-au-Prince earthquake. Due to this fact, it was not as badly affected in the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The city will be home to refugee tent villages of about 10,000 refugees each when the first wave of refugees begins to be resettled there.

Culture[link]

Croix-des-Bouquets is a northern suburb in the Port-Au-Prince metropolitan area. Haiti is world famous for its exuberant art, richly influenced by nature, history and religion, both Christian and Vodou. The entire village of Croix des Bouquets is a good example of Haitian creativity - it resonates with the sounds of clanging and banging of the mallets and chisels in the process of transforming raw metal into stunning, and often haunting, iron sculptures. The city of Croix-des-Bouquets is on the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac, where many people grow organic foods such as beans, sweet potato, and corn.

People[link]

• Wyclef Jean a Haitian-American rapper, singer and member of the trio the Fugees, was born in Croix-des-Bouquets, where he lived until he was nine years old.

History[link]

Prior to the 12 January 2010 earthquake, the once crowded city had been restored. The streets had been cleaned up, wholesale merchants and other commerce had been relocated to Port-au-Prince. Retail commerce which once crowded sidewalks downtown now had a dedicated building.

In the wake of the 12 January 2010 quake, the Cuban medical mission set up a field hospital in the region.^[2]

Education[link]

One school close by is Anís Zunúzí Bahá'í School to the north east which opened its doors in 1980^[3] which survived the 2010 Haiti earthquake^[4] and its staff were cooperating in relief efforts and sharing space and support with neighbors.^[5] A clinic was run at the school by a medical team from the United States and Canada.^[6] Currently it is a K-10 school and offers classes to transition from Haitian Creole to the French language but also a secondary language in English.^[7] The founders of Institution Chrétienne D'Haïti are seeking to build the Université Chrétienne D'Haïti here.

Another organization is the Haitian-American Caucus (HAC), which runs the Ecole Shalom des Freres (Peace Be With You School of Brothers) in Michaud, a small community in Croix-des-Bouquets. The school is also known as the Alpha Academy and is funded in part by Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. This school was established in 2003 and as of school year 2010-2011, 75 students were enrolled. HAC is only able to accept additional students through child education sponsorships and partnerships with other organizations. Students can be sponsored for $125 a year. M.A.D.E has joined HAC in providing 3 vegetarian meals a week for students. The school also offers community English courses taught by Haitians who went through previous versions of the course, and supplemented with the help of English-speaking volunteers.^[8]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Noailles, Croix dex Bouquets Metal Workers Village
• Haiti-x-change by Gary Charles
• Haitian Revolutionary studies by David Patrick Geggus
• 2003 WELOVEHAITI.COM designed by Marcus (marcus@rexnite.com)
• Image courtesy of Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory, NASA Johnson Space Center; http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov

v t e Departments, arrondissements and communes of Haiti Artibonite Department Dessalines Arrondissement Desdunes Dessalines Grande Saline Petite-Rivière-de-l'Artibonite Gonaïves Arrondissement Ennery Estère Gonaïves Gros-Morne Arrondissement Anse-Rouge Gros-Morne Terre-Neuve Marmelade Arrondissement Marmelade Saint-Michel-de-l'Atalaye Saint-Marc Arrondissement La Chapelle Saint-Marc Verrettes Centre Department Cerca La Source Arrondissement Cerca-la-Source Thomassique Hinche Arrondissement Cerca-Cavajal Hinche Maïssade Thomonde Lascahobas Arrondissement Belladère Lascahobas Savanette Mirebalais Arrondissement Boucan-Carré Mirebalais Saut-d'Eau Grand'Anse Department Anse d'Hainault Arrondissement Anse-d'Hainault Dame-Marie Les Irois Corail Arrondissement Beaumont Corail Pestel Roseaux Jérémie Arrondissement Abricots Bonbon Chambellan Jérémie Moron Nippes Department Anse-à-Veau Arrondissement Anse-à-Veau L'Asile Baradères Petit-Trou-de-Nippes Miragoâne Arrondissement Miragoâne Petite-Rivière-de-Nippes Nord Department Acul du Nord Arrondissement Acul-du-Nord Milot Plaine-du-Nord Borgne Arrondissement Borgne Port-Margot Cap-Haïtien Arrondissement Cap-Haïtien Limonade Quartier-Morin Grande-Rivière-du-Nord Arrondissement Bahon Grande-Rivière-du-Nord Limbé Arrondissement Bas-Limbé Limbé Plaissance Arrondissement Pilate Plaisance Saint-Raphaël Arrondissement Dondon La Victoire Pignon Ranquitte Saint-Raphaël Nord-Est Department Fort-Liberté Arrondissement Fort-Liberté Perches Ferrier Ouanaminthe Arrondissement Capotille Mont-Organisé Ouanaminthe Trou-du-Nord Arrondissement Caracol Sainte-Suzanne Terrier-Rouge Trou-du-Nord Vallières Arrondissement Carice Mombin-Crochu Vallières Nord-Ouest Department Môle-Saint-Nicolas Arrondissement Baie-de-Henne Bombardopolis Jean-Rabel Môle-Saint-Nicolas Port-de-Paix Arrondissement Bassin-Bleu Chansolme La Tortue Port-de-Paix Saint-Louis du Nord Arrondissement Anse-à-Foleur Saint-Louis-du-Nord Ouest Department Arcahaie Arrondissement Arcahaie Cabaret Croix-des-Bouquets Arrondissement Cornillon Croix-des-Bouquets Fonds-Verrettes Ganthier Thomazeau La Gonâve Arrondissement Anse-à-Galets Pointe-à-Raquette Léogâne Arrondissement Grand-Goâve Léogâne Petit-Goâve Port-au-Prince Arrondissement Carrefour Delmas Gressier Kenscoff Pétionville Tabarre Cité Soleil Port-au-Prince Sud-Est Department Bainet Arrondissement Bainet Côtes-de-Fer Belle-Anse Arrondissement Anse-à-Pitres Belle-Anse Grand-Gosier Thiotte Jacmel Arrondissement Cayes-Jacmel Jacmel La Vallée Marigot Sud Department Aquin Arrondissement Aquin Cavaellon Saint-Louis-du-Sud Les Cayes Arrondissement Camp-Perrin Les Cayes Chantal Île à Vache Maniche Torbeck Chardonnières Arrondissement Les Anglais Chardonnières Tiburon Côteaux Arrondissement Côteaux Port-à-Piment Roche-à-Bateaux Port-Salut Arrondissement Arniquet Port-Salut Saint-Jean-du-Sud

Michel Martelly
56th President of Haiti
Incumbent
Assumed office 14 May 2011
Prime Minister	Jean-Max Bellerive Garry Conille Laurent Lamothe
Preceded by	René Préval
Personal details
Born	(1961-02-12) 12 February 1961 (age 51) Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Political party	Farmers' Response Party
Spouse(s)	Sophia Martelly
Children	4

Joseph Michel Martelly (born 12 February 1961), also known by his stage name "Sweet Micky", is a Haitian politician, former musician and businessman. Since 2011 he is the President of Haiti.^[1]

On 4 April 2011, a senior Haitian official announced that Martelly had won the second round of the election against candidate Mirlande Manigat.^[2][3] He assumed his position of the President of Haiti on May 14, 2011.

Early life[link]

Martelly was born in Port-au-Prince, the middle-class son of a super market supervisor. Martelly is a self-taught keyboard player and mango seller. After graduating from high school, Martelly briefly worked for a construction company in the United States before he enlisted in the Haitian Military Academy. In 1986, after one semester, he returned to Haiti just as Jean-Claude Duvalier, then president-for-life, was heading into exile. Martelly later returned to the U.S. with his then-girlfriend, Sophia, whom he later married in a small ceremony in Miami, Florida.

Upon their return to Haiti, Martelly had his first breakthrough in the music industry when he began playing keyboard as a fill-in musician in local venues in Pétionville and Kenscoff, upscale suburbs of Port-au-Prince.^[4][5]

Music[link]

Martelly has been heralded as a pioneer of a unique brand of compas music, a style of Haitian dance music sung predominantly in the Haitian Creole language. Originally, Compas, or Kompa, was the creation of Nemours Jean-Baptiste. Martelly, a keyboardist and the self-proclaimed "President of Compas," popularized a nouvelle génération, or "new generation" style, of smaller bands with few members that relied predominantly on synthesizers and electronic instruments to reproduce a fuller sound. Martelly's live performances and recordings are sometimes laced with physical humor and humorous sociopolitical commentaries and satires. Although he is the most recognized musician and public personality in Haiti, Martelly's performance style has sometimes ignited controversy throughout Haitian communities.

Recording career[link]

By 1988, Martelly's musical talent, charismatic persona, and his pattering style of compas had gained tremendous popularity at El Rancho Hotel and Casino and The Florville, another local venue. That year, he recorded his first single, Ooo La La, which became an instant hit, followed by "Konpas Foret des Pins" which was released in 1989, also a number hit from his debut album "Woule Woule". During the period of about 1988-2008 Martelly, using his stage name Sweet Micky, recorded fourteen studio albums and a number of live CDs. His music blends Haitian music with fresh interpretations of compas, zouk, reggae, salsa, Caribbean soca and jazz-fusion. In 1997, Martelly's crossover appeal to other musical genres was evident when Wyclef Jean of The Fugees featured him on the title track for Jean's solo effort Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival featuring the Refugee Allstars. As Jean proclaims on 'The Carnival,' "Surprise - it's Sweet Micky, y'all!" Also in 1997, Martelly released an album containing one of his most celebrated hits, Pa Manyen ("Don't Touch"). The song is an adaptation of "Angola", composed by the renowned artist/composer/record producer Ramiro Mendes (of the Mendes Brothers), first recorded by Cesária Évora, the legendary Cape Verdean singer. Pa Manyen went on to be featured in various compilation albums, including the popular Putumayo Presents: French Caribbean in 2003. The song was also covered by Venezuelan singer, Soledad Bravo as "Canta, Canta Corazon" and by Jose Luiz Cortes of Cuba. See also the Mendes Brothers' original version of the song, performed by Ramiro Mendes included in the group's 1997 album - Para Angola Com Um Xi Coracao. Martelly is also notorious for his cursing on stage as well as using homophobic slurs.

Political career[link]

In 1997, Martelly participated in "Knowledge is Power", an HIV educational music video with a message about preventing the spread of HIV. His humanitarian work as the President of the Foundation Rose et Blanc, created by his wife Sophia and himself, to help the poor and disenfranchised of the country, was the basis for his choice as the Good Will Haitian Ambassador for the Protection of the Environment by the current Haitian Government. In 2010 he ran for President of Haiti where he challenged the results as to whether he placed second, making the runoff, or third. On 3 February 2011, it was announced that he would participate in a run-off election scheduled for 20 March 2011.^[6] On 4 April 2011, a senior official announced that Martelly had won the presidential run-off election against candidate Mirlande Manigat with more than 60% of the vote.^[3]

Presidency[link]

Martelly was sworn in as president on 14 May 2011 following the Haitian general election, 2010-2011. The following day, the incumbent Prime Minister, Jean-Max Bellerive resigned to allow Martelly to choose his own Prime Minister.^[7] Martelly was quick to pledge reforms the post-earthquake reconstruction process.^[8]

In August 2011, Martelly announced a plan to reinstate the nation's military. This plan was met with controversy as many human rights activists were concerned about bringing back a military which had been responsible for many atrocities in the past.^[9]

In September 2011, Martelly formed an advisory board that included business executives, bankers, and politicians such as former President of the United States Bill Clinton, that he hopes will improve business and economy in Haiti.^[10]

Personal life and later music career[link]

Martelly currently lives in Haiti, but has held several homes in Palm Beach, Florida. He lives with his wife and former manager, Sophia, and their four children, Olivier, Sandro, Yani, and Malaika, in 2006 Martelly announced his unofficial retirement from recording and performing, but two years later announced a return to music with a new single, Magouyè, and the video/short film, "Bandi Legal yo ki rive". He is a cousin of Port-au-Prince hotel manager and musician Richard Morse.^[11]

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website

Music[link]

• Sweet Micky: Mon Colonel, music video

v t e Heads of State of Haiti Post-Revolutionary (1804-1859) Dessalines/Jacques I · Christophe/Henri I · Blanchet (acting) · Pétion · Boyer · Rivière-Hérard · Guerrier · Pierrot · Riché · Soulouque/Faustin I Post-Imperial (1859-1930) Geffrard · Saget (provisional) · Salnave · Saget · Council of Secretaries of State · Domingue · Boisrond-Canal · Lamothe (provisional) · Salomon · Boisrond-Canal (provisional) · Légitime · Jeune (provisional) · Hyppolite · Simon Sam · Boisrond-Canal (provisional) · Alexis · Simon · Leconte · Auguste · Oreste · Zamor · Théodore · Guillaume Sam · Dartiguenave · Borno · Roy Post-Occupation (1930-1986) Vincent · Lescot · Lavaud · Estimé · Lavaud · Magloire · Pierre-Louis (provisional) · Sylvain (provisional) · Executive Government Council · Fignolé (provisional) · Kebreau · François Duvalier · Jean-Claude Duvalier Post-Duvalier (1986-2011) Namphy · Manigat · Namphy · Avril · Abraham · Pascal-Trouillot · Aristide · Cédras · Nérette · Bazin (provisional) · Aristide · Jonassaint (provisional) · Aristide · Préval (provisional) · Aristide · Alexandre · Préval Post-Quake (2011-present) Martelly

Charles-Henri Jean-Marie Baker (born June 3, 1955) is a Haitian industrialist and Presidential Candidate. He is a former Vice President of the Group of 184.^[1] Baker was a candidate for president in Haiti's 2006 and 2010 elections.

Early life[link]

Baker was born in Port-au-Prince. His father Edouard Baker was a prominent engineer and agronomist and a well-known soccer player. His mother Louise Barranco, a Businesswoman, was the founder of the first supermarket chain in Haiti. Baker has two brothers and three sisters.[1] One of Charles Baker's grandfathers was an Episcopal missionary from England. [2]

After completing his elementary education in Haiti, he traveled to the United States. In 1972 he graduated from Union School. He later attended Saint Leo University in Florida, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration in 1976. In 1975, he married Marie Florence Apaid, sister of André Apaid. He has four children and seven grandchildren.[3]

Business career[link]

Baker began his business career as a manager at the age 21 in his family-owned and operated supermarket chain. When his father became ill, he took over the family-owned 90-acre farm Habitation Dujour, which grew sugarcane, banana, and tobacco. Eventually, the land expanded another 120 acres which made it the largest flue-cured tobacco farm in Haiti, with more than 200 acres. Simultaneously, from 1982 to 1985 he worked with the tobacco growers of Haiti through the Comme il faut Company, where he held the position of Assistant to the Leaf Growing Manager.[4]

Beginning in the late 1980s, Baker began to purchase garment factories. These factories, which have been called sweatshops by labor rights and human rights organizations, employ hundreds of Haitians who are paid very little and have no benefits. Baker sells the garments produced in these factories to major corporations such as Sara Lee, Walmart and K-Mart.

In 2000, he joined the Association des Industries d’Haïti as member and a year later became Vice [5]

Baker was a prominent member of the Group of 184 (G 184), a coalition of Haitian organizations opposing Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The groups actions contributed to the coup d'état against Aristide in 2004.^[2]

2006 Haitian Presidential Election[link]

In August 2005, Baker announced his intentions to run for the president of Haiti in the elections originally planned for November 2005 but later moved to February 2006.

Baker and his Respè coalition received 8.24 percent of the vote, losing to René Préval.

2010 Haitian Presidential Election[link]

Charles Henri Baker was running for President of Haiti in the November 28, 2010 Haiti elections. Charles Henri Baker, also known as Charlito Baker, is running under the Respè Party of Haiti.[6][7] Newspaper articles have alleged that Baker tried to buy votes in the run-up to the elections. [8]

Quotes[link]

• I have one country, and four children. I don’t plan on living any place else. I love my country, I love the Haitian people. I’m proud to be a candidate for public office in Haiti.[9]
• I’m not going anywhere. Haiti is my home. I’ve been fighting democracy for thirty years. And I’ll continue to fight for what I believe in.[10]
• “All Haitians have been placed on a equal level field. The rich and poor, uneducated and educated, the street merchant and the elite business community have all suffered tremendously. Not only did the earth move but the thoughts of many of us who live in Haiti have been shaken from the past ways of doing things, to the desire to get Haiti right in its rebuilding,” [11]

References[link]

External references[link]

• The Puzzling Alliance of Chavannes Jean-Baptiste and Charles Henri Baker, CounterPunch, March 1, 2006
• Politics in a time of cholera, marked by chaos and anger, The Independent, November 27, 2010
• Charles Henri Baker's Party Website - Respe Haiti
• Charles Henri Baker Channel on YouTube
• Charlito Fanatic Channel on YouTube
• Charles Henri Baker candidate for Haiti's presidential elections to be held on Sunday, November 28, 2010
• Haiti Presidential Charles Henri Baker comes To West Palm Beach, Florida to speak to Haitian people
• An Interview with Charles Henri Baker