Persons living in Martissant, Lower Delmas, which is home to some big businesses, BelAir and parts of Bolosse, all of which are heavily populated areas of Port-au-Prince, have been going through a nightmare. Gunfire, a latent war and some heavy handed police actions have forced people to run away from their homes to take refuge anywhere they’re capable of finding. Looking at people running away, on foot, riding on motorcycles, trying to get as far as possible from their homes, while carrying children, babies in some cases, and what they’re able to carry in haste is so sad that it’s heart wrenching. All these persons are fleeing because their homes have become parts of a war zone. Fires have been set to cars, houses, mounds of trash and bodies of those who have fallen to the spiral in violence affecting the north and south entrances of Haiti’s capital. People from Martissant have fled the area because of a fight between gangs entrenched in the ghetto surrounding the national road leading to the four departments in the south. Heavy caliber gunfire is heard in the area and a few people trying to cross the critical zone have been shot, their bodies laying on site, eaten by pigs and dogs. This is some serious graphic stuff, and I hate to talk about it when informing persons about my home. Almost all the population has left Martissant two all the way to twenty three, abandoning their homes in a hurry to take refuge in Carrefour. Many of them are staying at the sports complex in Carrefour, living in squalor with no water to bathe, very little food and at the mercy of the rain. We’re talking about families forced to go through a nightmare because the government of de facto president Jovenel Moise has allowed gangs to take over large parts of the country to support his illegal grab of political power. Jovenel needs the gangs to hold down persons in the ghetto in fear, and stop them from demonstrating, looting and destabilizing his government. Now those gangsters are fighting each other, as their sponsors are also quarreling, fighting for the pie.
In Delmas, according to commentators on a couple of radio stations, like Radio Kiskeya, Radio Zenith and Radio Ibo, among others, the CIMO, a special unit of the Haitian National Police, is shooting up the headquarters of the infamous rogue police officer Jimmy Cherizier, aka BBQ, looking for his head in retaliation for the killing of one of their own. The area was already fragile because of the ongoing fight in Bel Air where a gang called Krache Dife (Spit out Fire) is burning homes and shooting up corridors, streets and people unfortunate enough to be victims of the politically motivated killings. Now lower Delmas is the new war zone from Kafou Avyasyon to Delmas 24. The headquarters for the traffic police is closed and the whole area is barricaded. Businesses in the area, like the wholesale supermarket Mache Ti Tony and some businesses on the Airport Road have been looted by mobs led by the G 9, the federation of gangs led by BBQ. This has caused another exodus of innocent persons caught in a crossfire from a battle between heavily armed combatants. Fire has been set to homes and cars, while the gangs have barricaded the whole area, also venturing to the Airport Road, closing it and causing panic there, while looting some depots with wholesale food.
It is impossible to know for sure how many people have fallen victims of this mad violence because the fights are still ongoing as gunfire is heard in the distance and persons are still getting out of there. As all this is happening near the international airport, effectively closing traffic leading to it, and causing cancellation of flights, the government has remained silent, with no public statements. The de facto president and his wife are reported to be in Turkey, enjoying a well deserved vacation, away from the mayhem and despair that has become the norm under his administration. The de facto Prime Minister is silent, probably embarrassed after he declared that the police had control of Martissant. Another incompetent puppet, playing a script handed by Jovenel who is himself on a string pulled by the real power brokers. The past couple of weeks have brought the situation to a nightmare for hundreds who are victims of the war zone. As usual, the press in the U.S. has remained silent on these nightmarish events, keeping the lid on news from Haiti.
De facto president Jovenel Moise is on the last leg of his murderous attempt to become the next dictator in the history of Haiti. Since he is unable to change the constitution to allow himself to run for re-election, Jovenel has little incentive to hold elections. Martelly wants him to hold elections so he can replace the de facto president, as the plan was concocted originally. Perhaps the foreign hand behind the master plan is in favor, so Jovenel is supposed to play along, but he does not want to leave power because he loves it, and he wants to establish a long term dictatorship. Jovenel believes that he has the strength to win the battle for the next mandate. What about the population in this equation? Are the people like cattle, to be led to slaughter by an incompetent fool who thinks that his foreign bosses are like God in granting him power over the millions of persons living in Haiti.
Resistance in most of the country led to the purportedly cancellation of the referendum to change the constitution by the de facto electoral council. From the Grande Anse to the North persons fought against the representatives who came to push the idea of a referendum. In Jean Rabel, notables joined to tell the government emissaries sent to talk about the referendum that they were not welcome in the town. In Jacmel, the reps for the referendum had to take cover, faced with the wrath of a crowd, probably sponsored by Senator Joseph Lambert who has vowed that the constitution will not be changed by an illegal referendum in the Southeast. In Dame Marie and other towns in the Grande Anse, in the spirit of Goman, persons have chased away all who have come to tout the illegal vote. In Saint Marc, militants are mobilized to stop the government’s plan. Perhaps Jovenel and his minion Mathias Pierre who is infamously coordinating the attempt to sabotage the constitution plan to hold the referendum in the Mupanah, the museum on Champs de Mars where the de facto president hangs out on national holidays. With the Dermalog electoral card it will be easy to manipulate results and report one or two million yes votes from Champs de Mars. Easy money, as Mayweather would say. It’s just an exhibition, not a real fight, except that this is serious business affecting the lives of millions.
There needs to be a concerted effort to support resistance in Haiti because the battle must also be waged on the international stage. The international press needs to start telling the truth and stop hiding what’s going on in Haiti. The march in New York City against Jovenel and the PHTK was a good step, but more is needed. The mobilization must also take place in NYC, Boston, Miami, Montreal and in all the communities where we live. Young persons in Haiti are risking their lives in attempts to counter the Ogre’s attempt to destroy the country, give away all our resources, and steal as much as he and his clan can get their hands on. We need to coalesce efforts to support them.
Dèyè Mon 