This Wednesday it was learned that up to twenty Haitian police officers, who were injured during their work, were stranded on the island, without receiving medical attention because they could not pay for it.
MIAMI, United States. – Haitian journalist Jocelyn Justin, wounded by a bullet in the face on Christmas Eve 2024, asked for help to the Prime Minister of Haiti, Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, to receive medical attention and humanitarian aid while he remains in Cuba awaiting maxillofacial surgery that has not been performed.
In a letter sent to the president, and cited in a report of LatAm Journalism Review (LJR)the young man assures: “Today I find myself in an alarmingly precarious situation: I do not have the resources to pay my rent or to cover my basic needs. I do not have money to buy my medications. I have no means of subsistence to face daily life.”
“Mr. Prime Minister, I know that I am 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 responsibility of the State towards its children,” Justin wrote in his letter. “My current situation is not only a personal problem, but a human and professional tragedy that deserves the attention of your government,” he added.
Justin told LJR that he went to the head of government “because he can make a quick decision about the difficult situation” in which he finds himself. According to the outlet, his letter was delivered to the prime minister’s office by a third party. There was no response from that office or from the spokesperson for the Presidential Transition Council at the close of the report.
The journalist has lived in Cuba since early 2025 after suffering serious injuries during a gang shootout at the reopening of the Haiti University Hospital in Port-au-Prince. He received initial care, but now requires a lower jaw reconstruction scheduled for July that has not been performed. At the end of September, he said that he had not taken his medication for months due to lack of money and that he was running out of means to pay for the room where he lives.
In his letter, Justin pointed out that the operation did not come to fruition due to “lack of financial resources.” The SOS Journalistes organization reported in August that when Justin requested treatment, Cuban doctors referred him to Haitian authorities, giving the impression that the Haitian government had not paid the costs. “The Haitian authorities never say publicly what the problem really is. They pretend that it is not a money problem that is blocking the operation,” he told LJR Guyler C. Delva, general secretary of that organization.
In addition, the official explained that, while waiting for surgery, Justin “only depends on a few people who live in the same place, who sometimes show him some kindness by sharing with him.” He also stated that, due to the jaw injury, “he cannot eat normal food” and his food “must be prepared in a special way.”
The Minister of Health of Haiti, Sinal Bertrand, denied in statements to LJR that his wallet is reluctant to pay and attributed the delay to logistical issues. He stated that the initial treatment has already been covered, but that, due to the complexity of the case, Justin must be treated at a specialized hospital in Havana, which must prepare a treatment plan that will be sent to the Haitian authorities to proceed with payment.
The source added that a Haitian emissary should travel with the money to transport the patient to the capital, which has not been possible due to weather conditions. He also assured that he was in Cuba in July and that he provided financial support to Justin for rent and food. Now he added: “He knows very well that I, personally as a minister, am on his side.”
Bertrand also maintained that the delivery of funds must be done in person because bank transfers between both countries are “practically impossible.” “It is a somewhat difficult maxillofacial operation,” he said, after explaining that four injured from the attack were transferred to Cuba and that the only pending case is Justin’s.
The December 24 attack left two journalists dead—Jimmy Jean and Marckendy Natoux—and seven injured, including Justin. Two other injured reporters, Velondie Miracle and Florise Desronvil, completed their treatment and returned to Haiti.
Just this Wednesday, transcended that up to twenty agents of the Haitian National Police injured in operations against gangs and who were sent to Cuban hospitals are in a situation of state abandonment, lack of money for medicines and administrative obstacles. “Cuban doctors do not provide care without the disbursement of the funds assigned for the service,” he declared to the independent media. AyiboPost Mathieuny Sidel, spokesperson for the National Union of Haitian Police (SYNAPOHA, by its French acronym).
The director of the Office of Workplace Accident, Sickness and Maternity Insurance (OFATMA, also by its French acronym), Vikerson Garnier, told AyiboPost that the agency hired the private company Good Money to manage the care of police officers in Cuba—up to a maximum of five million gourdes per patient—and that the firm charges a commission of 3–4% per invoice. Good Money itself admitted difficulties due to the shortage of medicines in Cuba and said that it goes to Jamaica or Panama to make up for shortages.
The independent media documented testimonies of agents who had to pay for surgeries with savings, premature medical discharges when treatment plans expired, efforts to pay for food and painkillers, and even the death of Inspector Jean Bernard on June 28 in a Cuban hospital. One of the police officers interviewed summed up his helplessness: “I don’t regret the day I joined the Police, but they treat us like spare parts.”
