Jocelyn Justin is living a nightmare.
The Haitian journalist is struggling to survive in Cuba, borrowing money to eat and pay rent while he awaits surgery on a shattered lower jaw.
“I'm not eating well, and it's starting to affect my health," Justin told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). "I'm even having trouble going to the bathroom."
Journalist Jocelyn Justin's lower jaw was shattered by gunshot wounds during an attack on a hospital in Port-au-Prince in December 2024. (Photo: Courtesy Jocelyn Justin)
The events that led him to the island started five months ago on Christmas Eve 2024 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Justin was covering the reopening of the State University Hospital of Haiti – popularly known as the General Hospital – when a gang attacked.
Two journalists were killed and seven others, including Justin, were injured. Press professionals held the Ministry of Health responsible.
After the attack, Justin underwent emergency surgery in Port-au-Prince, but the severity of his injuries required specialized care not available in Haiti.
A commission – made of union representatives, a lawyer and the Ombudsman’s office – was formed after the attack to look out for the injured. The commission pushed for Justin, two other journalists and a police officer to be sent to Cuba for medical treatment.
“We also encouraged the government to send them to Cuba because we knew that it was a better place, because in Cuba they have good health, good doctors, and it is less expensive,” Guyler C. Delva, commission member and secretary general of SOS Journalistes Haiti, told LJR. “They did it and we are pleased… we couldn’t believe that it was going to turn [out] this way.”
More than 60 percent of the Haitian capital's hospitals are closed or not functioning, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Some hospitals have been attacked by gangs, and others that are functioning are on the brink of collapse, according to a report by Doctors Without Borders.
Justin was admitted to a Cuban hospital in March, according to SOS Journalistes Haiti. Journalists Velondie Miracle and Florise Desronvil, also injured in the attack, arrived in Cuba earlier and completed their treatments in February. Both are back in Haiti.
However, doctors treating Justin in Cuba told him he needs further surgery on his lower jaw, according to SOS Journalistes Haiti. The procedure isn’t scheduled until July.
While he waits, the journalist has no stable housing or resources for his basic needs. Journalist associations say the government hasn’t fulfilled promises to support him.
In early May, the Ministry of Health had publicly reaffirmed it would cover Justin's expenses in Cuba. However, according to Justin and Delva, that support has not arrived.
“The government is making fun of me. So far, nothing has improved here. I've been completely penniless since May 15,” said Justin, who before the attack worked for media outlet Chanel Info Magazine and channel Radio Mega Star.
“The government had promised to help, that they pay the bills for lodging and his food and everything,” Delva said. “We are not satisfied with the way that the government is treating the case.”
On May 26, SOS Journalistes Haiti participated in a meeting with the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT, for its acronym in French), the nine-member body that has exercised power in Haiti following the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse in 2021 and the resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry in 2024. Delva said that, at the meeting, the CPT guaranteed that the necessary measures would be taken immediately to provide Justin with accommodation, food and medical care in Cuba.
Delva said that, after the meeting, he spoke directly with CPT Chair Fritz Alphonse Jean who showed sensitivity to the case. Delva is confident Justin will receive a sum from the authorities on the weekend of June 7.
Guyler C. Delva, secretary general of SOS Journalistes Haiti, is part of the commission that pushed for the transfer of the injured journalists to Cuba. (Photo: Facebook)
Delva said he has not been able to speak with the Minister of Public Health and Population, Sinal Bertrand, in recent weeks. He has only been in contact with members of the minister's team, who have told him on several occasions that the matter is being worked on and that Ministry officials will contact him.
LJR sent requests for comment to Haiti's Ministry of Public Health and Population, Minister Sinal Bertrand and the CPT, but had not received a response as of publication.
The commission supporting the victims of the attack on the General Hospital is also managing the follow-up treatment of the other injured journalists.
“This is something that we will have to do: medical follow-up for the journalists that came back from Cuba,” Delva said. “Doctors continuing to follow them and to see if they need any kind of [support]...Of course they will need it.”
Delva added that journalist Velondie Miracle, who was hit by seven bullets during the attack, in the head, face and leg, personally told him that she needed follow-up after the surgery she underwent in Cuba.
Miracle, who worked for the online platform Nouvèl 509, told independent digital outlet Ayibopost in April that she occasionally experiences memory loss as a result of the skull surgery she underwent in Cuba. She also reported pain in her foot and gums, two of the areas damaged by the bullets.
While Miracle was recovering in Cuba, a gang member demanded money in exchange for not damaging her home in Port-au-Prince, according to an article from American network Scripps News. Unable to pay, the house was set on fire six days later. Miracle's 20-year-old brother died in the attack.
SOS Journalistes Haiti estimates that Justin needs less than US $2,000 to cover the costs of his stay in Cuba.
“It’s not really a lot of money,… it's not even $1,500 what he needs,” Delva said. “Actually I told them, even $1,200 will be ok for the time he needs to stay to be operated on, that's something that the government can do.”
Delva said colleagues and the general public who wish to support Justin can contact SOS Journalistes at delvahaiti@gmail.com.
