Protests Again Greet President Martelly on Visit to New York
by Kim Ives
September 26 was a full day of protest
for hundreds of Haitians living in the New York metropolitan
area and beyond. Some traveled from as far away as Florida,
Boston, and Canada to take part in two actions. Many had
spent the entire night talking on Haitian community radio
shows.
On the afternoon of Sep.
26, as President Michel Martelly addressed the UN General
Assembly, over 150 Haitians in Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
protested against his government’s corruption and
repression. That demonstration lasted from about noon until
4 p.m..
Some of the demonstrators
were also there to protest the UN’s refusal to compensate
Haitians after troops of the 6,600-soldier UN Mission to
Stabilize Haiti (MINUSTAH) introduced cholera into Haiti,
unleashing an epidemic which has killed 8,500.
While at the UN, Martelly
and his Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe told reporters they
would likely rule by decree after Jan. 12, 2015, the date on
which the terms of most parliamentarians expire.
“I came all the way from
Florida to join the protests and to ask Martelly why he is
persecuting former President Aristide,” said Alina Sixto, a
long-time activist in Aristide’s party the Lavalas Family.
Aristide is currently under a form of house arrest under
what most Haitians view as a political witch-hunt. “He
hasn’t spoken out, yet they’re persecuting him. If President
Aristide were preaching violence, President Martelly
wouldn’t still be there. Under the Lavalas government,
Martelly, General Raoul Cédras, Colonel Michel François,
they did a lot of damage.
Today, Martelly with the Americans is
trying to roll everybody up to swallow them. If Martelly
thinks he can run the country by decree, he is making a huge
mistake.”
“Today, Martelly has
crossed a red line,” said former Lavalas deputy Walter
Norzéus. “Martelly and his government have to resign so that
the people can get a little break. Martelly, MINUSTAH,
cholera, Ban Ki-moon, Clinton, we put them all in the same
basket.”
From about 5 p.m. until
10:30 p.m., several hundred Haitian demonstrators gathered
at the corner of Farragut Road and East 31st
Street in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn. There, the
Haitian consulate had organized a “Haitian community
meeting” for President Martelly at the church of
evangelical Pastor Philius Nicolas. Free tickets were
distributed in the community for the event, which was to
take place from 5:30 p.m. until 9 p.m..
However, President
Martelly, along with a large delegation including his wife
Sofia and Lamothe, did not arrive at the church until about
8 p.m..
With anti-Martelly
demonstrators jeering them, about 400 well-dressed Haitians
stood on line to enter the church to listen to the Haitian
government officials. About 30 were pastors, who were asked
to present themselves to the audience during the event
inside. Most of the audience were Christian church-goers or
members of Pastor Nicolas’ congregation.
The demonstrators outside
raised signs with slogans like: “Martelly & Lamothe, U.S.
Gangsters,” “UN = U.S. Political Instruments,” “Pasteur
Nicolas Mafia,” and “Martelly/Lamothe Must Go! MINUSTAH Must
Go!”
One man carried a cardboard
coffin with a sign, among others, that read: “Down with
UN/U.S. Occupation of Haiti.” MINUSTAH has militarily
occupied Haiti since 2004 and is due to be renewed by the
Security Council for another year in mid-October.
The scene was quite similar
to that exactly
two years earlier, in
2012, when protestors demonstrated against Martelly outside
a
consulate-sponsored rally
at nearby Brooklyn College.
“It is you, Lord, who
brought President Martelly to power and dignity because all
power comes from you,” said the Rev. Samuel Nicolas, Philius’
son, in the prayer given to start the ceremony welcoming
Martelly and Lamothe.
Lamothe then introduced
Martelly, who gave a rambling, joke-filled performance in
which he lashed out at his critics and extolled his supposed
accomplishments for an hour and 12 minutes. As he walked
back and forth across the stage, he took aim at his
predecessors, former presidents Aristide and Préval (“Since
we are not here to curse the guys who came before me who didn’t
do anything, we are looking forward... It’s because they
didn’t do anything that we have things to do”), the press
(“The press should take a resolution that it is going to
give a little bit of truth, even though most of the time it
is only lying”), and his political opposition (“When I look,
they are lying, they are bluffing.”)
Martelly’s supporters thronged him as he left
the church and loaded with his delegation and security into
six black SUVs. But tipped off that Martelly was driving
around the block in the wrong direction down one-way streets
to exit out of East 32nd Street, the dozens of
demonstrators still chanting behind police barricades on
Farragut Road rushed at the last minute down to the
intersection to meet him, shaking their signs, hurling
curses, and running after his motorcade as it sped away.
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