While celebrating Haitian heritage, don’t forget Haiti is in crisis thanks to American guns | Opinion

Support Haiti

Florida has the largest population of Haitians in the United States; more than 300,000 call South Florida home. As our loved ones in Haiti are terrorized by gangs, face extreme food insecurity and attempt perilous journeys to save themselves, we are glued to our phones waiting for a message confirming the latest horror, or prayerfully, a message letting us know that our family and friends have made it through the week despite all the gunfire around them.

Haiti does not manufacture guns and there is a ban on importing them. Yet, the gangs out-arm the police.

Where are the guns coming from?

From the United States, where nearly half of the world’s civilian guns are found. They come from Miami, smuggled through our ports to Haiti. The military-style rifles, pistols and shotguns used to terrorize civilians and uphold a destabilized Haitian government is an American-made problem. It’s also a Miami problem.

May is Haitian Heritage Month and rightfully highlights our beautiful culture, history and country. Haiti was the first nation to abolish slavery and the first free Black republic in the world. This is to be celebrated, but don’t let the celebrations act as cover for remaining silent. Don’t hand out proclamations and recite speeches sprinkled with English-accented kreyol and then move on as if we are not hurting, as if our people are not dying daily.

Miami’s Haitian-led social service agencies are providing much needed direct services to new arrivals and to our long-time neighbors who need a place to process what’s going on back home. Haitian journalists, at publications like Ayibopost, are doing the important work of getting us on-the-ground and accurate reporting.

The atrocities must be acknowledged. There must be accountability for the role our government has played and continues to do. We will not be silent.

Santra Denis,

executive director,

Miami Workers Center,

Miami

Judges rule

How is it possible that Miami citizens must continuously seek the help of the courts to force their elected leaders to follow the law, as in the illegal spot rezoning of Mercy Hospital, and just last week, for the insidious attempt at the gerrymandering of the city’s five voting districts?

Harry E. Gottlieb,

Coconut Grove

Florida’s hope

Re: the annual Miami Herald/el Nuevo Herald Silver Knight Award winners. As always, I am impressed by the passion and dedication (not to mention intelligence) these high school students demonstrate, in addition to their probably rigorous academic demands.

I have the selfish hope that no matter where they are headed for college, they will return to their South Florida home counties because many of them will surely continue on the paths of community service and academic achievement.

Kudos to them and the unnamed parents, teachers and other mentors on whose shoulders most, if not all of them, surely stand.

L. Gabriel Bach,

Key Biscayne

Business supporter

I own a thriving small business and I am grateful to U. S. Sen. Rick Scott for his unwavering support. This month, I was honored to join his “Small Businesses for Rick Scott” coalition. He has consistently emphasized that small businesses are the backbone of the economy.

Since his tenure as governor, Scott has been committed to doing everything possible to help Florida businesses succeed and create jobs. Whether it’s cutting taxes, reducing regulations, or fighting against job-killing legislation, we know he has our backs. His senate office is always helpful and informative whenever my business needs assistance from the federal government.

I am proud to own a business in a state where our elected leaders truly care about helping us succeed. I thank Scott for all he does for Florida businesses.

P.J. Mitchell,

attorney,

Mitchell and West,

Miami

Well said!

I salute Olga Granda for her courageous support of Amendment 4 in her May 22 op-ed, “I am Catholic but I’m fighting for abortion rights.” I too, am a Catholic who supports Amendment 4.

Religious institutions are free to teach truth as they see it. However, in a democracy, it is imperative that we defend the separation of church and state. The extreme bans we are seeing across the country are threatening the lives of women and the careers of doctors.

I needed care after a much-wanted pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Having a prompt dilation and curettage allowed me to give birth to three healthy children. Two of my friends suffered life-threatening ectopic pregnancies and survived because of prompt medical attention. Women are dying or suffering irreversible health consequences from these conditions.

I encourage every woman — and every man who loves and respects the women in their lives — to vote “Yes on 4.”

Trust women and their doctors to make decisions that only they have the right to make. White-haired old men in legislatures and pulpits have no business denying this care. We cannot return to the nightmare years of coat hangers and back alley quacks.

Kathleen Doyle,

Miami Springs

Border on fire

President Joe Biden has claimed he cannot secure the border without the help of Congress. That is like a firefighter claiming they cannot use rain water in an emergency to put out a fire because it’s not in the manual.

By undoing former President Trump’s executive actions on the border, Biden broke it. He can fix it — overnight — but he refuses to take action. He should be directly held accountable for all of the immigrant-related crime that has resulted nationwide.

Charles E. Nanney,

Pembroke Pines

Ziegler’s hypocrisy

Re: the May 21 Miami Herald online editorial, “New sordid details in Ziegler’s Florida case show hypocrisy of ‘parental rights’ zealots.” Imagine the uproar if a young, Black teenager secretly took pictures of women in various bars to scout possible sexual partners?

Bridget Ziegler has pushed an agenda based on, according to her, high moral standards and a moral compass. However, her behavior calls into question not only that compass but also how she can continue to advocate to protect our youth. We must call for her resignation or she should resign immediately in the interest of furthering student protection.

Perceptions are important. The perception Ziegler’s behavior creates is abhorrent and cannot be silently condoned.

R. Clinton Miner,

Tampa

Badly misinformed

Sen. Rick Scott is running ads espousing, “Every country that goes socialist destroys freedom and makes people poor.” To support this, he uses black-and-white videos of people protesting, wearing COVID-19 masks, while the word “Socialism“ floats across the screen.

Scott wants us to believe that our schools are filled with radical socialist teachers who are instructing their children not just in math and English, but also that men can have babies and turn into women. He calls this socialism and a threat to his values.

As a former teacher, I know that MAGA ideas like this are used to manipulate uninformed voters into believing that such dangerous behaviors are rife in Florida schools. Scott also seems confused about socialism vs. fascism, concepts explained in the classroom, along with democracy. Florida has a shortage of more than 5,000 teachers. More will leave if he continues to spread misinformation.

Scott’s former company was involved in defrauding Medicare, according to federal investigators. I guess he can rationalize this conduct because he believes Medicare and Social Security are socialist programs that should be eliminated. He should not depend on votes from teachers who already have a hard enough time working with baseless legislation.

L. L. Brandt,

Miami

Spies among us

Americans should be appalled by the May 19 CBS “60 Minutes” report regarding the Cuban spy apparatus, which detailed the effectiveness of Cuba’s spy craft over several decades, placing our national security at risk.

The system routinely trades the information with our worst declared enemies, including North Korea, Iran and Russia. An FBI special agent said he is convinced that our government agencies have many more agents doing this covert work. Yet, some ask that Cuba be removed from the list of countries supporting terrorism.

Are they delusional? Are they spies?

This is the worst kind of terrorism.

Tony Bello,

Coral Gables