Urgent Information on the Current Situation in Haiti:
Direct Testimony from the Streets of Haiti Obtained by HLLN
by Ezili Danto
It pains me to give voice to what I'm hearing.
- The Alternative if Sham Elections Not Anulled: "It pains me to give voice to what I'm hearing - The alternative if
the fraudulent elections in Haiti are not annulled. Revolution has been
reduced to "anything is better than Preval." The US and its
international partners pay for the conflict and now they are on their
way to 'restore order' as Haitians continue to die." - Ezili Dantò of HLLN
For
years I've given voice to the voiceless in Haiti. And generally I've
understood and sympathized with the message. Today it hurts me to give
voice to what I am hearing. There's just hopelessness, despair or maybe
it's my Western programming that can't take this.
But even though it
hurts, I'm writing it, the street view, right now in Port-au-Prince.
This is what I just said in an interview and wrote in a comment. I
reiterated HLLN's
Haiti message to US Embassy in Haiti: The Will of the People
. How they're tripping over lying tongue about "the will of the people"
and then detailed the street view, the Haiti ground echoes I spoke with
this morning. I'm not sure I see principles, goals and I may not have
the capacity to see whether this spontaneous "coalition?" will have
sufficient organization to sustain itself, and perhaps listen to more
deliberate heads in order to minimize the cost to our people --without
sacrificing principles to Martelly ("
Switch Micky")'s personal objectives. Don't know enough, don't have a crystal ball, to hazard an educated guess.
What
I can say is that neither Martelly nor Manigat, I'm told, have any
parliamentary back up to sustain an effective presidency. So, how will
either rule without their own Senators and Deputies? But with a Preval's
INITE parliament? Haiti heads are reeling from all the inhuman
treatment that's swell into this cacophony of sound and feelings. The
Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission (IHRC) with Clinton and the NOAH
click, some say, are perhaps pushing US-favorite, Mr. Guy Theodore, to
fill in. There's lots of finger pointing at what's left of community
leadership. Seems to me, the Haiti leadership vacuum has never been more
profound.
THE ALTERNATIVE : THE STREET VIEW
Let it burn.
It's been a long time coming.
It's too late.
Too many Haitians have died.
Haiti has been made into a haven for the internationals and a burning hell
for the masses since 2004. Those left have died a thousand deaths and they're ready to make it real.
There will be no calm.
The earth is dying, ground is burning.
U.S. and internationals wouldn't listen, were drunk with their power.
By the time Haiti is finished, there is every likelihood, the UN will have
suffered such a fatal blow, with importation of cholera and it's proxy
slaughter
of the people on behalf of the US elite that maybe, these past deaths,
these Haitian deaths to come, will help save the planet.
Change things in
Rwanda,
Congo,
all over Africa and the planet for the poor and powerless.
Even the comfortable US masses are paying attention to this noble and courageous people in little Haiti.
Some Haitians are saying that the Martelly card
came out of nowhere and
took the arrogant international community by surprise.
Haitian analysts are saying the Internationals didn't see this coming.
That this is not the Lavalas Movement they've already marginalized and demonize.
No.
This is SOMETHING ELSE
and it's not controllable.
This is all the years of Haiti resentment,
all the frustrations of total marginalization
and people disenfranchisement
the US Embassy,
UN, Haiti puppet government
and the 16,000 charity organizations, collecting funds on their misery
have strummed up.
This is young
and not so vested in the system to be co-opted as per usual.
Unlike President Aristide, who was always calm no matter the crisis
imposed by the US/Euros,
the STREETS animate Martelly at this moment.
Whatever his original intentions, events may have overtaken him.
Unlike Aristide, he's got no diplomatic words up his sleeve.
This is the STREET speaking.
And they don't give a "F" as someone just said to me.
Don't care about no law to confuse them
that's not applied to the rich, the Haiti Oligarchy, to the US Embassy.
Haitian analysts say that if the run-off
goes between Manigat and Martelly.
No doubt Martelly will win.
And Martelly's followers have
no diplomacy,
no calm words,
they've got a soundtrack,
"we don't need no UN cholera water let the mfker burn burn mfker burn!"
Martelly has street back up.
If only Celestin and Manigat go to the run off, Haiti will burn.
There won't be a place for any foreigners unless they nuke Haiti off
planet earth.
Or, send in the Marines and start firing drone missile into civilian crowds
like in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The over-taxed US public may not go for it.
The US might-make-right people are stuck, some say.
Never saw this coming.
By the time this is over, they'll wish Bush, Jr had left the priest to rule.
Ezili Dantò of HLLN
December 9, 2010
**********
UPDATE on: Dec. 9, 2010
FROM A TOTALLY BLOCKED PORT-AU-PRINCE
Burning tires, road blocks, American Airlines has canceled all flights in and out:
An SOS for help to the press and doctors from wounded Sweet Mickey partisans sent to HLLN.
SOS received this afternoon at 2:43, Dec. 9, 2010 via email.
Apparently,
in the streets of Port-au-Prince right now , in order to past, you must
be wearing a Sweet Micky T-Shirt. Certain elements are putting on Sweet
Mickey T-Shirts in order to kill his partisans and scatter their
protests. HLLN on the ground confirms this. So this SOS makes sense.
Here's the SOS, in French original:
"Des
partisans inites portent des maillots de micky...Ils battent et tirent
sur les vrais partisans de micky Des armes et. De l'argent sont
distribues now au stade sylviocator Des blesses et morts (partisans
micky) victime d'inites sont abandonnes a l'hopital general. Il n'y a
pas de medecin. Faire passer a la presse pr qu'on fasse appel a medecin
sans frontiere pr qu'aille a leur aide. C'est une information sure."
*
English translation:
"INITE
supporters are wearing Sweet Micky T-Shirts" They are beating and
shooting the real supporters of Micky. And are armed and. Money is being
distributed now at the Sylvio Cator stadium. The wounded and dead
(Micky supporters), victims of insider dealing, have been abandoned at
the (State-run) general hospital. There is no doctor. Get this news out
to the press. We must call on Doctors Without Borders to come to their
aid. This information is sure."
*******************
Ezili Dantò of HLLN, December 10, 2010:
Urgent information on the current situation in Haiti: Direct testimony from the streets of Haiti obtained by HLLN
The
world is being purposely misinformed and mis-educated about the current
election disaster in Haiti. Yesterday the Haiti electoral council said
they would do a recount. It's clear from reading the latest State
Department Bulletin Op-ed, published in the New York Times,
that the US and its international partners set up this Haiti explosion
and will come in with military boots to put back order, as per usual! No
change. Two wings of the macoutes will go to a run-off on
January 16: Martelly and Magnigat. It's very simple, not so complex but
it's up to those who can see to guide and educate. To that end, we
publish the following testimonies. The irony is that even the folks
being manipulated don't know they are being manipulated. Many of the
starving and desperate young Haiti men, in the streets of Haiti, right
now, asking that Martelly be made president as a result of an exclusive,
blatantly fraudulent, not fair, not free election, believe that would
be CHANGE! and REVOLUTION! Right now the long-suffering neocolonial
subjects getting the most press from Haiti are those who have reduced
revolution in Haiti to: "anything is better than Preval or Celestin."
HLLN
was told last night there is a US warship at the Port au Prince harbor
since Tuesday, December 7, the day the 's'election results were
announced. We've also been apprised that there are "cholera drops" -
some think its not cholera medical air drops, but US military. That info
is not confirmed. Yesterday we got an SOS asking for help for wounded
Martelly supporters who we were told were being denied medical help at
the General hospital. We circulated that SOS. This additional report on
the incident came to HLLN today, Dec. 10, 2010, via email from an HLLN
collaborator.
Events in Haiti on December 9, 2010 on the Champ de Mars, according to a trusted source:
"You
know that we had the election on November 28th. It was a mess that day
in some polling centers in and outside Port-au-Prince. In some
neighborhoods close to Cite Soleil or in Tabarre the process for vote
for some of them did not start and for others they were forced to stop
for many reasons: people got upset because they did not find their name
on the list sticks on the wall outside of the vote centers or people
went inside with gun to intimidate the persons working inside and for
several other reasons. In the countryside it was even worst.
So
everyone was waiting for the results on December 7th. Early in the
afternoon people was rushed to go back home as the Electoral Council
announced the results for 6:30 pm. I was in Petion Ville and I have seen
people running on the streets because close to the big street market
(not too far from where you stayed the first time), they were throwing
stones and bottles and even burning tires at some corners. So it was
panic. This day after 5 o'clock the streets were completely empty. I
left Petion Ville by 7 pm and I've met only policemen who were blocking
the area where the Council was about to deliver the results.
Around
8:30pm the results were out and people did not take too much time to
react. Very fast many streets in PAP were blocked with everything they
could find (big stones, tires, bricks, pieces of wood, pipes made in
cement for drainage, cars, big garbage dump...) That night they even
broke some stores in Petion Ville. I was not at home and I had to wait 1
am to drive back home when those people went to sleep.
Since
then everything is closed in Haiti (Schools, businesses, stores even no
vendors on the streets) Supporters of Martelly are demonstrating with
big posters everywhere. Some groups are calm but others are very
violent. Today, they even assaulted a young female journalist who was
working on a motorbike with a driver.
(This is what) happened on
the Champ de Mars. I was not in PA, I was in Carrefour when I heard
about it. Some people wearing Celestin's t shirt were demonstrating on
the Champs de Mars by 1 pm. (wearing Celestin's t-shirt don't mean
anything to me cause anyone can do it, anyone who wants an explosion in
Haiti - it could be Celestin or anyone else) So they were around 50
according to witnesses. They had a car and a few motorbikes with them.
As they were singing, dancing and walking on the streets some people on
the champs de Mars started to yell "Micky, Micky" (Martelly's artist
name) and one of the bikers got a bottle on his head. So he stopped his
motorbyke and walked towards those people. He took his gun and shooted
people just like , from one block of LePlaza and two blocks from the
main police station of PAP. They talked about three to five people were
killed and many injured. The closes health care facilities is the
General Hospital. Dr Alix Lassegue ( who you met ) talked on radio to
say that the hospital can still provide health to people sick or people
injured, of course everything is not ok as usual because of the
situation of the street but he needed help this afternoon because the X
Ray lab is not working and the people injured needed X Ray in emergency.
Many
things are happening now. Rumors say that the Senator Lambert went to
Cite Soleil today (December 10, 2010) and made big distribution of guns
and bullets and very soon people from Cite soleil will come to PAP to
face supporters of Martelly. That's the reasons why I left Carrefour
fast because people were afraid and they were blocking again all the
streets to avoid confrontation. So we don't know what tomorrow will
bring to us.
For two days now I've heard that two war battleships
from the States are in the Bay but I do not have any confirmation of
this. What I know is that on Wednesday afternoon Preval had problem at
his home. The protesters were in front of his house and he felt unsafe.
The house was under siege and he had to ask the Minustah to come and
help him move from his house.
A new day just started, we don't
know how it will be. Our very fragile Economy does not allow us to lose
many days. Many vendors from the marginal sector live day by day and
they are certainly suffering from this situation. In the country
actually many clinics, hospitals, CTCs, UTCs have no more medical
supplies. It is obvious that we will have a pic of death of cholera
during those days. I am working with an orphanage in Jacmel and the
person in charge called me this morning to tell me that five kids (4
boys and 1 girl) died yesterday because of cholera. She needs to come to
PAP to get supplies but the highway is blocked. So what will be the end
of this, only God knows."
END OF REPORT
*******************
December 10, 2010 email to HLLN:
Ezili Dantò's Note:
This
next info came to HLLN via a Martelly supporters who is in Haiti and
apparently was part of those involved in the events at the Champs Mars
described above:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: A Martelly supporter
Date: Fri, Dec 10, 2010 at 1:51 PM
Hi,
I'm currently in hiding as the government puts a bounty on my head. I
barely escaped an attempt last night. I lost three soldiers in the
battle. I can't leave my house. I'm forced to use my phone periodically
as I have no energy in the house.
My people are mobilized and is
ready to charge. We are keeping the whole country under siege until we
get the real results. It is certified that martelly won. The president
and his acolytes are avoiding judgment after they leave power. We will
arrest and judge them for genocide, waste and abuse.
In some areas, it has been 72 hours since the combatants have eaten something.
Impossible
to cross towns as the power in place has distributed guns to kill the
population that has taken the streets. The UN is fighting us and the
bandits of the government are doing the same.
We won't back down. Change is what we chose on election day. Change is what must come.
I
don't know how long this will last but we are used to worse. Only the
hospitals are operating. We closed the airports and the roads are
blocked. Nothing else is open.
Please see how you can assist by
adding minutes on my phone. I can then transfer some to the soldiers so
that I keep the line of communications open during this fight. I think
the grocery stores have a machine that does that.
Keep us in your prayers. This is revolution. When I get to leave, I do post some photos on my facebook
One love!