What Election?

Thanks again for your prayers.  It turned out to be a terrible election, but not because people were killed, but because the voice of the people was not heard.  Yesterday morning, it seemed like we had more people in our church for first service than there were on the streets of Port-au-Prince all day.  People were either too scared or generally uninterested in this election to go out and vote.  A pre-election survey conducted recently revealed that less than 5% of the voting population was prepared to go vote, and my guess is that less than 5% actually followed through.  I guess, if people actually went out to vote things might have gotten bad… unless these were just empty threats in the first place, aimed at silencing the REAL voice of the Haitian people.

Another thing that I did not fully understand was that all public transportation was stopped yesterday.  I was told that, in the past, criminals would use taxis and tap-taps in election day crimes.  I can understand the need to get greater control over the streets on this day, but how is the common person supposed to go vote without a car?  If civilian operated public transportation had to be stopped, why weren’t state-sponsored voting buses provided to transport Joe Schmo to the polls?  If the state wanted a real election, they should have taken this as their duty.

But maybe they don’t really want Joe Schmo to go to the polls…  I don’t know about Joe, but If I found out that I would be walking more than 15 minutes just to go vote, I would be a little adverse to the idea, especially when I hear that there may be men on the streets with machetes ready to take my lid off and mail my body to the address written on my foot.  So, Joe stayed home yesterday, and I don’t blame him.  While he sat at home listening to the radio with his family, a select few, perhaps the ones who were in charge of the negative propaganda, hopped into their heavily tinted cars and went out to choose “our” leaders.

I would propose a simple solution: a quorum in which no election can be counted if less than 50% (at least) of the voting population is represented, but of course the problem there could be that we may never again have a valid election…  Someone out there clearly knows how to keep people at home.  If things aren’t going their way prior to the election, there are people who would rather stop the election altogether by using the same threats that were used in this election.

There were two notable incidents yesterday, one of which led to the cancellation of the elections in Plateau Central, and another that made me laugh.  In a certain district in the Department of Artibonite, a Christian candidate was favored to win.  In an attempt to turn the tide, representatives of two other candidates went out to try to shut people in in their churches.  Before they got very far, the people of one church revolted saying “Today we’re not gathered to discuss church business.  Today is election day and you’re not gonna stop us.”  A fight broke out which ended after fire was set to cars of these men cars, sending them home on foot, defeated. The people got their victory and went out and let their voices be heard.  I don’t usually promote violence, but in this case, the rules had changed.  They made the right choice to do all that they could to stop these criminals from choosing for them.  If they didn’t stand, no one would have stood for them.

Stay posted in the coming days…  Results day can sometimes be just as bad as election day.

Tension is Mounting

Driving home from the airport last night in Port-au-Prince, I saw more police officers than I thought existed in Haiti. I saw all types of troops, even some in heavy black armor. They are all over the streets, anticipating something big.  Senatorial elections are this Sunday… and it’s not looking good.

A little over a month ago all 16 of the senatorial candidates from the Lavalas party were eliminated from the race.  The reasons for their exclusion are a bit confusing, and some claim that the reasons are sketchy and invalid.  I don’t know enough to choose a party, but even as a non-supporter I would say that was a horrible move to exclude Lavalas from the race.  It was a horrible move even if there was reason for them to be excluded.  First, they are the most popular party.  Second, some say they are the most forceful and most prone to violence.  Five years later, they are still vying for the return of their exiled leader, former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and there were times during these years that our government was fearful of them.  To go further and “exile” all of their Senatorial candidates is a political slap in the face.  Some suspect that someone actually wants to prod Lavalas and incite them to violence.  Some even suspect that someone wants to anger the Lavalas party and then do violence themselves while hiding behind their name.  Some even think that these are empty threats intended to rile up every criminal in the country and give them an excuse to take the streets.  Why?  No one could really tell you…  There are lots of dirty hands at play…

In Haiti, all of these things are possible.  There are many things going on behind the curtains, but all that we, the people, know is that someone has been anonymously distributing propaganda saying to anyone who goes out on Sunday, whether or not they are voting, their blood is on their own hands.  They have been threatening people with decapitation saying to write their names and phone numbers on their feet if they feel bold enough to go out, so that their families can identify them.  There have been many more threats and I sincerely believe that without divine intervention Sunday will be a very bloody day.  Please pray for Haiti.  It is more urgent than ever.

Please forward this blog to everyone who knows how to pray…  As for me, if something happens and I lose communication, do know that I have more than one safe place to go.  Furthermore… I’m supposed to be here… so I can’t die…. like my dad after all he’s been through in 39 years of ministry.  So don’t be anxious for me, just pray.

Scary Emotions

A couple days ago, I had some very disturbing emotions.  I started to feel grateful for (what I thought was) a team of Nepalese U.N. officers.  They came with us to the Boys Home to do a cost assessment for putting in water lines down the street and into the home.  They made some other assessments (repairs for the house, electricity, etc.), drew floor plans, everything.  As I watched them, I had to admit that I was impressed by their diligence and work ethic… but at the same time, I was disappointed because I had already made my stance on the U.N. forces.  Was I going to have to change my opinion?

Then came my lifesaver:  It was a case of mistaken identity.  These men were not U.N. Peacekeeping Soldiers.  They were among many engineers and professionals contracted by the U.N. to do all of the useful work that the U.N. does.  U.N. contracted engineers are the ones that put in emergency roads and bridges when half of the country was flooded.  This was also very impressive work.  They are not the same ones I see hanging out on the streets, guns improperly dangling on their backs as they harass Haitian women in broken English and chicken-pecked Creole.  All three were multilingual, at least one was at least trilingual, and between the three of them, they fluently spoke English, Creole, French, and Nepalese.  Far ahead of your average U.N. Squad.  Since the average professional contracted by the U.N. also complains of the U.N. Peace Force’s inefficiency, I liked them even more because we probably agreed on many things.  I know that’s shallow, but that’s often how we humans make friends.  Take a social psychology class.  Contracted engineers are often embarrassed of the blue uniform that they are “forced” to wear.

I recently sat and discussed the issue of the presence of the U.N. forces in Haiti with a few co-workers.  There were some positive points that they made that I am not afraid to acknowledge.  For one, it is very possible that their mere presence, regardless of efficiency, has prevented a great deal of rioting and political turmoil.  My rebuttal is that even if this is true, it gives rise to another problem.  The problem is if we need the U.N. for this security now, we may need them forever.  Why?  Because there seems to be no plan (or at least little progress) to transition into maintaining our own security.  If the mere presence of the U.N. Forces can create security, why not a well disciplined, well-trained Haitian military or expanded police force?  I’ve mentioned before that the average U.N. Soldier makes more than 10x as much as a Haitian police officer.  I imagine that if we could multiply our police force by 10x the amount of Peacekeepers in the land, we would be well on our way to maintaining our own security.

They say that Haiti cannot handle having a military.  They have a tarnished history.  If what I read in the news is true, the history of the U.N. Forces is not much cleaner than ours.  Our soldiers have abused our own people in the past, but so have theirs.  Sexually, physically, economically… Maybe Haiti isn’t ready for them to withdraw right away, but why don’t we start moving toward independence.  We declared independence more than 200 years ago, but we have never really had it.  Ever.  Ugghhh… I don’t feel like getting into it right now.  I may post more about the economic and miltary occupations of Haiti on another date, but for more on the U.N., just search “peacekeepers” in the search box to the right to find a few of comments from the past few years of the forces in Haiti.  My blood still boils when I see the blue helmets, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more people like my new Nepalese friends.

Okay, I Repent

I meant to do this publicly, looong ago (early August).  In a few former posts I have been very critical of our president (Rene Preval) and some of his staff.  In August of 2008, my father, along with a group of 8 or so other pastors, had a few opportunities to meet with President Preval, and after these meetings both of us were very impressed by his humility and his genuine desire to serve the country.  First, when he received them into his personal living room, he sat them down and personally served everyone drinks.  Dad commended him saying that not even most pastors would do that in Haiti, even though Jesus set the example.  (President Preval probably wouldn’t know this since he is not a Christian).  Apparently, this is Mr. Preval’s usual custom, not something that he was doing to impress his new guests.

They met only to discuss the issue of the empty seat for the Prime Minister (now filled by Mme. Michelle Pierre-Louis), but some other past issues came up as President Preval explained the way that he makes decisions.  We saw that he had good reasoning for several controversial decisions that he has made in recent past (i.e. dropping the gas subsidy).  In general, it seemed that he has good intentions, but the problem is that he works with politicians… and only a handful actually intend to serve (perhaps I am being to critical again of people I’ve never met? I don’t know).

In Preval’s own words, his meetings with the pastors were like “a breath of fresh air.”  He said that he felt rejuvenated after their meetings and he felt a rare sense of assurance that things something was actually about to be accomplished.  He made further plans to work with them in the domains of education, environment, and social service.  Until now, the government has only worked extensively with the Catholic Church although more than 40% of the nation self-Identifies as Protestant, but President Preval vowed to change that.  So far he has been making moves to make good on his promise.  (Note: the reason why the protestant church is not involved in government is mostly our own fault.  I hope to explain this in a later post.  If you are curious and you never see it, feel free to ask).

So, Mr. President, I publicly apologize for my unjust and uninformed judgments of your character.  Readers, from this day forward you may hear my opinion about various political issues, but I will only criticize what I am well-informed about.  Leadership is hard.  We really have no idea what goes on behind decisions.  We have no idea who the people are who make these decisions.  Since I aspire to work in Government (hopefully this year) maybe I will be better informed soon.  I also intend to do a lot of research on Haiti during this period, because I realize that I have a lot of opinions that are based on what I have been told, not what I have seen in historical and factual documents.  I will go to get my library card for the National Library soon.  I want to be informed in my opinions, especially in the political realm.

I encourage you to do the same.  I know that President Bush may be unpopular at the moment, and has probably made his share of mistakes or more, but we really have no idea what our leaders go through day to day.  We don’t know how much information we are missing when we calculate our opinions and make our “If I was president” statements.  If we only knew that President Preval was only looking for that “breath of fresh air” to help him to actually accomplish what he has had in mind for awhile, we would have sent our pastors in long ago.  Educate yourself, then you can talk.  We all know that there is nothing worse than hearing someone talk confidently about something they clearly have no idea about.

This does not mean that I fully support President Preval and every decision that he makes.  I still have a lot to learn about him and about Haitian politics before I can really start taking a political stand.  I still believe that there are things that Mr. Preval could have done differently.  I can think of some personal wrongs that he personally did to someone I am very close to during his first presidency, but I’m willing to look past that.  So is my friend.  All this declaration means is that I will do all that I can to refrain from making judgments on character and criticisms of decisions that I am uninformed about.  However, I still intend to criticize the U.N. “Peacekeeping” Forces if the opportunity arises.  I have seen firsthand, and everyone on earth knows that they serve less than zero purpose.  Everywhere they are, they seem to do more harm than good.  You’ll probably hear about them from me until they pack up and go home.  I hope you aren’t tired of it already.

In The News: Peacekeepers Stone Haitian Police

Yeah… u read that right. Two Haitian police officers are in the Hospital in critical condition after being severely beaten by the notorious Peacekeeper Gang. According to the allegations these officers were beaten with large stones. I don’t know the rest of the story, but isn’t this enough to send some more people home? Really… how can you promote order in a place where you yourself fail to respect the local authority? It isn’t clear whether the police officers did anything to provoke the fight, but to me it doesn’t matter if the Police did anything provocative. They could have been the most corrupt officials on the streets for all I care. There is no excuse for this kind of treatment for anyone, especially an officer of the state.

Mr. Ban Ki-Moon… get your boys out before they cause more damage to our fragile state.

They’ve Done it Again

n case it didn’t make it into your Newsfilter, I mean Newspaper (it didn’t make it, i already checked NY Times Headlines):

Today, 110 (one hundred ten) U.N. Soldiers were sent home on counts of sexual misconduct with minors. It’s about time they fight some sort of corruption (from within). The first sad fact is that they caught 110. Thats a big enough number to say “Get the Hell out!” The worst sad fact is that this is only the number of soldiers that were caught and tried. There’s always those 487 that manage to get away… especially in a country with a broken down law-enforcement system (which they ain’t helping, by the way). Might I mention, once again, a good friend of mine who was molested at gunpoint in a busy street? That soldier stayed around for awhile. Heck, the whole post was guilty that night but they were all back the next night.

Human Rights have asked for these men to be tried as criminals in their home countries. Well duh… what else are they? Heros? This is the worst crime possible. You are sent to a country to help stop corruption, but instead you take advantage of corrupt systems, encourage prostitution, take advantage of children, and rape women. Criminal is an understatement. Haitians in the U.S., my American friends, those of you who have more freedom to act than we do, start saying something.

More Haitian Poli-Ticks – Part B

Three blogs ago I made mention of a suspicious amount of Haitian businessmen being arrested with vague charges. As they sit in jail waiting for trials that are yet to be scheduled, their businesses are suffering.

I also made mention of a suspicion that foreign business men are coming to replace them. Well, this morning I heard on the news that they have arrived. Someone was quoted saying that “[they] are doing all that they can to make a way for profitable businesses to come to Haiti.” Hey, I’m all for profitable business, but how about giving the HAITIANS first dibs? Hmmm… that might sound like a good idea. Maybe in doing this you might also get rid of that annoying green stain in your pockets too.

One day we’ll elect some real Haitians in government.

In other news… things have been rather peaceful for awhile as far as kidnapping goes, but suddenly we have important people, like police chiefs, getting shot up. Apparently it happens every time the MUNISTAH mandate is about to run out. When they make their report in October to determine whether or not they should stay, it will once again look like “great progress has been made, but there is still a clear need for our presence.” Bull. It was false for the past 4 years, don’t even try it this year. If you think about who profits from the U.N. presence, you might be able to piece together the truth.

wow… i’m sounding like a conspiracy theorist… i gotta quit.