Well we can say it’s been quite a week in Haiti, which ends today with more expressions of rebellion to Jovenel Moise and his backers.
Make no mistake, de facto president Moise does not have any redeeming qualities as some kind of messiah, ready to lead a multitude to salvation. Barely one percent of the population actually is behind Jovenel Moise and the PHTK not because these persons believe in him, but because they make money and gain advantages from this association. It’s the backing from the international community and the big business leaders like Apaid, Bigio and Deeb which allows the de facto president to hold on to the presidency despite being disliked to the point of hatred by almost all persons in Haiti and the diaspora. Already there are cracks in the support from the United States, Canada and the European Union because even though the news blackout has held on Haiti, concerned groups with political clout, like the Black Congressional Caucus, and other members of Congress, with pressure groups in Canada calling for the Canadian government to stop supporting the wannabe dictator.
This Sunday in Cap Haitien a large group of demonstrators is demanding information on one of their own, a police officer, member of Swat, killed or missing in action after the ill fated raid on Village de Dieu on Friday, March 12, when the police force was thoroughly humiliated by gangsters organized in that slum. The demonstration started in Haut du Cap and has drawn a huge amount of militants, men in martial arts uniform and young people, all demanding about the missing police officer.
At the same time in Carrefour, suburb of Port-au-Prince, another demonstration is calling for an end to persecution of the police force and the destitution of de facto president Moise. Many militants joined with opposition politicians from MOPOD, Kafou grassroots groups and Petro Challengers answered the call of former Mayor Yvon Jerome to demonstrate against the kidnapping of the political leadership. This display of resistance from different parts of the country follows a week of tensions and opposition to Jovenel Moise and his backers all over. All week in Champs de Mars students from the State University and militants erected barricades and burned tires to show resistance to the budding dictator. They threw rocks and bottles and battled police who did not manifest their usual ardor, demoralized as they were. The Fantom 509, the shadowy group of police officers and backers hit the pavement on different occasions, while as a show of defiance people hit on metal poles, cars and motorcycles had their horns blaring and people made noise, bat teneb, a tradition to show popular displeasure for three days Monday, Tuesday and Friday. Different streets and national roads had persons erecting barricades and using trucks to block traffic on at least three days during the week in Delmas and Grand Goave. In Les Cayes persons also told Jovenel to beat it because his mandate is over.
In Cap Haitien the demonstration has grown, with more persons joining the march, many of them police officers demanding justice and respect for their comrades who died. There are reports that the authorities paid a large sum of U.S. dollars to recuperate the armor plated vehicle taken by the Village bandits, the reported amount varies from 30 to 80 thousand dollars, but did not even seek to recuperate the bodies of the five police officers killed in the raid. This report has enflamed the rank and file policemen and the population has followed behind to call for the ouster of President Moise. Everywhere in the country persons are pissed off that Jovenel and his allies are arming bandits to kill police officers and terrorize people in the country. The wannabe dictator is presiding over a disaster in the making, as the economy crumbles, persons cannot find jobs and want to emigrate en masse, and the youth is lost. Demonstrators in Cap are demanding an end to the nightmare and the body of their fallen son. Many young people are present, sad and determined, asking for the body, expressing solidarity to all the persons affected by the loss.
Today, the international community needs to allow Haitian people the opportunity to choose their own leaders and elect persons of their choosing. All of us Haitians everywhere need to let the whole world know that we’ve had enough of their help which is driving us down the tubes. As a friend told me a couple of days ago, we need a program that will allow us to come together and push for change in Haiti. Change that will benefit the most and stop our young people from wanting to leave at any cost.
Dèyè Mon 