Haitian Blogs

Haiti's 7 TRUTHS: An introduction for seven solutions


It is called infantilization. The “infantilization of the negro”, I have heard some scholars describe this latent but global and ultimately dangerous effect affecting many black communities. It is being practiced in Haiti as it has been in Africa and in the U.S., towards African-Americans, for many decades. It is done by others but sometimes even by our own selves.

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Have the French shamed themselves in the face of English?

NEW YORK, USA (defend.ht/Forum Culturel) - For the last two months (March and April), French Members of Parliament debated strongly over a bill introduced by the Minister of Higher Education higher Geneviève Fioraso, which aims to facilitate the use of foreign languages, in fact, English, in French higher education.

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FAIL 1. Realizing a more Sovereign Haiti

I wonder if those who believe Deputy Luckner Noel kneeling at the feet of Michel Martelly was okay, would be okay if this Deputy of the Republic o Haiti, representing the commune of Ouanaminthe, would kneel at the feet of United States, Venezuela, Dominican Republic or the many foreign nations building Haiti today.

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FAIL 2. Furthering Democracy

A funny thing I've noticed in the past two years. Whenever the Haitian government is holding an event for a project dealing with a particular sector of the Haitian population, people representing that sector are usually not at the event.

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FAIL 3: Not Leveraging the Power of the Haitian Diaspora

The Haitian Diaspora, they are politicians, business executives, actors, artist, athletes, writers, leaders in their domain abroad. Here are the options, International aid, Petrocaribe and the Haitian Diaspora.

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FAIL 4: The Economy.

I believe that if, in the past year, Haiti’s economic growth had declined from 8% to 2.5%, a recession, and if the country’s unemployment had increased, 320,000 were still living in tents since the earthquake, and the nation was approaching the most severe food crisis in more than a decade, the Haitian government would have still spent $2.5 million [US] to celebrate the ascension of Sweet Micky to the presidency, of course, in carnival style.

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FAIL 5. Guarantee a proper functioning state

Those are municipal projects, not presidential projects. 1, 2, kms of asphalt road, a renovated park or gym and carnival queens, these are projects of mayors and city commissioners not presidents and central government officials.

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FAIL 6. Ending Corruption

The most difficult thing about ending corruption in Haiti for past administrations is that it must start at the top. The president must lead with himself. There is a level of righteousness that he must have earned in order to justly have an administration, a government, a Parliament, working towards ending corruption.

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FAIL 7. The Rule of Law in Haiti

What Haitians don’t want is a government that bends to the pressures of human rights groups and the international community in order to bring a former president, charged with crimes against humanity, to court but one that volunteers and willingly wants to find truth for its people.

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Propaganda: Intro to 7 FAILS after 2 Years of Martelly

There are a few things that all should consider when analyzing the record of the past two years of Michel Martelly as president of Haiti. These things all fall into the subject matter of propaganda. This is an area that the current government in Haiti has excelled in beyond anything, anywhere, I have ever seen in my 32 years of life. They’ve excelled in bloviating, making promises that can’t be kept and in some cases, outright lying to the people of Haiti. So before I deliver my top 7 FAILS of the past two years, I wanted to give readers a clear perspective of things in Haiti.

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Martelly and Boulos: Public-private corruption?

JAC Motors and Réginald Boulos donated a bus to President Michel Martelly in order to "support free transportation to school" according to a statement from the National Palace but no one seems the wiser to recognize that this is an act of corruption on the part of Martelly, Boulos, the Haitian government and JAC Motors and Auto Plaza.

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Problem diaspora avek moun an Haiti

People in Haiti think the Diaspora is rich with a lot of money.

Arnel Belizaire, sa nap fait ak Dupute sa

People that are intelligent respect others.

It's not REALLY a war on corruption in Haiti

Sometimes I wonder if the Martelly and Lamothe knew what corruption was before they declared war on it. It seems to me that lowly individuals stealing government money is what the focus is on when corruption is more than just embezzlement.

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HuffPo's cheap shot: Haiti Least Tourist-Friendly Nation

The Huffington Post published a list of the 10 least tourist-friendly nations on earth and I felt the need to call them out for a cheap shot that they took listing Haiti at number 6.

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Martelly: Still no meeting with Obama


NEW YORK, USA (defend.ht) - COMBINED SOURCES, Jan. 15 - The number of steps taken by Michel Martelly to secure an invitation for a visit with the U.S. President led to nothing. Hopes he had wagered on the opportunity offered by the swearing in of Barack Obama to facilitate the realization of this dream faded away. Because not only has the tenant of the White House, about to begin his second term, had no intention to invite his Haitian counterpart to Washington, the Protocol to the White House and State Department limits the participation in the inauguration ceremonies of the President to the Diplomatic Corps.

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Why "Peaceful" Protests Don't Work in Haiti

“A riot is the language of the unheard.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

In the quote above, MLK who was a proponent of the “peaceful protest” did not say the word “protest”, much less, “peaceful”. He said “riot” and that “a riot is the language of the unheard”, which serves to give understanding why Haitians protest the way they do.

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Kita Nago the Haitian Market

The task of stabilizing the Haitian market and growing the country's economy is very simple. Just make imported rice cost more than domestic rice. What's stopping us is coming together to make it happen.

But if for one reason that Martelly and lawmakers, the Makoutes and the Lavalas, the real Haitian mulattoes and black population can put differences aside to do something for the country it is to make the cost of buying locally grown food less than the price of buying food shipped in.

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Haiti not one of the safest destinations, says The Numbers

I never intended to be the bearer of bad news to my own people, that’s not what DH was intended for but it became a necessity in defending Haiti. I hold a fundamental belief that if the Haitian people are told the whole and transparent truth of their circumstances that they would naturally begin to solve their own problems. No need for Bill Clinton and Ban Ki-moon, I know it and they know it.

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Richard Morse: PM Lamothe is misleading people about visiting Haiti

It was interesting to read a recent statement from Haiti's current Prime Minister in reaction to the latest US State Department travel warning: "Haiti is one of the safest destinations; not just in the Caribbean but throughout the world".

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Book reviews

Haiti Noir

Book Review

The anthology edited by Edwidge Danticat puts a uniquely Haitian spin on the crime genre

"Danticat has succeeded in assembling a group portrait of Haitian culture and resilience that is cause for celebration." - Publishers Weekly