July 5th, 2011,
Open letter to my compatriots
My fellow citizens,
For a democratic system to work properly, it is essential that all citizens subject themselves to the will of the institutions that lead them; better yet, they must strengthen them and accept, without hesitation, the verdict that they deliver as long as that verdict is transparent and legal. For a democratic system to work properly, it is just as essential that the elected officials responsible for making laws abide by them without exception.
Our Lower House Representatives were duly elected to the Parliament by the people and, by voting against my ratification as Prime Minister, they fulfilled the role that their conscience imposed on them. Nothing, however, entitled them to violate my rights or, at the very least, to allow that they be violated by some of their peers with complete impunity.
Faced with a branch of government ever so complacent in arbitrariness and in lies, I take on the responsibility to correct the malicious and false statements that were unfortunately made by some of its members, even when the Parliamentary Commission in charge of analyzing my nomination already had all the information needed to contradict the slanderers and set the record straight and even when I made sure to hold, together with the President, a press conference on June 21st to present the complete facts. Allow me, in passing, to note that neither the congressman from the district where I was born and still live, nor the congressmen from the two districts where I am among the entrepreneurs who create the most jobs and who are the biggest taxpayers, nor the chambers of commerce that my businesses belong to, came to my defense.
Alone in the proverbial lion’s den, I must set the record straight:
* First, I am Haitian and I have never renounced my nationality. All my life, I have used the passport of only one country, my country, Haiti. My valid passport, along with my last two expired passports, were submitted to the Commission for analysis.
* Second, for having been Honorary Consul of Jamaica in Haiti, I did not lose my Haitian nationality. Moreover, I have never undertaken any political engagement on behalf of a foreign nation nor did I undertake any other engagement to defend the interest of a foreign nation at the expense of that of my country. It is incidentally absurd that our members of Parliament pretend not to be aware of the difference between the attributions of a career consul and those of an honorary consul which has never been considered to be, in any country and at any time, a political position.
* Third, I have been working in Haiti for more than 30 years and I pride myself in being among the Haitian citizens who have always and regularly paid all taxes owed to the country’s fiscal authorities. I am proud to state loud and clear that I have totally, completely and continuously fulfilled all my fiscal responsibilities toward my country. The Direction Générale des Impôts (DGI), Haiti’s tax collection authority, can bear witness to that fact and has never failed to issue me a yearly tax clearance certificate.
I direct those members of Parliament who feel authorized to tarnish, in all impunity, the image of honest and upstanding citizens of our country to get in touch with the DGI in order to verify the authenticity of my documents and the truthfulness of my assertions.
For the sake of historical accuracy, I am attaching, to this letter, a copy of my latest tax return, DGI’s receipt for taxes paid in addition to those withheld from my salary by my company every month on behalf of DGI as well as the tax clearance certificate delivered by DGI. The same information is available for the past five years, from fiscal year 2005-2006 to fiscal year 2009-2010 as required by law.
I want to take this opportunity to thank President Martelly for having presented me to the Nation to become Prime Minister of my country. While I have never asked him to do so, he has already set the historical record straight by informing the Nation, more than once, that I did not look for this position, that I did not scheme, nor did I lobby him for this honor. Quite the contrary!
As a citizen, I had accepted to serve my country on behalf of all our fellow citizens who died as a result of the earthquake, of hurricanes, of cholera, those who died from poverty, those who died by drowning in high seas, those who died from armed violence, kidnappings and assassinations like Guiteau Toussaint not too long ago… All of them victims of our collective failure to take on our Republic’s triptych: Liberty, Equality and, above all, Fraternity.
It is specially with them in mind that I had agreed to go in front of the Parliament and in front of the Nation at a time when the Haitian people, faced with an endless series of political, social, economic, institutional, meteorological and seismic catastrophes, one more deadly than the other, let out a clear and powerful scream of rupture with the past and progress for the future when it elected Michel Joseph Martelly to the highest office in the land.
A population scorned, betrayed, despised by those who had promised hope, democracy and development, only to deliver unemployment, misery, beggary and insecurity;
A population who, for the past 50 years, has been faced with the gradual collapse of the State, the deliquescence of its institutions and the rule of mediocrity, corruption, violence and anarchy;
A population finally decimated by cataclysmic disasters as if Mother Nature wanted to join in the scramble for the spoils initiated by the flock’s guardians;
A population in anguish, weakened, disillusioned, traumatized, on its knees but never defeated, raised its head and dealt a resounding and peremptory “No” to the status quo and its supporters.
I had accepted to serve next to President Martelly because when Haiti, the First Free Nation of the Americas after having abolished slavery, the First Black Republic of the World, brought him to power, it also proclaimed its right to a new Haitian dream in a country reclaiming its sovereignty.
A new Haitian dream that wants all families to be able, by virtue of the fruit of their labor, to raise their children with dignity in a normalized society where the notions of inclusion, job creation, wealth distribution, solidarity, justice, accountability, transparency, order and discipline are no longer purely theoretical concepts, but a daily practice beginning at the very top, propagating itself throughout the executive branch toward civil service and reaching civil society by a sort of contagious percolation.
It is because I strongly believe in this dream that I had put aside my charitable activities, that I had resigned as Chairman of the boards of my companies, that I had agreed to sacrifice priceless family time to assume the responsibility to form the new government that would be in charge of building our country.
Various signals coming from the Parliament’s ranks and insisting on a different kind of politics steadfastly and uniquely engaged in the improvement of our compatriots’ quality of life had also convinced me that, together, we could have pulled off this remarkable feat and work to resolve the problems that we have collectively created.
When future generations will look back to the past, they will remember that 2010 was the year of all catastrophes. If, however, we finally get to work honestly, I am convinced that our descendants will be stunned by the contrast that 2011 will offer.
The year 2011 could indeed be the starting point of a period in time that will be as hard as it will be exhilarating. This brings to mind the words of Sir Winston Churchill when he became Prime Minister of England at a time when the country was threatened by Nazi Germany. He said this to the British people.
“I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined the government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark and lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: victory; victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”
If we treat extreme poverty and the throes of underdevelopment as a monstrous tyranny, we have to stand ready to wage war against them, and this war, President Martelly, the next Prime Minister, you and I simply cannot afford to lose it. The political strategy that I wanted to propose to the Nation was to wage war against the devastating consequences of the catastrophes created by nature and by man in our country during the past 50 years and to embrace wholeheartedly the change promoted by the President.
This change had to express itself first and foremost in the defense of the common good; this heritage that includes the existence of the goods necessary for the development of the Haitian citizen and the real possibility for all to have access to them. This common good requires the social welfare and the development of all the country’s children, all of them, without exclusion and without exclusivity; and it implies the peace, the stability and the security of a just order.
The common good is, in that sense, different from the general interest which, in a group, does not take into account each individual person and, consequently, because it only considers the general entity, may accept the necessary sacrifice of certain members of the group, usually the weakest ones, for the survival of the others.
The common good, as I see it, will need the commitment and involvement of all members of society; no one will be exempt from participating, according to his ability, in order to reach and develop it; and no one will be left behind. Fok tout moun lité, fok tout moun travay e fok tout moun jwenn !
To protect the common good, the next government must commit to match the interests of all sectors with the requirements of justice and to use all the power at its disposal to do so.
It’s in the name of that quest for the common good for all my fellow citizens that I had accepted to serve next to President Martelly with my faith. This faith that raises mountains, this faith that makes me look for Christ in the other, this faith that gets me to believe that our Good God has a plan of love and excellence for Haiti, that I must get involved and that I will not die before seeing change, real change, in Haiti.
These last two months, I heard all kinds of voices, some more striking than others, standing against the fact that I assume my Christian faith publicly and without reserve.
Following the vote of the Members of the Lower House, a journalist, for whom I have the greatest respect, wrote the following: “Mr. Rouzier, in his prayers and his faith, probably forgot that God does not vote in the Senate or the Lower House.” I will simply answer him that our Good God voted and that, in His great love for me, he probably spared me a more painful fate.
I had accepted to serve my country and I saw in this nomination a calling, a vocation, one more opportunity to serve Christ and to touch Him every day in:
* the 680,000 people rotting under tents;
* the 8 million Haitians who will sleep tonight without electricity;
* the 5 million illiterate who are maintained in the dark;
* our thousands of compatriots who are rotting in jail for petty crimes without any hope of ever
seeing a judge;
* the millions of youths who have lost all hope of ever finding a job;
* the millions of senior citizens who have been forgotten and abandoned by our society;
* the millions of women who must slave away every day to provide for their children’s basic
needs;
* our fellow citizens suffering of physical handicaps and mental challenges and who are the
ragamuffins of our society;
* our farmers to whom we have turned our back for too long.
For all these reasons, I will keep my eyes riveted on Christ and I will keep on serving. I only have one life to live and I have to take advantage of all the opportunities that are given to me to make it count for something. My life and my faith have been made up so far of effort and perseverance in adversity, more than they have been made up of dogma and theology. Our Good God has planted a dream of love and excellence for all in my heart and He has allowed me to understand that to do my best is normal and that to go beyond my abilities is a challenge. Where my abilities end, my faith begins. A strong faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible.
If you and I, together, join our efforts and wage battle for a prosperous Haiti, with all the talent, all the resources that God has given to us, then and only then will the future generations see 2011 as the launch of the Renaissance.
May our Good God bless Haiti, may He bless the President, may He bless the Parliament and may He bless us all with our families, always.
Respectfully,
Daniel Gérard ROUZIER
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Anna Ferdinand on Martissant
(Originally published Feb 18, 2007)
From Anna Ferdinand
It was 1995 when I first went to Haiti. I was visiting the National Office on Migration (ONM) one day and met up with a group of young men from Grand Ravine who had gone into exile to the DR during the coup for their support of Aristide. Upon their return, with the restoration of Aristide, they approached every government office they could think of in an attempt to bring development to their area now that democracy had returned. I began teaching English at a school at their request. After class often I would join them in their rehearsals for a folklore troupe and a theater group.
They also brought me on several occasions to Grand Ravine, introducing me to people who had been in Guantanamo, telling me about their hopes for a school in Grand Ravine, and a project that would stop the erosion of the road that crossed the deepening ravine. They were bringing up the issues that faced the new democracy; the need for schools, infrastructure, reforestation and
the need to promote a beautiful culture in a country filled with artists. It was a time when there was hope that these things could now be achieved, that if you could stumble upon the right government channel, these things just might happen.
By the year 2000, when political crisis had been well established and the May 21 elections took place, one of the group from Grand Ravine, Luckner Monprevil, was elected as second in a cartel of three Port-au-Prince mayors under Fanmi Lavalas. The artists who had been members of the theater group were now his security corps, toting large guns. At the inauguration, City Hall was overrun with Lavalas supporters and the scene was chaotic. I came upon the law student turned adjoint mayor to congratulate him. He was surrounded by his well armed friends, cowering in a room in the back. It was a mad scene outside, and the reality of power in that situation was overwhelming him in the moment. Unfortunately he came into a questionable situation and political chaos and mismanagement brought his cartel down. I don't think he did much of anything while in power and by the end was criticized for driving a Mercedes to work.
By 2003 the groups were well armed, and all innocence seemed to have been lost. True power to develop from the mayor's office had come and gone. Power had corrupted, with positions for the old gang in parliament and presence in the National palace. Only the dance teacher had turned away in disgust.
When Fefe Bien Aime, a Grand Ravine resident who had been appointed as cemetery director (a gun battle in the cemetery took place under his direction), was killed, the Lavalas group, entrenched in the new system of Popular Organizations, turned against Aristide. Bien Aime was last seen in the hands of the police. Later his car was found dumped and he was dead. But after a couple of months of calling Aba Aristide, they were again pro and the new leader was seen in the palace; political mutations in an atmosphere devoid of positive development in any sense. Just as the Raboteau folks came in and left the Lavalas fold, so did the group in Grand Ravine. Idealism, ideas of justice and development were long gone, lost to gang war.
The discussion of what gang was in charge of what crimes occupies the discussion on this list, fights between the authors of articles in a war of words, is equally unconstructive. It's easy to try and paint a picture of black and white, right and wrong, but Haiti is far beyond that. Michael Deibert has done a commendable job, with heavy duty investigative journalism over the years, of opening the eyes to the fact that no one side has the monopoly on what is good and right.
The United States government bought their own form of political gangsters to carry out their war out in what they consider a slum. Aristide played the same game on his lower wrung of power. There was a hope that he would step out of the game, to hold up a mirror in the face of what the most powerful do to the least powerful. Instead he became their mirror image. The consequence has been that not only did Martissant residents initial activism result in little, but the whole country has blown up in everyone's faces.
The gang wars, the election wars, the constant parade of wars just hit on the sand like endless waves, lapping up on the real land, with real people living real lives where nothing ever changes because people never change.
From Anna Ferdinand
It was 1995 when I first went to Haiti. I was visiting the National Office on Migration (ONM) one day and met up with a group of young men from Grand Ravine who had gone into exile to the DR during the coup for their support of Aristide. Upon their return, with the restoration of Aristide, they approached every government office they could think of in an attempt to bring development to their area now that democracy had returned. I began teaching English at a school at their request. After class often I would join them in their rehearsals for a folklore troupe and a theater group.
They also brought me on several occasions to Grand Ravine, introducing me to people who had been in Guantanamo, telling me about their hopes for a school in Grand Ravine, and a project that would stop the erosion of the road that crossed the deepening ravine. They were bringing up the issues that faced the new democracy; the need for schools, infrastructure, reforestation and
the need to promote a beautiful culture in a country filled with artists. It was a time when there was hope that these things could now be achieved, that if you could stumble upon the right government channel, these things just might happen.
By the year 2000, when political crisis had been well established and the May 21 elections took place, one of the group from Grand Ravine, Luckner Monprevil, was elected as second in a cartel of three Port-au-Prince mayors under Fanmi Lavalas. The artists who had been members of the theater group were now his security corps, toting large guns. At the inauguration, City Hall was overrun with Lavalas supporters and the scene was chaotic. I came upon the law student turned adjoint mayor to congratulate him. He was surrounded by his well armed friends, cowering in a room in the back. It was a mad scene outside, and the reality of power in that situation was overwhelming him in the moment. Unfortunately he came into a questionable situation and political chaos and mismanagement brought his cartel down. I don't think he did much of anything while in power and by the end was criticized for driving a Mercedes to work.
By 2003 the groups were well armed, and all innocence seemed to have been lost. True power to develop from the mayor's office had come and gone. Power had corrupted, with positions for the old gang in parliament and presence in the National palace. Only the dance teacher had turned away in disgust.
When Fefe Bien Aime, a Grand Ravine resident who had been appointed as cemetery director (a gun battle in the cemetery took place under his direction), was killed, the Lavalas group, entrenched in the new system of Popular Organizations, turned against Aristide. Bien Aime was last seen in the hands of the police. Later his car was found dumped and he was dead. But after a couple of months of calling Aba Aristide, they were again pro and the new leader was seen in the palace; political mutations in an atmosphere devoid of positive development in any sense. Just as the Raboteau folks came in and left the Lavalas fold, so did the group in Grand Ravine. Idealism, ideas of justice and development were long gone, lost to gang war.
The discussion of what gang was in charge of what crimes occupies the discussion on this list, fights between the authors of articles in a war of words, is equally unconstructive. It's easy to try and paint a picture of black and white, right and wrong, but Haiti is far beyond that. Michael Deibert has done a commendable job, with heavy duty investigative journalism over the years, of opening the eyes to the fact that no one side has the monopoly on what is good and right.
The United States government bought their own form of political gangsters to carry out their war out in what they consider a slum. Aristide played the same game on his lower wrung of power. There was a hope that he would step out of the game, to hold up a mirror in the face of what the most powerful do to the least powerful. Instead he became their mirror image. The consequence has been that not only did Martissant residents initial activism result in little, but the whole country has blown up in everyone's faces.
The gang wars, the election wars, the constant parade of wars just hit on the sand like endless waves, lapping up on the real land, with real people living real lives where nothing ever changes because people never change.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Journalism in Haiti: A few thoughts
I thought long and hard about whether or not to post the words you are about to read.
As I know how hard it is to be a journalist working in some of the harsher corners of the world - and that if you are doing your job well you inevitably piss off somebody - I generally try hold my commentary on other reporters' work to a minimum unless it is in cases of egregious factual errors or conflicts of interest. There will always be those willing to chatter from the sidelines at the work of reporters good, bad and mediocre, and I feel that, in general, with all the serious issues confronting the countries I myself work on, I would have relatively little to add to the cacophony.
Perhaps it is because I have spent so much time outside of mediacentric cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco over the last decade, but I have, in general, never been much moved by the "and I alone escaped to tell thee" confessional pieces of journalists who fly into a desperate place for a few days (or weeks) and then immediately begin reminiscing about how rough the assignment was in print, on tv, etc. I've always felt that, if one can't take it, then one should just get another kind of job. We reporters are rarely the story, though I know such narratives are increasingly fashionable.
Perhaps that will explain my reaction to this story, "I’m Gonna Need You to Fight Me On This: How Violent Sex Helped Ease My PTSD," on the GOOD media website. Written by Mother Jones human rights reporter Mac McClelland, the article, as I read it, uses the mass rape of women in Haiti (and later in the Democratic Republic of Congo) as the background for a foreign reporter's journey of self-discovery. I can't speak to the author's motivations, but of the many articles on Haiti I have read over the years that have made me want to throw things, I don't think that I have ever read something that has viscerally struck me as more narcissistic as a piece of writing about this country I dearly love and have been visiting and reporting on for the last 15 years.
By no means do I want to make light of the journalist's trauma, or even less that of those she describes interviewing. Everybody experiences anguish and suffering in different ways. There may be much about the reporter's experiences there that I don't know but from the article itself, though it sounds as if, a rather disturbing and atypical (for Haiti) incident with a driver aside, nothing at all out of the ordinary happened. Haiti can be a rough place and journalists wanting to work there need to be prepared for that. Reading the article, though, I could not help but ask myself, as a foreign journalist who also works in Haiti, some questions.
With a million people still homeless in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake, with a once-proud system of rural agriculture now on life-support due in no small part to the policies imposed on Haiti by the international community, with women and girls disenfranchised and and with the country's politicians seemingly poised to enter yet another period of poisonous deadlock, is this the best we foreign journalists can do? Is this the future of journalism? Where the suffering and struggle for survival of the majority of the world's population merely provides a backdrop for navel-gazing to even further promote was has already become our incredibly inward-looking, self-referential culture?
I am afraid it may be. On one hand it is good that the author does not pretend - as so many do - to be an authority on a country that she knows little about, but on the other hand, given all this space, isn't there SOMETHING happening in Haiti that deserves notice beyond the experiences and reactions of we foreigners (or, narrower still, we journalists) when covering the place?
Any foreigner who knows a little bit about Haiti will confess freely how much they realize they still don't know about this quite complex country. You learn things about it slowly and through trial and error in places like the desperate bidonville of Cité Soleil, in the moisture-dappled hills of Furcy and Fermathe, along its meandering coasts and amidst its inscrutable mountains.
But there are some things Haiti is definitely not. It is definitely not a therapist for we, the privileged outsiders entrusted with telling its stories. If all we can write about when faced with all of this suffering, resistance and resilience is ourselves, then we might as well stay home.
Their suffering is their suffering. Not ours. Give them at least that.
As I know how hard it is to be a journalist working in some of the harsher corners of the world - and that if you are doing your job well you inevitably piss off somebody - I generally try hold my commentary on other reporters' work to a minimum unless it is in cases of egregious factual errors or conflicts of interest. There will always be those willing to chatter from the sidelines at the work of reporters good, bad and mediocre, and I feel that, in general, with all the serious issues confronting the countries I myself work on, I would have relatively little to add to the cacophony.
Perhaps it is because I have spent so much time outside of mediacentric cities like New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco over the last decade, but I have, in general, never been much moved by the "and I alone escaped to tell thee" confessional pieces of journalists who fly into a desperate place for a few days (or weeks) and then immediately begin reminiscing about how rough the assignment was in print, on tv, etc. I've always felt that, if one can't take it, then one should just get another kind of job. We reporters are rarely the story, though I know such narratives are increasingly fashionable.
Perhaps that will explain my reaction to this story, "I’m Gonna Need You to Fight Me On This: How Violent Sex Helped Ease My PTSD," on the GOOD media website. Written by Mother Jones human rights reporter Mac McClelland, the article, as I read it, uses the mass rape of women in Haiti (and later in the Democratic Republic of Congo) as the background for a foreign reporter's journey of self-discovery. I can't speak to the author's motivations, but of the many articles on Haiti I have read over the years that have made me want to throw things, I don't think that I have ever read something that has viscerally struck me as more narcissistic as a piece of writing about this country I dearly love and have been visiting and reporting on for the last 15 years.
By no means do I want to make light of the journalist's trauma, or even less that of those she describes interviewing. Everybody experiences anguish and suffering in different ways. There may be much about the reporter's experiences there that I don't know but from the article itself, though it sounds as if, a rather disturbing and atypical (for Haiti) incident with a driver aside, nothing at all out of the ordinary happened. Haiti can be a rough place and journalists wanting to work there need to be prepared for that. Reading the article, though, I could not help but ask myself, as a foreign journalist who also works in Haiti, some questions.
With a million people still homeless in Haiti after the January 2010 earthquake, with a once-proud system of rural agriculture now on life-support due in no small part to the policies imposed on Haiti by the international community, with women and girls disenfranchised and and with the country's politicians seemingly poised to enter yet another period of poisonous deadlock, is this the best we foreign journalists can do? Is this the future of journalism? Where the suffering and struggle for survival of the majority of the world's population merely provides a backdrop for navel-gazing to even further promote was has already become our incredibly inward-looking, self-referential culture?
I am afraid it may be. On one hand it is good that the author does not pretend - as so many do - to be an authority on a country that she knows little about, but on the other hand, given all this space, isn't there SOMETHING happening in Haiti that deserves notice beyond the experiences and reactions of we foreigners (or, narrower still, we journalists) when covering the place?
Any foreigner who knows a little bit about Haiti will confess freely how much they realize they still don't know about this quite complex country. You learn things about it slowly and through trial and error in places like the desperate bidonville of Cité Soleil, in the moisture-dappled hills of Furcy and Fermathe, along its meandering coasts and amidst its inscrutable mountains.
But there are some things Haiti is definitely not. It is definitely not a therapist for we, the privileged outsiders entrusted with telling its stories. If all we can write about when faced with all of this suffering, resistance and resilience is ourselves, then we might as well stay home.
Their suffering is their suffering. Not ours. Give them at least that.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Message to the Nation of President Martelly
Message to the Nation of President Martelly
Haitian people,
As required in the constitution of the country, I had chosen Pierre Daniel Gérard Rouzier as Prime Minister. As you heard the news, the Chamber of Deputies with the power of the Constitution, took the decision to put aside [my choice]. Many people were surprised to see what reasons they gave for not voting for him. I regret the decision that the Deputies took, it's a decision that prevented the country to have the services of an honest citizen, who wanted to work for the people, for his country and which is right in his life. This decision slowed all the possibilities that allow to change my promises into realities. Now I am forced to see what happened and I have to sit down again to discuss with the President of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to choose a new prime minister. I must tell you, we do not know how long, the Parliament will take, before ratifying another Prime Minister [...] Meanwhile, I can not accept that the battle against cholera stops, that the battle against garbage in the street stops, the battle to put the country back on track stops, that the battle against the problems of people under tents stops that my free school program for children stops, because my government can not be installed, to start working for the people.
It is necessary right now, that I take some decisions and I'll take them. I convene the outgoing Prime Minister, Jean Max Bellerive, to look at the ways that exist to enable the Government and the offices of the state to function as they should, to begin to provide solutions to solve the problems of the population. It's time for my vision and my program starts to spread, it's time, that the country is unlocked.
I continue to believe that the Parliament will do what it must do to solve the problems of the Haitian people the way it should. I take this opportunity to compliment all the people, for this beautiful exercise of democracy, when you decided not to take the street and you let the parliamentarians work in peace. Similarly, I hope that the parliamentarians will be aware that the country can no longer wait and that the people are tired and in pain. Once again, I repeat, Haiti must come before any personal interests. I am asking to the Haitian people that suffers, that awaits, which has the hope in a better life, to continue to have confidence. Change will happen and Haiti will change anyway.
Tet Kalé
Haitian people,
As required in the constitution of the country, I had chosen Pierre Daniel Gérard Rouzier as Prime Minister. As you heard the news, the Chamber of Deputies with the power of the Constitution, took the decision to put aside [my choice]. Many people were surprised to see what reasons they gave for not voting for him. I regret the decision that the Deputies took, it's a decision that prevented the country to have the services of an honest citizen, who wanted to work for the people, for his country and which is right in his life. This decision slowed all the possibilities that allow to change my promises into realities. Now I am forced to see what happened and I have to sit down again to discuss with the President of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies to choose a new prime minister. I must tell you, we do not know how long, the Parliament will take, before ratifying another Prime Minister [...] Meanwhile, I can not accept that the battle against cholera stops, that the battle against garbage in the street stops, the battle to put the country back on track stops, that the battle against the problems of people under tents stops that my free school program for children stops, because my government can not be installed, to start working for the people.
It is necessary right now, that I take some decisions and I'll take them. I convene the outgoing Prime Minister, Jean Max Bellerive, to look at the ways that exist to enable the Government and the offices of the state to function as they should, to begin to provide solutions to solve the problems of the population. It's time for my vision and my program starts to spread, it's time, that the country is unlocked.
I continue to believe that the Parliament will do what it must do to solve the problems of the Haitian people the way it should. I take this opportunity to compliment all the people, for this beautiful exercise of democracy, when you decided not to take the street and you let the parliamentarians work in peace. Similarly, I hope that the parliamentarians will be aware that the country can no longer wait and that the people are tired and in pain. Once again, I repeat, Haiti must come before any personal interests. I am asking to the Haitian people that suffers, that awaits, which has the hope in a better life, to continue to have confidence. Change will happen and Haiti will change anyway.
Tet Kalé
Mobilisation paysanne contre l’accaparement des terres agricoles
Mobilisation paysanne contre l’accaparement des terres agricoles
mercredi 22 juin 2011
Par Sylvestre Fils Dorcilus
(Read original article here)
Hinche (Haïti), 22 juin 2011 [AlterPresse] --- Des milliers de paysannes et paysans ont marché pendant plusieurs heures, le mardi 21 juin 2011, dans plusieurs rues de la ville de Hinche (chef-lieu du département géographique du Plateau central, à plus d’une centaine de kilomètres au nord-est de la capitale), a observé l’agence en ligne AlterPresse.
« L’accaparement des terres du pays, un danger pour la souveraineté agricole » : tel a été le thème retenu par les organisateurs de la marche, déroulée pacifiquement sous la protection d’une patrouille de l’unité départementale pour le maintien d’ordre (Udmo) de la police nationale d’Haïti (Pnh).
Cette initiative de plusieurs regroupements et plateformes d’organisations sociales, dont des organisations de femmes et de défense de droits humains, avait, entre autres objectifs, de promouvoir la biodiversité agricole en défendant les semences locales.
« Il faut que les autorités gouvernementales du pays puissent enfin assumer leurs responsabilités face à la dégradation notre agriculture. Il faut qu’il y ait une vraie politique agricole », ont scandé les manifestantes et manifestants.
A travers cette mobilisation, les organisateurs de la manifestation entendaient plaider en faveur de dispositions institutionnelles susceptibles d’assurer la souveraineté alimentaire, la réfection de l’environnement et la construction d’une nouvelle Haïti par une exploitation harmonieuse des terres agricoles dans le pays.
« Nous sommes tous des paysans de plusieurs départements géographiques du pays, qui sont venus participer à cette marche pour dénoncer la politique agricole du gouvernement haïtien », a indiqué le porte-parole du Mouvement des paysans de Papaye (Mpp), Chavannes Jean-Baptiste.
Les manifestantes et manifestants paysans portaient, pour la plupart, des chapeaux en paille et étaient vêtus de maillots de couleur rouge, sur lesquels étaient inscrits : « vive l’agriculture haïtienne ; vivent les semences locales ; vive la nourriture de chez nous, etc. »
Exprimant leur indignation face au mode de gestion agricole du pays, mis en place par les autorités centrales qu’ils qualifient d’« irresponsable », les milliers de manifestants, en grande partie des agricultrices et agriculteurs, ont plaidé pour l’implantation d’une politique agricole adaptée à la réalité haïtienne.
« Il faut une politique agricole adaptée à la réalité de notre pays. Il faut que les dirigeants cessent d’importer les denrées agricoles ainsi que les semences étrangères dans le pays », exigent-ils, en criant haro sur les semences et produits importés.
Le processus d’invasion des terres nationales, par des investisseurs privés partout dans le pays, constitue une menace pour les populations locales, privées de leurs moyens de vie et de subsistance, a témoigné Camille Chalmers, de la plateforme de plaidoyer pour un développement alternatif (Papda), présent à la mobilisation du 21 juin 2011.
Comme d’autres manifestants, Chalmers s’est prononcé pour une politique agricole cohérente, reflétant les réalités nationales, en vue, dit-il, de garantir la souveraineté agricole et l’indépendance du pays.
« En déstructurant les économies locales, l’afflux sur le marché local de denrées agricoles, produites dans les pays du Nord de manière intensive avec d’énormes moyens mécaniques, ruine l’agriculture vivrière respectueuse des êtres humains », a déploré Jean-Robert, agriculteur, résident à Papaye, section communale à environ une dizaine de kilomètres à l’est de Hinche.
Plusieurs milliers de fermes agricoles disparaissent chaque année dans le pays. Si cette tendance se perpétue, il n’y aura, bientôt, plus de paysans dans nos campagnes, ont souligné les agricultrices et agriculteurs ayant soutenu la mobilisation du 21 juin.
De plus, l’agriculture paysanne est progressivement remplacée par une agriculture industrialisée.
« Chaque jour, nous voyons des voisins abandonner le travail agricole, faute de revenus décents. De jeunes paysans, désireux de pratiquer l’agriculture, se retrouvent très souvent découragés par le manque de perspectives économiques, le prix prohibitif des terres et une situation de campagnes vidées de leurs agricultrices et agriculteurs », a fait remarquer Jérôme, planteur depuis 25 ans.
« Nous sommes convaincus qu’il n’y aura pas de futur viable pour nos sociétés, sans paysans vivant dignement de leur production. Par cette initiative, nous lançons donc un signal d’alarme et appelons au regroupement des forces pour sauver l’agriculture paysanne dans le pays », souhaite Chavannes Jean-Baptiste.
Il faut une réforme en profondeur dans la politique agricole en Haïti. D’autres politiques agricoles et alimentaires, plus légitimes, plus justes, plus solidaires et plus durables, sont nécessaires dans le pays pour répondre aux enjeux de souveraineté alimentaire, ont fait valoir plusieurs agricultrices et agriculteurs ayant pris part à la mobilisation du 21 juin 2011.
Mise en branle à Papaye aux environs de 10:30 am locales (15:30 gmt), la marche a pris fin sur la place Charlemagne Péralte de Hinche vers 1:00 pm (18:00 gmt), avec notamment une distribution symbolique de semences agricoles locales, de plantules fruitières et forestières aux agriculteurs en signe d’encouragement à la production nationale. [sfd rc 22/06/2011 17:40]
mercredi 22 juin 2011
Par Sylvestre Fils Dorcilus
(Read original article here)
Hinche (Haïti), 22 juin 2011 [AlterPresse] --- Des milliers de paysannes et paysans ont marché pendant plusieurs heures, le mardi 21 juin 2011, dans plusieurs rues de la ville de Hinche (chef-lieu du département géographique du Plateau central, à plus d’une centaine de kilomètres au nord-est de la capitale), a observé l’agence en ligne AlterPresse.
« L’accaparement des terres du pays, un danger pour la souveraineté agricole » : tel a été le thème retenu par les organisateurs de la marche, déroulée pacifiquement sous la protection d’une patrouille de l’unité départementale pour le maintien d’ordre (Udmo) de la police nationale d’Haïti (Pnh).
Cette initiative de plusieurs regroupements et plateformes d’organisations sociales, dont des organisations de femmes et de défense de droits humains, avait, entre autres objectifs, de promouvoir la biodiversité agricole en défendant les semences locales.
« Il faut que les autorités gouvernementales du pays puissent enfin assumer leurs responsabilités face à la dégradation notre agriculture. Il faut qu’il y ait une vraie politique agricole », ont scandé les manifestantes et manifestants.
A travers cette mobilisation, les organisateurs de la manifestation entendaient plaider en faveur de dispositions institutionnelles susceptibles d’assurer la souveraineté alimentaire, la réfection de l’environnement et la construction d’une nouvelle Haïti par une exploitation harmonieuse des terres agricoles dans le pays.
« Nous sommes tous des paysans de plusieurs départements géographiques du pays, qui sont venus participer à cette marche pour dénoncer la politique agricole du gouvernement haïtien », a indiqué le porte-parole du Mouvement des paysans de Papaye (Mpp), Chavannes Jean-Baptiste.
Les manifestantes et manifestants paysans portaient, pour la plupart, des chapeaux en paille et étaient vêtus de maillots de couleur rouge, sur lesquels étaient inscrits : « vive l’agriculture haïtienne ; vivent les semences locales ; vive la nourriture de chez nous, etc. »
Exprimant leur indignation face au mode de gestion agricole du pays, mis en place par les autorités centrales qu’ils qualifient d’« irresponsable », les milliers de manifestants, en grande partie des agricultrices et agriculteurs, ont plaidé pour l’implantation d’une politique agricole adaptée à la réalité haïtienne.
« Il faut une politique agricole adaptée à la réalité de notre pays. Il faut que les dirigeants cessent d’importer les denrées agricoles ainsi que les semences étrangères dans le pays », exigent-ils, en criant haro sur les semences et produits importés.
Le processus d’invasion des terres nationales, par des investisseurs privés partout dans le pays, constitue une menace pour les populations locales, privées de leurs moyens de vie et de subsistance, a témoigné Camille Chalmers, de la plateforme de plaidoyer pour un développement alternatif (Papda), présent à la mobilisation du 21 juin 2011.
Comme d’autres manifestants, Chalmers s’est prononcé pour une politique agricole cohérente, reflétant les réalités nationales, en vue, dit-il, de garantir la souveraineté agricole et l’indépendance du pays.
« En déstructurant les économies locales, l’afflux sur le marché local de denrées agricoles, produites dans les pays du Nord de manière intensive avec d’énormes moyens mécaniques, ruine l’agriculture vivrière respectueuse des êtres humains », a déploré Jean-Robert, agriculteur, résident à Papaye, section communale à environ une dizaine de kilomètres à l’est de Hinche.
Plusieurs milliers de fermes agricoles disparaissent chaque année dans le pays. Si cette tendance se perpétue, il n’y aura, bientôt, plus de paysans dans nos campagnes, ont souligné les agricultrices et agriculteurs ayant soutenu la mobilisation du 21 juin.
De plus, l’agriculture paysanne est progressivement remplacée par une agriculture industrialisée.
« Chaque jour, nous voyons des voisins abandonner le travail agricole, faute de revenus décents. De jeunes paysans, désireux de pratiquer l’agriculture, se retrouvent très souvent découragés par le manque de perspectives économiques, le prix prohibitif des terres et une situation de campagnes vidées de leurs agricultrices et agriculteurs », a fait remarquer Jérôme, planteur depuis 25 ans.
« Nous sommes convaincus qu’il n’y aura pas de futur viable pour nos sociétés, sans paysans vivant dignement de leur production. Par cette initiative, nous lançons donc un signal d’alarme et appelons au regroupement des forces pour sauver l’agriculture paysanne dans le pays », souhaite Chavannes Jean-Baptiste.
Il faut une réforme en profondeur dans la politique agricole en Haïti. D’autres politiques agricoles et alimentaires, plus légitimes, plus justes, plus solidaires et plus durables, sont nécessaires dans le pays pour répondre aux enjeux de souveraineté alimentaire, ont fait valoir plusieurs agricultrices et agriculteurs ayant pris part à la mobilisation du 21 juin 2011.
Mise en branle à Papaye aux environs de 10:30 am locales (15:30 gmt), la marche a pris fin sur la place Charlemagne Péralte de Hinche vers 1:00 pm (18:00 gmt), avec notamment une distribution symbolique de semences agricoles locales, de plantules fruitières et forestières aux agriculteurs en signe d’encouragement à la production nationale. [sfd rc 22/06/2011 17:40]
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Haïtel's Franck Ciné arrested, then released, in connection with Guiteau Toussaint slaying
Libération du PDG de la Haïtel, Franck Ciné
Placé en garde à vue pendant 48 heures suite à l’assassinat du numéro un de la BNC, Guiteau Toussaint, l’ex-actionnaire majoritaire de l’ancienne SOCABANK bénéficie d’un "élargissement", selon son avocat, Wilson Estimé, qui qualifie d’illégale la décision que le parquet de Port-au-Prince avait prise à l’encontre de son client ; messe de funérailles en mémoire du disparu et fermeture des banques mercredi prochain
Publié le samedi 18 juin 2011
Radio Kiskeya
(Read the original article here)
Le PDG de la compagnie de téléphonie mobile Haïtel, Franck Ciné, a été libéré samedi après-midi deux jours après son arrestation dans le cadre de l’enquête criminelle ouverte par le parquet de Port-au-Prince sur l’assassinat, il y a une semaine, du patron de la Banque Nationale de crédit, Guiteau Toussaint.
"Le commissaire du gouvernement, Me Harrycidas Auguste, a ordonné l’élargissement de M. Ciné vu qu’il avait été retenu illégalement", a indiqué à Radio Kiskeya un de ses avocats, Wilson Estimé.
Agé de 77 ans, l’homme d’affaires, ancien actionnaire majoritaire de la Société Caribéenne de Banque (SOCABANK) déclarée en faillite et reprise en 2006 par la BNC, avait déjà fait la prison de 2007 à 2009 pour sa responsabilité présumée dans une faillite fraduleuse évaluée à 40 millions de dollars.
Me Estimé a fait savoir que son client se trouvait globalement en bonne santé après avoir connu quelques difficultés respiratoires au cours de sa garde à vue de 48 heures.
Il affirme haut et fort que Franck Ciné entend rester en Haïti afin de pouvoir répondre à n’importe quelle sollicitation des autorités judiciaires.
Lors de son interrogatoire jeudi au parquet, il avait bénéficié de l’assistance de deux des avocats les plus chevronnés du barreau de Port-au-Prince, Mes Pierre C. Labissière et Gérard Gourgue.
Depuis la disparition brutale de Guiteau Toussaint et l’onde de choc qu’elle a provoquée dans différents milieux, une dizaine de mandats d’amener ont été émis et plusieurs suspects interpellés.
Le banquier émérite de 57 ans avait été abattu d’une balle au visage par des inconnus ayant pénétré par effraction dimanche dernier (12juin) dans sa résidence à Vivy Mitchel, un quartier résidentiel situé sur la route de Frères (Pétion-Ville, banlieue est de la capitale).
Une cérémonie du souvenir se tiendra mardi soir à l’initiative de la famille du disparu et de la Banque nationale de crédit, l’une des plus importantes du système bancaire haïtien.
Le lendemain mercredi, une messe de funérailles sera chantée dans la matinée à l’église St-Pierre de Pétion-Ville. Le corps devrait être inhumé aux Etats-Unis où réside la famille de M. Toussaint.
En vue d’honorer sa mémoire et de protester contre son assassinat, l’Association professionnelle des banques (APB) a annoncé que toutes les succursales des banques commerciales, d’épargne et de logement resteront fermées durant toute la journée de mercredi, à travers le pays. spp/Radio Kiskeya
Placé en garde à vue pendant 48 heures suite à l’assassinat du numéro un de la BNC, Guiteau Toussaint, l’ex-actionnaire majoritaire de l’ancienne SOCABANK bénéficie d’un "élargissement", selon son avocat, Wilson Estimé, qui qualifie d’illégale la décision que le parquet de Port-au-Prince avait prise à l’encontre de son client ; messe de funérailles en mémoire du disparu et fermeture des banques mercredi prochain
Publié le samedi 18 juin 2011
Radio Kiskeya
(Read the original article here)
Le PDG de la compagnie de téléphonie mobile Haïtel, Franck Ciné, a été libéré samedi après-midi deux jours après son arrestation dans le cadre de l’enquête criminelle ouverte par le parquet de Port-au-Prince sur l’assassinat, il y a une semaine, du patron de la Banque Nationale de crédit, Guiteau Toussaint.
"Le commissaire du gouvernement, Me Harrycidas Auguste, a ordonné l’élargissement de M. Ciné vu qu’il avait été retenu illégalement", a indiqué à Radio Kiskeya un de ses avocats, Wilson Estimé.
Agé de 77 ans, l’homme d’affaires, ancien actionnaire majoritaire de la Société Caribéenne de Banque (SOCABANK) déclarée en faillite et reprise en 2006 par la BNC, avait déjà fait la prison de 2007 à 2009 pour sa responsabilité présumée dans une faillite fraduleuse évaluée à 40 millions de dollars.
Me Estimé a fait savoir que son client se trouvait globalement en bonne santé après avoir connu quelques difficultés respiratoires au cours de sa garde à vue de 48 heures.
Il affirme haut et fort que Franck Ciné entend rester en Haïti afin de pouvoir répondre à n’importe quelle sollicitation des autorités judiciaires.
Lors de son interrogatoire jeudi au parquet, il avait bénéficié de l’assistance de deux des avocats les plus chevronnés du barreau de Port-au-Prince, Mes Pierre C. Labissière et Gérard Gourgue.
Depuis la disparition brutale de Guiteau Toussaint et l’onde de choc qu’elle a provoquée dans différents milieux, une dizaine de mandats d’amener ont été émis et plusieurs suspects interpellés.
Le banquier émérite de 57 ans avait été abattu d’une balle au visage par des inconnus ayant pénétré par effraction dimanche dernier (12juin) dans sa résidence à Vivy Mitchel, un quartier résidentiel situé sur la route de Frères (Pétion-Ville, banlieue est de la capitale).
Une cérémonie du souvenir se tiendra mardi soir à l’initiative de la famille du disparu et de la Banque nationale de crédit, l’une des plus importantes du système bancaire haïtien.
Le lendemain mercredi, une messe de funérailles sera chantée dans la matinée à l’église St-Pierre de Pétion-Ville. Le corps devrait être inhumé aux Etats-Unis où réside la famille de M. Toussaint.
En vue d’honorer sa mémoire et de protester contre son assassinat, l’Association professionnelle des banques (APB) a annoncé que toutes les succursales des banques commerciales, d’épargne et de logement resteront fermées durant toute la journée de mercredi, à travers le pays. spp/Radio Kiskeya
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Arrestation de l’activiste Lavalas Yvon Antoine alias "Yvon ZapZap"
Haïti-Politique-Justice
Arrestation de l’activiste Lavalas Yvon Antoine alias "Yvon ZapZap"
Aucune précision pour l’instant sur un éventuel lien entre l’ordre du parquet de Port-au-Prince de le placer en garde à vue et l’assassinat du banquier Guyto Toussaint ; le chef de cabinet du Président Martelly, Thierry Mayard Paul, annonce la mise aux arrêts de "trois activistes politiques" qui seraient impliqués dans ce crime révoltant
mardi 14 juin 2011
(Read the original article here)
La police a procédé mardi à l’arrestation de l’activiste politique Lavalas Yvon Antoine dit "Yvon ZapZap" dans le cadre de l’exécution d’un mandat émis contre lui par le commissaire du gouvernement de Port-au-Prince, Me Harrycidas Auguste, a appris Radio Kiskeya de sources proches du parquet.
Appréhendé à la rue Dehoux, au quartier-général de Fashion Maté, une bande à pied traditionnelle du carnaval de Port-au-Prince, l’intéressé est accusé d’association de malfaiteurs et de trouble à l’ordre public.
Il se trouvait mardi soir au commissariat de la capitale où il a été placé en garde à vue.
Le mandat décerné contre Yvon ZapZap l’a été lundi, au lendemain de l’assassinat unanimement réprouvé du président du conseil d’administration de la Banque nationale de crédit (BNC), Guyto Toussaint, abattu dimanche soir à son domicile.
Cependant, il n’était pas possible de savoir si l’arrestation du militant Lavalas avait un lien quelconque avec ce meurtre.
Intervenant mardi matin sur Radio Métropole (une station privée de Port-au-Prince), Me Thierry Mayard Paul, chef du cabinet particulier du Président Michel Martelly, a annoncé que l’enquête criminelle en cours a déjà entraîné l’arrestation de "trois activistes politiques".
L’avocat s’est gardé de révéler l’identité de ces individus ainsi que leur appartenance politique.
En décembre dernier, en pleine contestation violente des résultats préliminaires du premier tour des présidentielles du 28 novembre, le très remuant Yvon ZapZap avait rejeté les accusations faisant état de son implication dans un incident armé au Champ de Mars (centre de la capitale) entre des partisans présumés de la plateforme INITE et de Michel Martelly, alors candidat.
Trois personnes avait été blessées par balle dont deux grièvement.
Le même activiste, proche de Fanmi Lavalas, le parti de Jean-Bertrand Aristide, avait été emprisonné pendant de longs mois sous le gouvernement de transition Alexandre/Latortue (2004-2006) pour son rôle actif dans "l’Opération Bagdad", une funeste insurrection armée qui avait considérablement secoué Port-au-Prince à la chute, en février 2004, de M. Aristide.
A noter qu’Yvon ZapZap était de ceux qui s’étaient mobilisés lors du retour d’exil, à la mi-mars, de l’ancien Président Lavalas resté très discret après sept années passées en Afrique du Sud. spp/Radio Kiskeya
Arrestation de l’activiste Lavalas Yvon Antoine alias "Yvon ZapZap"
Aucune précision pour l’instant sur un éventuel lien entre l’ordre du parquet de Port-au-Prince de le placer en garde à vue et l’assassinat du banquier Guyto Toussaint ; le chef de cabinet du Président Martelly, Thierry Mayard Paul, annonce la mise aux arrêts de "trois activistes politiques" qui seraient impliqués dans ce crime révoltant
mardi 14 juin 2011
(Read the original article here)
La police a procédé mardi à l’arrestation de l’activiste politique Lavalas Yvon Antoine dit "Yvon ZapZap" dans le cadre de l’exécution d’un mandat émis contre lui par le commissaire du gouvernement de Port-au-Prince, Me Harrycidas Auguste, a appris Radio Kiskeya de sources proches du parquet.
Appréhendé à la rue Dehoux, au quartier-général de Fashion Maté, une bande à pied traditionnelle du carnaval de Port-au-Prince, l’intéressé est accusé d’association de malfaiteurs et de trouble à l’ordre public.
Il se trouvait mardi soir au commissariat de la capitale où il a été placé en garde à vue.
Le mandat décerné contre Yvon ZapZap l’a été lundi, au lendemain de l’assassinat unanimement réprouvé du président du conseil d’administration de la Banque nationale de crédit (BNC), Guyto Toussaint, abattu dimanche soir à son domicile.
Cependant, il n’était pas possible de savoir si l’arrestation du militant Lavalas avait un lien quelconque avec ce meurtre.
Intervenant mardi matin sur Radio Métropole (une station privée de Port-au-Prince), Me Thierry Mayard Paul, chef du cabinet particulier du Président Michel Martelly, a annoncé que l’enquête criminelle en cours a déjà entraîné l’arrestation de "trois activistes politiques".
L’avocat s’est gardé de révéler l’identité de ces individus ainsi que leur appartenance politique.
En décembre dernier, en pleine contestation violente des résultats préliminaires du premier tour des présidentielles du 28 novembre, le très remuant Yvon ZapZap avait rejeté les accusations faisant état de son implication dans un incident armé au Champ de Mars (centre de la capitale) entre des partisans présumés de la plateforme INITE et de Michel Martelly, alors candidat.
Trois personnes avait été blessées par balle dont deux grièvement.
Le même activiste, proche de Fanmi Lavalas, le parti de Jean-Bertrand Aristide, avait été emprisonné pendant de longs mois sous le gouvernement de transition Alexandre/Latortue (2004-2006) pour son rôle actif dans "l’Opération Bagdad", une funeste insurrection armée qui avait considérablement secoué Port-au-Prince à la chute, en février 2004, de M. Aristide.
A noter qu’Yvon ZapZap était de ceux qui s’étaient mobilisés lors du retour d’exil, à la mi-mars, de l’ancien Président Lavalas resté très discret après sept années passées en Afrique du Sud. spp/Radio Kiskeya
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