“Today, I find myself in an alarmingly precarious situation: I have no resources to pay my rent or to meet my basic needs. I have no money to buy my medication. I have no means of subsistence to cope with daily life.”
Haitian journalist Jocelyn Justin recently wrote these words in a letter to Haitian Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, asking him to intervene and provide him with medical care and humanitarian assistance.
“I wrote to the Prime Minister because he is the head of the government and can make a quick decision on the difficult situation I am in,” Justin told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). He said the letter was delivered by someone to the minister’s office.
Jocelyn Justin said that he hadn't taken his medication due to lack of money. (Photo: Courtesy Jocelyn Justin)
The journalist has been living in Cuba since the beginning of this year after sustaining serious injuries during a gang shooting on Christmas Eve 2024 at the reopening of the University Hospital of Haiti in Port-au-Prince. Although he received initial treatment, he now awaits major surgery on his jaw.
The Haitian government pledged to provide medical care for Justin and other victims of the attack. However, for Justin, the promised aid has arrived in dribs and drabs, amid logistical and communication problems, which has left him feeling abandoned.
Haiti’s Minister of Health Sinal Bertrand told LJR the delay in additional support is due to logistical issues that require travel by Justin and funds to be personally brought to the island by a Haitian emissary.
Due to the severity of the gunshot wounds to his face, Justin requires maxillofacial surgery to reconstruct his lower jaw, which was scheduled for July. However, the procedure has not been performed.
Since then, Justin's injuries have worsened. In August, the Haitian press advocacy organization SOS Journalistes reported that the journalist had begun bleeding from his mouth, and that he was experiencing an "unpleasant and unbearable odor" when he opened his mouth.
“Mr. Prime Minister, I know I'm not a prominent figure in society, but I am a son of this country, a servant of information, and a citizen who still believes in the State's responsibility to its children,” Justin wrote in the letter, to which LJR had access. “My current situation is not just a personal problem, but a human and professional tragedy that deserves the attention of your government.”
On Sept. 25, Justin told LJR that he hadn't taken his medication for several months due to lack of money and that his means to pay for the room he was staying in were running out. Two weeks after the letter was sent, the journalist said his situation hadn't changed.
Seeking comment, LJR sent several emails to the Haitian Prime Minister's office and to his unique email address, but had not received a response as of publication of this article. It also sent a request for comment to the spokesperson for the Transitional Presidential Council, the nine-member temporary governing body in the country, but received no response.
In his letter, Justin said his maxillofacial surgery could not be performed due to a "lack of financial resources."
SOS Journalistes said in an August statement that Cuban doctors referred Justin to Haitian authorities whenever he requested treatment. This gave the impression that the Haitian government had not paid for the treatment, said Guyler C. Delva, the organization's secretary general.
“Haitian authorities never really say publicly what really is the problem. They pretend that it is not a money problem that blocks the operation from taking place,” Delva told LJR.
Health Minister Bertrand denied that his department was resisting paying for the surgery, attributing the conflict to a logistical issue. The official said Justin's initial treatment had already been paid for, but that the surgery required the journalist to go to a specialized hospital in Havana due to the complexity of the operation.
The minister said that Justin has a medical referral to be treated at a Havana hospital, which must prepare a treatment plan that must be sent to Haitian authorities so they can pay for the surgery. He added that a Haitian emissary is supposed to travel to Cuba with the money for Justin's transfer to the capital, but that this had not been possible due to weather conditions.
Bertrand also said he was personally in Cuba in July and provided financial support to Justin to pay for his rent and food. He also said that he had made all necessary arrangements with authorities and the hospital where the journalist received the first part of his treatment.
Haiti’s Health Minister, Sinal Bertrand, said that financial support for Justin must be delivered to Cuba in person, as bank transfers between the two countries are virtually impossible. (Photo: Screenshot from the Ministry of Public Health and Population website)
Following public complaints about the lack of promised support, in June, Justin received funds from the Transitional Presidential Council.
“He's a victim because of the Ministry, anyway. There were four [victims of the attack in Cuba], three have already been resolved, and he's still there. It's a somewhat difficult maxillofacial operation,” Bertrand said. “He knows very well that I, personally as minister, am on his side.”
Two journalists, Jimmy Jean and Marckendy Natoux, were killed in the Christmas Eve attack on the hospital. Seven others, including Justin, were injured. At the time, media professionals accused the Ministry of Health of negligence in summoning the press to cover the opening without adequate security in an area of Port-au-Prince controlled by gangs. Then-Minister of Health Duckenson Lorthé Blema was removed from his post a few days later.
Justin and two other injured journalists, Velondie Miracle and Florise Desronvil, as well as a police officer, were transferred to Cuba. Unlike Justin, Miracle and Desronvil completed their treatment quickly and returned to Haiti.
Now, Justin tries to survive with the support he receives from others, but it is insufficient given his health, Delva said.
“He only relies on a few people living in the same place, who sometimes show him some kindness by sharing with him,” Delva said. “The problem is that because of the bullet he took in jaw, he can't eat normal food. His food needs to be specially prepared.”
