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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Kay koule twonpe solèy, men li pa twonpe lapli
A leaky house may fool the sun, but it can't fool the rain
(Haitian proverb)
CHAY LA | Main Story
Dr. Gary Conille was unanimously chosen by the Presidential Council as the new Prime Minister to lead the transition — in Laurent St Cyr’s noted absence during the vote. Conille spent many years as a high-level UN official and regional director for UNICEF for Latin America and the Caribbean, most recently. Conille is not particularly tied to any Haitian political group. However, he does have ties to the Clintons, a different political elite that has harmed Haiti.
Not completely new to the role, Conille was appointed Prime Minister by Martelly in October 2011 until May 2012. He ended up resigning, pushed out by Martelly because he wanted to investigate contracts awarded using the Petrocaribe funds.
The contracts in question involved fraudulent agreements and bribes between Haitian and Dominican authorities. One such contract was awarded to three companies owned by Félix Bautista (a Dominican Senator) by Jean-Max Bellerive, Martelly’s Prime Minister, prior to Conille’s appointment.
When in office, Conille led a commission that revealed that Martelly received $2,587,000 in checks and cash from companies owned by Senator Bautista, according to accounting documents. Some of the payments predate Martelly’s second-round victory in the presidential elections in April 2011. Mirlande Manigat was also cited, receiving $250,000 in cash from Bautista on February 18, 2011.
Since his appointment this time around, Conille has been negotiating with the Presidential Council on the formation of his government. He is pushing for a reduced number of ministries (13 or 14) and insisting on choosing the heads of four ministries: Justice & Public Safety, Foreign Affairs, Finance, and Interior & Territorial Collectivities.
The Presidential Council, with its representatives from various political parties, is pushing for the ministries they want — accustomed to dividing up the pie — and unable to resist old motivations to focus on the urgency of the transition. We will be looking to see if they pick competent people with integrity to lead the ministries and how representative they are of the population, particularly the participation of women, who are over half of the population.
POLITIK/POLEMIK
Multinational Intervention
The plans for Kenya’s arrival continue to seem confusing and unorganized at best. Two weeks ago, President William Ruto of Kenya announced that the mission would start in three weeks. Since then, no official announcements have been made about the mission’s imminent arrival. At present, logistical and operational elements of deployment remain uncertain, namely the construction of the base intended for the Kenyan officers, the mission’s strategy, and the rules of engagement. Questions about how the mission will collaborate with the Presidential Council and the Haitian National Police (PNH) have yet to be addressed.
Meanwhile, in Kenya, renewed legal challenges are also underway from Thirdway Alliance party leader Ekuru Aukot, who has filed a contempt of court petition against President Ruto's government. Aukot asserts the government's decision to deploy police officers to Haiti disregards a January court order that declared such action unconstitutional and illegal due to the lack of a reciprocal agreement between Kenya and Haiti, as well as the president's constitutional limitations.
Meanwhile, more airlines, including American Airlines, Spirit, and Jet Blue, have resumed flights to PAP, while more schools have reopened their doors. Downtown Port-au-Prince is still under siege.
IMIGRASYON
Biden recently issued an executive order limiting the number of asylum seekers allowed undocumented entry at the border to 2,500 per day. Various immigration advocacy groups and US lawmakers are condemning this policy, arguing it is misguided and threatens the human rights of people who are fleeing for their lives.
Similar to the order Trump enacted in 2018, which was deemed illegal when challenged in court, this policy is likely to face legal challenges. More comprehensive policies, including the implementation of guest worker and family reunification programs, offer more flexible solutions to address the current crisis, especially considering the economic contributions immigrants make. Black Alliance for Just Immigration characterizes this new measure as inhumane and anti-Black.
This executive order forces Black migrants to face extreme anti-Blackness in Mexico, as detailed in our report: There is a Target on Us and our short documentary “Mexico is Hell for Black People.“
Black migrants who are waiting indefinitely, often several months, in inhumane living conditions with limited to no access to food, water, shelter, or assistance from the Mexican government will continue to be forced to wait in Mexico while entry to the U.S. is suspended.
Black migrants who are struggling to access the CBP One app due to lengthy wait times, language barriers, and other technological barriers will be disproportionately impacted.
It is outrageous that Biden and his administration continue to advance harmful immigration policies that make asylum harder, increase expedited removal, expand detention systems, increase criminal prosecutions for border crossings, and create the ability for a president to simply “ shut down” the border.
Ochan pou Pierre Michel Chery!!
On May 25th, Professor Pierre Michel Chery passed away. He was a linguist, IT specialist, and author. He was also an activist for the advancement of the Kreyòl language and a member of the Akademi Kreyòl. He was a beloved university professor. We had the pleasure of interviewing Professor Chery in 2022 about one of his greatest contributions to the production of Haitian knowledge: the 12 principles of Bwa Kayiman.
My interest peaked on the subject after hearing a person from the peasantry say, “Depi m gen manje pou m manje” – boiling life and necessities down to the issue of food which is all about survival. That means, a Haitian peasant is a person – and all of Haitian history supports this – who is prepared to live with the absolute minimum of what is vital for survival. We have to add to this minimum, because it cannot stay at the level of food. It has to be brought to the level of what a Haitian person needs to live.
This distinction highlights a major difference between a capitalist society where people need to make money, and a society where people just want to make it through life with the minimum of what life has to offer them, without the need for accumulation.
Which principle do you think would be helpful to get the country out of this crisis?
Now if I were to choose which principles would help us out of this crisis, they would be the very first principle, ”Pa Gen Moun Pase Moun” and the principle that goes with it “Si Gen Pou Youn Gen Pou De”. They are fundamental to Haitian life. And, all of the difficulties we live come out of the contradictions that exist with the ”Pa Gen Moun Pase Moun” principle and the apartheid society that emerged from colonization. Source: Woy Magazine