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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Zèb ou pa vle leve nan jaden w leve devan pòt kay ou
The weeds you don't want in your garden will grow at your front door
(Haitian Proverb)
CHAY LA | BIG STORY
Sanctions
The United States government announced treasury sanctions against two prominent Haitian senators for drug trafficking. They are Youri Latortue, a Senator for l'Artibonite and Joseph Lambert, a Senator for the South East and the current president of the Haitian Senate.
Through the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OAFC), with the Government of Canada, the two were designated as having participated in or attempted to participate in “activities or transactions that have materially contributed to, or pose a significant risk of materially contributing to, the international proliferation of illicit drugs or their means of production.”
These sanctions will affect their properties, dealings with any U.S persons and all affairs conducted within the United States. Anyone engaging in certain transactions with these individuals may also be exposed to sanctions or be subject to an enforcement action. Foreign financial services are also mentioned, and may be subject to sanctions if found to be involved in facilitating certain transactions and services for the individuals in question.
In an interview accorded to Magik 9 on Tuesday, November 8, the American Chargé d'Affaires, Eric Stromayer revealed that sanctions against other Haitian politicians and business people were forthcoming.
Senator Patrice Dumont has called for Lambert’s resignation as the president of the Senate. Meanwhile, Latortue and Lambert have been making appearances in the media, denying the allegations leveled against them.
In one such interview, Joseph Lambert recounted how the late President Préval and other Inite party officials were forced to remove Jude Celestin from the ballot in lieu of Michel Martelly, in the run off election for the presidency against Mirlande Manigat. Lambert, who was the National Coordinator of the Inite party at the time, described a visit from representatives of the OAS and Edmond Muller to President Préval’s house to pressure them. He goes on to explain how similar personal sanctions were levied on officials to ensure that the election go in Martelly’s favor.
POLITIK | POLEMIK
Eric Jean Baptiste, business owner, former presidential candidate and head of the Rassemblement des démocrates nationaux progressistes (Rdnp) political party, was gunned down on the night of October 28 at the entrance of Laboule 12 on his way home. RDNP is one of Haiti’s oldest political parties, founded by former President Leslie Manigat in 1979.
According to AlterPresse, Jean Baptiste’s vehicle was attacked by a group of heavily armed individuals, and both him and his driver, Peterson Vernius, did not survive. Our sympathies to their families.
This is yet another disturbing event in a series of tragic murders in the area — one of the more affluent neighborhoods in the mountains at the periphery of Petion-Ville.
Access to the Varreux fuel terminal has finally been unblocked following negotiations between Jimmy Chérizier (alias BBQ) leader of the G9 gang, and Ariel Henry’s government.
Some see this major step as evidence of the Haitian state’s ability to address the current security crisis on its own if they are willing to prioritize resources and efforts towards this. Haitian journalist Étant Dupain stated in a tweet: “Se pa gang yo ki fò, se leta ki fèb, kowonpi, e enkonpetan.” It is not that the gangs are stronger than the state, it is that the state is weakly run. Many Haitians remain steadfast in their opposition to foreign intervention.
Canada, in the last few weeks, had been positioning itself to potentially lead a foreign military intervention. To prepare for this, the Canadian government sent in a delegation to assess the situation, as well as equipment. The successful unblocking of the terminal might alleviate the pressure on Canada to potentially intervene.
MIGRATION
Guantanamo
The Biden Administration is considering sending Haitian migrants to Guantanamo Bay (GITMO) as a potential solution to the influx of Haitian migrants trying to reach the United States. Though the number of Haitian migrants intercepted at sea have been on the decline in recent months, the administration is considering this as a contingency plan.
According to NBC, The White House National Security Council and the Department of Homeland Security are working to determine what number of Haitian migrants would warrant the use of the Guantanamo facility as a temporary holding place, and the use of a third holding place.
Back in the 1991, thousands of Haitian refugees were held in Guantanamo Bay under the George H.W. Bush Administration.
These refugees were supporters of Jean-Bertrand Aristide who were fleeing the country after he was overthrown. Rather than taking them in as political asylum seekers, the Bush Administration sent them to Guantanamo Bay.
In the never ending saga that is human depravity, many of these migrants were forcibly tested for HIV, with HIV-positive women refugees sterilized or injected with birth control without their consent — as they waited to see if their petitions for refugee status would be approved or not.
This was later declared unconstitutional by a judge who ordered the release of Haitians from Guantanamo Bay in 1993. Guantanamo Bay is also known as a site of indefinite detention where the United States has retained the right to keep people there indefinitely.
KILTIRÈL
Fèt Gede
Fèt Gede, Haiti’s “Festival of the Dead”, was celebrated across the country. This is a celebration held every year in commemoration of loved ones passed and the ancestors.
In Haiti, Vodou practitioners celebrate by getting dressed up as gede (a subset of loa for the dead), parading through the streets, on their way to perform rituals, make offerings and pay their respects to the deceased in cemeteries. There are also ceremonies in lakou where homage is paid to the dead.
[Vodouwizan] come in a spiritual pilgrimage to the cemetery to pay their respect to the dead, but first, permission of passage has to be obtained. The grave of the Papa Gede, the first man who ever died. Ancestral services are held at this ‘crossroad’, considered to be the bridge between life and death. Kwa Baron is the Lwa guardian of the cemetery and head of the Gedes. (Source: Medium)
Celebrations take place throughout the month of November, but the main event takes place on November 1 and 2.
DEGI | Recommendations before you go
Haitians want a ‘Haitian-led solution’ by Joseph Gedeon | Politico
Lise latèm Mibalè, yon lajan leta bliye nan labou fatra | Centre a la UNE
Haitian-Canadian author Myriam J.A. Chancy makes a reading list for Haiti | NPR
Brazil’s Haitian Training Ground by Dr. Jemima Pierre | Black Agenda Report
Théodore Beaubrun alias Languichatte Debordus, grand comédien devant l'éternel I HaitiInter
Haiti’s Elites Keep Calling for the U.S. Marines by Jonathan Katz I Foreign Policy