Last week, I wrote an article on the #PetroCaribeChallenge. This challenge was created by Gilbert Mirambeau Jr. If you don't know what it is or if you have not read my article yet, I invite you to have a look at it now before you start reading today's post.
https://myhaitimyvision.wixsite.com/blogspace/blog/te-m-ba-w-on-nouvel-4
Haiti became a member of the PetroCaribe alliance in 2006 and our contract with them was signed the year after. Now, although I stated we owed Venezuela US$ 1 BILLION until march 2018, US$ 3.4 BILLION has been missing over the past 12 years and the public is asking where that money went.
Long story short, Haitians are protesting again, this time instead of destroying everything on their path, they are being civilized and for the first time in a while we get to witness a peaceful protest.
"The PetroCaribe Challenge... after-effects."
Friday August 23, 2018 was the first march that initiated the "PetroCaribe movement" people WALKED to the Superior Court of Port-Au-Prince, in order to protest and get answers for all the money that was... stolen. I won't play dumb and say "disappear" because we all know US$ 3.4 BILLION doesn't just vanish in the air.
Who are the people responsible? Many sources claim the political party of our current president and the one before him, several public figures and politicians are deeply involved.
Politics has always been a "risky" subject, it is truly intense. I've had people come and tell me I should not write about this anymore or I should delete the pictures I posted. I've been told to be careful and I am but, I aspire to pursue a career in Journalism one day and it makes me wonder what kind of journalist would I be if I just ignored a matter this important?
Me talking about this, is one of many steps, this MARCH was the first step and it took place in Haiti's capital, now cities from all over the country are following the movement. No one knows if we'll ever get to the bottom of this, however, while people are talking about it why not get the most details out?
I'm aware that Haitians are easily distracted, most of them just go with what's trending and feel the need to participate because the challenge is what everyone is talking about currently, so while this movement is starting to stir up some "trouble", I want to keep my readers as informed as possible.
This march created a new hashtag #AyitiNouVleA (The Haiti We Want),
where citizens are now demanding changes such as :
-Better Salaries for police officers, teachers, doctors.
-Clean streets.
-Health Care/Education/Jobs.
-Many many many more demands.
There's also a petition out demanding a Court Hearing so we can finally know what happened to this money. As I mentioned in my previous article, this money was suppose to be used for different infrastructures and also help with Haiti's development. This money could've been so helpful after the deadliest earthquake we had the misfortune to experience.
Fun Fact: Did you know that after 8 years, people are still in the "TEMPORARY" refugee camps that were built after the tragedy?
I don't know, maybe I'm talking lots of crap here but, I want to believe those funds could've been extremely useful 8 YEARS AGO, don't you think? Then again, what do I know right?
Bottom line is, this money could've built a decent hospital, this money could've done so much GOOD for our country and instead it was WASTED by the people that were elected to WORK for us.
I will also say that this money was stolen by people that never thought they could touch this much money, not even in their wildest dreams. This is why I keep saying our country needs leaders that are not impressed with money, the ones we have right now are a bunch of leeches or parasites if you prefer.
That's my personal opinion though, I'm just exercising my right to "Freedom of speech" feel free to disregard if you don't agree.
Here is the link to the petition and I URGE you to sign it, unfortunately the description is in french but I can assure you that I basically just did a resume of what is written.
These pictures show that it is no longer a Twitter hashtag, it's getting serious. Hopefully, all our efforts will not be in vain, our questions will be answered and something positive will come out of this situation.
As always, I will keep you updated, feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
If you wish to stay updated on social media you can follow @laloidemabouche on Twitter. They also have a website, keep in mind that the information is written in french.
I thank you all for reading this article.
This was "Te m' Ba w' On Nouvel",
"The PetroCaribe Challenge... after-effects", written by Tiff.
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