{"id":4992,"date":"2020-12-23T21:21:47","date_gmt":"2020-12-24T02:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?p=4992"},"modified":"2020-12-27T06:43:38","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T11:43:38","slug":"an-international-publicity-campaign-to-counteract-opposition-to-a-one-man-rule-in-haiti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?p=4992","title":{"rendered":"An international publicity campaign to counteract opposition to a \u201cone-man rule\u201d in Haiti"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>An international publicity campaign to counteract opposition to a \u201cone-man rule\u201d in Haiti<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>HAPPENNINGS!<\/strong> <em>By Raymond Alcide Joseph<\/em><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Will the international campaign started on December 10 through the Washington Times, in a story signed by Haitian President Jovenel Mo\u00efse, accomplish the desired effect of getting Haiti\u2019s Western allies on board, as he expands his \u201cone-man rule\u201d in Haiti ?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The opinion piece in the junior Washington, D.C., publication, translated in French under the byline of a certain Pierre-Michel Jean\/AFP, appeared last Friday, December 18, in the right wing weekly French mag Valeurs Actuelles, and currently is circulating on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Whereas the readers of those publications, whether in the United States or in France, may not be aware of the insidious nature of Mr. Mo\u00efse\u2019s narrative, it is important to dissect it, throwing light on some of his statements, for all to know that it is a campaign intended to officialize what he has undertaken since January of this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Reportedly, on the second Monday of this past January, when the mandate of all the 118 members of Haiti\u2019s Lower House of Parliament expired, along with that of 10 of the 30-member Senate, President Mo\u00efse, singlehandedly, robbed 10 Senators of two years that remained on their mandates, knocking out the Senate which cannot muster a quorum. Whereupon he exulted, \u201c<em>I acknowledge the dysfunction of Parliament<\/em>!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Since then, Mr. Mo\u00efse has been ruling by decree, piling them up, until two major ones, issued on November 26, clearly disclosed his intention of setting up a Police State. At that point, the howls of denunciation were heard from all quarters in Haiti and from the international community, including from the influential CORE Group of Western ambassadors in Port-au-Prince, stating their opposition to the naked power grab.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The November 26 threatening decrees, the \u201cNational Intelligence Agency,\u201d French acronym ANI, and \u201cReinforcing Public Security\u201d (French acronym (RSP), authorize President Mo\u00efse to set up a spying network with agents accountable only to him, to fight terrorism and those causing widespread insecurity in the land. Among those targeted are opponents of the regime who organize demonstrations against the chief, with unusually harsh punishment, even decades of imprisonment. Indeed, this is reminiscent of the in famous Tontons-Macoute bogey men of Fran\u00e7ois \u201cPapa Doc\u201d Duvalier\u2019s era.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Considering how Papa Doc first started with his goons as irregular enforcers before they were made official, many believe that some gang members, currently causing havoc in Haiti, will be the initial members of ANI an RSP. An alarming situation, as the country is being prepped up to relive the bloody past of the three decade-old dictatorship that was initiated with the 1957 election of a medical doctor who had won acclaim for his work in the use of penicillin to eradicate yaws, that horrible and disfiguring skin disease which plagued Haiti\u2019s peasantry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And now the \u201cBanana Man,\u201d emulating the \u201cCountry Doctor,\u201d is attempting his own coup. But he wants the approbation, even the support, of the bigwigs of the international community who, until recently, had closed their eyes on his dismantling the democratic apparatus in Haiti. That is the main purpose of what I would dare to call the \u201cManifesto of the Jovenel-style Democracy,\u201d using his own terms. For on December 13, while in Ouanaminthe, in Haiti\u2019s Northeast region, he berated those who fail to understand that \u201call I do is for the good of the people.\u201d He added, \u201cC\u2019est la d\u00e9mocratie \u00e0 la Jovenel\u201d (It is democracy according to Jovenel.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Thus, from the original English piece under his byline, translated into French, we publish some extracts, accompanied by our rebuttals or clarifying statements. To begin with, he presents Haiti as a democracy, not unlike the United States where \u201cthis coming January, . . . both will observe democratic milestones. As the U.S inaugurates the 46th president, Haiti will be preparing for a constitutional referendum, the outcome of which will shape the future of our country for generations.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Had U.S. President Donald Trump succeeded in vassalizing U.S. institutions as he set out to do, even insulting the Justices of the Supreme Court, including three that he had named, as \u201clacking courage\u201d to do his bidding, the 46th President of the United States would not be inaugurated on January 20. Even now, Mr. Trump threatens to disrupt the event with demonstrations by his cohorts still claiming the election was \u201crigged\u201d and \u201cstolen\u201d from their man.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But in Haiti, come February 7, 2021 when, constitutionally, Mo\u00efse\u2019s term is up, he insists that he must stay in power to oversee the preparation of a new constitution that is being drafted by his own \u201cindependent inclusive commission\u201d and to be approved in a public referendum in March, in violation of the current constitution and in defiance of almost all sectors of the society. In fact, he does say that he won\u2019t leave before February 7, 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">He asserts that the 1987 Constitution is the root cause of all of Haiti\u2019s problems because, among other things, it whittled away at presidential power with a Prime Minister and an all-powerful Legislature. In fact, if he had not organized elections to renew the mandates of the legislators it is because \u201cParliament failed to pass legislation to organize elections before their terms expired. The Haitian Constitution states that, if a new congress is not voted in popular elections, presidential governance by executive order will be triggered until new elections can be organized. This is an undesirable scenario for the country, and one I sought to prevent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Interestingly, Mo\u00efse lets us in on a little secret. He\u2019s been mourning the demise of the strong presidency which was eliminated when the people routed the Duvalier dictatorship in 1986 and set up ramparts against the resurgence of another president as the one who declared himself \u201cPresident for life\u201d by enacting a new constitution and even, on his deathbed, anointed his teen-age son to continue the dynasty for life, toppled after 15 years. What promise did Jovenel Mo\u00efse make to his traveling salesman father, a Papa Doc devotee, who died earlier this year?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The president\u2019s party had the control of both chambers of Parliament, how does he explain that they failed to go along with him on preparing an electoral law? He should be more truthful by admitting that he did not want any Legislature with which to contend as he planned to put in place, by decree, the foundation for his dictatorship. He had betrayed himself when he engineered the \u201cdysfunction\u201d of Parliament last January.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We are not convinced by his crocodile tears regarding \u201cthe undesirable scenario for a country and one [he] sought to prevent.\u201d That is the \u201cgoverning by executive order [once] triggered.\u201d if a new congress has not been popularly elected. And basing that on the Haitian Constitution, to boot. How illogical of him to rush for support to the same constitution he so abhors, while trying to convince a novice audience of his adherence to the fundamental Charter of the land! As if he forgets that this constitution is responsible for \u201cchronic instability, with 25 prime ministers coming and going in the past 33 years. It\u2019s crippled us.\u201d Unfortunately, he failed to provide the article of the Constitution to back his assertion for assuming dictatorial power via decrees. Very simple, it does not exist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Finally, Mr. Mo\u00efse says he will organize elections in August, with runoffs in October, for local, legislative, and presidential elections, in which he will not participate. But it is not definitive. Here is his disclaimer: \u201cMeanwhile, we are working hard with our international partners to lay the groundwork so that we can conduct elections as soon as it is feasible.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And why wouldn\u2019t they be feasible this time, after they have been held so many times, even the last ones in which he was \u201celected\u201d by about 500, 000 from an electorate estimated at about six (6) million? Read his explanation: \u201cHolding elections in Haiti, where few have identity documents and records are often non-existent, is a huge undertaking.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">How disingenuous of Jovenel Mo\u00efse for withholding from his readers the real reasons for the impossibility of holding fair and democratic elections. France\u2019s envoy to Haiti, Ambassador Jos\u00e9 Gomez, recently warned that no fair and democratic elections can be held in Haiti with the proliferation of gangs that are used to intimidate potentially anti-government voters. Moreover, he said only two (2) million of new identity cards imposed by the government have been distributed for a population of about 11 million, of which six million are of voting age.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To be noted, the new cards by the Germany-based company Dermalog, allows the Mo\u00efse government to organize a vast voter suppression operation. After all, no credible explanation has been furnished as to the reasons for annulling the identity cards of all Haitians, as if in America, all Social Security cards were replaced for the whole population! And the cards are needed for any transaction, including voting.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On that basis alone, the \u201cinternational partners [helping] to lay the groundwork for elections,\u201d overseen by Jovenel Mo\u00efse, will be complicit in a vast fraud which will \u201cshape the future of Haiti for generations.\u201d A word to the wise should be sufficient !<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>RAJ<\/strong>,<strong> 23 December 2020 <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"mailto:raljo31@yahoo.com\">raljo31@yahoo.com<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>P.S.: In our next issue, an analysis about those involved in Jovenel Mo\u00efse\u2019s propaganda campaign, for which a contract of $96,000.00 has been signed<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Cet article est publi\u00e9 par l\u2019hebdomadaire<strong> Ha\u00efti-Observateur (<\/strong>New York) <strong>VOL. L No. 50, <\/strong>\u00e9dition du 23 d\u00e9cembre 2020<strong>, <\/strong>et se trouve en<strong> P. 1, 7 \u00e0\u00a0: <\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/H-O-23december-2020.pdf\">http:\/\/haiti-observateur.info\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/H-O-23december-2020.pdf<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An international publicity campaign to counteract opposition to a \u201cone-man rule\u201d in Haiti HAPPENNINGS! By Raymond Alcide Joseph Will the international campaign started on December 10 through the Washington Times, in a story signed by Haitian President Jovenel Mo\u00efse, accomplish the desired effect of getting Haiti\u2019s Western allies on board, as he expands his \u201cone-man rule\u201d in Haiti ? The opinion piece in the junior Washington, D.C., publication, translated in French under the byline of a certain Pierre-Michel Jean\/AFP, appeared last Friday, December 18, in the right wing weekly French&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,20,1,36],"tags":[3981,2417,601,710,1007,1113,2936],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4992"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4992"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5028,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4992\/revisions\/5028"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}