Monthly Archives: April 2011

Apr 23 2011

NO GOD IS PUNISHING HAITI

There is no God punishing Haiti. Anybody, and I don’t give a damn if that person is Jesus Christ, feeding you with this nonsense is contributing to the misfortunate situation you are living as a people. And anybody who wants to contribute to your pains and sufferings is your enemy.

We have a bunch of stupid characters (Haitians and non-Haitians) in the religious circles on the ground in Haiti polluting the minds of the people in such a way to pacify and make them accept their fates as a matter of divine punishment. In their blame game, of course, they have got to go after Vodou to make it their most convenient scapegoat for every bad situation we have lived and are experiencing as a people. 

You have been brainwashed to believe that your own culture, beliefs and value system all contribute to the degrading and inhumane situations you are living. Most of these Haitian religious leaders are a bunch of modern slaves who are on the payrolls of these big Western corporate churches run by guys such as Pat Robertson and company. 

They are not telling you how we got to where we are today because they do not care to know; they do not give a damn. As long as they have you to bring them your hard earned income and they have a US visa to vacation with their families every year in the US paid for by their masters, they are living on earth “le paradis terrestre.”  They are not telling you that we are made victims of outrageous policies from the United States and all these major international financial institutions such as the IMF, World Bank, etc…

No God was behind the destruction of the Haitian rice industry, making us today the third largest US rice importer in the world with only a population of roughly 10 million people. You know damn well who was behind that and why.

No God was behind the decision to kill the country’s domestic Creole pigs, the rural economy’s second most important economic component, which has destroyed the entire socioeconomic system of the country. You know damn well who was behind that and why.

Because of the destruction of the rural economy, the economic base of the country, the peasants are/were forced out of their fertile and agricultural lands to migrate to the nearby cities to live in newly erected slums and work as domestic workers (restavèk, jeranlakou and bòn) at people’s houses.

Do not blame God for the political instable environment we have been living in ever since the creation of the Haitian state. You know damn well the people who have been behind all that and why. If this God has to be so against us, why befriending Him/Her/It then?  

Haiti’s tribulations are manmade. Of course, they have to tell you that God has cursed and is chastising us so that you can accept the abject poverty you are living in as a matter of destiny and do not do anything to change its course. And when that happens, it is benefiting them because they control you.

That is what they need to tell you; unfortunately, they are not. There is no excuse for being blind and stupid. Open your eyes and ask questions. That is why you were blessed with the capacity to reason and make sense of events.

So I hope now you have a clear sense as to what the deal is about. Next time these religious slaves come to you trying to convince you to believe that God is punishing Haiti, you need to spit in their faces, and that is if you cannot slap the hell out of them. They are your enemies; therefore, you need to beware of them.

Apr 19 2011

RECONCILIATION: MICKY & TITID SHOULD MEET

President-elect Martelly

I believe there have been sentiments of discord and strife between President-elect Martelly and former President Aristide. This is now the time for a cease fire to be called between the two men to reconcile the nation with itself. I am glad President-elect Martelly is taking the lead on the reconciliation mantra.

In an interview to La Press, published yesterday, Monday, April 18, 2011, President-elect Martelly, talking on the fate of the two former presidents -Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide –said in French:

I would simply said that we will be able to eventually look at amnesty only if those who had been hurt in the past understand the necessity for the nation to reconcile with itself. Before we could get to that, we need to try to place ourselves in the victims’ shoes to understand them and respect their sentiments.

So we are not rushing into taking any decisions, though public opinion wants that I stand on the side of amnesty and clemency, a way to focus on the future, not the past. But we must always keep the past in our minds so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.

I think President-elect Martelly, in his effort to bring the country together, needs to be the bigger person to hand to the former president an olive branch; he needs to make peace with him.

Former President Aristide

Former President Aristide is a resourceful person whom President-elect Martelly could use in many capacities to help rebuild the country. We find strength only in unity, not in division and bickering.

The former priest’s rhetoric may have been too inflammatory during his tenure as president, but he could be a great asset to be put to good use if he is really honest about his ambition to serve the people and help move the country forward.

If his rhetoric and policies were being viewed as too far to the left, it was because he was in a position for whatever he said and did to matter much. He is not in that position anymore, President-elect Martelly is. In other words, Martelly is the coach to call the play now, not Aristide.

President-elect Martelly must not let these vultures, those who have never acted in the best interest of Haiti, dictate him who amongst us he should befriend and who he should ostracize. He is now the president of every single Haitian; therefore, he must act in such manner.

Now that he is elected president, in his post-election consultations, he should ask to meet with all the former presidents currently living in Haiti, including former President Aristide. That should take place prior to his inauguration ceremony, which all of them will be invited to attend.

It would be preposterous to think that a man in the caliber of Aristide could be pushed to the side. He can still be useful to Haiti so long as he is willing to play by the rules.

While I am for reconciliation between the two men, only for the sake of bringing all the sons and daughters of Haiti together to do what needs to get done, I am also urging President-elect Martelly to not be naive and let Aristide loose; he needs to be kept on check. I am sure Mr. Martelly will keep him in a tight and short leash. So I am not going to even worry about him acting up.

Apr 16 2011

A WARNING TO INITE: COHABITATION OR DISINTEGRATION

Senator Lambert of INITE

Per Joseph Jasmin, a member of the leadership of the Party INITE, talking this Friday, April 15 to Le Nouvelliste, the relationship between the Martelly administration and the legislative, which his party is poised to control, will be harmonious, meaning “there will be neither blockade nor barrage to President Martelly. We are looking to working with him […] We will give him our full support so that he could best serve the interest of the people.”  

Plan A is to take what he said at face value. The National Palace cannot just assume that he is only playing politics. No matter what President Martelly chooses to do, he must keep his guard up. In the event that the politics of collaboration, cohabitation and facilitation Jasmin promised his party will develop in Congress is no longer in activity, President Martelly is gonna need to proceed with plan B, which is to implement a strategy of disintegration of INITE inside the two chambers.

With that, all he is going to have to do is to plant his intel inside that bloc of power which Lambert is in charge of to get the job done. He can work with someone in the caliber of Edo Zenny, a close and longtime friend and ally, to get this done in the Senate.

Let’s hope we will not have to go that route since President Preval has clearly ordered his vassals in Congress to work with President Martelly. Jasmin, in an interview in French to Le Nouvelliste this Thursday, outlined and reiterated the recommendations of President Preval. He stated, “President Preval has told us that the majority that we have is one of cohabitation, collaboration and facilitation so that the executive and the legislative can work together to serve the best interest of the people.”

So it will be in everybody’s best interest for President Martelly and Senator Lambert of INITE to work together to get the people’s business taken care of. If they deviate from the clear and unambiguous order given to them by Preval, plan B needs to be activated, and that will be to weaken INITE’s influence in the legislative body before such plan expands itself notionally. In other words, that party should be so pulverized, weakened and crippled nationally that it cannot even get one deputy or senator elected.

Apr 6 2011

KONPA MUSIC COULD BE THE IMPETUS FOR AN ECONOMIC RENAISSANCE IN HAITI

All these large scale Konpa events -Konpa on Broadway, LNDJ, Konpafest, etc… with potential economic development -need to take place at home, in Haiti. Our Haitian economy is in a desperate need for a money transfusion to keep it alive.

If the promoters of these events refuse to make the transition, which will inject into the economy all these dollars being spent, we need to boycott them by holding in Haiti a similar event on the same day -in front of each and every single one of them.

I do believe that now is the time for us do start selling a new image of Haiti to the world; it is our responsibility, not that of the foreigners, to make it Happen. So if it is about large scale Konpa events or Haitian cultural manifestations, it should take place at home -unless it is about benefiting some people’s selfish personal gains.

I don’t see the American Music Award, BET Music Award, the Oscars, Spring Break, etc… being held on foreign lands. I don’t see all the big-time Reggae events being held outside Jamaica. It is because these people have always tried to keep the money in their economies by any means necessary, which is the way to go. Why can’t we do the same thing?

You have something called Konpafest, which is held in Miami every year around our Flag Day, on May18, where Haitians all over the world fly to Miami to show their solidarity and spend money. Imagine if we could channel all these people -Haitians and foreigners with money in their hands to spend -to come home every year to spend in our economy. It would be the start of an economic renaissance or rebirth for the Haitian people.

I know what the excuses are going to be to justify the ridiculousness of holding these events abroad, away from home.

Excuse #1: You are going to argue that Haiti does not have the logistics (hotel rooms, restaurants, transportation, electricity, etc…) to cater to the needs of the people that will be traveling over there for the events. Nonsense!!! There may not be the need to invest in more upscale restaurants and hotels now because the demand is not there. And the demand is not going to create itself; we the people of Haiti must generate it.

Business people are opportunists, meaning wherever there is a potential demand, you can expect to see heavy investments being poured into that sector of the economy.  Why the demand is not there? The demand is not there because we refuse to create it. We rather keep our butts abroad awaiting the foreigners to come do it for us while the country is dying of a severe economic anemia.

Excuse #2: The insecurity makes it impossible to encourage people to travel to Haiti. Here is another nonsensical argument. I am not trying to dismiss the insecurity plague. It would be very dishonest on my part to argue that it is not an issue. However, in terms of crime/murder per capita, according to the nationmaster.com, Haiti is safer than Jamaica, a country with a booming tourism industry. Yet, that is not preventing the foreigners, you Haitians included, from traveling over there to spend money.

Most of the crimes committed in Haiti are what I would call “necessity crimes,” crimes perpetuated by people because they want to survive or feed their families. That’s basic human behavior when it comes to securing one’s survival. And, for the most part, they take place in Port-au-Prince, the capital city. But if money was being poured into the economy, more jobs would be created for them to make a living, meaning less of these crimes would occur.

The international media has done a tremendous job destroying our image abroad. But it is all our responsibility to prove them wrong by showing and selling a different Haiti, which must start with OUR efforts and involvement.

In conclusion, my advocacy is not to destroy or endanger anybody’s business; it is, rather, a way for us to start caring for ourselves again as we used to in the 1960’s and 70’s, which is the only way we can challenge the destructive campaign being waged against us by the international media.

They can tell us all the lies in the book about our home, but it is our choice to believe in them or not. Our home is our home. The way we care for it is exactly what is going to get the foreigners to come visit us in there. And when they do come, they come with goodies and gifts in their hands for us.

Let us stop all the baseless justifications for not investing into our economy. These big-time cultural events being held in the Diaspora are somewhat hurting the economy back home, because they are not being held there to help the economy moving forward. If we are willing to travel from all over the world to the US to attend some Konpa event, we can do the same if it is happening at home, in Haiti.

Source:

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/cri_mur_percap-crime-murders-per-capita

Apr 4 2011

MICHEL “SWEET MICKY” MARTELLY DID IT BIG!

President-elect Michel J. Martelly

I am speechless. I hope I can find the words to express my contentment for such a great victory by the Haitian people. Michel J. Martelly has won the presidency in Haiti with an avalanche (Martelly: 67.57% against Manigat 31.71%), which makes him now the newly elected president of Haiti.

I would like to personally take this moment to congratulate him for such a great and unbelievable victory over his rival Mirlande H. Manigat. He is the one to finally harmer the last nail to the coffin of the status quo. Now we can be certain that the old generation, which has never missed the opportunity to fail the country, has been buried. No more of these old faces. A new chapter now has begun for the Haitian people.

Martelly is an inspiration. He inspires me to always believe in yourself even when the multitude doubts you. When he entered the race, many, myself included, could not take him seriously. But he managed to transform himself in a very short period of time to reshape the attitude or sentiment of the electorate and get them to accept him. That is beyond political ingenuity.

He was being called all sorts of condescending names –immoral, uneducated, idiot, brute, moron; he never gave in. He had made his case to prove his opponent wrong. Do not take my word for it. Trust the latest poll. According to the official poll issued by the Provisional Electoral Council, the immorality argument, which he was arguing against, failed badly.

Now, to the Manigat supporters: the campaign is over. We cannot be on campaign mode beyond the campaign. We must switch mode. I am calling on all of you to come join hands with the new president so together we can take the country out of the abyss it has been for decades. We can do it only if we work together as one nation. I am sure you all love Haiti with the same fervor as President Martelly. So you have your seats around the table. We are all Haitians, in spite of our politics. But this is not about politics; we have something greater than that to live for, and that is our beloved Haiti.   

I have one message for President Martelly: DO NOT DECEIVE US. We will accompany you to the promise land. As long as you stand with us, you cannot go wrong. Together we shall make it. The job you just got hired for is not going to be easy; you already know it. But you can only succeed IF you lead with the people. The moment you decide to turn your back on us, you can prepare to live your own demise.  DO NOT BE AFRAID; WE ARE WITH YOU.