JanJak2000

Where Haitians Must Draw the Line: The Citadel and National Palace

Having the international community repair the Citadel, the largest fortress in the Americas that was designed to defend the young free nation of Haiti from French incursions, or having foreigners oversee the demolition and reconstruction of our National Palace, where we house our first citizen and leader of the free African nation, is a bridge too far.

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If we, the Haitian people, cannot do the work to maintain and build these two symbols of our republic on our own, free of foreign involvement, we should drop the façade that we are an independent and sovereign people and honorably accept that we have failed our ancestors.

I don’t typically fly off the handle and say things like “Haiti is not sovereign” when I see diplomats from other nations give “strong suggestions” to our leaders in government as to what they should do. I don’t even completely disagree with foreigners helping to finance and, at a distance, observe our elections. Although these things are not desirable, they are a fact of life welcomed as we try to grow stronger as a democracy.

We are and should be grateful for the international community which has taken the lion's share of the load of reconstructing are country. Foreign assistance - in most cases, not all - is a demonstration of friendship and community for the Haitian people.

But to believe that we should welcome the symbolism of having a non-governmental organization demolish the National Palace and to believe that we are incapable of maintaining our last fortress of defense in the event that all else were lost and it came down to a few to defend the territory, is to believe that we have already failed.

Sean Penn’s J/P HRO and the National Palace

Obviously I am writing this in the context of the announcement made this morning by the Haitian government that Sean Penn’s non-governmental organization, J/P HRO, would be financing and overseeing the demolition of the National Palace in wait of its reconstruction, of which circumstances have not been announced.

God bless Sean Penn, and I am sincere in saying this, because he has given his personage, time and money (sort of) to Haiti. But my young Haitians, we need to see through the implications of this action.

Rather than financing and overseeing another unnecessary Carnaval of Flowers, rather than financing the housing of some of the families still in camps since the earthquake, or paying for permanent homes for the people in the J/P HRO camp, Penn wishes to directly put his money towards a project with the National Palace. Basically, the government should rather him pay the salaries of the teachers that are due back-pay and increases rather than grant him the right to put his stamp on our National Palace.

Hell, if Sean Penn J/P HRO wanted to do the demolition and oversee it and not take any credit, not have the Associated Press reporting on it and the National Palace Press Secretary, himself, giving the details about the non-governmental organization’s involvement to reporters, that wouldn’t be as bad. But this is already done.

I would hope that this government would reverse this intention because I would rather the building stand there broken to pieces if we cannot do it ourselves.

We post, you decide.