Haiti- A Civil War or a Clash Between the Rich and the Poor

By: Jacques Dady Jean

www.bigboston.com

Over the past few years, the violence seemed to target the Haiti’s affluent class. Besides the different new cases of abduction targeting members of the business community, yesterday a businessman narrowly escaped from a murder attempt in the capital when 5-armed men opened fire on his vehicle.

Victor Boulos, is a well-known entrepreneur and is not as heavily involved in politics as most of his peers. He is the owner of Ceramic Store Expo Center located in Port-au-Prince. He was injured by at least one bullet and was taken to the emergency hospital where he is now receiving treatment for his non-life threatening wound. 

According to family members the assailants targeted Boulos because his cousin, Réginald Boulos, the President of the Haitian Chamber of Commerce, is a very conservative and controversial figure in Haitian politics. He has recently made negative remarks about the people who live in a popular shantytown in Port-au-Prince.

At the beginning of this week several thousands of students took the street in a protest against the ruling class. There is a very tense relationship between the rich and the poor in Haiti since the democratically elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide was kidnapped by Special Forces from the U.S. and now is living in exile in South Africa. Aristide is known as the defender of the poor and a champion in the struggle to fight poverty in Haiti.

The Haitian people in their homeland as well as Haitians living everywhere in the world are determined to fight for the return of Aristide in Haiti. “We cannot fight the UN forces without equal weapons, but I know one thing, the people can’t lose”, said Prenor Saivil while sitting in his living room decorated with several posters of Aristide in Lynn, Mass.

An association of business owners and the head of the political parties launched a movement with hopes to curb the latest wave of violence in the country, however, they have not explained how and what kind of resources they plan to use to execute their plan. The confusion in the political theater now appears to take a new shape and a new direction.

Is it the time for the Haitian leaders to search for a common ground for a new beginning?

Jacques Dady Jean is a computer engineer and the Chief Executive Officer of Town Computer, www.towncomputer.com.