On the Situation Facing the Heroic Haitian People -
Interview, Frantz André, Solidarité
Québec-Haiti - 
Cuban medical team
provides assistance in Corail, Haiti August 24,
2021, following the earthquake. The
Marxist-Leninist: Frantz, our deepest condolences
to the Haitian people for the terrible loss of life, injuries and
material devastation caused by the August 14 earthquake. Frantz
André: Thank you very much, from all of
us. TML: How
do you assess the situation that the Haitian people are facing in the
wake of the earthquake and the recent political developments?
FA: The recent
assassination of Jovenel Moïse was already a political
earthquake for Haitians. There have been what we could call seismic
aftershocks, including the prime minister basically assuming the
functions of president even though theoretically, on the day of Jovenel
Moïse's assassination, he was no longer prime minister. We
already had a dysfunctional government. We already had problems of
insecurity that were far from improving. The
assassination was also like a social earthquake. Once again Haitians
were like hostages when we saw that the person in the country who
should have been the best protected, the president, could be
assassinated in this way. This amplified the political earthquake and
the seismic aftershocks. Insecurity increased. The dysfunction of the
state increased. Even with all the expectations and the promises that
were made that authorities would quickly find out who was behind the
assassination, Haitians got the message loud and clear that nothing has
changed and that the corruption and insecurity for the people remain.
This is despite the fact that opposition and civil society groups came
together in a coalition based on a consensus that there should not be
elections in such circumstances and that there needed to be a period to
prepare elections that would be honest, democratic and legitimate.
And then the earthquake of August 14 happened. In
our opinion, this is one more reason why there should not be elections
at this time. The fact that the Core Group is insisting on holding
elections now, elections which are scheduled for November, shows its
lack of good will. It shows its insensitivity to the suffering of
Haitians. What happened on August 14 could not have
happened at a worse time. We know that Haiti is sitting on different
seismic faults that move regularly and this is not the first time that
Haiti has been hit by an earthquake. There have been several.
Port-au-Prince was destroyed twice before independence. We knew that we
might eventually relive the earthquake of 2010 but it is even worse in
these conditions, conditions of total chaos and with violent gangs
operating in the country. It is hard to imagine how
Haitians can cope with these natural disasters, on top of the disasters
imposed by imperialism and neo-colonialism. The situation now is fueled
by insecurity that forces us to consider the possibility of another
U.S. or UN occupation. Already, a few days after the earthquake, 7,000
U.S. Marines were dispatched to the country. Our
pain is very great. I myself have relatives in
Jérémie. The cities which were the most affected
by the earthquake are Jérémie and Les Cayes, and
I have relatives in this region. There are more than 2,000 dead and
more than 12,000 injured in this region where the hospitals, in many
cases, cannot treat them. The hospitals don't have enough health care
personnel, including doctors. People are being brought to hospitals but
that does not mean they will be treated. Fortunately we have Cuban
doctors present who offer voluntary services to the population.
In this situation, the question that arises is whether the
same mistakes will be made as were made in 2010, when, following the
earthquake, the millions if not billions of dollars that were donated
for reconstruction were squandered, mainly by NGOs (Non-Governmental
Organizations), including the Red Cross. Haiti became the NGO capital
of the world. Every NGO imaginable came and collected millions of
dollars for reconstruction. Our hope is that this will not be repeated.
The Red Cross is the organization that the Canadian government
and a crisis committee formed in Montreal are supporting as the first
responder in the emergency, along with Doctors of the World and Doctors
Without Borders. In the early days of the
earthquake, countries including Cuba, Venezuela and the Dominican
Republic came to Haiti's aid. They sent basic supplies, tents, sleeping
bags and other items. We have not really seen that the Haitian
government, the Haitian state, has a clear plan for managing this
crisis. The state is not properly managing the distribution of
products. There must be an equal and direct distribution to Haitians.
This problem is a feature of the dysfunction of the state. There should
be centralization of the management of the crisis, both in terms of
receiving the aid that is sent to Haiti, whether it is money or goods,
and in terms of its distribution. What I hear from people on the ground
is that they do not feel that there is coordination, a plan for
managing the crisis by the Haitian state. 
Venezuela sends aid to
Haiti, August 15, 2021, following the earthquake.
This
is a direct consequence of what has happened since the assassination of
Jovenel Moïse on July 7, but the problem existed long before
that. I would say that at least since 2010, following the earthquake,
the Haitian state has never really put in place a plan or an earthquake
recovery program to ensure that there is not a repetition of what
happened then. Nothing was done by the government of Michel Martelly
who should have learned from the situation and put earthquake
management structures in place. The experience following the earthquake
in 2010 was repeated in 2016 with Hurricane Matthew which also caused
massive destruction in the south. Then again the state was completely
dysfunctional. TML:
What work is Solidarité Québec-Haïti
doing to organize aid for the Haitian people? FA:
Solidarité Québec-Haïti and other groups
in the diaspora are working with groups that are on the ground in Haiti
and have proven that they are organized and efficient and have
integrity. They have built hospitals, schools, irrigation systems, and
they are doing permaculture. These are organized civil society groups
that we would like to focus on in terms of diaspora aid. Here
in Montreal, there are also between 26 and 40 different regional
associations representing different localities including Les Cayes and
Jérémie. In some cases they have been fundraising
for over 40 years and take their contributions directly to the regions
that need them and make sure the resources are used in the local areas
where they are needed. In 2016, in response to
Hurricane Matthew, these associations came together as Groupe
inter-régional de soutien en réponse aux
organisations municipales d'Haïti (GISROMH). The level of
activity of each association in the group has differed but the group
itself was quite active from 2016 to 2019. Since then there has not
been any continuity. Each individual association has organized their
own activities. We want to restart GISROMH because the need that was
identified in 2016 to get aid to Haitians directly is as valid as ever.
We're talking about the medium- and long-term here. In
the short-term, we support the initiative of the crisis committee that
was formed in Montreal. We have confidence in both Doctors of the World
and Doctors Without Borders, but we do not have confidence in the Red
Cross because of what it did in 2010. In terms of
Canada, which claims to be a friend of Haitians and a friend of Haiti,
we are asking the Canadian government to set up a family reunification
program like the one that was in place between 2004 and 2014. That
program was put in place following the kidnapping of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. There was a lot of violence in the aftermath of
that event and people who had family here were allowed to come and join
them. Today, in Canada there are many asylum seekers from Haiti who
have been approved, who are considered protected persons. The vast
majority have family members in Haiti that they want to bring here,
whose names they have already given and are on file, which means that
when they obtain their permanent resident status they will be able to
bring them here. We are asking that instead of forcing people to go
through this very cumbersome bureaucracy, the government should
expedite family reunification as they did between 2004 and 2014.
We also want Canada to withdraw from the Core Group. Canada is
part of the problem. Canada for years has supported puppet governments.
The Core Group has chosen presidents who have not produced results for
the Haitian people, and who are ensuring that what is happening in
Haiti will continue. Canada must withdraw from the Core Group and the
Core Group must let the Haitians solve their own problems. TML:
Is there anything you want to say in conclusion?
FA: I want to thank the
people of Quebec and Canada who are sensitive to what has happened in
Haiti. We have values of solidarity well anchored in the DNA of
Quebeckers and Canadians. Unfortunately, it is the government that is
not living up to these values. I thank the people
of Quebec and Canada and I call on them to put pressure on the
government to respect our values, which they are supposed to represent,
expedite family reunifications and withdraw from the Core Group.
This article was published in
Volume 51 Number 9 - September 5, 2021
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2021/Articles/M5100915.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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