Ardain Isma
CSMS Magazine
Today is a painful day for all Haitians, wherever they are, for it marks 100 years of foreign domination in Haiti. It is a domination which began with a direct US military occupation and which has over the years morphed the country into a virtual protectorate—independent in name only. One hundred years of humiliation, subjugation and thievery has completely undone what the ancestors of this once breathtaking paradise worked so hard to accomplish.
One hundred years later, it is obvious that only patriotic Haitians can retrieve their country from the grips of its enemies. Haiti needs a second independence which will revolutionize the frame of thought, the way Haitians live, the State bureaucracy and bring about democratic governance. Haiti was never destined to perish, and those who claim the country was doomed from the start are the ones who are always ready to conform to the norm—an instilled self-defeating culture, too quick to subordinate their God-given intelligence to the ignorance of foreign diplomats stationed in Port-au-Prince.
Today, we learned the Martelly government commemorated the event. What a shame! What hypocrisy! Haiti’s misery benefits him immensely. He ought to celebrate instead. But it’s because of him and those like him that our task to redeem the land of Dessalines is evermore humongous. Someday, Haiti will rise again. For that to happen, we need to be ready for the task at hands. Let’s seize upon this painful moment to start the struggle anew.
Long Live Haiti!
Also see: One Hundred Years of Foreign Domination is Enough .
