Less than a year after the devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake in Haiti
which caused more than 316,000 deaths, 300,000 injured, and 1 million
homeless, the Haitians are finally up for a presidential election.
During and after the earthquake, President Preval for many days did not
speak to the public. With much of the infrastructure in and around
Port-Au-Prince completely destroyed, the Haitians had no idea how to
deal with this unimaginable disaster. Haitians lost even more trust in
its government, who did not seem to step up as leaders to lead its
country during its time of desperate need. Less than one year later, in
December 2010, the Haitians are due to elect their new president, who
they would put faith and belief in.
The official preliminary
results have law professor and former first lady Mirlande Manigat in
first with 31.4% of the vote and Celestin next with 22.5%. Martelly had
21.8% vote, trailing Celestin by about 6,800 votes. Martelly’s
supporters went violent, breaking a riot in Port-Au-Prince. The close
votes brought much tension between the Haitians, and they were getting
very violent. Even with the U.N. headquarters in New York getting
involved, they could not stop the frustrated Haitians. They marched
through the busy streets, and about 2,000 pro-Martelly demonstrators
gathered near the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Haiti. A Haitian said
“We want to tell them Martelly is the present. We won’t accept anything
less. Otherwise, we will set this country on fire.” The Haitians were
eager for a new and only president that they would have faith in to lead
a country as it recovers from the deathly earthquake.
Site: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Haiti-election-riot-grows--govt-party-office-burns_8220961
A new president would seemingly give to a new light of hope onto Haiti. Civil unrest in a situation where a step forward can be made is a major disruption to their eventual renewal. Port-Au-Prince's revival to a sustainable urban area again is still very distant.
ReplyDelete-Jordan Hensberger
Agreeing with Jordan, I too would say that a new president in a place of civil unrest would give hope to Haiti. I do not believe that a revival to a sustainable urban area has to be distant though. Of course, a complete sustainable urban area takes a lot of planning and time to carry out, but if a new president take the responsibility to do so, they have the power to speed the process up and get started right away. With a new president's backing, anything can get done at an accelerated pace.
ReplyDelete-Rachel Gordon
By all appearances, the Haitians seem to be sending a message of whom they support and who they think will work to restore Haiti. However, it will take more than a change in leadership. The people of Haiti will have to work towards the change they want. The new president can set things in motion, but it will require a consensus on direction and a collaborative effort to create a sustainable, functional country.
ReplyDeleteThe reason Haiti is seemingly collapsing after the Earthquake is because of the loss of the legitimacy that the Haitian government had in the past. With an already weak economy, the earthquake completely destroyed the infrastructure to the point where I am not even sure that good leadership would help them to bounce back. What they really need is foreign support at this point.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Berkowitz
Just getting a new president won't make Haiti any better or worse. Like Peter said, it's the people that will need to work towards change. Look at are own government. Nothing ever gets done unless Washington can come to an agreement. But since Michel Martelly eventually was elected and sworn into office last summer, we will get to see whether he can bring change in the coming months. One of the first thing Martelly did as president was to reinstate the military, which may help reduce Haiti's dependence on U.N peacekeepers and other foreign aid.
ReplyDelete-Andrew Barnes
I think the retaliation is just one way how the Haitian citizens are trying to take control of their future. The government is important because when the earthquake did strike Haiti, people from all over the world poured in large sums of money. In fact, it was the largest collection of money that any country has ever been given from the public for a natural disaster. However, the decisions to allocate the funds was in most part left up to the government who mishandled the money. Years later, people are still displaced and homeless, and many Haitian citizens are seeing no infrastructure built to replace the damages. So government is key. Hopefully, whomever is elected President next will be true about trying to revive Haiti and will not fill his/her pockets before filling the mouths of the Haitian citizens.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Broderick
Riots are political and power based as long as there is a need and a strong want it will happen, your example shows this. For when the vote went against the people they turned out and start to protest and wanted to keep things the same. This is because as time goes it becomes more important for them to hold control of regions of power that riots can do.
ReplyDelete-Sean Ledbetter
So this means that the true reason behind those violent protests in Haiti is anger towards the government that did not stand with its people during the toughest situations. And this doesn't mean that all riots will result in bigger problems or injury. On the other hand, people in some other countries are getting paid just to create disruption and chaos-participate in pointless riots.
ReplyDeletePolitical is an important reason that the riots happen. The people of Haiti will have to fight for the changes they want. A new president in a place of civil unrest would give hope to Haiti, people have to fight for their happy life they have to start riots. So probably it is reasonable.
ReplyDeleteWhile these riots in Haiti are destructive, voiolent, and a step in the wrong direction, they are to be expected. It is understandable why the Haitian people are so upset, and these riots display the peoples frustration. As discussed above, I think a new leader will bring some peace and growth to this nation, as long as the new leader takes the proper steps.
ReplyDeleteLogan Ahrens
Throughout history most violent riots have been due to race. This has changed up as of late, at least in my hometown. Lately it seems like most riots have been due to various legislation from our state and federal governments. Also, sports, as of late, have caused many riots in their respective cities
ReplyDelete-Connor Buzzeo