Welcome to the latest edition of Woy Magazine’s biweekly newsletter, providing you with must-know news and commentary on Haiti and our Diaspora.
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I watched a funny (sad) video on Instagram about the unanswered questions surrounding Moise’s assassination recently. One year later, we are still grappling with the assassination, his time in office, and the aftermath of it all. The list of unanswered questions is so long, that it has allowed fantastical narratives to fill in the holes, and I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to do away with them.
You ask yourself if a sitting president (de facto or not) can be assassinated, who then is safe? What does this mean for young hopefuls who wish to enter the political sector in Haiti? What does this mean for the years of ceaseless organizing against the PHTK political project? How does one stay politically principled when your ideology is fighting the legacy of what many are now making out to be a martyr? It all makes me wonder, maybe the confusion is the point.
- Nathalie ‘Talie’ Cerin
CHAY LA | BIG STORY
One Year Later…
Yesterday marked one year since Jovenel Moise, the late de facto president of Haiti, was brutally murdered in an overnight home invasion that still largely remains a mystery.
As you may recall, many arrests were made immediately following the incident, including several Colombian commandos who were said to have carried out the operation, along with two Haitian American men, one of which was the head of a maintenance and repair company in Florida.
The investigation has since been stalled — notably due to obstruction led by the current de facto Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, who replaced Jovenel after his passing, with US backing as well as support from the international community. When called in for questioning regarding his potential involvement in the case, Henry responded by ignoring the requests of his chief prosecutor, Bed-Ford Claude. He also subsequently fired both Claude and the Justice Minister, Rockefeller Vincent, who sought to look into reports regarding his alleged involvement in Moise's assassination.
Meanwhile, the US is in custody of three suspects tied to the assassination, but back in April, a judge ruled that some of the evidence and hearings in their cases be classified as secret. Apparently this decision was made because two of the suspects are former informants from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and another, a former Federal Investigation Bureau (FBI) informant.
More recently, Samir Handal, another suspect in the investigation — who you may also remember having been apprehended in Turkey back in November of last year — was released on July 4th, after a Turkish court denied Haitian extradition requests based on what the court deemed insufficient evidence.
Though some perceive Jovenel Moïse as a martyr, his time in office is also defined by Haiti’s further descent into violence, economic instability, and turmoil. In fact, under Moise, Haiti saw the rise of gangs, kidnappings, and massacres across the country, worsening food insecurity and poverty, and a complete disregard for Haiti’s democratic institutions and rule of law.
It is especially difficult to ignore the spike in violence that the Haitian population had been subject to in the year prior to Jovenel’s assassination. And, it is with great sadness that we denote his untimely demise as an ironic conclusion to the very same violence which was commonplace under his leadership.
For the month of June alone, Le Centre d’Analyse et de Recherche en droits found that more than 150 assassinations and nearly 200 kidnappings have been recorded across the country. Just a week before Moïse was killed, feminist activist Antoinette “Netty” Duclair and journalist Diego Charles were shot to death in Diego’s yard, while along with 13 others were shot to death along Delmas 32.
While in power, Moïse continually blamed the violence on illusive political opponents even as both domestic and international papers alike alluded to the role his administration played in supporting gang leaders like Jimmy Cherizier, especially surrounding massacres that took place in poor and working class communities like Bèlè and Matisan. (Source: Woy Magazine)
The ties between some of Haiti’s most influential political actors and its most violent are similarly difficult to ignore, as is highlighted by this piece from Patricia Camilien. And, they have long been a factor in the social, political and economic outcomes the country is dealing with today.
In a piece for The New Yorker exploring Haiti a Year After the Presidential Assassination, Edwidge Danticat underscores the outcomes for the many Haitians who have no choice but to exist between the crossfires of warring gangs, or those who choose to try their luck at sea in search of greener pastures. She recounts the shameful chaos that has come to define Haiti of late, as well as the political factors at play. The piece also explores the ongoing investigation into Jovenel’s assassination and highlights just how little justice is generally served on behalf of the many who lost their lives to the growing violence in the country under his reign. It forces us to consider, especially for those asking for “Jistis pou Jovenel”, just where this justice is supposed to come from.
In late April and May, a renewed battle between the gangs 400 Mawozo and Chen Mechan resulted in the deaths of a hundred and ninety-one people in the Plaine du Cul-de-Sac region, which includes Croix-des-Bouquets, northeast of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. Dozens of houses were destroyed, and some burned to the ground with residents inside, according to a report by Haiti’s National Human Rights Defense Network. More than sixteen thousand people were displaced, among them women and girls who had been repeatedly raped by gang members. (Source: The New Yorker)
Lyonel Trouillot offers a similar take, where in the end, a sitting president was brutally slain in his home, without so much of a scuffle in his defense. He asks, what more we could’ve expected from the seeds that were sown before him and under his rule.
On ne peut pas applaudir à l’assassinat d’un être humain. Il faut souhaiter la capture et le jugement de ses assassins. Mais ne nous laissons pas distraire de l’urgence qui est de sortir du merdier de cette continuité improductive, meurtrière par nature. Et n’oublions pas qu’il existe dans ce pays une extrême-droite plus odieuse encore que celles dont on entend parler ailleurs. Une extrême-droite qui clame encore haut et fort que la dégringolade du pays commence le 7 février 1986. Que la démocratie n’est pas faite pour les pauvres. Que la domination des militaires sur les civils est une bonne chose. Que l’actuel pouvoir de facto et celui qui le précédait sont trop mous. Qu’il aurait fallu en finir depuis longtemps avec cette affaire de démocratie. Que la population des quartiers infestés par les gangs est complice des gangs. Que la cooptation et le favoritisme sont des modes légitimes de gouverner et de s’enrichir. Que les pauvres n’ont qu’à la fermer et laisser faire, comme avant. (Source: Le Nouvelliste)
So how will Jovenel Moise be remembered? As much as our physical wellbeing has deteriorated and demands that we stem the tide, the collective memory of Haitians on such matters is important. D'johensby Siméon exhorts,
We must develop, as quickly as possible, a politics of recognition to respond rigorously to the multiple memories that seek to transform Moïse into a martyr and erase his acts of violence against Haitian society as well as the violence inherent in the PHTK regime. To avoid history being distorted and appropriated for political ends, we must integrate the memories of violence committed by both PHTK governments (Martelly and Moïse). We must avoid, at all cost, the violation of memory, and we must not allow proponents of Jovenelism to impose their will or to establish themselves as a legitimate arbiters of Moïse’s memory and legacy—because the construction of memory requires a solid base, which can only come from learning the facts of history. (Source: Society for Cultural Anthropology)
ON THIS DAY | (6/25-7/8)
An n sonje
A week prior to Moise’s assassination, Netty Duclaire, a feminist activist and Diego Charles, a journalist, were assassinated. Friends and colleagues of the two were still processing and mourning this shocking murder when Moise was assassinated a few short days later. Last week, people gathered to commemorate Netty’s death. Here she is in her own words, as we shared in this newsletter on the week of her death:
DYASPORA | IMIGRASYON
TPS Updates
On July 1st, USCIS released a memorandum that rescinded a 2020 policy decision, where Temporary Protected Status (TPS) recipients who had initially entered the country illegally, would not be considered as having been admitted legally — though they could use their advanced parole travel document to reenter the country. This means these recipients could not go on to apply for a change of status (such as a green card application).
A memorandum released on July 1st, 2022 now rescinds this policy, issuing a new type of travel document which will be considered lawful admission and make TPS recipients eligible for an adjustment of status, offering a path to permanent residency for many. Check out this video for a helpful explanation of the change in policy.
KILTIRÈL
For your listening pleasure “Leve Kanpe” by Jo-J featuring D-Fi Powèt Revòlte
Jah &Jahes love. I enjoyed reading this week's Woy Magazine publication. I especially loved the write-up about Antoinette Duclaire and I still don't understand who killed her and why? What is going on with the investigation into her murder and that of her partner/friend? Diego? I also feel that Martine Moise is the main suspect in her husband Jovenel Moise's murder. But, there was no discussion about that. I will read Edwige Danticat's recent article in the New Yorker for her perspective on this situation. Finally, I wish that Woy Magazine would publish articles about the state or condition of Haitian lives in the diaspora. We cannot continue to adopt the attitude that "all is well" and everyone is climbing the ladder of success. There are so many of us who suffer daily from institutional racism, ethnocentrism, and other prejudice(s) but we have no media coverage of our pain and so we don't get the necessary advocacy. Blessed love.#1804 #Ayiti #ToutMounSeMoun #HousingForTheHomelessNow!