This article originally appeared on the web
site of the Haiti
Action Committee. Because of the current reign of terror in Haiti,
the journalists of the Haiti Information Project must remain anonymous.
Port au Prince, Haiti – While so many of us take for granted that
our votes will be counted in our own countries, Haitians continue to
struggle against the “turn the page” crowd that would forget their
choice in the last presidential elections. A majority of Haiti’s people
voted Jean-Bertrand Aristide president in 2000 and expected him to
serve out a five-year term in office. Those hopes were dashed when
Aristide was ousted in a coup on February 29, 2004. A majority
of Haiti’s poor earnestly believe the coup was organized and led by
the US, France and Canada. This perception continues to haunt the current
US-installed government, the US State Department and a United Nations
peacekeeping mission who all claim in turn to be re-establishing democracy
in Haiti. Residents in the poor neighborhoods of the capital, like
the roiling slum of Bel Air, oppose the goals of what they have come
to call the “Koalisyon lanmo” or the “Coalition of the Killing” (an
evident play on the words of Bush’s “Coalition of the Willing” in Iraq).
“They are the ones who taught us our vote counts and we will never
forget.”
December 31st in Bel Air began in a small dusty room off the street
of Delmas 2. Combatants, the name for the most strident backers fighting
for the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti, patrolled
the area as others painted signs demanding his return with slogans
recognizing the rights of the poor. This is clearly ground zero for
the movement in this country that considers itself honoring the votes
cast by the majority of Haiti’s poor that led to Aristide’s election
as president in November 2000.
At 10:am the crowd began assembling for another day of resistance
that has been unrelenting in Bel Air since the forced ouster of Aristide
on February 29th. Despite the previous slaughter of their numbers by
US Marines and the Haitian police, the citizens of Bel Air showed the
courage of their convictions by taking to the streets yet again.
A spokesman for the demonstrators stated, “Since the Haitian police
[backed by the UN], attacked our peaceful demonstration on September
30, we have said no. Even though they call us bandits on the radio
we understand the campaign of social exclusion and that they want to
hide the fact that 70% of the population are calling for Aristide’s
return. Today they talk about reconciliation yet more than 3000 within
Lavalas have been murdered, they reward the former military that are
responsible with large checks and they give them jobs in the police.
They imprisoned our leaders or forced them into exile. Our children
have no schools, We have no decent housing and we have no way of securing
a life for the majority of the poor who elected Aristide president.
They do not represent us. They will never represent us as long as this
injustice continues. We would rather die with dignity than in our current
misery without justice. This is the only honor as citizens of a free
and independent Haiti we have left to us. To die for our independence
and what we believe in.
“The constitution must be respected. We played the game fair and voted
for our president. Aristide must be returned or the UN and the US must
kill us all. We will never betray the democratic principal they [the
International Community] taught us is supreme in the land. One man
equals one vote and we elected Aristide as the president of Haiti.
They are the ones who taught us our vote counts and we will never forget.”
The Haiti Information Project (HIP) is a non-profit alternative
news service providing coverage and analysis of breaking developments
in Haiti. Contact: [email protected].