By Victor C. Kirk
“Jovenel Moïse, the president of Haiti, was assassinated on 7 July 2021 at 1 a.m. EDT (UTC−04:00) at his residence. A group of 28 foreign mercenaries was blamed for the killing”.
As the news of the assassination spread like wildfire across the world, many in America; even though subdued by the COVID 19 virus, knew that a conspiracy fell the President of Haiti. What we did not know, was that the action of this magnitude fermented in the boardrooms and backrooms of the wealthy and politically connected in South Florida. This action was confirmed rather quickly as several Haitian ’Americans were rumored to have been at the center of the assassination and just as quicky as the bullets fell the President, rebels for hire hailing from Columbia were rounded up most assuredly with an intent to settle the issue for the international press of who were the culprits that performed this dastardly deed. Soon the world knew that a band of gangsters had performed the deed for a handsome sum. The rumors also settled on one Haitian American having financed the deal or gathered the necessary funders of state anarchy in Caribbean or Africa nations – nation builders they are called. Ask Oliver North. There is plenty of money supporting the perpetuation of poverty across the worldoperating under the guise of “freedom Fighters”.
We have seen this anarchy before. It felled the likes of Papa Doc then his son Baby Doc but never an actual assassination. A series of abrupt leadership successionsis not unfamiliar to Haitians living in Haiti or abroad. The difference this time is that the source of the political upheaval is not the Duvalier family. François Duvalier (Papa Doc) and his son Jean-Claude Duvalier(Baby Doc), held power for nearly three decades with a key para-military support group at their side – the Tonton Macoute– rumored to be led by Franck Romain the Mayor of Port au Prince. A civil engineer by trade and general contractor, Franck Romain reportedly built a hospital and presented it as a birthday present to Madame Michelle Duvalier – the first lady of Baby Doc. No word of any role played by the Tonton Macoute this time, but rumors are plentiful that “Barbeque” had a hand in the insurrection. We will talk about the king maker who goes by the name “Barbeque” at another time.
I have traveled to Haiti several times during the Presidency of Baby Doc. Most importantly, as Vice President of the Baton Rouge Chapter of Sister Cities International and Chairman of the Port Au Prince Committee. Sister Cities International pairs cities in America with their counterparts abroad. The paring with Baton Rouge included Taichung Taiwan, Obregon Mexico, and Dublin Ireland. The city contained a significant number of expatriates who now reside in Baton Rouge but retain a kindship to their home country. Former State Representative Jewel Newman introduced me to the initial Baton Rouge group spearheaded by none other than Ailene Rayford, the widow of Felton G. Clark, II who followed in his father’s footsteps as leader of the nation’s largest and flagship HBCU – Southern University. The group traveled to Haiti during the tenure of Baton Rouge Mayor Woodrow Wilson “Woody” Dumas. My task was to revitalize the group as former Director of the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus.
