Bourik travay pou chwal galonnen
July 6, 2024 - August 2, 2024
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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Bourik travay pou chwal galonnen Donkeys work so horses can gallop (Haitian proverb)
CHAY LA | Main Story
A Round Table Discussion
In collaboration with Hammer & Hope, Woy Magazine had the privilege of organizing a round table with Haitian women activists to discuss how the lives of Haitian women have been affected by the political crisis and the rise of gang violence across the country in recent years. The conversation facilitated by Woy’s Lead Editor, Nathalie Cerin, helped to reveal the complexities of survival and the resistance of Haitian women in the face of the failure of our political leaders and the disputed foreign intervention underway.
Insecurity has affected me deeply and in so many facets of my life. But this specific facet, making it so that I can’t do my work as a union woman, this work that I love so very much, helping women, talking to women, making them understand their rights as workers — this has completely demoralized me, in every sense. I cannot find the words to explain how this insecurity has played out in the lives of women workers. - Nahomie Jean Louis, Hammer & Hope)
The roundtable included Vanessa Jeudi, an artist and feminist activist with Dantò Feminis; Islanda Micherline Aduel, an activist with peasant organizations called Tèt Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen and La Via Campesina; Dr. Sabine Lamour, sociologist and professor at UEH (currently visiting at Brown University); and union organizer, Nahomie Jean Louis.
I have witnessed many things as a professor at the State University of Haiti in Pòtoprens. Students who came from areas where insecurity was more pronounced, such as La Plaine, Kafou Fèy, and the southern part of the capital, had to flee their homes. I realized that many of them were living on campus. I would arrive in the morning to teach and find students who had not yet woken up.
This puts the students in such a vulnerable situation. How do they live their lives? How do they eat? How do they wash their clothes? What if, for example, they have a health problem — how are they keeping up with their medication? […]
Then I realized that there were professors who were in the same situation, who found themselves having to sleep on campus along with the students. How do we maintain the intergenerational dynamic in such a space? How are we redefining the relationships so that the transmission to be made between professor and student can still happen? This is what the political context has made of our work. - Dr. Sabine Lamour, via Hammer & Hope
POLITIK/POLEMIK
Tension in the CPT
Since the Prime Minister was appointed and ministers were named to lead the government, a tense relationship has been observed between the Transitional Presidential Council (which is supposed to lead the transition) and the Prime Minister appointed by the council, Garry Conille. The Prime Minister communicates with the public frequently in press conferences and written statements, overshadowing the Transitional Presidential Council (CPT).
After the arrival of the Kenyan troops, Conille left for a trip to the United States soon after setting up his government. According to reports, Conille only informed the council of his travels just a few days prior to his departure— through a WhatsApp message. In reality, taking on foreign engagement to represent the country is traditionally the role of the President or a member of the government who is tasked to do so by the President as a delegate.
Conille speaks and moves as though he is the Head of State (similar to Ariel Henry) even though he pays lip service to the Transitional Council and the April 3rd Agreement that established their respective roles. Some analysts believe that Conille's behavior reflects his understanding of the situation, namely that he is accountable to the international community and not to the Council.
A rift between the Prime Minister and the CPT is not good news for the success of this two-year transition because the stakes are so high. Some analysts, like Patricia Camilien, have gone so far as to say that the CPT is defunct, pointing to important initiatives like the recently announced constitutional reform that have been ignored by the press and public. Everyone is focused on Conille.
Upon his return to the country, the CPT admonished Conille on his approach. He’s been conducting a series of meetings with the political sectors that appointed members to the council.
Beyond the perceived weakness of the CPT compared to Gary Conille, allegations of corruption have been levied against three CPT members who are accused of seeking bribes from high-level bank officials to secure their positions. The allegations are currently being investigated by ULCC, the government agency in charge of monitoring incidents of corruption. Allegations of corruption erode the little benefit of the doubt the public was, according to the new governing council. Combined with the tension with Conille a few months after coming to power, the CPT's ability to lead this transition successfully is seriously in question.
The CPT’s weakness also lies in the fact that the April 3rd Agreement, which details the major milestones and institutions of the transition, has yet to be published in the national paper, Le Moniteur. This suggests that a malaise persists between the council and the sectors that named them.
Masak Lasalin
In a 20-page indictment put forth by investigative Judge Jean Wilner Morin, 45 people are being called to stand trial for their alleged involvement in the Lasalin Massacre. This includes gang members, police officers, two officials from Jovenel Moïse’s administration, and even a relative of former First Lady Sophia Martelly.
From Jovenel’s Administration, the former delegate for the West department, Joseph Pierre Richard Duplan, and Fednel Monchery, the former director general of the Ministry of the Interior. Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier was also named and charged with being responsible for financing the massacre.
These charges come amid a growing discussion among Haitians as to how these atrocities committed by armed groups are to be addressed, while a number of human rights organizations warn against amnesty.
Migrasyon
Biden Kanpe
Immigration is one of the most divisive issues in the 2024 U.S. elections. Republicans have accused Biden of opening up the floodgates when, in reality, Biden has scrapped the asylum process at the border and deported more people in his first term than Trump did, with 27,000 Haitians deported since 2020.
What Biden has done is offer a parole program to four countries including Haiti. Since starting in early 2023, 200,000 Haitians have been approved to move to the United States. In the meantime, as we mentioned in our previous newsletter, TPS has been extended. This week, in a shocking turn of events to many Haitian families, Homeland Security announced that it was putting the humanitarian parole program on pause to investigate incidents of fraud. Many people who had received authorization to travel received notices that their approval to move to the US was now denied.
KILTIRÈL
Fèt Chanpèt
The season of patronal celebrations across the towns of Haiti is in full swing. July 16th is known for Fèt Mòn Carmel or Fèt Vyèj Mirak Sodo in the Central Plateau because it is one of the most important pilgrimages that both Catholics and Vodou practitioners make each year. This year in Sodo, the festivities were timid since the area has been severely impacted by violence, particularly last year. Civil society organizations in the community organized activities despite what they describe as abandonment and antagonism from the local authorities.
Mont Carmel is also celebrated in places like Bas Limbe in the Northern department of the country. While in other parts of the country, Mont Carmel is also known as Ezili Dantò; in the northern regions of the country, this lwa is called Boran. Like Sodo in the Centre department, Bas Limbe has a sacred waterfall where the lwa is called upon by thousands of pilgrims through baths in the holy water, offerings of Cizerane, and dancing. As for the Catholic church, their mass included revelers of both faiths in an ecumenic display of spirituality.