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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CHAY LA | Main Story
L’eau est la
Over the past two weeks, support for the canal being built in Wanament, in the Northeast of Haiti, has swelled. Haitians from all over the country and in the diaspora have contributed money, materials in kind, and meals for the workers. Others have visited the site to show their support and to see for themselves what has caused such a diplomatic stir. On Sunday, the road from Okap to Wanament was peppered with busloads of people and private cars filled with people dressed in blue and red.
In an effort to be transparent and manage the funds received well, the committee leading the construction of the canal has formed another body charged with managing the project’s resources. In a press conference held yesterday, the treasurer reported that they had received 6,486,552.00 Gourdes and $11,856 in monetary donations thus far. The project has received a significant amount of in-kind donations as well, including 1,000 bags of cement from one group from the diaspora and equipment from ISTEAH, a nearby university focusing on science and technology.
Because of the canal efforts, other examples of community development have been inspired — like the effort to repair the Èlgèt Canal in Desarmes, Artibonite. In the communes of Savanèt and Batis, particularly in Bèltè, Dopak, and Mòn kabrit, people are banding together to get a road built to facilitate the transportation of agricultural goods across the region. Recently, a sit-in was organized in order to get the attention of local, municipal, and national authorities, among others, in this vain. So far, the inhabitants of the area have managed to get the road from the top of Savanèt through Dopak to the center of Batis, according to reports from Centre à la UNE.
“Toutfwa, moun k ap travay nan wout la, pou kounye a, montre yo kòmanse febli seyezman, se pou sa yo lanse apèl ak enstans konsène yo, sitwayen konsekan ak moun ki gen bon konprann, pou yo bay yo yon kout men ban mwayen finansye, zouti, elatriye pou wout la pa kanpe nan wout.” (Source: Centre a la UNE)
politik/polemik
Shameless Hypocrisy
Unsurprisingly, private interests on the side of the Dominican Republic are also at play in this conflict, as a Canadian company, Unigold, is currently awaiting a permit to mine gold at the border in Dajabón.
« Two countries are fighting over a canal that means nothing, but a company is going to take all of the water from the region for its operations, and nobody seems to notice that, » warns Father Osvaldo Concepción in an interview with AyiboPost. (Source: AyiboPost)
This project, which is partially funded by the World Bank, has the potential to contaminate the Massacre River in Artibonite on the Haitian side and the Libón River on the Dominican side. Communities in the Dominican Republic have already suffered the consequences of poor mining standards, leaving a trail of sick workers, dead livestock, and dead fish in the Managua River, school closures, illness, and high levels of lead and cyanide in the blood of local inhabitants.
Gold extraction is also a notoriously water-intensive endeavor, with 500,000 liters of water required to wash just 1km of gold — in a context where water consumption in one country affects water use in the other.
According to a report by the Dominican Ministry of Economy, Mining and Development, the amount of water needed for intensive mining over decades will result in increased cross-border competition for rivers shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with repercussions on human consumption, agricultural activity, and food security.
The Dominican Republic also currently has about 10 structures built to harness the Massacre River for agricultural and consumption purposes.
Since his initial announcement, Abinader has kept the borders shut but recently said he would be willing to soften the measures within 2-3 weeks. The Dominican Vice President, Raquel Peña de Antuña, has said her government was willing to talk.
Abinader has been under pressure from food producers and the construction sector, suggesting they have more to lose than Haiti does. This situation highlights another grave problem of trade between Haiti and the DR. The majority of what is imported into Haiti is actually contraband, because those importing evade paying taxes and duties to Haitian customs. According to Le Nouvelliste, Haiti only collects 4% of what it could from Dominican imports. This explains why many of Dominican products are cheaper than local products.
Concerns about the safety of Haitians in the DR were already high view the tension around the canal. The announcement of the alleged rape of a Haitian woman by a Dominican immigration official at the LAS Americas airport has pushed Haitians to post about it on social media and alert potential tourists.
politik/polemik
Dry Eyes
Ariel Henry has taken this opportunity (a citizen-led effort, mind you) to appear assertive on the international stage. During his speech at the United Nations, he affirmed Haiti's right to use the water from the Massacre River, according to the 1929 treaty with the DR. He also held several meetings to help secure the arrival of a foreign force to support the police. According to the Miami Herald, 12 countries have expressed their willingness to contribute to the intervention, including The Bahamas, Jamaica, Antigua, Barbuda, Italy, Spain, Mongolia, Senegal, Belize, Suriname, Guatemala, and Peru. The nature of their participation is still mostly unclear while they await a decision from the Security Council.
Sodo and Mibalè
Bandits attacked Sodo and Mibalè in the central region of the country this week, resulting in the death and injury of over 20 people and the theft of 14 vehicles. In response, the people in coordination with the police have killed 9 suspected gang members.
The attack is said to have been perpetrated by bandits from Canaan. In the attack, the cities police station was set ablaze, along with several homes, according to reports. An account of people who have been kidnapped is also underway.
For the time being, agents from the Unité départementale de maintien d'ordre (UDMO) are stepping up their presence, as well as police patrols in strategic areas of the town. No official information has been made available on the arrest of several individuals presumed to have been involved in this attack, according to Marie Andrée Ruth Thélus, the mayor of Sodo.
In Mibale, the Hôpital Universitaire was also targeted by an armed gang that opened fire on the facility. No one was hurt in the attack, according to witnesses, but about 50% of the patients fled, leaving the hospital, including some critically ill patients, putting their health at risk. These reports are particularly alarming because they show the reach of gangs beyond Port-au-Prince, where many have fled to seek safety. Many Haitians are also questioning why such important communes like Sodo and Mibalè were left to be attacked more than once by the police.
KILTIRÈL
Fèt Desalin
September 20th commemorates the birthday of the Emperor Jean-Jacques Dessalines. As one of Haiti’s founding fathers, Dessalines was the leading general who secured Haiti’s independence and the expulsion of the French. He is often mischaracterized as the less civil counterpart to Toussaint L’Ouverture (despite Toussaint’s untimely demise at the hand of the French). Happy Birthday, Papa Dessalines! Here is an excerpt from one of his proclamations.
Crimes, the most atrocious, such as were until then unheard of, and would cause nature to shudder, have been perpetrated! The measure was overheaped. At length the hour of vengeance has arrived, and the implacable enemies of the rights of man have suffered the punishment due to their crimes. […]
It is necessary […] to recall to your remembrance the catalogue of atrocities committed against our species: the massacre of the entire population of this Island, mediated in the silence and sang froid of the cabinet: the execution of that abominable project, to me unblushingly proposed, and already begun by the French with the calmness and serenity of a countenance accustomed to similar crimes.
Let that nation come who may be mad and daring enough to attack me. […] Let them come, then, these homicidal cohorts! I wait for them with firmness and with a steady eye. I abandon to them freely the sea-shore, and the places where cities have existed; but woe to those who may approach too near the mountains! It were better for them that the sea received them into its profound abyss, than to be devoured by the anger of the children of Hayti. (Source: Black Agenda Report)
JOUNEN ENTÈNASYONAL POU FANM GEN DWA AVÒTE
Feminist organizations, Nègès Mawon, Marijàn, Dantò, Gran Jipon, Règ, and Profamil, organized a march this week in Port-au-Prince in honor of International Safe Abortion Day, September 28th. Activists gathered to continue support for the right to safe, free, and legal abortion in Haiti. This march was organized in the context of 15 days of advocacy and activism activities to educate the general public and the Haitian government of the right to reproductive health care.
Induced abortions of any kind are considered a criminal act under the Haitian penal code, Article 262. To learn more about abortion rights and how it impacts women in Haiti and across Latin America, read The Case for Legalizing Abortion in Haiti by Kenny Moise for Woy Magazine.
KILTIRÈL
Caribbean Cinema
Shout out to one of our readers for bringing this gem to our attention! If you are looking for something to watch this weekend, look no further than the Third Horizon film collection on the Criterion Channel. Featuring films from Caribbean filmmakers, including Gessica Geneus (Douvan Jou Ka Leve), and many more — find works of fiction, documentary-style films, and hybrid works inspired by Caribbean voices and perspectives — all drawn from the Third Horizon Film Festival based in Miami.
Thank you