Thousands of Haitians demonstrated Sunday in the capital to denounce the draft constitutional referendum carried by the president and to criticize the international community which supports the power in place, accused of imposing a new "
dictatorship
".
"This referendum is a joke because the heart of the Haitian problem is not a problem of constitution: since people have a totalitarian inclination, they do what they want"
, denounced Michel Péan at the beginning of the course.
"In a country without judicial power, without legislative power, where everything is reduced to a president who governs by decree: that is enough to say that we are in a situation of dictatorship"
, added the blind septuagenarian, former secretary of state for people with disabilities.
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The executive power wishes the adoption of a new constitution by a vote which would be organized on June 27.
Such a project stirs up criticism even in the camp of President Jovenel Moïse because the chosen procedure does not seem to respect the provisions of the current constitution.
Written in 1987, after the fall of the Duvalier dictatorship, the text currently in force declares that "any popular consultation aimed at modifying the Constitution by means of a referendum is formally prohibited".
"In a country where it is the gangs who rule, where we are deprived of everything, health, housing, education ... How a president can dare to say that he wants to make a referendum"
, asks Marie Sheila Martinet, waving her sign “
Jovenel must go”
on the back of a motorcycle.
"Long live Poutine, down with the Americans"
"
We want to show Jovenel and the American Embassy that they will never be able to impose a referendum on us,"
protested Jean Dany Duval.
"
We are going to tear down all their signs: we are Haitians and here is their referendum, today in the street
", adds the protester.
A very large number of people marched the Haitian flag in hand but a handful also displayed the Russian tricolor.
"Long live Poutine, down with the Americans"
chanted a group of young activists, one of whom waved a sign which read in Creole
"Biden, democracy does not mean interference".
