Manifestation–Well Deserved
The gun shots started Tuesday evening, immediately after we were notified that Michel Martelly made it in 3rd place. Great position— but not good enough to make it to second round. At work on Tuesday my students were telling me, “Ms. Cauthen, if your uncle doesn’t make it into second round, this country is going to be upside down.” Well I was pretty confident he was going to make it. Last Sunday, voting day, there were marches for Michel Martelly, about 1,000 people came to his gate chanting his name—and no, unlike other candidates, he didn’t have to pay these crowds of people to do this—, and the feeling in the air was very positive. Well, Tuesday evening the results came in—Manigat 31.4%, Celestin 22.5%, and Martelly 21.8% of the votes. I thought the top 3 were going to the second round, only to find out the top 2 were moving forward. As soon as the results came in, my BBM went off “All schools closed tomorrow.” Well, it’s Thursday, still no businesses open. I’ve been in the house for only 2 days and feel like I’m going to lose my mind. Gun shots ringing, yelling, screaming.. all of that is normal to my ears now.
Someone text me today and said, “Martine, the people aren’t going to stop this manifestation until your uncle tells them to.” A part of me would love for them to stop so I could go back to work and move on w/ my semi-normal life, but then a part of me is happy they are protesting. I mean—they should! They have the right to. Their votes were not accounted for! This corrupted government needs to come to an end. For the people who have been living in tent cities for the past 11 months, only to learn that their votes don’t count, that the next president may still be under the rule of Preval, who has done absolutely nothing for this country? PLEASE! Burn tires, continue with the marches, do as you please. They need to be heard.
Michel went on the radio yesterday, he didn’t say much but for the people to be careful. He basically said that the results given were false, thus putting this country in the situation we are experiencing now. Agreed, unc.
(these are pictures from my dummy friend who was curious to see what was going on outside, if you are smart, you’ll stay in the house!)
December 9, 2010 at 11:31 pm
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December 10, 2010 at 1:12 pm
WOW!!!! They are really upset…this is horrible!!!
December 10, 2010 at 11:27 pm
With less than 24% of the population having exerted their voting right and a major political party, Fanmi Lavalas, not allowed to openly participate, well this might be disillusioning, but these elections are a farce ANYWAY, no matter who wins, I mean whether it be Manigat, Martelly or anybody else.
Under such circumstances there will always be dissatisfaction and unrest serving as an excuse for foreign forces to prolong their stay there to tame the allegedly “savage Haitians” – i.e. prolong punishing the ex-slaves by plunging them deeper in misery, because they dared defy their masters and claim their freedom 200 years ago, and even dared help other enslaved nations, including mine, rebel against their then masters.
In my humble opinion, the elections should be canceled right away and new elections should take place with all political parties allowed to participate and appropriate measures taken to guarantee that all citizens can exert their voting right without the slightest possibility of electoral fraud.
I think you love your country, so start studying in depth its history (there’s a lot to read, a lot to learn and a lot more to realize) if not for anything else, just because it might be an educative way to fight boredom when having to stay at home.
December 11, 2010 at 8:13 pm
agreed. I have a lot to catch up on regarding the history of the country.
December 14, 2010 at 11:27 am
wow lady this is so crazy!! be careful out there!!