Latest Haiti Democracy News
Elegy for the Fallen Police
By Dr. Frantz Large, valued participant in the Haiti Democracy Project’s 2009 conference for a Strategy of National Salvation. “Ce soir notre cœur se serre pour la disparition au Champ d’honneur des agents de la PNH . . .Ce soir, des épouses se retrouvent sans mari, et leurs pauvres mains chercheront en vain sous les couvertures un corps désormais rigide et froid. Ce soir de petites mains attendent en vain un père
Police Attacked in Their Homes
De nombreux policiers ont fui leurs domiciles pour échapper à la colère des bandits. Les bandits ont incendié des résidences et entreprises appartenant à des policiers
U.N.: Haiti Needs International Force to Beat the Gangs
Le besoin d’appui par une force internationale spécialisée « demandée par le gouvernement haïtien depuis octobre sans réponse concrète: La réalité est que sans ce déploiement international, opérant de manière intégrée avec la Police, les effets très positifs du processus politique et des sanctions resteront fragiles et susceptibles d’être inversés ».
Can the Police Cope Without Foreign Help? y/n
Le Nouvelliste, Haiti’s oldest newspaper founded in 1891, asked its readers
Seven More Police Killed
They were killed defending a police station in the Artibonite on January 25 as 150 gang members stormed it. Since January 10 almost one policeman per day has fallen. Disaffected police threatened the prime minister’s office and the airport. Some arms sent to the police have ended up in the hands of the gangsters. A top reporter of Le Nouvelliste says the police are beginning to crack, but the police chief vows, “Nous n’allons pas baisser les bras.” There has been no follow-up to the sanctions, without which the targeted individuals await the moment to strike back.. Fourteen prisoners were killed in a jailbreak in Gonaïves
What must Be Done for Haiti to Survive?
By the Haiti Democracy Project for the Inter-American Dialogue. Washington is living in a dream world. It believes it can fight the Russians to the last Ukrainian and the Haitian gangs to the last Canadian. It believes that Haiti will conveniently go away next year, a U.S. election year. It’s time to put away these fantasies and concentrate on the few essential, doable tasks we need to do near our border
U.N. Secretary-General’s Warning
“Gang-related violence reached levels not seen in decades . . . Armed gangs sought to expand their influence into neighbourhoods of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area that were considered relatively safe until recently . . . Despite the end of the siege of the Varreux oil terminal, I reiterate the urgent need for the deployment of an international specialized armed force.”
Three Police Killed
A driver was also killed and another policeman injured in Petionville on Friday, January 20. Update: “Face à la puissance de feu des bandits du gang Krazé barrière, 3 policiers ont été tués et un autre porté disparu.” The tragedy is sowing discord between the top brass and the rank-and-file
Starting the Year with a Full Deck
The project’s women candidates have a full agenda for the new year including rallying women candidates in the Artibonite, aiding women prisoners held in poor conditions in Cap-Haïtien, and countering electoral violence especially against handicapped women
Conferring with the Women Mayors
On January 16, 2023, the Haiti Project’s Women Candidates (RENAFECA) met with the Haitian women mayors’ federation in Port-au-Prince to try to place more women in local government
Going Door-to-Door to Stop Cholera
“I have been working in Cité Soleil for eight years. The situation has deteriorated . . . the people are very fearful about the return of cholera.”
Taking Haiti Concerns to the Hill
On December 15, 2022 a Haiti Democracy Project staff delegation saw Rep. James McGovern, chairman of the House Rules Committee, to raise issues of security and migration. Our delegates were Wilby Louis and Rev. Garry Théodate.
Jacques Bernard: Elections the Solution
Marking one-year anniversary of his death. Originator of the Tabulation Center, organizer of the freest and fairest election in Haiti’s history, administrator of the last election to draw a majority of the voters
Lowering the Boom
How a sanctioned senator made himself a multimillionaire in five years, where he got his money, and how he reacted to the news of retribution by Canada and the United States
Uniting Against Sexual Violence — Tous unis
The Haiti Democracy Project’s Regrouppement National des Femmes Candidates joined a U.N. conference in Port-au-Prince on preventing violence toward women and increasing the number of women candidates. Sponsored by the U.N. and Canada and held at the Hotel Montana. One in eight Haitian women has been sexually assaulted in her lifetime
U.S. Doing Little
By Amb. Pamela A. White. There is zero sense of urgency by the television media or politicians in the United States that our neighbor nation’s people are suffering unbearable hardships. Almost two million are suffering very acute malnutrition. We need to gradually send in two thousand armed guards to protect aid delivery from the gangs
Sanctions Build on Haitian Voters’ Own Effort to Clean House
While they are correctly deemed as external, the Canadian and U.S. sanctions merely pick up where the Haitian electorate left off. In three presidential elections the voters consistently rebuffed the corruptionists. The corrupt ones fought back with electoral fraud and assassination. Is it any wonder they have denied the Haitians the right to vote for six years?
Vacationing While Black
As the first snows fall in the northern United States, the beaches of Punta Cana are looking awfully good. But before putting down your card, better check your skin color
Canada Ties Martelly and Lamothe to Gangs
Besides the Haiti Democracy Project, no one dared to connect them with the gangs until Canada made its extraordinary announcement today
Haiti Project Called Them Out Last May
Writing for the Inter-American Dialogue on May 17, the Haiti Democracy Project called Haiti’s violent gangs “foot soldiers” of Michel Martelly and Laurent Lamothe in their deadly rivalry for the presidency