President Jovenel Moise and his allies have chosen to scare the population into submission to achieve their goal. In Bel Air shots are ringing, while houses burn and many people are running to relative safety in Champs de Mars, in the heart of Port-au-Prince next to the Presidential palace. Bel Air is very close to the palace, and the headquarters for the BOID is located there. Recently, the BOID, a special unit of the Haitian National Police formed to fight major crimes and terrorism, had a great success a couple of weeks ago when they broke up a peaceful demonstration called by Nou Pap Domi, a group of students associated with the Petro Challenge demands. Police officers from BOID fired their heavy automatic weapons to disperse the peaceful gathering in front of the Ministry of Justice, which was there to demand an end to the killings and massacres, after the murder of two dancers. Back then,while the BOID dispersed the sitting for justice, today they remain in their base, silent and with no response, as gangsters from the G 9, an association of murderous gangs, terrorize Bel Air, where they have their base. Either they are afraid of the G 9, or they have orders to stand down, and allow people to be killed, while their homes burn. Since Bel Air is usually a starting point for demonstrations against the regime of Jovenel Moise and his allies, the PHTK, we can assume that BOID was told to let the terror spread.
President Moise wants to stay in power beyond February 2021, so in order to impose his rule and thwart the opposition he has chosen to arm the G 9 and other groups in the country to silence all opponents. Nou Pap Domi members are all in hiding, hunted by gunmen working for Jovenel and Martelly. The last report from the High Court of Accounts, the tribunal tasked with overseeing government spending is clear in denouncing Martelly and Moise in the theft of hundreds of millions from the Petro Caribe agreement. It’s publication should have been a bomb, shaking the regime. But instead, crime has taken over the air waves, with the murder of Monferrier Dorval, Esq., the head of the Bar Association in the West, which includes Port-au-Prince, and the ongoing massacre of militants in Bel Air the focal points of the news.
The opposition is planning for a mass gathering in November, and just like in 2018 the government wants to preempt this by string fear in neighborhoods where the opposition usually draws participants. As usual the diplomatic community is talking about justice, while helping the unjust commit their crimes. The UN is showing its impotence because right after they published a report demanding and end to the gangs, the G 9 hit Port-au-Prince with no fear of law and order to stop them. As Reynold Georges, an attorney who mourned Mr. Dorval said, the gangs work for Jovenel Moise and his allies who have the backing of the international community.
In Cite Soleil, the fight continues for control of the vast slum. Although a peace treaty was signed last week between warring factions it’s only a matter of time before the PHTK orders the G 9 to strike again before the mobilizing begins. The people are starving, and those who have lost relatives and friends are waiting for the opportunity to get revenge. The opposition is relatively silent, as its leaders try to stay alive in a country where there is no protection from criminals. Kill or be killed has become the new way to do politics in Haiti, with the international community tacitly approving.
Dèyè Mon 