SEPTEMBER BLOOD

.
THE NIGHT OF THE KILLERS

J. B.Aristide

What  had remained from Sylvio Claude

September 29, 1991 seems to have been the fourth night of fire in Haitian history.

That night dozens died, mostly killed by violent mob. Not accidentaly, because it was an announced death series.

Long time before, indeed, as months went by and  Jean Bertrand Aristide, the serving president feeling  uncomfortable with the Haitian  establishment,  he decided to step forward in his killing saga. At the main jail in the country, the Penitencier National, Dr Roger Lafontant and his men were still a threat to his emerging power.  Josel, a  young officer  was approached and asked to have a way or another way Dr Lafontant assassinated.  Worried  about  such a deadly project,  Josel went to see his general Raoul Cedras.

"Remember, general Cedras told him, you’re a soldier and you have  to stand  by the military code.' 

Josel  felt reassured. But, he didn’t survive .  A few weeks later, his body was found in the streets.

Later on, on the 19 September  1991 prisoners waked up at night around 1.00 AM. Two strange visitors, dressed in black and barefoot, came to invite Dr Roger Lafontant to move out. “you’re free . come with us” Lafontant was said. But, as voices from everywhere in the Penitencier were shouthing: assassins! assassins! The visitors ran away . Dr Lafontant understood. He saw death coming.

He didn’t waste his time. He managed to alert friends aboard and  overseas institutions. At this time, former duvalierists and opponents have traveled mostly for security concern. They tried the best they could to help, but finally by September 29,  violence sprung again, sealing for good the fate of  dr Roger Lafontant.

That day, in the afternoon, relaxing with a friend of his, Dr Lafontant removed  a picture from his pocket. “ This is my daughter”, she had asked me to bring her to the palace on January 7. It was the last time Dr Roger Lafontant saw his daughter ‘s picture.

Stines Doura, the captain in charge at the Penitencier National, had been running the place since less than a year.  Jean B. Borgard, a RDNP member,  who has been jailed for a few days in 1988 following the coup d’état against President Manigat, affirms : “ I've been told that every time, you see Doura somewhere, be sure that death is hanging”..  From a Plateau Central family,.Doura  seemed to have been the  right man at the right place and consequently was considered a hard core Lavalas

As gunshots were heard around 7.PM, on that night of  September 29, witness still affirm that Mie L. Lassegue., a powerful minister of information, informed her president that  a coup was underway.

The bloodthirsty Jean B. Aristide called right away  Doura and  ordered him to have R Lafontant executed. Doura showed some reluctance : himself or yourself, Aristide, a soft spoken man, concluded. Lavalas was crossing the line.  An officer , Boncoeur from Port Salut and a cousin of Aristide,  was his eye and his ear at the Penitiencier.

Doura, a little bit bewildered, called his superior, the chief Police,  colonel Pierre Cherubin to know  what to do.  Cherubin  sided with the president. A soldier, Leus  Sincere, forced  a few time  later the doors of the  political sector and shouted three times  the jailed politician. It was 2.10 A.M. Roger Lafontant was dead.

In the meanwhile, at Les Cayes, the main town in the Southern part of Haiti, Jean Claude Jean Baptiste, a native of Paillant, Miragoane,  and his mob were cutting in pieces at Quatre Chemins , Pastor Sylvio Claude, a fierce opponent to Lavals.  Jean C. Jean  Baptiste  used to be a killer for his master, Jean B. Aristide. Back in Haiti in 1994 and assigned  to a police position, Jean C. jean Baptiste ignited protests and fury from many parts of the Haitian society.

Twenty two years later, disappointed and  disbanded today, the Haitian army doesn't forgive itself  to have left the Haitian president go away after the assassination of Roger Lafontant.  Leus Sincere is still at large in the US. Stines Doura has been seen in Georgia and Orlando after a long sojourn in North Carolina. Jean C. Jean Baptiste went to Caracas and  maybe was back now in Haiti . In Haiti Pierre Cherubin  continues to deny any involvement in this killing.

With  regards to Jean B. Aristide,  the  main killer, he seems to have forgotten his past.

LA PAGE de Frantz Bataille : Ce monde dans lequel j'ai vecu...

Entre L'histoire et La Mer.

 C'est entre ces deux  mondes que mon enfance s'écoula, hantée par une fragilité qui était a la limite du dénuement. Ma mère qui vivait alors ses années solaires ne sut point comment sacrifier aux dieux de la prospérité parce qu'elle était restée renfermée dans son passé de fille du pays profond. Mon frère Pierre  et moi, nous vivions dans ce monde, heureux  déjà que nous puissions  rêver  a ce qu’il pouvait avoir de permanent dans le bonheur.

Autour de nous, les ruines du 19 eme siècle disaient que le quartier n’était pas si pauvre qu’on le croyait. Les murailles envahies par une végétation ingrate se renfermaient sur quel passé, je ne saurais le dire. Mais, tandis que la pauvreté ambiante annonçait déjà l’exclusivisme si fort dans notre société, je me refugiais dans la contemplation de ces gloires défuntes. J’ai su par la suite que le général Pétion n’habitait pas trop loin et qu’il fréquentait la loge des Cœurs Unis et le Grand Orient. Les traditions surtout orales n’avaient point retenu ces époques lointaines. Je me contentais en revanche  de ce silence épais  qui envahissait les grands espaces abandonnés des loges maçonniques. C’était  une sorte de consolation. A part les danses vodou périodiques, il n’y avait pas grand-chose pour faire de mon enfance une enfance heureuse. Pourtant, j’étais heureux.

Non loin, passe l'édifice des Frères du Bicentenaire, la mer s'étendait si immense que j'ai commence tres jeune a me demander ce qu'il y avait au delà.  Un ciel bleu, des navires qui disparaissaient à l’horizon, ces images réveillaient dans mon quartier pauvre des désirs d’évasion vers ces terres lointaines dont parlent les géographes et leurs manuels colores. Chez les Frères déjà, tout ce qu’il y avait autour de nous, les maitres, les réfectoires, l’odeur qui s’en dégageait a l’heure des repas, tout parlait d’un monde contraire et qui n’avait rien à voir avec mon milieu. A l’école, donc, j’en avais pour mon compte avec mon appétit d’évasion. Les rêves commençaient à suppléer à mon environnement. Pourtant, devenu grand, en terminale du primaire, j’ai compris que ces quêtes de l'ailleurs  n’avaient pas toujours ces resplendissements que l’on croyait. Les tambours faisaient notre honte, mais elles charriaient comme un torrent une puissance de vie!

Ces chevaux du Montana, US  ressemblaient aux miens, sauf qu’ils étaient mieux nourris et plus forts. Mon ciel était bleu, et mes gens à moi, même dans le dénuement conservaient une humanité qui me paraitra plus tard bien consolante. Maintenant qu’ils sont tous partis sous les terres humides du matin, le regret devient désormais la rançon à payer à  l’ingratitude et a l’indifférence. Je n’ose plus parler de la richesse des pauvres, ce serait une insulte à la misère et à la détresse physique. Toutefois,  il y aura toujours quelque chose de plus grand que nos comptes en banque et nos conforts fragiles. Son nom n’est autre que le temps qu’il faut prendre pour se retrouver dans ce qui semble si loin de nous.

 Contre mes fragilités et mon dénuement, l’histoire m’était devenue comme un refuge égal a tous les mirages de l’avenir. Je tentais de comprendre sous la poussière des siècles  ce  que le passé pouvait receler  de richesse et de beauté.

                               

 ( A suivre)

COME & SEE AMERICA : RHODE ISLAND,PROVIDENCE, FEDERAL HILL

GLOBE TROTTER NEWS  AT PROVIDENCE, RHOSE ISLAND

FEDERAL HILL, PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND is alleged to be a past neighborhood. Although an aging look appears at a glance, more is to be expected rather from the daily rhythm of life.

Here, Italians, Hispanic seem to have a kind of rendezvous for fun. By noon, Old Canteen, a seventy–five old restaurant has a family touch. Italians remain a community family oriented, eager to gather for any occasion. In fact, on the 29 September, inside Old Canteen, the owner, M. Sal Mazilli  has no time for any comments with the press. “Better be back  in the morning, today is bad day”, M. Mazilli told us. . Employees were indeed  at a rush  to meet the demand of the customers.

Nearby Angela’s shares this mid-day tempo. Angela’s at the main entrance has a kind of discretion that saves the surprise when you step in. Angelo’s. Civita Farnese is there since 1924. It is there  that restaurants  really make history. With its walls  adorned with pictures of famous actors, such as Al Pacino and Marlon Brando, the movie stars of the Godfather, you can understand how Italians try  to save their  icons. Nevertheless, Angelo’s and Old Canteen, both of them, give Atwells and Federal Hill their personality,

Lucia’s across the street seems to be gorgeous as a  multicolor sombrero and an cheerful and polite woman, maybe Lucia, welcomes visitors and customers. Mexico is  above everything sounds and colors, let alone dance and  tequila . This Mexican restaurant is open from Monday to Sunday, ( abierto de lunes a Domingo) reads a business card.

Federal Hill in fact is a business wise neighborhood, comprised of Dominicans, Americans and Italians. Our Globe Trotter reporters marvel at meeting in a nutshell  so many races and nations looking for a living in America.  What a contrast with the very core of the official Rhode Island  with the huge buildings of the past. Federal Hill is showing history  could take a different path, one busy people keep reinventing everyday in  this America so full of dreams…

By the way,  let’s have a drink at Andino’s again an Italian restaurant

Home of the famous stuffed Pizza
181 ATWELLS AVE
PROVIDENCE, RI 02903

        

Since 1924141 Atwells Ave
Providence, RI 02903
401-621-8171

OLD CANTEEN
120 ATWELLS AVE
PROVIDENC, RI

INSIDE ANGELAS'

LUCIA'S
Mexican restaurant
154 Atwells Ave
Providence, RI
401-228-6550/ 401 450 5735
abierto Lunes a domingo

148 Atwells Ave
Providence, RI 02903
401 861 1338

Mediterraneo
134 Atwells ave, PROVIDENCE, RI

ATWELLS AVE, ENTRANCE

ANDINO'S
Excellent fine Italian cuisne
17 ATWELLS AVE
PROVIDENCE, RI 02903
401 453-3164

THE CUBAN QUESTION

CUBAN TIMES NEVER GONE

LITTLE HAVANA


 Sadness always is something to fight.

Outside PUB

Middle class Cubans never stop doing so. As a result, in the restaurants, bistros and stores lining Calle Ocho or nearby streets ,  afternoon times  do not end behind closed doors and noiseless avenues, without singing and dancing. Whatever exile might be, Cuban life strives to remain itself the way it used to be before 1959 and socialism take over the motherland.

One cannot forget that joy was a Cuban invention. As a Hispanic legacy, the island's life is still colorful, exciting and exuberant, even in those endless times.  Pub Restaurant still keeps this tempo. There, food quality is very Cuban, say, spicy, a little bit traditional, Latino, so to speak. Steaks filled with onion, black beans, hot sauce, pepper -filled meat, several types of rice and meals, the famous Cuban coffee called espresso, cake tapped with syrup;  Pub restaurant tries to be a kind of multicultural restaurant. But never mind, its Cuban roots are deeply anchored in Little Havana.

Everything there breathes Cuban times. Adorned map speaks of time already gone yet seems, yet  welcome you with a touch of melancholy and epicurism. The kitchen is not too far. Youths, middle-age women come back and forth, carrying food and beverages. Pub is very relaxing place. Protocol is replaced by simplicity and kindness. Good feelings to fit exile’s mood. What a solace!

Outside, life goes on. The vibrant Floridian sky has plenty of perspective as summer unfolds under its typical sun. Little Havana, the center of the Cuban business, displays behind its glass stores, the forbidden fruit of the Cuban socialism, luxury, car, goods, furniture, good food and so on. Capitalism is now the Cuban challenge. Pub Restaurant stands between this American grace and the shadows of the current Cuban day.

First of all, it lets people live like  they want. Aging ladies and gentlemen, wearing old fashioned clothes of times, moved by danzones and French songs of the late fifties, gather around tables while patting each other. A white-haired man, who might have been  joyful during his youth, improvises playing piano and “tchatcha”. The two-man band seems to be happy to get help as wrinkled women and other people turning the seventies, restart life as in Proust’s Madeleine.

Finally Cuban times are never gone. This is the conclusion. Pub’s owners have done all they could to recreate the Cuban touch of the fifties. A past nostalgic restaurant which is mixing past and present in America, a country for youth and future.

PUB FOOD

THE AMERICAN QUESTION JOHN F.KENNEDY 1963-2013

BOOKLET SERIES


JFK BETWEEN LEGEND & HISTORY

                                 
                                             

                                                     EVEN OUR DREAMS DIE 

BUGYS YOURSELF : A JOURNEY THAT'S WORTH

                                                     A JOURNEY THAT'S WORTH.

 

My daughter told me once these words of Oscar wide that I reproduce not exactly:

Try to reach out the moon, in case of  failure, you would land at least among the stars.

I understand that the struggling daily life for people trying to pursuit some goals is as well a matter of time, inspiration and transpiration. Many times we fail because for one reason or another there is a lack of planning, motivation and time. Whatever the outcome, failure is failure, success is success. And simply put ,the public is there to give us an outstanding ovation or ignore us. But, if we keep thinking about our goals and the destination we are striving for, we finally have the desire to start over and over. This feeling is already the beginning of a fresh start.

That’s why in everything, we have to think of our goals and deep-root dreams and desire.  In any situation, to shield us against  fear of failure, we have to visualize success and the frivolous crowd giving us an applause. Let the smell of victory float on our daily battles,  whatever they might be. The best salary of our work comes from us, once we got a relief after  some hard work and so many hardships. This glow that lights up our faces, this smile and the feeling of triumph that the Roman consuls used to enjoy while horse riding in the circus, it is what we call achievement.  We cannot have this feeling without overcoming our hesitation and our fears as if our first enemy were first at all inside  us.

But at the same time, to move forward, it is within us that we can extract the strength to keep going and walking toward victory and conquests. Dr Max Maxwell said once that the battle is inside us as well as the longing for light that apparently is the essence of life. Continue despite everything to think about light in our travel to the sky . No matter how long it might be, this journey to something above us is worth.  Keep working   until you get something  bigger  than you. There is no other way to get your eureka momentum, there is no other way to reach out this marvelous world that O. Wild believes to be the world of light and stars.

Bugys yourself.

B E...
U NIQUE
G LOBAL
Y OURSELF
S TAR

COME & SEE AMERICA LIFE STYLE: CAMBRIDGE BICYCLE

RELAXING TIME AT MIT

HAITI, LES DERNIERS AFRICAINS.- 4 EME ET DERNIER ARTICLE

4 eme et dernier article:
Voir les articles precedents:

Les DerniersEsclaves.

1.-SURVIVANCES DE L'HABITATION

• La cloche de Damassin. Les moulins coloniaux et ce qui en reste. 
• Le fouet a Jacmel. L'exclusivisme. Les bon moun & les vie moun de F. Hibbert. 
• Le bal des Autrichiens a L'Anse a Veau. Les pianos de la Gde Anse.
• Les enfants du Pays en dehors 
• Les zombis  et les esclaves sexuels.
• Les makandas du Nord
• Marabout.

2.-LA BATAILLE DES RESTAVEK

Ils sont 300.000

Boco aida la pte restavek a s'echapper

Le meutre de F. Hibbert.  Saintanise

Les portefaix de la vieille Haiti
Nedje-La torture et les sevices corporels: djacoucoute
La hache de guerre est deterree.

3.- CES ESCLAVES A FAUX COL QUI S'IGNORENT
4.- LE PASSAGE DE LA MER ROUGE

GLOBE- IMAGES & COLORS

HAITI. THREE GENERATIONS
BASTIEN & SAGET FAMILIES

A HAITIAN FROM CARREFOUR, JEAN SABLOND

PROTEST IN DOWN TOWN MIAMI

A FRENCH RESTAURANT, LA BASTILLE IN MIAMI
DOWN TOWN

VISITORS AT A HEALTH CARE FOOD FAIR (BRONX)

HAGAI SOPHIA CHURCH , ISTAMBUL, TURKEY

THE AFRICAN WAY. BROTHERS

JACKY KENNEDY AT HYANIS PORT, 1960

PAUL MEYER : AT THE WOMENS' FEET

STARRING AT THE WOMEN'S FEET

-Paul, are you a feminist?

-Not really,

 Anyway, it seems so.

Many men stare at the women’s’ eyes. Paul Meyer starts the same move from their feet! What distance in between!

After having immersed himself   enough in the shoemaking industry  and  worked  a lot with famous masters in France and Italy such as  Charles Jourdan, Manolo Blanhik and Walter Steige, and so.., M. Paul Meyer  launched his own line by 1981 no without some sojourn in Spain, the US and Brazil. As a child, he’s fell in love maybe with woman’s feet. If other express their feeling by making dress and working on jewelry, Paul Meyer has enough self confidence to bet on the future of any virtual  design and also on his’ He also  has on his name brevetted to hats, handbags and so forth…

Nobody so far has reinvented the wheel, but many have attempted to experiment new ways. Paul Meyer went on learning more technical details in Spain, Bologna, Italy and Paris. As a result, Paul Meyer  made his name famous. Today, a lot like his design and material as well . M. Meyer has included in the shoes fabric light leather and soft suede so any woman could feel comfortable at home , on the streets and glamorous events.

Thirty years later, Paul Meyer Attitudes refer to a Manhattan based shoes located on third Ave. Surely, across the US, Paul Meyer Attitudes continues to relate  to fine shoes, ballerina collection  heelless and flat styles for women. They  have contributed his success.  Museums, calendars makers are familiar with his name and style. Women have 5,10, 20 pair in the wardrobe. Meyer seems to be right by telling:  "I want women to feel pretty, feminine and comfortable in my shoes".

In fact, so they are. Women feet, thanks to Meyer, are more than something to walk only  with.

Less than one year ago, I met aboard Jetblue airline  a man drawing women shoes 30 000 feet above the sea. He was Paul Meyer working on  his next design .

There is no better way to adore the woman’s feet..