A look at official celebration of Haiti’s 221st Independence Day in Port-au-Prince | PHOTOS

PORT-AU-PRINCE— As has been the case in recent years due to the exacerbated sociopolitical environment and escalating gang-fueled insecurity, the transitional government held a low-key celebration of Haiti’s Independence Day in Port-au-Prince, the capital, on Jan. 1. The officials did not go to Gonaïves—the City of Independence—where the official celebration usually takes place annually on Independence Day, nor did they honor the heroes of the revolution at the Musée du Panthéon National Haïtien (MUPANAH) on Jan. 2. All ceremonies took place at the Villa d’Accueil, the government palace in Musseau, miles away from the center of Port-au-Prince, which is gang-controlled.

During the ceremonies of Jan. 1 and 2, marking the 221st anniversary of Haiti’s Independence and Ancestors’ Day, Leslie Voltaire called on Haitians to “declare war” on armed gangs and urged self-reliance over dependence on foreign aid to restore national security. He also reiterated demands for France to repay Haiti’s independence debt and provide reparations for slavery.

Still, many have mocked Voltaire’s speech and qualified it as demagogic. 

A police officer in Pétion-Ville, who spoke to The Haitian Times on the condition of anonymity due to the matter’s sensitivity, questioned the security situation that prevented authorities from celebrating Haiti’s Independence Day in the historic city of Gonaïves, the capital of the Artibonite Department, which has been without electricity, clean water, and emergency and sanitation services for years. 

“How can thugs stop leaders from celebrating the biggest national holiday in the City of Independence?” he asked. “If I were in charge, I would either celebrate the event as it should be, in honor of our ancestry, who shed blood and tears to give us this land, or eliminate all those gangs and their enablers,” the officer said.

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