President Jovenel Moïse assassinated in the night in his private residence

NanSanPedro

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Haitian posters over on Twitter are all enraged that the CORE group which recognized Joseph as the Prime Minister has now recognized Ariel Henry. Evidently - what is needed from the Internationals is Absolute Silence.... until Haitians figure it all out...

This does not seem like Rocket Science to me...

It would be sorta like the UN deciding on the US Presidential election before the inauguration.....

Plus there does not seem to be any backing down on the part of the CORE group from their "elections, elections" song - even though there is simply No One who believes that any elections under any rag tag government right now could be seen as legitimate.

It would certainly be a Blessing if the CORE group would just STOP telling HAITI what to do.

(as in - "we recognize xxx as prime minister... elections will be held in September" )

Demeaning at best..

"And - people are saying - Racist"

It becomes Very Very Hard to convince Haitians that the World Wishes them Well
When it appears that the Internationals
Do Not

Do they say racist when they are receiving money?
 
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NanSanPedro

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Does it matter since the people who needs it barely see any ?

Probably not in the grand scope of things. I think though that many people, myself included, are tired of the racist label being attached for no valid reason.

The Haitian government has been screwed up for many many years. Billions of $ of aid has gone in to help. We were never called racists then. Now, when they complain about "meddling" everyone is a racist.

I know people there and am acutely aware of the real suffering they face on a daily basis. Some idiot labeling others as racist will not dissuade me. But it does not help their cause.
 
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Africaida

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Probably not in the grand scope of things. I think though that many people, myself included, are tired of the racist label being attached for no valid reason.

The Haitian government has been screwed up for many many years. Billions of $ of aid has gone in to help. We were never called racists then. Now, when they complain about "meddling" everyone is a racist.

I know people there and am acutely aware of the real suffering they face on a daily basis. Some idiot labeling others as racist will not dissuade me. But it does not help their cause.
From MA: It would certainly be a Blessing if the CORE group would just STOP telling HAITI what to do.

(as in - "we recognize xxx as prime minister... elections will be held in September" )

Demeaning at best..

"And - people are saying - Racist"




We ? Are you part of the CORE group ?

If I understand correctly from MA post, people are saying that to a bunch of guys who obviously doesn't want what is best for Haiti (including the Haitian government forced on them) and keep on speaking for Haitians people.
 

NanSanPedro

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From MA: It would certainly be a Blessing if the CORE group would just STOP telling HAITI what to do.

(as in - "we recognize xxx as prime minister... elections will be held in September" )

Demeaning at best..

"And - people are saying - Racist"




We ? Are you part of the CORE group ?

If I understand correctly from MA post, people are saying that to a bunch of guys who obviously doesn't want what is best for Haiti (including the Haitian government forced on them) and keep on speaking for Haitians people.

Maybe you're right. I seem to be triggered by the racist term. :cool:
 

NALs

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Funeral events started today and will end on Friday with his burial in Cap Haitien.

This was at Port-au-Prince earlier today.

Haitians pay their respects to late President Moise​

 
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mountainannie

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From MA: It would certainly be a Blessing if the CORE group would just STOP telling HAITI what to do.

(as in - "we recognize xxx as prime minister... elections will be held in September" )

Demeaning at best..

"And - people are saying - Racist"




We ? Are you part of the CORE group ?

If I understand correctly from MA post, people are saying that to a bunch of guys who obviously doesn't want what is best for Haiti (including the Haitian government forced on them) and keep on speaking for Haitians people.

The CORE Group - "The so-called Core Group of powerful foreign governments and international organizations that exercise great influence in Haiti — including the United Nations, the Organization of American States, the European Union, the United States, France, Spain, Canada, Germany and Brazil — called on Saturday for the formation of a “consensual and inclusive” government. " (NYT 7/19)

It does appear that the main contenders for the Presidency of Haiti are doing their campaigning in Washington, DC rather than PauP - which, one would think would be an automatic decline by most of Haiti's population.

If you read this missive from the CORE group - back in 2019 - you might discern the "tone" - which many Haitians find patronizing at best...


The fact that Moise was supported by the CORE group - through two elections - even though only about 16% of the people voted-
that he was embroiled in the PetroCaribe Scandal - just as Martelly was-
that the CORE group supported his claim that he had the RIGHT to stay in office until 2022 when every remaining legal (and some would say moral) authority in Haiti said otherwise??
All line up to make it seem to most Haitians that the CORE group does not have the interests of the Haitian people at heart.. but rather
WHAT?
The interests that WHAT?

The entire idea that elections can be held under the current leadership and be considered to be legitimate by the Haitian people is preposterous.
 

mountainannie

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The PetroCaribe scandal goes back to 2008 - but the fire started in 2019 when the Senate released the report on a review of the spending..
which contained items such as
"Project: Construction of silos for food security:

  • 2012 Approved cost: US$ $ 4 Million
  • 2015 Three more contracts for additional work: US $ 6.5 million
  • Final cost: US$ 11.5 million paid 100%
  • The three additional contracts were listed in Gourdes
  • total: Gdes 216 million or US$ 3.6 million
  • (2015 exch rate Gdes 60 = US$1)
  • Actual final cost: US$ 7.6 million
  • A discrepancy of US$ 3.9 million exists between what was paid and actual costs that is not reflected in the audit."
 

mountainannie

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What really had the people in the streets was the fact that Jovenel HIMSELF had two contracts under the PetroCaribe Scandal


..."The CSCCA details how Moïse’s companies Agritrans and Betex (which were effectively the same company with identical staffs, agreement numbers, patent numbers, and tax identification numbers) received about $1.65 million in similar contracts to repair the same stretch of winding dirt road between the northern town of Borgne and the small village of Petit Bourg de Borgne. Agritrans was paid 39,990,399 gourdes ($894,640) and Betex got 34,998.785.50 gourdes ($752,662), but both apparently did nothing or, at the most, very little.
Having “serious doubts about the reality and the effectiveness of the work on this road” and “in order to dispel doubts, the Court visited the site,” the CSCCA wrote in its report. What they found was “a huge gap between the amounts spent and the reality of the work that was supposed to have been done.” The report contains pictures of the unrenovated dirt road.

Even more outrageous was that in August 2014, the Haitian Public Works Minister advanced Agritrans 19 million gourdes ($359,168) months before a bid was made or a contract signed."...

The second installment of the report was issued on May 31,2019.
 
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mountainannie

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..."They want the international community to stop meddling and pushing elections as a vehicle for change, only to rig them and saddle the country with leaders like Martelly and Moïse. They want Haitian-led solutions. They want institutions that work. They want an end to impunity. They want freedom from government and privately funded gangs, who routinely rape women and girls. They ultimately want accountability not just from Moïse but from everyone who has stolen or squandered the Petrocaribe money, which their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren will still have to repay."...https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/demonstrators-in-haiti-are-fighting-for-an-uncertain-future

I think I posted that article before... Edwidge Dandicat - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwidge_Danticat
 

mountainannie

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"The United States welcomes efforts by Haiti's political leadership to come together in choosing an interim Prime Minister and a unity cabinet to chart a path forward in the wake of the heinous assassination of Jovenel Moïse," Blinken said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/world/ameri...s-interim-government-blinken-says-2021-07-21/

and - YET - the new cabinet Does Not actually show any sort of UNITY except among the members of the PHTK???


So -if I were Haitian - and among "the opposition" - I would question what exactly the US Secretary of State means by UNITY?
as in
Same old? Same Old?
 

NanSanPedro

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"The United States welcomes efforts by Haiti's political leadership to come together in choosing an interim Prime Minister and a unity cabinet to chart a path forward in the wake of the heinous assassination of Jovenel Moïse," Blinken said in a statement. https://www.reuters.com/world/ameri...s-interim-government-blinken-says-2021-07-21/

and - YET - the new cabinet Does Not actually show any sort of UNITY except among the members of the PHTK???


So -if I were Haitian - and among "the opposition" - I would question what exactly the US Secretary of State means by UNITY?
as in
Same old? Same Old?

All good points Annie. Thanks!
 
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mountainannie

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A more in-depth look at "the troubles" that Moise had in Haiti - in his "fight" with the "oligarchs" --
..."After Moïse was elected, one of his key goals was to reform the Haitian energy sector promising 24-hour electricity in a country plagued by rolling blackouts and fuel shortages. Roughly 80 percent of the electricity in Haiti is produced through imported diesel fuel. Many businesses and households use diesel generators for reliable electricity because the national electrical grid is too small. An oligopoly of just three independent power companies–Sogener, E-Power, and Haytrac—dominates energy imports. These companies then sell the fuel back to the Haitian state-run electricity provider Electricite d’Haiti. In 2019, the Moïse government suspended contracts with these companies, took control of Sogener, and arrested its executives on charges of overbilling the state. The slain president may have made the situation worse, as the electricity production in Port au Prince dropped from 130 megawatts to less than 50 megawatts.

By attempting to reform the energy sector and go after other monopolies, Moïse was biting the hand that fed him. He was making enemies of former allies. Over the past few years, Moïse began to rail against elites in Haiti, arguing that they had controlled the nation. “The Haitian state is being held hostage, and the only way we can talk about development is to free the captured state,” he stated in a speech in 2019.

Although Moïse’s attempts at reform failed, U.S. foreign policy could help. Washington has coddled monopolists abroad for too long through its trade policies, invitation to engage in lobbying, and lack of promoting anti-monopoly and competition policy. The U.S. has been providing Haiti aid and advising their governments for decades, yet the country has no laws or regulations on competition. If Washington wants to avoid further political instability in Haiti and other countries, it should send ideas as well as aid. Promoting economic democracy through an anti-monopoly policy and conditioning at least some economic aid on anti-monopoly reform would be an essential first step."...

(Washington Monthly, is considered to be a reliable source, although leaning to the left)
 
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mountainannie

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So - rather than actually FIXING the issue of electricity -- Moise directed his energy towards BLAMING "the oligarchs"

..."President Jovenel Moise took office three years ago promising to bring around-the-clock power to the poorest nation in the Americas. Instead, amid political turmoil and unrest, he has presided over the worst power outages in more than a decade.

Generation at Haiti’s hydroelectric and diesel and heavy fuel oil-powered thermal plants was down to 94 MW in August, less than half its installed capacity, according to state electricity utility EDH, and less than one-fortieth of the capacity of neighboring Dominican Republic, which has roughly the same population of 11 million.

Only around one-third of Haitian households are connected to the grid, most of them in towns, according to analyst estimates. Those who are suffer frequent blackouts, living with power for just a few hours per day.

Moise blames the blackouts largely on sabotage by unnamed vested interests, whom he accuses of also fomenting anti-government protests last year to prevent reform."...

 
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mountainannie

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Perhaps if Moise had not made such BOLD promises?

..."Through the Change Caravan, which has already achieved much in its first year, I anticipate in five years’ time Haiti will be almost unrecognisable. Besides becoming a renewable energy powerhouse, I see us making great leaps in terms of agriculture, education, health care, infrastructure, and many other areas.

For decades, the relationship between the government and the people in Haiti was in disrepair, with international groups taking the place of the Government and providing some basic services to our country. My administration is changing this and restoring faith in the government. The Change Caravan is our way of putting an end to business as usual, putting an end to the inadequacies that have existed for far too long in Haiti’s government.

We know that what we are undertaking is ambitious, but our unwavering priority is to modernise Haiti and restore its people’s faith in their Government, and I am confident that the Change Caravan has set us on the right path."... https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonob...-his-ambitious-energy-agenda/?sh=53f52a00dc90
 
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mountainannie

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The US "helped out" by designing a pet mini electric project for its pet mini project - the Caracol industrial plant which was its "Flagship" project after the 2010 earthquake... Built at the cost of $224 million - displacing farmers (who were later compensated) - billed as an industrial park that would employ 60,000 people (later estimates dropped to 15,000 - and now actually employs 5,500.... at wages of $5 a day..... which - is a "sweatshop by another name", no?



I think that it is very important to look very closely at the impact that the aid money has actually had on the ground in Haiti, rather than just the amount that was given.
 
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NanSanPedro

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Perhaps if Moise had not made such BOLD promises?

..."Through the Change Caravan, which has already achieved much in its first year, I anticipate in five years’ time Haiti will be almost unrecognisable. Besides becoming a renewable energy powerhouse, I see us making great leaps in terms of agriculture, education, health care, infrastructure, and many other areas.

For decades, the relationship between the government and the people in Haiti was in disrepair, with international groups taking the place of the Government and providing some basic services to our country. My administration is changing this and restoring faith in the government. The Change Caravan is our way of putting an end to business as usual, putting an end to the inadequacies that have existed for far too long in Haiti’s government.

We know that what we are undertaking is ambitious, but our unwavering priority is to modernise Haiti and restore its people’s faith in their Government, and I am confident that the Change Caravan has set us on the right path."... https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonob...-his-ambitious-energy-agenda/?sh=53f52a00dc90

I wonder (and will never know) what was in his thinking when he made that promise. Had I been living there I would have laughed at that promise. I just can't help but wonder what his detailed plan was (besides arresting the power execs he had arrested).

When I was living in okap, in the late 2000s, we went from hardly any juice to almost 24 hours/day with the help of the Venezuelan govt. It was very nice.
 
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NanSanPedro

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The US "helped out" by designing a pet mini electric project for its pet mini project - the Caracol industrial plant which was its "Flagship" project after the 2010 earthquake... Built at the cost of $224 million - displacing farmers (who were later compensated) - billed as an industrial park that would employ 60,000 people (later estimates dropped to 15,000 - and now actually employs 5,500.... at wages of $5 a day..... which - is a "sweatshop by another name", no?



I think that it is very important to look very closely at the impact that the aid money has actually had on the ground in Haiti, rather than just the amount that was given.

Even for Haiti, $5 (450 HTG or 275 DOP) is a pittance. I would love to be an auditor there. Take that back. Make it an auditor with a gun. :mad: