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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Twou manti pa fon Holes made of lies aren't deep (Haitian proverb)
CHAY LA | BIG STORY
In the first week of October, after 3 years of no reported cases, Haiti's Ministry of Health (MSPP) announced new cases of cholera. Since then, journalists and NGOs have broken the story that an outbreak of cholera is ongoing in the overcrowded National Penitentiary.
The resurfacing of this disease comes amid ongoing protests against Ariel Henry's rollback of fuel subsidies and insecurity. With the stranglehold of gangs on fuel distribution, and kidnapping, the conditions in Haiti are elevated to a humanitarian crisis. After years of PHTK’s failed governance and crumbling of institutions, the Henry administration has officially called for military intervention. In response, the United States has prepared a UN Security Council resolution that proposes boots on the ground in Haiti from various countries.
Calls to disrupt this humanitarian crisis are understandable, but we know that foreign interventions have not worked in the past and only serve to maintain the status quo — a status quo anchored in economic and social inequality, resulting in the very crisis we are seeing today.
The Henry government, like its predecessors, has implemented a set of disastrous decisions (supporting the gangs, rolling back the fuel subsidies) to maintain a climate of terror and precarity and make Haitians disengage politically — only to beg for intervention as a solution. Professor Camille Chalmers, in an interview for Kit Media, explains the strategy of deliberately creating a situation so dire that people see no other solution in sight but to call on Americans for military intervention.
“Efektivman, yo kapab arete 2 ou 3 chèf gang, mete 2 ou 3 nan prizon, tiye 2 ou 3 etc. Pou ba w yon ti kalme yon ti moman, men y ap fè yon jan pou ke enfrastrikti gang yo rete la pou yo ka itilize yo lè yo bezwen. Yo bezwen kreye yon sitiyasyon kote tout moun a bout, kote tout moun pratikman asfiksye, epi ke ou di sèl solisyon se rele Papa Ameriken vin sove m.” (Source: Kit Media)
Foreign military intervention is about protecting certain people's economic interests and would not address structural issues. So whose interests are at play here? Senator Bill Cassidy gives us a clue.
Protests have not died down, showing that the masses take no comfort in calls for foreign military intervention. The people know firsthand that military intervention does not improve their quality of life, au contraire. In this vain, former senator Moïse Jean-Charles has called for another week of mobilization.
This past weekend, the annual Haitian Ladies Weekend and the Haitian Studies Association Conference were both held in the city of Washington D.C. Both events featured panels on how to understand and engage with Haiti. Attendees from both groups came together at a protest march at Black Lives Matter Plaza calling for U.S. officials to let Haitians decide their own fate, and stop supporting criminal regimes in the country.
BAN M ON TI LIMYE | SET THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Will military intervention solve the problem of gangs?
The last UN mission that lasted over a decade introduced cholera, killed 10,000 Haitians and didn’t compensate the families who lost loved ones. There are reports that state that UN peacekeeper soldiers also perpetuated massacres in Haiti. Instead of dismantling the gangs, the UN mission’s disarmament program actually facilitated in Port -au-Prince “ an explosive proliferation of violent armed groups.” Another significant cost of foreign military intervention is that it gives Haitian leaders a pass, relieving them of their duty to produce security, leaving a mess when they leave.
If a foreign intervention is a distraction from addressing the real political issues like the gangs, how should we understand the issue? To shed some light on the role of gangs in Haitian society, we posed a few questions to Louis Henri Mars, Executive Director of Lakou Lapè, a Haitian conflict resolution organization.
Woy Magazine: What are some root causes of gangs in Haiti?
According to Mars, one of the main root causes of the rise of gangs in Haiti is the lack access to education. While some people who have joined gains have attained comparatively high levels of education up to secondary school, most only attain primary or no schooling at all. This is coupled with a lack of opportunities for decent jobs; people turn to the gangs for employment.
Poor social conditions in communities also play a role. Not withstanding the absence of the state in these neighborhoods in the form of law enforcement, leaves a void that is filled by the gangs.
“On the socio-economic level…If you don’t create jobs, there will always be guys around looking for a way out and that are willing to kill and kidnap in order to make money.” - Louis Henri Mars
Woy Magazine: How do you think the military intervention will ultimately affect the gangs?
If this military intervention is to go through, Mars does not believe that it will be aimed at destroying the gangs themselves, they will simply retreat into hiding. They may also retrain the police and back up the police in some operations, but it unlikely the international community is willing to take on the casualties associated with attacking and dismantling the very well armed gangs. “You may have the restoration of main roads like the one that leads to the south, you may have the restoration of the circulation of gas.” However, he believes, it is unlikely the gangs will be eradicated.
New on WoyMagazine.com
We Bang on the Bars: A Poetry Workshop at the Women’s Prison in Cabaret
In light of the recent jail break at the women's prison in Cabaret and the cholera outbreak at the National Penitentiary, Woy published this week a piece by poet and activist Ricardo Boucher on a poetry workshop that he led at the women's prison in Cabaret.
Check out the article “We Bang on the Bars, available in English and Kreyòl. It discusses the grave conditions that people incarcerated in Haiti live in. Here is one of the poems written by one of the women who participated in the poetry workshop:
Kiltirèl
Quinzaine Internationale Handicap et Culture
The Quinzaine internationale Handicap et Culture festival is coming to a close this weekend, Saturday, October 15th — creating a space for artistic expression and networking, while celebrating the work and talent of Haitians living with disabilities. This year the theme was art in the context of mental health for growth.
The festival took place in Port-au-Prince, Gonaives, and Las Cahobas, despite the grave socio-economic and political situation in the country at present, which organizers said see as their duty. Activities included sign language, sculpture and dance workshops, film screenings, and open air dance and theatre performances, among other things.
DEGI | Recommendations before you go
Mangrove restorers in Haiti bet on resilience amid rising violence | By Conrad Fox
Cholera Resources - BUREAU DES AVOCATS INTERNATIONAUX | INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE & DEMOCRACY IN HAITI
Couleurs tropicales - Carimi et Yabongo Lova sont les invités de la Marmite
De Facto Haitian Authorities Call for (Another) Foreign Military Intervention