Violence vs Danse Petro

As the saying goes the chicken has come home to roost.  With such a large amount of money involved – we are talking about over three and a half billion dollars – violence was bound to rear its ugly head.  And no one is immune, not even yours truly as I write these lines.  In Cap-Haitien last Saturday April 28 during a meeting to talk about the stolen billions where Senator Youri Latortue was one of the organizers and main speaker tear gas burst inside the packed room.  As panic spread people in the audience found that a kind soul had locked the doors from the outside and as a result many were injured and Jacques Dubois, a well known personality of the town, died in the fracas.  The financial scandal refuses to go away to the great despair of the culprits and their protectors in high places.  While the government tries to carry out business as usual and tries to bury the scandal it is acquiring a life of its own in society through all kinds of civic demonstrations.

The Haitian Senate thought the issue would disappear in the Cour des Comptes, an administrative and financial accounting body that has never pursued anyone for financial crimes, but it is rebounding in the academic and social realm.  Many people have taken to the streets in demonstrations demanding answers.  Former Senator Jean Charles Moise, a fierce opponent of the government of President Jovenel Moise has latched on to the scandal as one more rallying cry for mass demonstrations.  Online social networks are bristling with comments, rumors and innuendo while the affair has reached the criminal court system.  An investigation is under way in the office of the prosecutor while attorneys for the plaintiffs are hounding the judicial system and the airwaves.  At least a couple of organizations working in the human and civil rights sectors are keeping the issue at the front of social interest while working the media.  Radio Zenith FM, Radio Kiskeya and Radio Timoun are the only media outlets keeping the issue alive in their broadcasts.   It is interesting to note that Senator Latortue is deeply involved  in the search for the truth and the restitution of the huge sums diverted by thieves who are watching the country sink in misery as a result of their actions.  After all he was a close collaborator and political counselor of former president Michel Martelly under whose watch most of the money was misappropriated.  Most of the people who are accused of the theft are associates, family members and friends of Martelly, so to see Senator Latortue at the front of the hounding investigators is certainly odd and perhaps treasonous, according to the Martelly clan.

Senator Youri Latortue is not one to be trifled with and he is not going to take this affront lying down, nor will he turn the other cheek.  His clan dominates upper Artibonite politics – his brother and cousin are both elected officials, one a “Depute” or representative in the lower chamber of Parliament and the other the Mayor of Gonaives – and they will retaliate.  This brings about an interesting scenario, will the AAA clan go against the PHTK since the latter seems to be intent on sending the Petro Caribe affair to the deep and forgotten archives of most investigations in Haiti.  This can become a bloody fight because both sides are armed and covered by official clout.  Perhaps Latortue is so eager to unmask the Petro Caribe theft because he did not profit from the crooked deals which allowed for the funds to be stolen.  Perhaps he never liked his former collaborators because definitely he will watch some of them go down in flames when the full extent of the scandal explodes.  For such large sums to be diverted and stolen required a few accomplices with access to banking at a high level and the possibility of investing the stolen funds.  We are talking about some of the top financial players in Haiti.  Those that did not participate probably have an idea of who and which instruments they used, but monkeys see, hear, speak and report no evil.  Better to remain safe and sound in your own little world.  Senator Latortue started something dangerous when he issued the first report on Petro Caribe.  But the Beauplan Report goes deeper and accuses more people.  If those looking to bury both reports are nor successful then violence will take over.  The thieves are armed and powerful, so they will defend their ill gotten gains by killing, wounding, scaring and doing everything in their power to get away with their crime.  With so much money involved they can buy a lot of people and have all kinds of crimes committed for them.  The violence has just started.  Those involved need to get ready for it’s going to be bloody.   The people who have stepped forward and lodged criminal complaints against those who stole the funds are being threatened by unknown calls and they are taking measures to protest themselves.  Danse Petro has stopped dancing, he is like a stalked animal trying hard not to get cornered.  As soon as he is cornered he will lash out with violence.

In Haiti we have a lot of roosters who parade around fluffing their feathers while collecting chickens.  Those roosters love to hoard grain and worms away from the majority of other roosters whom they try to keep out of the coop while they steal their chicks.  Those roosters all have the delusion of seeing themselves as eagles soaring in the sky.  In their drug or alcohol fueled imagination they are flying high in the sky while in reality like all roosters they can only accomplish short burst that allow them to jump over the fence.  But that’s ok because to them clearing the fence is a huge achievement for they do not see beyond their small cluttered yard.  In Parliament they holler and preen claiming to represent the people while filling their pockets at every turn.  They truly believe they are accomplishing something but they are usually exhausted after those short burst over the fence.  The Prime Minister is a perfect example of a rooster.  He is known to stroke, pinch and generally mark his territory with all the chickens in his coop.  After a slug of Haig & Haig he is ready to crow loudly and retire in his office with the chick of his choice.  In the ministries chicken hunting is the favorite pastime while at work; both male and female chicks are prized trophies to be packaged while enjoying a shot of …   As the saying goes if the lights are on late in the building somebody is having an orgy!