Members of Prime Minister Garry Conille’s government at the luncheon at the Villa d’Accueil, his official residence, during their installation on Jun. 12. Second from right is Education Minister Antoine Augustin. Photo: Haïti Liberté.
By Henriot Dorcent – Jun 19, 2024
A Haitian proverb says: “twou manti pa fon.” The hole a lie makes is not deep.
Since Garry Conille’s May 28 designation and Jun. 12 inauguration as Prime Minister with his government, and the Jun. 14 return of Normil Rameau as the Haitian National Police (PNH) chief, the masks have all come off, and the popular masses and progressives can no longer be fooled by this parody of political transition imposed by the imperialist governments of the “Core Group” nations, particularly the USA.
Another Haitian proverb says: “A quelque chose, Malheur est bon.” To something, misfortune is good.
This “transition,” imposed by U.S. imperialism, has allowed us to identify all those who have sold out the nation, in all the political sectors represented on the Transitional Presidential Council (TPC), who, if they had not already revealed themselves by demanding Haiti’s military occupation by a foreign multinational force, would have capitulated either out of shameless opportunism or to enrich themselves by allying with the disastrous PHTK regime in “sharing the cake” of political power.
I am not surprised that Antoine Augustin, my former comrade from the National Popular Assembly (APN) and the leadership of the National Federation of Haitian Students (FENEH) from the 1980s-90s, can ally himself today with the PHTK regime, and, even more ironically, that the so-called members of the National Popular Party (PPN) – the APN’s direct descendant – held a press conference to salute Augustin’s appointment as Haiti’s Education Minister. What a disappointment!
Indeed, he was already working with the scum of GNBist politicians in the Montana Accord, trying to fool the popular masses’ vigilance with the rhetoric of a “rupture transition.”
Now, the masses are fully aware that Haiti has been placed under Washington’s supervision, which began in 1914-1915 when the U.S. first militarily intervened to dictate Haiti’s politics and economy, renewing that control in 2003-2004.
It is our duty as progressives to fight with the popular masses for a real “rupture transition” for the reconquest of our national sovereignty.
It is Washington which decided on the formula for this transition and invited the traditional political parties, representing the interests of the bourgeoisie and the Macoutes, to play their role. It is Washington which appointed the transition’s prime minister (as it appointed Ariel Henry in 2021). It is Washington which selected the new PNH chief. No one can be a director general or minister in Haiti’s government without Washington’s approval. Washington will finance the upcoming elections and will choose the deputies and senators to be (s)elected as well as the President of the Republic and his government.
The popular masses are excluded from national political life, as usual. As long as our national liberation struggle’s progressive vanguard does not identify the masses’ fundamental enemy and make them aware of the importance of their committed participation in the national liberation struggle, the revolution will not take place.
The progressive vanguard must understand that the insecurity in Port-au-Prince’s metropolitan area and in certain towns and rural sections has been programmed to justify the new military occupation of Haiti and our population’s reduction according to the whims of Western imperialism’s Malthusian apostles seeking control of Haiti’s mineral resources.
This transition will not be the last, the cake will not be shared equitably, the contradictions will multiply, Western imperialism’s former servants will revolt against their former masters; the recent public declarations of someone like Guy Phillipe, denouncing Western imperialism, prove that we have always been justified in denouncing Western imperialism.
It is our duty as progressives to fight with the popular masses for a real “rupture transition” for the reconquest of our national sovereignty, the only option we have to regain our national dignity.
In front of all other brother peoples throughout the world, let us proclaim that Haiti will not fail; this is our historic commitment with our eternal motto: “FREEDOM OR DEATH.”
