THE CRISIS IN HAITI IS MARCHING TOWARDS A SOLUTION!
Paul Gustave Raphaël Magloire
Special Advisor for the Transition from 2004-2006
Minister of the Interior in the Alexandre-Latortue Government, 2004-2006.
Updated: April 27, 2024
This April 25, 2024, a major step was taken on the road to a solution to the crisis which is slowly destroying the Republic of Haiti. The Presidential Council was sworn in this Thursday at the National Palace, the central seat of the Executive Power. This led to the expected resignation of Prime Minister Ariel Henry, held abroad, and of the government he led. The Minister of Finance who assumed the interim role in his absence, Michel Patrick Boisvert, by decision of the outgoing Council of Ministers remains in office until the appointment of a new Prime Minister chosen by the majority of the members of the Presidential Council.
All this happened very quickly in a framework that seemed impossible. Because the armed gangs had unleashed a barrage of fire from automatic weapons which shook the entire Champs-de-Mars area surrounding the Palace. The transfer of power continued at the Prime Minister’s office in the presence of members of the outgoing government, representatives of all sectors of the political world and the widely represented diplomatic corps.
Indeed, the armed gangs which surround Port-au-Prince, the capital of the country, have carried out in recent months the systematic destruction of public buildings, such as the Palace of Justice, several police stations, pharmacies, health centers and hospitals, schools and universities, and businesses are going bankrupt, sending tens of thousands of employees and workers out of work. Entire neighborhoods were destroyed, the homes of people leading a modest life were looted and burned. In addition, women and children are abused and every day, torn bodies litter the streets, the result of the noise of balls that break the silence of the night every evening. Thus, tens of thousands of families overnight became poor wanderers seeking refuge in makeshift shelters. What is for Port-au-Prince is the same for dozens of other cities which said they were hosting more than 300,000 displaced people, where millions of people were already facing famine.
It is in this contest that several hundred civil society organizations, private business sector organizations, and dozens of political parties, representing the majority of the country’s political forces, with the support of the international community, were able to come together to launch a new governance initiative for the country. As part of this initiative, based on a broad consensus, a Presidential Council of 9 members was created to exercise the powers of the Head of State. The Presidential Council must choose a Prime Minister immediately to form a ministerial cabinet to lead the country under the supervision of the Presidential Council. This interim government structure is responsible for organizing honest, inclusive and transparent elections, in order to transfer power to the people’s elected representatives by February 7, 2026.
Haiti is seeking to come back from the edge of the precipice. To those who repeat that a nation does not die, they are wrong. Because, in truth, consult the Bible, glorious empires have disappeared from the face of the earth without a trace. The price to pay is enormous to prevent Haiti, this beautiful country with such proud people, from leaving the edge of the precipice, before plunging forever into the abyss of history. This patriotic exercise that we must carry out will require a non-stop effort over at least a period of 20 to 25 years, from each of us, and from all of us. First of all, it is a matter of men and women, patriotic, honest, who are competent and ready to tackle a task that seems almost impossible to achieve. In the name of our homeland, HAITI, we must commit to becoming much better than who we are today, regardless of our age, our gender, and our shade of color. As Winston Churchill said, “everyone must do his best “. In the state in which Haiti finds itself, there is a strong crisis of confidence. The Haitian people must be able to find a reason to regain confidence in their elites and in the ability of our country to move forward. The Presidential Council will have to work with the Prime Minister it chooses to improve the way we govern Haiti, and to restore the state of the country.
We need to: i) systematically combat insecurity ii) revive the country’s economy by focusing on major projects capable of creating work (modernization of 40 cities in the 5 major regions of the country with large tourist complexes ) ; iii) supervise small and medium-sized businesses and finance them; iv) focus on the development of infrastructure, agriculture, livestock, fishing, crafts, reforestation, and the revival of coffee and cocoa cultivation, industries and agro-industry export and tourism, among others; v) train 250,000 young people of both sexes in the technical and technological field, and finally vi) improve the human capital of the country.
We must rehabilitate minors involved in gangs by giving them a job, establish compulsory civics lessons in all schools, and also relaunch sporting activities; teach music, art in general, and also encourage healthy recreational activities throughout the country.
The transition must organize a national conference with the different sectors of the country in order to discuss an accelerated development plan and the modernization of the country over a period of 20 to 25 years; and also carry out constitutional and institutional reforms likely to move the country forward. We will need at least $40 billion for this project over this period. Let’s not waste our time. Haitians, our country needs us!
This fight was fought for the first time by the braves of 1804. They were black men from 21 African nations. We must not forget either, the Germans, the Poles, and even the French, who had chosen to cross into the ranks of the braves under the orders of Jean-Jacques Dessalines to challenge, in our ranks, the colonial order, The slave order and the racial order that the expedition sent by Napoleon Bonaparte against the Negro General Toussaint Bréda Louverture had come to reestablish on the island of Santo Domingo. That day we defended our humanity.
We must never forget the spiritual support of Benjamin Franklin, founder of the Society of Friends of Blacks, nor that of John Adams, President of the United States from 1797 to 1801, who let American traders sell weapons to Toussaint Louverture and had almost gone to war with the French who were unhappy with the action of the Americans. All those who had fought for Haiti had done so for the same noble ideal of which the philosophers of the Enlightenment spoke: liberty, equality, fraternity. We were big! We also later signed on as founding members of the United Nations. But, certainly, our ancestors did not commit and sacrifice for us to become what we are today. No, we got lost on the way! We certainly do not behave like the heirs of these same people, these heroes, who made 1804! If today our brothers in Africa want to help us, they must be welcome.
Haitians, my brothers and sisters, the crisis we are experiencing is not simply a matter of armed bandits. The transition needs to be a little more than a child-killing game. We must take the opportunity of this tragic circumstance for profound reform in our society, at all levels.
YES, OUR DEAR AYITI MUST LIVE AGAIN FOR A BETTER TOMORROW, FOR ALL OF US HAITIANS, WITHOUT EXCEPTION!
GOD BLESS HAITI!
Haiti Modernization Project (youtube.com)
