[News] Haiti - Fanmi Lavalas Press Release on Coronavirus

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 *Fanmi Lavalas** Press Release - April 23, 2020  *Unofficial English
translation by Haiti Action Committee
https://haitisolidarity.net/voices-from-haiti/lavalas-statement-on-coronavirus/

*Fanmi Lavalas *sends greetings to Haitians here and abroad during this
coronavirus pandemic and takes this opportunity to be in solidarity with
all the victims of the coronavirus and their families.

After the earthquake, hurricanes and floods, the coronavirus pandemic has
hit the country at a time when misery, hunger, insecurity and unemployment
are already disastrous. The Haitian people are left with empty hands by
irresponsible authorities already steeped in corruption, and by a
government that has shown no capability, competence or willingness to
manage this health care crisis embedded within a social and economic
crisis. An economic crisis that will worsen if the diaspora finds it
difficult to make money transfers because the Haitian communities abroad
have been greatly hit by this pandemic.

The people have no confidence in the statements made by the authorities who
continue to practice a politics that is based on lies and corruption. At
the same time that they are banning gatherings of more than 10 people,
closing schools and churches, the authorities open Dermalog* offices with
people pressed together in long lines to obtain voting cards made in an
attempt to renew their mandate through another electoral *coup d'état*. The
same authorities made the decision to organize people in mass gatherings in
order to receive a little bag of bread and rice handed out by unscrupulous
candidates.

These authorities have declared a state of emergency during which they
continue reaping benefits for themselves when initiatives that should be
undertaken to protect the population against the coronavirus have not yet
been put in place. Public funds are being disbursed for no-bid contracts
without the advice of the "Koudèkont" (Accounting Office). Meanwhile, the
population has seen no screening tests, no masks that were supposed to have
been distributed to everyone, no hospitals that should have been prepared
in each department of the country, no health care staff with protective
personal equipment while they have to continue providing services to the
population.

The same authorities who have extended the state of emergency until May 19,
have also decided to reopen the factories without any measures to protect
the workers. One can see in Port-au-Prince and Karakol the many people
pressed together in front of the factories trying to survive despite the
peril of coronavirus hanging over their heads.

Human rights and dignity are not respected when we look at the situation of
Haitians stranded in foreign countries demanding to return to their
homeland; we see the level of requirements that the Haitian government is
imposing on them. When we listen to the officials from the country's
Ministry of Public Works say that they have mass graves to bury 1,000 to
1,500 dead every day, we know they are planning for the dead without even
having planned for the living. And we ask, what about the rights and
dignity of the dead and their families?

With the complicity of the government, gangs are now the law, gunmen are
entering people's residences, kidnapping, burning homes and massacring
people in impoverished communities in attempts to break the resistance of
the majority population.

Coronavirus is a grave problem that everyone must take seriously. It must
not be an opportunity for irresponsible government officials to engage in
corruption and plotting for an electoral *coup d'état*. It cannot be an
occasion used by the government to prevent people from organizing and
mobilizing to defend their rights.

It appears clear that this plundering government is a virus that is worse
than the coronavirus. While we struggle against the coronavirus by
respecting the measures to protect each other and our families, *Fanmi
Lavalas* encourages us to continue to be in solidarity with one another in
our neighborhoods and also to denounce actions that are against the
interest of the country and the majority population in the on-going
struggle for a different type of state.

*Fanmi Lavalas* Political Organization, always present with our people in
the struggle to change the state, continues to stand strong with the
population in this difficult period and commits to continue working
together with all sectors, organizations and individuals who believe that
the time has come for real change in the country.

Alone we are weak, together we are strong, all together WE ARE LAVALAS .


*Executive Committee of Fanmi Lavalas *

Dr. Maryse Narcisse

Mr. Joel Vorbe

Dr. Jean Myrto Julien

Agr. Anthony Dessources
* Dermalog is a German-based company that manufactures voting cards for
Haiti.
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*Original Press Release in Kreyol - *


*Fanmi Lavalas Nòt pou laprès- 23 avril 2020*

Fanmi Lavalas salye Ayisyen isit tankou lòt bò dlo nan moman pandemi
koronaviris la, e li pwofite voye solidarite l  bay tout viktim koronaviris
ak fanmi yo.

Apre goudougoudou, siklòn, inondasyon elatriye, pandemi kowonaviris la
frape peyi a nan yon moman  kote mizè, grangou, ensekirite, chomaj tap fè
ravaj deja.  Pèp ayisyen rete 2 bra pandye  fas ak otorite iresponsab sa
yo, ki te deja ap benyen nan koripsyon, move gouvènans, e ki pa montre
okenn kapasite, konpetans ak volonte pou jere kriz sanitè sa ki makonnen ak
yon kriz sosyal ak ekonomik. Yon kriz ekonomik ki pral vin pi mal, si
diaspora a mal pou fè transfè paske kominote ayisyèn ki aletranje yo frape
anpil ak pandemi sa.

Pèp la pa gen okenn konfyans nan pawòl otorite yo ki kontinye fè yon
politik, ki chita sou manti ak koripsyon. Pandan yo entèdi rasanbleman pou
plis pase 10 moun, yo fèmen lekòl ak legliz yo, se menm yo menm ankò ki
louvri biwo Dèmalog, mete moun an liy, kole yo youn sou lòt, pou al pran
kat pou eseye renouvle tèt yo sou pouvwa, atravè yon lòt koudeta elektoral.
Se menm yo menm  lan, ki chwazi  mete popilasyon an youn sou lòt pou al
resevwa ti sache pen ak diri nan men kandida malpouwont.

Se menm otorite sa yo ki deklare eta dijans pandan yo kontinye ap regle
tout koze yo, pandan ke sa k ta dwe fèt pou pwoteje popilasyon an kont
viris la poko janm kòmanse fèt. Y ap depanse lajan san apel dòf, san avi
Koudèkont, e popilasyon an pa wè ni tès depistaj, ni mask ki te sipoze ap
distribye pou tout moun, ni lopital ki dwe pare nan tout depatman nan peyi
a, ni pèsonel sante ki gen ekipman pou pwoteje tèt li pandan l dwe kontinye
bay popilasyon an sèvis.

Se menm otorite sa yo ki renouvle eta dijans lan jiska 19 me, ki deside
relouvri faktori san okenn mezi pou pwoteje ouvriye yo. Nou te ka wè nan
Pòtoprens ak nan Karakol kantite moun ki te devan faktori yo youn sou lòt
nan al chèche lavi malgre malè kowonaviris la fè pandye sou tèt yo.

Dwa ak diyite moun pa respekte lè nou gade sitiyasyon ayisyen ki bloke
aletranje ki mande pou retounen lakay yo, nou wè ki kalte ekzijans leta
ayisyen ap fè yo.  Lè nou tande reskonsab Travo Piblik peyi a di li gen fòs
komin pou antere 1000 a 1500 mò chak jou, yap panse pou mò san yo poko menm
panse pou vivan epitou ki sa yo fè ak dwa ak diyite mò yo ak fanmi yo.

Ak yon leta konplis, gang ap fè lalwa, bandi ap rantre kay moun, fè
kidnapin, boule kay e masakre moun nan katye popilè pou eseye kase
rezistans majorite popilasyon an.

Kowonaviris la se yon pwoblèm grav ke tout moun dwe pran oserye. Se pa yon
okazyon pou dirijan iresponsab fè koripsyon ak konplo koudeta elektoral. Li
pa ka yon bagay leta ap itilize pou anpeche majorite an reyini e mobilize
pou defann dwa li.

Li parèt aklè ke leta piyajè sa se yon viris pi rèd pase viris Kowona a.
Pandan ke nap mennen batay kont kowona viris la nan respekte mezi pou
pwoteje tèt nou ak fanmi nou, Fanmi Lavalas ankouraje nou kontinye fè
solidarite youn ak lòt nan katye nou, epitou denonse aksyon ki ap fèt pou
mete enterè peyi a ak majorite pèp la sou ban e kontinye batay pou yon lòt
mòd leta.

Oganizasyon Politik Fanmi Lavalas ki toujou kanpe ak pèp la nan batay pou
chanje leta a, rete solidè ak popilasyon an nan moman difisil sa yo e pran
angajman pou li kontinye fè tèt ansanm ak tout sektè, òganizasyon,
pèsonalite ki kwè lè a rive pou peyi a chanje tout bon.

Yon sèl nou fèb, Ansanm nou Fò, Ansanm Ansanm, NOU SE LAVALAS

*Komite Ekzekitif Fanmi Lavalas*

Dr Maryse Narcisse
Mr Joel Vorbe
Dr Jean Myrto Julien
Agr Anthony Dessources

sent by:
Haiti Action Committee <http://www.haitisolidarity.net>
PO Box 2040
Berkeley,CA 94702
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