Yon jou mwen ri, yon jou m kriye
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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Lycée des Jeunes Filles du Cap-Haitien closes
On what would have been the first day of classes and what was coincidentally the International Day of the Girl Child, October 11th, 2021; students, faculty and parents came to find the doors of the Lycée des Jeunes Filles du Cap-Haitien shuttered. Due to an apparent lack in funding to pay for the locale and teachers, this public establishment was forced to board its doors and take up residence in a public square called la place d’Armes du Cap-Haitien. A reflection of the state of public affairs in the country, this closure was characterized by Sakapfet Okap as an enormous loss for the city of Okap and the young women for whom this establishment was a refuge.
Insecurity and Kidnappings
The wave of insecurity and kidnappings continues to ravage the country. Things have gotten so bad that controversial megachurch Shalom Tabernacle de Gloire; which has thousands of parishioners and online followers, has had to temporarily close its doors due to threats of kidnapping.
“L’insécurité grandissante qui ronge le pays a touché le secteur protestant en Haïti. Plusieurs victimes ont été recensées dans le rang des fidèles. Jusqu’à ce mardi 12 octobre, le Pasteur Jean Mary Michel Ferrer et l’un des deux fidèles victimes de kidnapping ne sont toujours pas libérés. Cela contraint l’Église Shalom Tabernacle de Gloire à fermer ses portes.” (Source: TripFoumi)
One pastor has even invited his congregation to bring machetes with them to church in order to protect themselves from kidnappings.
Fed up with these perilous conditions, the population has also taken to the streets; leading to demonstrations all over the country and barricading neighborhoods in hopes of retrieving their loved ones. In Port-au-Prince, a general strike took place on Monday, October 18th to protest the rise of violent crime in the country. Protests were seen in other cities across the country as well.
Demonstrations continued on Thursday, October 21st. Roadblocks brought normal activities to a halt; where motorcycle drivers were protesting the lack of fuel, while the association of fuel transportation drivers was striking against insecurity.
Leon Charles Out
After nearly a year at the helm of the Haitian National Police, Leon Charles has resigned. Under his leadership, Jovenel Moise was assassinated and he is widely criticized for his inability to respond to the spike in violence and kidnappings currently plaguing the country.
“He will go back to Washington to the Organization of American States […]. The chief was Haiti’s representative to the Organization of American States and its chargé d’affaires in its Washington embassy when he was asked by Moïse to return to Haiti to head the police force after he’d been forced out 15 years earlier.” (Source: Miami Herald)
His replacement Frantz Elbé, was the former regional director of the South-East department of the Haitian National Police and later that of the Nippes department.
In Kwadèboukè, tragedy struck the artist village of Vilaj Nway (Village de Noailles) which was attacked on the night of Monday, October 11th going into the 12th. The group of bandits responsible for this assault opened fire on several homes, resulting in the death of lead artist Anderson Belony. They are said to have attacked and raped women in the community as well.
“Bandi yo te atake kote atis Bélony rete a, ki se yon espas vodou, yon eritaj fanmi l.
Kay sa a, se kote pi pi ansyen nan vilaj Nway la (village de Noailles). Ladann, ou jwenn penti sou mi, ki la depi lane 1950 yo.” (Source: AlterPresse)
Investigation Update
A suspect linked to the assassination of the late Jovenel Moise, Mario Palacios Palacios was arrested earlier this month in Jamaica. The news broke yesterday October 21st.
“Mario Palacios Palacios, a former Colombian military officer, was arrested in Kingston earlier this month after surrendering. The arrest had remained secret. Palacios’ arrest was confirmed by multiple Haitian and Jamaica sources speaking to the Miami Herald on the condition of anonymity.” (Source: Miami Herald)
COVID-19
Haiti's COVID vaccine campaign has not been a success. A little under 26,000 Haitians (or less than 1% of the population) have been fully vaccinated. Due to reticence, Haitian authorities have resorted to giving 250,000 vaccines away to Honduras.
“A quatre semaines de l’expiration des vaccins anti-Covid, Haïti est parvenu à vacciner complement 25 545 Haitiens. A noter que 62 588 ont la 1ère dose du vaccin Moderna et 341 ont eu la dose unique du vaccin Johnson.
Au moins, 128 sites de vaccination Covid-19 sont disponibles dans les departements du pays, a annoncé, ce 11 octobre, le ministère de la Santé sur Facebook.” (Source: Enquet’Action)
Immigration
Haitian families and immigration advocates in Canada are calling for the Canadian government to accelerate the reunification process of families in immigration limbo in the country. Other countries like Afghanistan and Syria have received such programs, so why won’t Haiti, advocates ask?
“ Slandie n’a pas vu ses jeunes garçons depuis trois ans. Jean Rody, lui, n’a pas encore rencontré sa fille de 4 ans. Osena, elle, tente sans succès de faire venir ici le fils de son défunt mari – préposé aux bénéficiaires terrassé par la COVID-19 à Montréal en 2020. Au moment où Haïti est plongé dans une grave crise politique et économique, des membres de la communauté haïtienne au Québec et des avocats en immigration plaident pour accélérer la réunification familiale.” (Source: La Presse)
Following the now infamous images depicting the mistreatment of Haitian migrants at the US-Mexico border, Black migrant advocates remind us that the mistreatment of Black and African migrants is nothing new.
“ In a letter sent to DHS’s Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, obtained by TheGrio, Black immigration rights groups are calling out alleged abuses committed by DHS’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The law enforcement agency is accused of torturing four Cameroon migrants and one Ugandan before and during mass deportations late last year.
At the center of these alleged abuses is a “human restraint” device used by ICE agents called The WRAP. The complaint alleges that officials used the restraint inhumanely and improperly, violating civil rights laws and ICE’s own detention standards.” (Source: TheGrio)
Monopolies gonna monopoly
On October 18th 2021, DIGICEL was slated to increase the fee to withdraw money from MONCASH accounts drawing criticism from its users, who have been complaining about the quality of service from DIGICEL for some time now.
A sit-in was organized using social media; calling on the population, particularly users of MONCASH to show their displeasure with this decision.
Dozens of people with signs and slogans in hand stood in front of the central location of DIGICEL the morning of October 18th.; united for the same cause: demand that the company overturn this decision.
Maarten Boute, Digicel’s CEO responded to this discontent suggesting that their clients look elsewhere if they are unhappy with their price hikes.
But in a country with little regulation around monopolies and competition, what choice do consumers really have?
“En Haïti, « Il existe de la concurrence sur des portions de marché restreint (marché en fer, marché Salomon) mais, entre les grands importateurs du pays, ce terme n’existe pas », observe Thomas Lalime.
La quasi-totalité des produits consommés dans le pays est importée. Et, la plupart des denrées stratégiques sont contrôlées par quelques familles.” (Source: AyiboPost)
The action lasted about 3 hours and ended in tear gas and several wounded.
Prior to the changes, withdrawing 1,000-1,999 gourdes cost a total 43 gourdes in fees. With the price increase, the fee is now 60 gourdes. For a withdrawal from 60,000-75,000 gourdes the fee was 498 gourdes, with this new fee it is now 1,368 gourdes.
Mèsi Papa Dessalines
The anniversary of the assassination of Jean-Jacques Dessalines was on Sunday, October 17th. This somber day of remembrance found the country in equally somber times. Sunday, reports came out that de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry's ceremony for the occasion was quickly brought to an end due to gang activity at Pont Rouge. However, later that day, gang leader Jimmy Cherizier and his squad easily accessed the memorial site in Pont Rouge, peacefully holding their own ceremony; and prompting yet again the question over who is really in charge?
On a brighter note, check out Haitian Baritone, Jean Bernard Cerin, and his interpretation of the song which was sung at Dessalines' coronation in 1804. Then, it was performed by a group of soldiers, featuring a Haitian text set to the melody from an opera by Jean Jacques Rousseau. Enjoy “Couplets chantés et présentés à Sa Majesté Jacques 1er, Empereur d’Haïti.” Text written by César Télémaque, mayor of Cap Haitian in 1804.