Haiti: Can the nation be reconciled in the reign of impunity?
Sunday, October 23rd, 2011
((Michel Martelly, Jean Bertrand Aristide - Haiti-Liberté photo))
[Translation of an article from Haïti-Liberté for October 20. See original here.]
By Thomas Péralte
With a view toward the reconciliation of all the sons of the nation of Haiti, President Michel Martelly has arranged meetings with the former heads of states, de facto and de jure, during a week called the “Week of National Reconciliation” or “Week of National Understanding.” During that week President Martelly met with five former presidents: Prosper Avril, Jean Bertrand Aristide, Jean Claude Duvalier, Boniface Alexandre and Henry Namphy, in their respective homes in the vicinity of the capital and in the Dominican Republic.
According to the presidential communications office, led by journalist Joseph Lucien Jura, the president’s move is aimed at encouraging dialogue and unity among all the actors and former leaders of the country. This week of reconciliation also has as an aim a national understanding, a space for discussing some major matters of state, among them: education, the army, MINUSTAH (Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation en Haïti – United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti), the CIRH (Commission Intérimaire pour la Reconstruction d’Haïti – Interim Commission for the Reconstruction of Haiti). (more…)