Haiti, to die for democracy

Rushed to hospital by a colleague, Dominique died at 7 and a half.
Visibly moved, the Haitian president Rene Preval, accompanied by his wife Guerda Préval and by the highest authorities of the country, he went to the hospital to present his condolences to the family and friends of the victim. Even former President Aristide and the staff of his party, Fanmi Lavalas (Lavalas Family), rushed to the hospital. Throughout the morning, many people crowded in front of the studios of Radio Haiti Inter, considered a vanguard of the democratic struggle in Haiti. In environments democratic and popular dismay was strong.
These are the facts of the time.
Radio Haiti Inter, founded in the 30s, has been at the forefront in the fight against the dictatorship of Duvalier, 1957-1986, so that was closed by the regime in 1980. Most journalists have been imprisoned and forced into exile , including its director, Jean Dominique. Resumed broadcasts after the fall of Duvalier, the radio was forced in 1991 to stop the broadcasts again following the military coup against former President Aristide. Like other broadcasters, including Radio Haiti Inter was attacked by soldiers and bullet marks are still visible on the facade of the building.
Jean Dominique was known for his firm stance against the macoutisme - in reference to the death squads of the past regime, the notorious ton-ton Macoutes, today riciclatisi in armed gangs and security forces in the service of powerful local - and called himself willingly journalist militant democracy. His editorials were well attended by the public.
In recent times, Dominique insisted warn against the risk of rigged elections. His latest editorial goes back to March 27, when the reporter raised questions about an agreement between the National Council of Observation (CNO) and the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), which gives considerable powers of observation to the body. According to this agreement, the observers appointed by the Office of Coordination of the NOCs' will have access to the observation of the working methods and decision-taking "at all levels of the electoral process. According to some of his colleagues, the assassination of Jean Dominique is no stranger to the electoral context, marked by conflicts of interest exacerbated and not always easily identifiable, as often happens in Haiti.
In fact, the CEP is caught between two fires, and so far can not find the formula that allows to satisfy both the government and the opposition.
Opposition parties have not hidden their skepticism after a March 31 meeting between members of the CEP and President Preval, accompanied by his Prime Minister Jacques Edouard Alexis and other members of the executive. During the meeting, the CEP has submitted to the government an initial assessment report on the electoral process, work satisfaction of the Head of State.
The Organization of the People in Struggle (OPL, after he changed his name by removing the reference to the Lavalas movement - the Avalanche - who had brought Aristide to the presidency), but is risen against the behavior of the CEP, interpreted as a form of support for the government. For its part, the Espace de Concertation (EC), the opposition coalition, has compared the members of the electoral body to pupils who deliver the task to Professor ... Préval. The EC has, therefore, urged his ministers to abandon the government in disagreement with the statements of Prime Minister Alexis, on alleged unanimity of the government on the management of the electoral process.
In its report, the CEP says that more than 4 million people have been able to enroll on the electoral register in the upcoming elections. However, the CEP has confirmed the loss of numerous electoral registers, which in the case were not recovered, will be canceled. The CEP, did you know, from now on will be dedicated to the installation of polling stations.
The basic problem is political paralysis prevailing in the country for some time. The parliamentary and local elections, initially scheduled for last fall, then returned this spring, but there is already talk of keeping them in June, should be used to break the deadlock. However, In this game of referrals, some, the OPL in particular, saw a move of former President Aristide to unify the two mentioned in the presidential elections, in which the former Haitian president is given for the favorite.
Hence, the disagreements and controversies, which as evidenced by the murder of Dominique, are degenerating.
Social tension and confusion mark, the rest of the economy. The proof is in three days of unrest in Port-au-Prince in early April. Events with looting, riots and barricades on fire paralyzed activities and caused panic in the city center and in many neighborhoods. The claims were different and sometimes contradictory: the protesters now demanding a reduction in the cost of living, now the immediate conduct of the elections, now returning at the end of the same year. Budget: at least three deaths. Noteworthy also is the damage. Small traders have expressed on several occasions in the streets of the capital, demanding compensation. Prime Minister Alexis said that the government is willing to meet them, to allow those who have lost everything to resume activities.
Official funeral was held at the national stadium in Port-au-Prince, in the presence of more than 15 thousand people. In addition to the head of state and the main government ministers were former President Jean Bertrand Aristide and his wife, numerous diplomats and representatives of different social sectors. About 10 000 farmers arrived in the capital from various parts of the country. Absent, however, representatives of the opposition parties.
At the time of the extreme salute the corpse of Jean Dominique, covered with a blue flag and red, with a gold cross on his chest, post mortem decoration conferred by the government, and with his ever-present pipe, President Préval has failed to retain their pain. The funeral lasted three hours, interspersed with patriotic songs, traditional music and circumstance, speeches or testimony from numerous personalities. On several occasions, the public could also hear the voice of the journalist disappeared in some excerpts from his broadcasts.
Speaking first at the ceremony, which did not have, on purpose, no religious aspect, Monsignor Willy Romelus said that "the death of Jean is a rallying cry so that Haitians join to build this country belongs to us", the task which Dominique had devoted himself, said the Bishop of Jérémie, one of the few voices of the Catholic Church hierarchy that has risen to denounce the lawlessness and violence under the dictatorship of Cédras recently, the general who deposed President Aristide in a coup d' State.
The poet Syto Cavé read passages of his text well known in Haiti, "The pèsonn or babay" (Goodbye Mr. so and so): "The wind blows, the sea is stormy, our boat capsized ... we do not lose our memory. "
For Charles Suffrad, head of the election observation network KOZEPEP peasant, made popular by Radio Haiti Inter, "Jean Dominique was killed for the truth." And he recalled the series of dossiers which the deceased had assured systematic attention: drugs and toxic waste, clairin (rum) adulterated, massacres of peasants, the military coup of 30 September 1991, as well as the "electoral coup", in reference the alleged fraud planned for the next election, according to the journalist disappeared, the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP).
On behalf of Radio Haiti Inter, the reporter Esteus Sony recalled the "evidence" that he had to pass this station, because of his involvement in the struggle for justice, "Jean Dominique was intended to shake up the system. If this fight is dead, it proves that the system has not changed, "he said. "It would be very serious if the State could not do justice to Jean Dominique," added William Smarth father, friend and comrade in struggle of Jean Dominique.
During the ceremony, were launched slogans in favor of Aristide. As soon as the ceremony ended funbre, groups of people close to Fanmi Lavalas took to the streets of the capital shouting "Aristide or death," demanding justice for Jean Dominique. In the afternoon, protesters set fire to the local Democratic Unity Confederation (KID), the headquarters of the opposition coalition Espace de Concertation. "L'Espace Jean Dominique has eaten, we eat the Espace," chanted the demonstrators.