“I think very few people pass through life without suffering. And my suffering is no different from that of others and it’s not greater,” confessed Chilean author Isabel Allende. “I celebrate each day.”

Allende hopes readers don’t think her latest book, “Island Beneath the Sea,” set in Haiti, is being published in English to take advantage of the current focus on the earthquake-ravaged Caribbean country.

“It’s a terrible coincidence,” says the best-selling author of “The House of the Spirits.”

“I felt bad that the book was going to come out now (in English) and that it might look as if I was taking advantage of the circumstances, but on the other hand it seems important that Haiti is in the news, that it’s on the map again and that people are talking about Haiti, a marvellous country in need of help,” she says.

The 67-year-old author originally considered setting the novel in New Orleans, but her research took her to Haiti.

“I noticed that the French flavour of New Orleans, the cooking, the voodoo, a lot of the customs come from 10,000 refugees who fled Haiti during the slave revolution at the end of the 1700s and the beginning of the 1800s . . . and many of them came to Louisiana,” she says during a recent interview.

“So I began investigating the circumstances that forced them to leave and that’s how I got into the Haitian Revolution, which is fascinating.”

The book, which debuted in Spanish last year and just came out in English in the United States, follows Zarite Sedella, a slave in Saint-Domingue (Haiti) at the end of the 18th century who had the good fortune to avoid working on sugar plantations or in the mills, because she was always a domestic slave.

Although “Island Beneath the Sea” takes place 200 years ago, Allende says, the “the theme of slavery is one that is horribly alive today.”

“There are 27 million slaves in the world today . . . and we’re not just talking about girls who work in Cambodian bordellos, but people who are in indentured servitude, sometimes for generations; entire villages that work in agriculture, in the fishing industry, logging and all sorts of sweatshops,” she says.

“When there’s so much poverty, when there’s so much abuse, I think it’s important to say it as much as possible—to make awareness about this,” Allende says. She added that 300,000 children in Haiti are domestic slaves who are given away by their parents who are too poor to take care of them.

Allende is one of the best-known contemporary women authors in Latin America, who sometimes writes based on her own experiences, weaving together myth and realism. Her books, which have been translated into more than 27 languages, shift between autobiographical and historical and are usually focused on women.

A lawyer for ten American missionaries, said the Haitian government has dropped kidnapping charges against nine of 10 Americans arrested in January.

The missionaries were arrested trying to take a busload of 33 children from Haiti to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. Nine of them were later released and allowed to return home.

Laura Silsby, the group’s leader, is still being held in a Port-au-Prince jail.

Attorney General Joseph Manes was responding to news from the office of U.S. Sen Jim Risch, R-Idaho, whose staff on Thursday said the charges had been dropped against all but one of the Baptist missionaries. Group leader Laura Silsby remains in a Haitian jail. Risch spokesman Kyle Hines said the senator had been contacted by officials at the U.S. State Department, confirming that the kidnapping charges against the other nine were dropped.

But Haiti’s top prosecutor on Friday denied reports that charges have been dropped against nine of the 10 American missionaries accused of kidnapping children after a devastating earthquake hit the nation in January.

However, Manes said that information was “absolutely incorrect.” He said that under Haitian law, all charges against the 10 Americans stand until the examining judge, Bernard Saint-Vil, renders his final decision on whether to proceed to trial.

Risch’s communications director, Brad Hoaglun, said: “We are standing by what we were orginally told by the State Department. We did, however, ask the State Department to reconfirm for us, and we are waiting that response.”

Authorities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, accused the group, many of whom belong to a Baptist church in Idaho, of trying to kidnap 33 Haitian children after an earthquake in January leveled much of the capital and surrounding areas.

The Rev. Clint Henry of the Central Valley Baptist Church said the missionaries were notified by a State Department e-mail that the charges were dropped and no other charges were pending.

Meanwhile, Manes said his office received the documents pertaining to Saint-Vil’s investigation and that his staff has five days to derive an opinion, which will remain confidential, on whether to move forward on a trial or dismiss the charges. At that point the case will be returned to the judge for a final decision.

The 10 Americans have said they were trying to help the children get to a safe place after the magnitude-7.0 earthquake.

A Haitian judge said eight of the 10 U.S. missionaries arrested on charges of child kidnapping three weeks ago would be released Wednesday, while the other two will face additional questioning, Reuters reported.

Only Laura Silsby, the leader of the group, and Charisa Coulter, will be held for further investigation, Judge Bernard Saint-Vil told Reuters.

One of 10 American Missionaries detained in Haiti was taken to a hospital Wednesday, two sources said.

A source inside the judicial headquarters told the Press that the woman is a diabetic and is in a “lot of pain.”

The Americans face charges of kidnapping and criminal association for trying to take 33 children out of Haiti after the nation’s January 12 earthquake.

A decision on whether bail will be granted for the American missionaries was apparently delayed earlier this week by quake-induced electricity problems at the courthouse. Prosecutors said they couldn’t print out their recommendation for the judge to review as scheduled for Monday.

And a lawyer for nine of the defendants, Aviol Fleurant, complained that Haitian police were restricting his visits to the Americans. “The lawyers are only being allowed in for three or five minutes,” he said.

The missionaries, most from two Baptist churches in Idaho, are accused of trying to take 33 Haitian children to the Dominican Republic on Jan. 29 without proper documents.

They say they were on a humanitarian mission to rescue child quake victims by taking them to a hastily prepared orphanage in the Dominican Republic and have denied accusations of trafficking.

Examining Judge Bernard Saint-vil told the Press that he would make a decision regarding bail on Wednesday. His decision on whether to grant bail will be final.

Group leader Laura Silsby originally said they were taking only orphaned and abandoned children, but reporters found that several of the children were handed over to the group — willingly — by their parents, who said the hoped the Baptists would give them a better life.

The group also has been embarrassed by revelations that a man who briefly served as their legal adviser and spokesman in the Dominican Republic is wanted on people smuggling charges in the United States and El Salvador.

Meanwhile, a U.S.-based lawyer for four of the detainees said his legal team is working on a plan to safely “extract” the prisoners, “I am concerned for their safety once they are released,” said Caleb Stegall, a Topeka, Kansas, lawyer who represents Drew Culberth, Steve McMullen, Paul Thompson and Silas Thompson.

Rain soaked quake survivors in the tent camps of the Haitian capital. It’s a warning of fresh misery for the 1 million homeless living in the street one month after the devastating earthquake.

Hungry Haitians have run out of patience with their crippled government one month after the country’s huge earthquake, with the president facing calls to quit over his low-key response.

With so many buildings destroyed, the government has taken up residence in makeshift offices, with the seat of power a concrete police complex near the airport where Preval and Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive work.

Just after the quake, the cabinet met outside under the trees, afraid, like many Haitians doing the same thing at their homes, that the building could collapse if there were aftershocks.

President Rene Preval has rarely appeared in public since the January 12 quake that killed 217,000 and left more than a million homeless, and protests have begun against his government by those desperate for food and housing.

“The situation is not easy for you, and nor is it easy for the government, which is working in difficult conditions,” Preval said recently. He has called on Haitians to remain calm.

Even before the quake, the Haitian government’s ability to provide basic services was severely limited, with aid groups and a United Nations mission providing heavy support.

But On Friday, thousands of Haitians gathered at the center of Port-au-Prince to remember the 7.0 magnitude quake of January 12 that leveled most of their capital city.

A sea of people waved their arms in the air, prayed, cried, sang and–where space permitted–danced.

It was as if the giant crowd were celebrating a joyous occasion–not a coming-together one month after a deadly earthquake.

The memorial took place near where the stately National Palace lies in ruins and the Champ de Mars square has been turned into a huge homeless camp.

But as the rainy season approaches, and then the hurricane season, the situation for hundreds of thousands of people is still precarious and their needs urgent.

Haiti needed a lot of assistance from the world.

A Haitian judge has decided to release 10 U.S. missionaries accused of kidnapping 33 children and trying to spirit them out of the earthquake- stricken country, a judicial source said on Wednesday.

Judge Bernard Saint-Vil must now send his recommendation to the prosecutor, who may agree or object, but the judge has the final authority to decide whether they stay in custody or go free.

Saint-Vil said he was making his recommendation a day after questioning the Americans and hearing testimony from parents who said they willingly gave their children to the Baptist missionaries, believing they would educate and care for them.

“After listening to the families, I see the possibility that they can all be released,” Saint-Vil told The Associated Press. “I am recommending that all 10 Americans be released.”

Later, Saint-Vil said he would recommend provisional freedom for the detainees while the investigation continues. But it wasn’t clear whether their possible release means they would be allowed to leave Haiti, or what implications the judge’s decision could have on whether the charges may be dropped.

The missionaries, most of whom belong to an Idaho-based Baptist church, were arrested trying to take the children across the border to the Dominican Republic 17 days after a magnitude 7 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people in the impoverished Caribbean nation.

The five men and five women have denied any intentional wrongdoing and said they were only trying to help orphans left destitute by the quake, which shattered the Haitian capital and left more than 1 million homeless. But evidence has come to light showing most of the children still had living parents.

The Haitian government has formally charged with child kidnapping 10 U.S. Baptist missionaries detained in Haiti for attempting to take 33 Haitian children into the Dominican Republic without proper documentation following last month’s massive earthquake.

The case has been a distraction to the Haitian government as it tries to cope with the aftermath of the earthquake and was diplomatically sensitive for the United States as it spearheads a massive international effort to feed and shelter Haitian quake survivors.

Group of U.S. Baptist missionaries arrested trying to leave Haiti with a busload of children they gathered from the disaster zone were being questioned Tuesday by a judge.

The investigating magistrate queried the five women for several hours and will follow up with the five men on Wednesday, according to the Haiti’s communications minister. No lawyers were present, and the Americans have yet to be charged.

Ten Southern Baptist accused of unlawfully trying to remove 33 children from Haiti are still awaiting word on their fate. The ten were arrested last Friday as they tried to take the children into the Dominican Republic.

Clint Henry is pastor of Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho, where five members of the group attend. He claims allegations that they are child traffickers are false. Pastor Henry says team members believed they had all paperwork in order to bring the children across the border, but were told they needed one more document and then were taken into custody. The truth, says Henry, will come out.

“We know that our team is exhausted,” says the pastor. “They have already gone through all the emotional anguish that anyone would experience if you were in Port-au-Prince and saw everything that was going on and wanted to do all that you could in knowing that that was very little — except what you could do one person at a time.

“So our team that’s there [needs] prayer just for their continuing ability to handle the stresses that they’re going through now,” he urges.

Meanwhile, an expert in human trafficking says it appears the Southern Baptists arrested in Haiti may have had good intentions, but did not heed all regulations and laws regarding adoptions.
Minister Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue says the evidence will be presented to a Haitian district attorney to decide whether to file charges.

The Baptists from Idaho say they were only trying to help orphans survive the earthquake. But legal experts say taking children across a border without documents or government permission can be considered child trafficking.

At the SOS Children’s Village orphanage where authorities are protecting the 33 children, regional director Patricia Vargas said none who are old enough and willing to talk had said they were orphans: “Up until now we have not encountered any who say they are an orphan.”

Dr. Janice Crouse, who is with the Beverly LaHaye Institute, the think tank for Concerned Women for America, is a recognized authority on sex trafficking. She says although the situation in Haiti is dire for survivors, all laws must be investigated and strictly followed.
Vargas said most of the children are between 3 and 6 years old, and unable to provide phone numbers or any other details about their origins.

The Americans apparently enlisted a clergyman who went knocking on doors asking people if they wanted to give away their children, the director of Haiti’s social welfare agency, Jeanne Bernard Pierre, told The Associated Press.

“One child said to me, ‘When they came knocking on our door asking for children, my mom decided to give me away because we are six children and by giving me away she would have only five kids to care for,”‘ Bernard Pierre said.

About 10 parents have come forward saying their children were taken, but it wasn’t clear if any are related the case involving the Americans, Bernard Pierre said.

Prime Minister Max Bellerive has suggested the Americans could be prosecuted in the United States because Haiti’s shattered court system may not be able to cope with a trial.

“It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents. And it is clear now that they knew what they were doing was wrong,” Bellerive told the AP.

The White House has said the case remains in Haitian hands for now.

Central Valley Baptist Church Assistant Pastor Drew Ham in Idaho called Tuesday for their immediate release, saying questioning them without lawyers violates the Haitian Constitution.

The U.S. government could claim jurisdiction to try them in the United States, but one expert on international abductions doubts it will happen, since prosecutors are likely to take into account the mitigating circumstances.

“They have obviously made a huge mistake by unilaterally going into Haiti and taking children without the permission and knowledge of the Haitian government. It’s a crime in Haiti and anywhere in the world to take or abduct children even if the underlying intentions were humanitarian or good in nature,” said Christopher Schmidt, an attorney with Bryan Cave LLP in St. Louis.

“Whether or not a prosecutor would choose to prosecute these individuals in this case is an open question. Frankly I have doubts whether a prosecutor would want to go down that path,” he said.

The Haitian government has suggested that the case be moved to the U.S. because Haiti’s court system is in shambles and much of the government is not working. But a representative from the U.S. embassy says they have no jurisdiction. So, the 10 Americans remained jailed.