Pou w gen rezon devan kras, fò w benyen chak jou
(September 3, 2022-September 16, 2022)
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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Pou w gen rezon devan kras, fò w benyen chak jou To beat dirt, you must bathe daily (Haitian proverb)
CHAY LA | BIG STORY
Ariel speaks to say NOTHING:
De facto Prime Minister, Ariel Henry addressed the nation on September 11th, responding to critiques that he doesn’t communicate with the public because he is supposedly busy working. This is the same sort of discourse of disengagement that he used to mark his one year anniversary as prime minister.
Ariel did acknowledge that it has been a year since he signed the September 11th agreement plan for a political transition, but claimed that other parties have been unwilling to play along. He took no responsibility for the standstill of the country, blaming others for the state of things. He then announced that he would be proceeding with a hike in gas prices which were previously subsidized by the government, claiming that they drain government coffers.
Rolling back fuel subsidies is necessary because these subsidies benefitted wealthy fuel importers more than they benefited the people. However, removing them would require a set of well-communicated policy decisions on public benefits for which the newly freed funds would be used to prevent costs like transportation from rising for low-income Haitians. Instead, Ariel discussed distributing food kits, and providing cash transfers to no more than 50,000 people (Haiti has over 12 million people), an initiative that the most basic of NGOs conduct regularly in Haiti. The current prime minister has no clue what governing a country entails.
« Le Fonds d’assistance économique et sociale (Faes), a, de son côté, déjà remis plus de 51,000 kits alimentaires, partout dans le pays, et 50,000 personnes, parmi les plus nécessiteuses, ont déjà reçu de l’argent sur leurs téléphones. Le Ministère des affaires sociales fera bientôt d’autres versements », fait savoir Ariel Henry.
Comment des restaurants communautaires seraient susceptibles de faire baisser la grogne et la colère des différentes couches de la population contre l’absence de réponses pertinentes à divers maux qui assaillent la population ?
Les questions cruciales sont la sécurité, la rareté persistante des produits pétroliers sur le marché national, le coût de plus en plus élevé de la vie (+30% d’inflation), la dégradation globale des conditions d’existence, la détérioration des infrastructures routières, etc. (Source: Alterpresse)
Following the announcement, violent protests have erupted around the country launching a new "Peyi lòk".
“You can only call this a full-fledged insurrection,” Monique Clesca, a former United Nations official who is a leader of the Commission for a Haitian Solution to the Crisis, told me. “The anger is palpable.” (Source: The Nation)
Things have taken on new proportions with these insurrections involving barricades, looting, and the burning and pillaging of the homes of politicians —namely André Michel and Edmonde Supplice Beausile — two signatories of Ariel Henry's September 11th accord. Madame Beausile took to Twitter to accuse political opponents of sending people to attack her home.
This comes on the heels of demonstrations against inflation, fuel shortages, kidnappings, political infighting, and calls for the resignation of Ariel Henry since last week and it’s not surprising. In 2017, Woy Contributor Etant Dupain explained how our politicians’ corrupt and irresponsible decisions could lead to this, just as it did in July 2018.
#WOYREWIND
Published on woymagazine.com on April 6, 2017
San sous revni sa a, leta Ayisyen pral oblije monte pri gaz la, e depi pri gaz monte, tout bagay monte. Kounya gade eta ekonomi a avèk aksyon lidè nou yo, epi sonje sa ki te rive dènye fwa nou te nan yon ijans konsa. Avèk politik iresponsab, ensansib n ap pratike a, nou sou yon wout ki gen anpil danje. Kontinite politik konwonpi a se pi gwo pwovokasyon posib elit politik Ayisyen ap fè peyi a. Si nou gade istwa resan, sa pa ka fini byen. (Source: Woy Magazine)
Where the international community is concerned, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH), remains steadfast in their support of this current government. Helen Meagher La Lime expressed last month, that her focus was to help the Ariel Henry government to reach a consensus with the opposition and civil society leaders, with the objective of organizing elections.
Trigger Warning:
Two journalists, Tayson Latigue and Frantzsen Charles, were fatally shot and their bodies set ablaze, while investigating the escalating violence in Cité Soleil. According to Dieudonne St-Cyr, a member of Haiti’s Association of Independent Journalists, the two were part of a small group of journalists ambushed by warring gangs. Five others fled the scene unscathed.
As we’ve discussed in previous newsletters, journalism has become more and more precarious in Haiti, as violence and gang activity have steadily increased over the last few years. This is notwithstanding other factors that rarify the profession including extremely low and inconsistent pay, that in turn threaten the integrity of reporting. Journalists have always been in the crosshairs of political instability in Haiti, with the infamous case of journalist Jean Dominique who was assassinated some twenty years ago now.
Similarly, the civilian casualties continue to rise as families have their loved ones ripped away from them. Marie Lydie Duvivier is one of the latest victims, killed this week in Tabarre, in an attempted kidnapping. Our sympathies to the family.
MIGRASYON
18,000 Haitians
According to the Groupe d’Appui aux Rapatriés et Réfugiés (GARR), more than 18,000 Haitians have been deported back to Haiti over the month of August, in the midst of this particularly acute political crisis. GARR underscores the lack of organization and monitoring in these repatriations which expose migrants to physical, emotional and sexual abuses. Migrants are also subject to theft as they make their way back to Haiti.
The numbers are as follows: 18,872 deported Haitian migrants, including 133 from Cuba, 77 from the United States, 250 from the Bahamas and 18,412 from the Dominican Republic with 252 pregnant women and 123 unaccompanied minors.
The Dominican president, Luis Abinade — behind the building of a border wall between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and a wave of anti-Haitian crackdowns going as far as targeting pregnant women in Dominican healthcare centers — has expressed great concern for the current situation in Haiti, asking the OAS to take action for “the dying people of Haiti”.
KILTIRÈL
Fèt Limonad
5 septanm se Fèt Bòdmè Limonad! Their patron saint is Filomiz, and this is one of the most sacred places for practitioners of what is referred to as “catholico-vodou” in the North. You can find people performing their rituals year round. Especially on Tuesdays and Fridays where things are particularly lively.
Limonad is a great place to visit as a tourist or to hang out and soak in the vibes. Bòdmè is also a seaside town which makes it easy to love, and since it is very frequented you can easily find food, drinks and maybe even be privy to sacred drum circles, a goat sacrifice or someone catching the spirit.
Haut lieu de pèlerinage, il est l'un des endroits les plus fréquentés pour sa spécificité avec bassin Saint Jacques dans la plaine-du-Nord, Lakou Gyode et bassin Lovanna de Quartier Morin; situés également dans le Nord. Cette pratique est très vivante. Elle attire des pèlerins nationaux et internationaux d'après Exalus Petit-Frère. Ce lieu, avec ses deux bassins et sa longue plage, est réputé pour ses portées thérapeutiques et chanceuses. (Source: IPIMH)
DEGI | RECOMMENDATIONS BEFORE YOU GO
An nou fè 2 kabès olye pou n rete nan lave men siye atè | Le Nouvelliste
President bars Haitian ex-leader from entering country | Jamaica Gleaner
Haitian Studies Association - Emerging Scholars Café (September 9, 2022) - YouTube
Upcoming Conference: Vodou & Development | Cuny Haitian Studies Institute
Upcoming Event: Haitian Ladies Weekend| Haitian Ladies Network