The strike call issued by the private business sector for January 9 has found the support of other sectors of the country. Lawyers, grassroots organizations, political leaders and so forth have all agreed to take part in the January 9 strike to denounce the attitude of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) vis-a-vis the insecurity phenomenon.
The following is the commercial aired on radio stations to ask people to observe the strike call:
On January 9, Haitians throughout the country will cease all their activities. We will all stay home. We have decided to go on strike to let MINUSTAH and its chief, Juan Gabriel Valdes, know that we will not allow them to continue to take our country, our lives, our women and children, our brothers and sisters and use them as U.N. guinea pigs to supposedly bring stabilization and peace here. This mission is a white sheet that is being used to shield and cover the criminals and their activities. It is like a shield for the thieves, bandits, kidnappers, and terrorists.
We will all stay home on January 9 to prevent the well-known bandits from shedding our blood on that day. We have decided to stay home so that we can give Valdes and MINUSTAH more room for them to continue to enjoy themselves here, to continue to move about in military tanks and armored vehicles.
We will stay home on January 9 to take time to reflect, pray, and cry for mercy from all those who are using our situation to enrich themselves while they are not doing anything to defend and protect us.
We will let Valdes and MINUSTAH know that the Haitian people are human beings who want to live with dignity. We want the thieves, kidnappers, murderers, and terrorists to know that they have caused us a lot of pain, that we are hurting, but that we will not withdraw and give up.
We have the right to live in a peaceful country. We should all stay home on January 9 to honour the memories of all the victims of crime. We will remember all the police officers who have been killed, as well as all the civilians, soldiers, and businesspeople who have been victims of crime.
For all these reasons, we will stay home on January 9 to say enough is enough and to demand an end to all the violence against innocent people.