{"id":10961,"date":"2023-10-04T23:27:50","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T03:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/?p=10961"},"modified":"2023-10-04T23:27:50","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T03:27:50","slug":"an-analysis-the-fallout-from-a-self-manufactured-crisis-by-raymond-a-joseph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/?p=10961","title":{"rendered":"AN ANALYSIS The fallout from a self-manufactured crisis By Raymond A. Joseph"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>4 October 2023\u2014HAPPENINGS!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>AN ANALYSIS<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The fallout from a self-manufactured crisis<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>By Raymond A. Joseph<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">A deepening crisis is buffeting Haiti and the Dominican Republic since September 15, when Luis Abinader, the Dominican president, ordered the closing of the border between the two nations sharing sovereignty of the second largest island in the Caribbean, second only to Cuba. He also banned air and sea traffic between the two countries moved troops to the border, and stopped providing visas to Haitians, while vowing that nothing will be rectified until his will is done.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As reported, this was Mr. Abinader\u2019s reaction to the construction of a canal on the Haitian side of the border to tap water from the infamous Massacre River that serves as border between the two countries in northeastern Haiti, for 4.35 miles of its run of 34.175, before flowing into the Atlantic Sea at the Manzanillo Bay. The fact that the river originates in the northern side of the mountain range of the Cordillera Central, some Dominicans, apparently President Abinader among them, consider that the river is theirs. I understand that, to counteract the work of the Haitians, Mr. Abinader would be planning to deviate the flow of water at a level higher than Ouanaminthe where the Haitian canal is being built. But he may run out of time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Forget that a 1929 treaty, signed by the two nations, acknowledges that both countries are entitled to use water from the river for their needs. Over the years, the Dominicans have greatly exercised their prerogatives, building 11 canals on their side of the river, tapping water for agricultural purposes and whatnot. But the one canal that Haitian President Jovenel Mo\u00efse had initiated sometime in early 2021, has caused frictions to still linger, affecting the future of both countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As reported, in June 2021, President Abinader had asked the government to stop construction of the canal. Did President Mo\u00efse acquiesce to his demands? Apparently not, because it\u2019s being said that his action may have angered the Dominican president, who also contributed money for his assassination. To be recalled, the former Colombian soldiers involved in the assassination of President Mo\u00efse had arrived in Haiti after they had stopped in the Dominican Republic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">To be noted also is a story in Haiti Libre, on March 14, 2022, in which Claude Joseph, the former Foreign Minister and interim Prime Minister for 13 days, after Mo\u00efse\u2019s assassination, is quoted as having posted the following on his Tweeter account: \u201c<em>It is regrettable to note that the works for the construction of an irrigation intake on the Massacre River have been abandoned. This deplorable situation is tangible proof that the project led by the oligarchs to erase the legacy of Pdt. Jovenel is continuing its course.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Of course, Claude Joseph was also throwing stones at Dr. Ariel Henry, the neurosurgeon-turned-Haitian supreme leader, thanks to the CORE Group of Western ambassadors in Port-au-Prince who named him to the post, on July 20, 2021, after Claude Joseph was pushed out. Certainly, work couldn\u2019t have stopped on the canal had he not agreed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>For lack of national leadership, local ingenuity steps in<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Now, more than two years later, the inhabitants of the Northeast, especially of the Ouanaminthe area, have taken matters into their hands, after the authorities in Port-au-Prince ignored their entreaties to renew work on the canal and come to the rescue of the farmers of Maribaroux, a vast plain in the northeast suffering from a dry spell. With their own funds and local protection, in late August or early September, they started work on the canal which had stopped after the assassination of President Mo\u00efse. That unleashed the rage of the Dominican president, who insists that no discussion is possible with the Haitian authorities on the matter until work stops on construction of the canal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Meanwhile, a commendable movement of solidarity among Haitians in and out of Haiti toward the citizens of the northeast knows no bounds, as they latch on a slogan of three letters heard all over: <strong>KPK (Kannal la Pap Kanpe<\/strong> in Creole.) (There\u2019s no stopping the work on the Canal.)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Unbelievably, all religious groups, without exception, have embraced the cause. So have Haitian artists in Haiti and abroad. Here in Brooklyn, from where I\u2019m writing, last Friday, September 29, Kenny Altidor, the former \u201cBrooklyn Ambassador at Borough Hall to the Haitian community\u201d initiated a meeting among some Haitian community leaders in support of those in the forefront in Haiti. I was amazed that despite reports that the New York area would be severely flooded by constant rain on Friday, and people were advised to stay indoors, more than 30 showed up at the press conference at the <em>Rishavena Hall<\/em>, on Flatbush Avenue to participate in the discussion entitled, <strong>\u201cThe Canal Must be Rebuilt.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The unpopularity of the Dominican President\u2019s actions<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">On the other hand, as we foresaw, the actions of the Dominican president represent a double-edged sword. Haitians, we wrote, won\u2019t be the only one to suffer from the crisis that he unleashed. The financial transactions between the two countries tell it all. For the 2022-year, Dominican exports to Haiti amounted to a whopping $1.02 billion, according to the Dominican Republic Investment Export and Investment Center, while imports from Haiti were a measly $11 million.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Understandably, Dominican merchants are getting uneasy about the situation. A demonstration on Monday, October 2<sup>nd<\/sup>, is quite revealing. According to Dominican Today, an English publication online, <em>\u201cSmall and medium-sized egg producers from various regions of the Dominican Republic [demonstrated] to draw attention to their alleged exclusion from government purchase programs intended to support poultry farmers affected by the border closure with Haiti.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It\u2019s reported that <em>\u201cthe producers brought 200,000 units of eggs to the Farmer\u2019s Monument in Moca, located on Ram\u00f3n C\u00e1ceres Avenue. They distributed the eggs to the public to prevent them from going to waste on their farms.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">This can\u2019t be a positive development for President Abinader, who\u2019s running for reelection in 2024. Consider the words of an <em>\u201cElvis Quezada, one of the organizers, [who] stated that their objective was to highlight the imminent financial hardship faced by egg producers, due to the ongoing border blockade with Haiti. They accused the government of favoring large businessmen affiliated with the current administration in the distribution of aid programs.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The words of a Dominican legislator regarding the Haiti crisis are more disturbing yet. On a video circulating on social media, a certain Hector Diaz, who is said to be a Congress person, tells some disturbing truths, when he admits that Dominicans need Haitians to do the hard work and should be \u201cexploited to make Dominican Republic richer.\u201d His frankness, though disheartening, deserves a hearing. For the sake of you, my readers, I have copied word for word, a Creole-speaking individual, whose name isn\u2019t given, who served as interpreter. Knowing Spanish, I made two or three corrections of my own. Here for your information is Mr. Diaz, speaking in Spanish:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>\u201cLet\u2019s stop the hypocrisy. The sugar cane we have here, the Dominicans won\u2019t be cutting it. We need the Haitians to cut sugar cane for us. Agriculture will fail without Haitians. So will the construction business, that is if Haitians are not around. We have a law 820 that forbids immigrants from working in the construction business, but no enterprise respects that law. Go to a construction site, you\u2019ll find three Dominicans as bosses, and 75 Haitians will be doing the work.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>Therefore, we must stop the hypocrisy because we need the Haitians here. We need them to develop the country. The Haitians aren\u2019t guilty of anything. They\u2019re a bunch of hard workers. Forgive me, if I say so, we must stop the hypocrisy.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Apparently, he was speaking to an audience, because someone interrupted him to say: \u201c<em>As for me, I totally agree with all you\u2019ve said.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And Mr. Diaz continues: <em>\u201c<strong>W<\/strong>e have this neighboring country, poor as it is, it\u2019s a blessing for us. And here, in the Dominican Republic, we should do what we must to exploit them, so that our country can become much richer. We can do just like the United States, which goes about exploiting all the countries they can. Now, acting as a powerful nation, we should exploit any country that we can. Let us exploit this gold mine of a country called Haiti, which happens to be next door. We shouldn\u2019t be foolish! It\u2019s business. Yes, it\u2019s a matter of plain business!\u201d <strong>(Courtesy Pati Info News).<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>For us Haitians, a wake-up call<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If Haitians needed a wake-up call to undertake the <strong><em>\u201cEconomic Revolution\u201d<\/em><\/strong> at home through <strong><em>\u201cNational Production<\/em><\/strong>,\u201d this is it. So, I am in full agreement with the movement KPK which, to me, is indicative of taking matters in our own hands to develop our country which, for too long, has been held down by those who resented, from the beginning, the effrontery of our forefathers in defeating the strong army of Napoleon Bonaparte, on November 18, 1803, at the Battle of Verti\u00e8res, to be first in breaking the chains of slavery and become the Beacon of Freedom, for all enslaved people. We cannot accept to go from being first, to now become last and be referred to by the moniker of <em>\u201cthe poorest country in the Western Hemisphere<\/em>\u201d and one of the poorest in the world! Let\u2019s be animated by our national slogan: <strong>\u201c<em>L\u2019Union fait la Force\u201d (In Unity there\u2019s Strength<\/em>)<\/strong>, as we, once again, write another page equaling, even surpassing the first one written more than 200 years ago!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>RAJ, at <em><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"mailto:raljo31@yahoo.com\">raljo31@yahoo.com<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-10961 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/?attachment_id=10967#main'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"226\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P1-226x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-10967\" srcset=\"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P1-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P1-773x1024.jpg 773w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P1-768x1018.jpg 768w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P1.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-10967'>\n\t\t\t\tP.1\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/?attachment_id=10963#main'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P4-224x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-10963\" srcset=\"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P4-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P4-766x1024.jpg 766w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P4-768x1027.jpg 768w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P4.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-10963'>\n\t\t\t\tP.4\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/?attachment_id=10965#main'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"224\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P5-224x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-10965\" srcset=\"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P5-224x300.jpg 224w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P5-765x1024.jpg 765w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P5-768x1027.jpg 768w, https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023P5.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 224px) 100vw, 224px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-10965'>\n\t\t\t\tP.5\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>cet article est publi\u00e9 par l\u2019hebdomadaire Ha\u00efti-Observateur, VOL. LIII, No. \u00c9dition sp\u00e9ciale Canada du 4 octobre 2023, et se trouve en P.1, 4, 5 \u00e0<\/strong> \u00a0: <a href=\"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/specialho4octobre2023Printweb.pdf\">specialho4octobre2023Printweb<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Ha\u00efti-Observateur<\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000; text-align: center;\">\u00a0\/\u00a0<\/span><strong>ISSN: 1043-3783<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>4 October 2023\u2014HAPPENINGS! AN ANALYSIS The fallout from a self-manufactured crisis By Raymond A. Joseph A deepening crisis is buffeting Haiti and the Dominican Republic since September 15, when Luis Abinader, the Dominican president, ordered the closing of the border&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10962,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,25,43,44],"tags":[4888,4892,4891,4890,1501,4893,2341,4889],"class_list":["post-10961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-anglais","category-haiti","category-raj","category-rdamerik","tag-courtesey","tag-diaz","tag-forbids","tag-forece","tag-haitian","tag-hypocrisy","tag-observateur","tag-union"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10961"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10961\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10969,"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10961\/revisions\/10969"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10962"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/haiti-observateur.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}