By Jean Herve Charles
The crisis in Haiti is long and prolonged, by my estimate, it is 67 years old; I am now 77 years old, the crisis started when I was ten years old. It began with the departure of Paul E Magloire on December 6, 1956, and the election of Francois Duvalier on September 22 1957. He initiated a regime of terror and horror that caused millions of Haitian citizens to leave the country and seek refuge in the United States, the Canada and France. That regime of terror saw an amelioration at his death and the advent of his son Jean Claude Duvalier into power.
Nevertheless, after 33 years of crisis, the people of Haiti, took their courage into their own hands to boot out the son of the Dictator out of Haiti on February 71986.
The cavalry of the Haitian people did not end with the departure of Jean Claude Duvalier, the military regime of Henry Namphy with his “bamboche” of democracy, or democracy a go-go lead us into the anarchic regime of Jean Bertrand Aristide. Exiled twice, he was replaced by the laissez-faire regime of Rene Preval leading into the corrupt governance of Michel Martelly and his nemesis Jovenel Moise.
We are now in the regime of Ariel Henry a Prime Minister chosen by Jovenel Moise, one day before his assassination. He is without representation, illegitimate, and incompetent. He presides like a dictator in a country where there is not one single elected official. He is governing a nation kidnapped by gangsters where the lives of each citizen are compromised every day in their daily activities.
He belongs to a cult that is neither Christian nor patriotic, those who do not belong to that cult are seen like infidels. In fact, this cult is the best incubator of those who will sell the resources of our country for their own benefit.
The talk on the national and international level is the leading role in conducting a military intervention, is given to Kenya supported by some ten countries. From the American intervention in 1915, to the United Nations intervention in 1993 and after, Haiti went into a level of governance so low, that it is the most failed nation in the Western Hemisphere, without mentioning that the United Nations intervention brought cholera and children without fathers in the country.
The Security Council of the United Nations has voted (less China and Russia) to send the troops to Haiti. The mission will succeeds if it has the support of the population. On one side the people are tired with the exaction of the bandits, they will be in front of the troops ferreting the criminals out; on the other side, the sentiment of nationalism is very strong amongst Haitians. The Haitian people will not accept (as accepted by the Haitian government) the situ of the funds for the intervention be administered by the Dominican Republic. The different concerning the canal in the Massacre river has galvanized the Haitian ethos against the insolence of the Dominican denying the right to construct an opening in the river that passes through their land.
Kenya would do well if it tries to replicate the Ukraine experience in Haiti: “give us the tools, we will do the rest”. The Haitian army well equipped by Kenya and the coalition of the willing can wipe out the bandits in less than a month, as the Haitian people would be their trusted allies in fighting the bandits.
Once this step is taken, we can concentrate on bringing democracy to Haiti. As we have seen it has been almost seventy years that the Haitian people have fought to bring the advent of democracy in their land. They fought the Duvalier regime in spite of the atrocity of that government in killing countless people in Fort Dimanche. They fought the regime of Jean Claude Duvalier until they boot him out. They fought the regime of Aristide sending him in exile twice. They fought Preval, Martelly and Moise to no avail.
The opposition is leading the fight with bare hands, while the international community hold all the cards. We are living now the regime of Ariel Henry, a Prime Minister not elected, maybe corrupt allegedly involved in the assassination of President Jovenel Moise.
To find the solution to get out of this canvass of continuous crisis we must go into the ethos of the Haitian people to find out who are the masters of this people? “sa ki met Haiti “: who are the masters of Haiti!
The matrix of the Haitian people has its origin in three institutions: the Catholic Church, the Voodoo and the Haitian Army.
The Catholic church came with Christopher Columbus on December 5th 1492 when he planted the cross at the Mole St Nicholas in the Northwest part of the country. The Catholic Church has been in the good and the not so good the companion of the Haitian people, with the Dominican Fathers, supporting slavery, while the Jesuits abhorred that institution. The Catholic Church is the first entity that agrees to recognize Haiti sealed in a Concordat in 1864 that provided the obligation of the Church « to teach and elevate all the children of Haiti. »
The second institution which is the heart of the ethos of Haiti represents the Voodoo. It came from Africa with the Middle Passage when millions of Blacks were uprooted and transported for slavery in America, Brazil and the West Indies. It was in Haiti they were brought first to be polished before they were sold elsewhere. They came with their religion that were synchronized with the deity of the Catholic Church, as such Ogou Feray in the voodoo religion is St Jacques in the Catholic Church.
It was in a voodoo ceremony in August 14, 1791 that Bookman a Jamaican transplanted into Haiti galvanized the slaves to struggle until death to root out slavery out of Haiti and out of this world. As such voodoo as the Catholic Church is the trusted companion of the Haitian people.
The third institution which is the master of the Haitian people is the Haitian Army. The indigenous army was this ragtag army that defeated the mighty Napoleon troops to gain the independence. In good times and in bad times, it was this army that help Haiti maintain its dignity and its pride. It was disbanded by Jean Bertrand Aristide on the pretext that the American government is inimical to the Haitian Army, nevertheless, a nation is without its army is without a soul and without a future.
These three entities must caucus together to come out with a solution that will pacify the country and lead the nation into that kingdom dream for them by the Emancipator Toussaint Louverture, when he communicated to his friend John Adams that a leader has the duty « to bring happiness to his people ». Haiti is living a situation where the Constitution is silent, where the parties cannot agree amongst themselves, and where the international nations might intervene to complicate further the imbroglio. The only good solution is for the “maitres’ of the nation to stand up and takes their responsibility to lead and propose a solution.
The solution encompasses a transitional President who will come with a clean government to lead the nation towards true democracy. What we have now and what we will get with the present government organizing the election is an illiberal democracy where the vote is bought for 25 dollars apiece by a population which is not educated and in complete misery.
The President will have to transform the 556 rural counties into an haven of peace and prosperity so the Haitian people will cease to be nomad in their own country. He will have to conduct elections in the catchment areas for the three members that will lead the business of the counties. This will be done in year one.
The second mission is to organize the 150 towns into veritable cities with institutions and infrastructure adequate to make the citizens happy, in their own home, at the same time, the electoral board will run the elections for the mayors of the towns. That will be done in year two.
The third mission will be to urbanize the 10 most important cities of the country, this operation will coincide with the election of the senators and deputies. This will be done in year three.
Last but not least in the fourth year, we will engage in the urbanization of the capital while the election of the democratic president will take place.
That is the road map for a democratic Haiti. That country was designed to be the salt and the light for the earth, since the independence, it fails to accomplish its mission, with this proposal, Haiti will become the pearl of the Antilles, a jewel in the Caribbean that ceases to send its children abroad looking for a more clement sky.
May the God that inspired and gave the courage to the founding fathers to lead us into independence be with us. Building on the sentiment of appurtenance that birthed in the construction of the Canal in Ouanaminthe leads to a unified and prosperous Haiti.
Long live Haiti.
Jean Herve Charles LLB, MSW. JD
was a Presidential candidate in the elections of 2016, in Haiti. He can be reached at jeanhcharles@aol.com