March 29, 2022 - Haitian community activists are out in the streets to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Haitian constitution, drafted after the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship, and to protest rising insecurity, and foreign imperial control of Haiti. Below is a grassroots analysis of the political situation on the ground.
Jovenel Moïse was a president who had no popular legitimacy, a president who was involved with many acts of corruption and financial crime. The July 7, 2021 assassination is no different than the November 2018 La Saline massacre, and the many of other massacres of people in Bel Air, Kafou Fèy, Kafou, Delmas 32, and attacks that left many casualties from every major protest from 2018 to 2021.
One of the hallmarks of the Haitian Tèt Kale Party (PHTK)'s power is “legal banditry” as [former US-backed president, Michel] Martelly has been babbling about since their regime came to power. Since 2018 the legal bandits have been a part of that party’s strategy to go against the great popular mobilization of the people. That is why in November 2018, the PHTK massacred people in La Saline. We remember La Saline is a space of resistance, a space of mobilization against the PHTK who planned, together with interior ministers and department delegates, to carry out that massacre.
The PHTK project to gangsterize our country can be seen in two lenses. One is to stand against all mass mobilizations, the other is to control the armed men because that is the only way they can win in elections.
Since the assassination of de facto President Jovenel, the crimes of the state have not stopped, they have doubled, with many homicides and kidnappings, and at least 10 people abducted each day. Port-au-Prince was blocked in June 2021, and three major departments - administrative divisions - were blocked due to gangs operating in the capital. The neighborhoods of Petionville, Citè Soleil, La Saline, Delmas 2-4, 6 and 18 and Bel Air are occupied by a group of gangs. All sectors are touched by murder and state kidnapping. Yet, this is a country that has the support of the International Monetary Fund.
We remind you that with a text message from the “International Committee” headed by Ms. Helen La Lime (the United Nations Special Representative in Haiti) and the CORE Group, Prime Minister Ariel, was installed at the head of the country after the assassination of Jovenel Moïse. A Prime Minister who created an accord with a part of the political opposition parties including “Democratic and Popular Sector” (SDP), “Fusion,” “Unite,” PHTK, and “3em Vwa.” A Prime Minister whose name is mentioned in the assassination of Jovenel along with many other members of the government whose names are also mentioned in the kidnapping and actions that make it difficult for the population to move freely through the country. The Police, the institution that should guarantee the safety of the population, many times participate in acts of kidnapping.
The government has never put in place any strategy to stop these crimes because the bandits are legal bandits. Many of the bandits involved in the kidnappings have been named in a series of assassinations and massacres. The government has never arrested any of them because they are the PHTK's only guarantee to renew themselves and maintain power.
March 29, 2022 marks the 35th anniversary of a constitution that broke with the criminal Duvalier regime.
To mark this date together with civil society organizations and other political groups, Petrochallengers and popular organizations and those grouped in the “Montana Accord,” designate Tuesday March 29, 2022, as a day of action to, once again cry: “Down with kidnapping!” “Down with the PHTK!” And to demand a political transition in the country that will carry the demands of the popular masses to solve the problem of insecurity, prosecute those responsible for the Petrocaribe massacres, and elect a government that will re-establish the sovereign rights of the country's people.
Jelin Esau Jules is a member of the Mouvement de Liberté, d’Égalité des Haïtiens pour la Fraternité (Movement of Haitians for Freedom, Equality and Fraternity) (MOLEGHAF), a grassroots, anti-imperialist, socialist organization based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, fighting for peace, security and sovereignty of the Haitian people.
Christopher Bruce is Policy Director of the Georgia ACLU.
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