Although the relationship betweenBrazil and Haitiis ancient, this country is often overlooked by commercial media. Most of the time, when it is portrayed, its image is negative, linked to poverty and violence narratives.
Cha Dafol, a correspondent forBrazil de FatoinHaiti, lives in the municipality of Pignon, near Cap-Haitien, in the North Department.BdF InterviewAs she explains, the region is greatly impacted by the ... (lacking context to complete the sentence)urban violenceAnd due to the absence of elections, which have not taken place since 2016. Pignon is a rural area, further from the capital Port-au-Prince; however, technology and experience in the territory aid in the conduct of journalistic coverage. "The mere fact of being in Haiti, of seeing the things that are happening, of being able to talk to the population, of being able to feel what people think, is already an added value," he assesses.
"Most agencies don't feed news to global media outlets. And when they do, it's usually only about violence, deaths, and massacres," he criticizes.
Dafol reports that currently the country faces two main problems that are ultimately connected: thegang activityArmed with weapons and the paralysis of state structures, with an imposed transitional government that has been sustained with strong American interference, but it seeks to balance this in news production.
"We need to speak about the violence that is happening, we need to speak about the country's situation, which is terrible, but we cannot talk about it without explaining, without bringing forward what brought us to this, what were the historical, political, and geopolitical causes that led to this situation in Haiti," he states.
Cha Dafol highlights that there is a history of struggle, resilience, and solidarity in the Haitian people's DNA, which even leads society to organize itself to survive in the absence of a state that guarantees basic living conditions.
We are in a country where there is practically no state. And yet, it is a country that is functioning in some way," he asserts, emphasizing the capacity for peasant organization. "Haiti is a capable country. The Haitian population has every right, every merit to gain access to sovereignty," he advocates. "Haiti is not a poor country; Haiti is a country impoverished by international powers.
The journalist reports that external interference also manifests practically, with the encouragement of arming these gangs, as much of the military weaponry is supplied by the US and enters the country illegally, especially through Florida.
She also reports that Minustah, the UN mission led by the Brazilian army marked by a series of violations, left deep scars in the country. "Luckily, Brazil has football. Haitians love football and always cheer for Brazil. It's very impressive, indeed, to see how Haitians managed to distance themselves and not despise Brazil because of that," she states, emphasizing that Haitians relate Minustah more to an international action than a Brazilian one.
"No one will speak well of Minustah. There is a lot of trauma related to Minustah. There were many cases of rapes, and there are many children born in Haiti from unknown countries, most of them Brazilian. So, there are once again, open wounds from unresolved cases," she points out, highlighting that there has never been compensation for these violations.
In the face of the probable delay of upcoming electoral processes, popular movements and left-wing organizations advocate that overcoming chaos requires an end to foreign interference. Looking to the future, Dafol argues, it is necessary to speak of pacification led by citizens themselves and through the strengthening of organized political groups within.
"What is desired and aspired to is for Haitians themselves to organize, for the population to organize to solve Haiti's problems and first establish security and hold independent, autonomous, free, sovereign elections. The idea is that Haiti can be sovereign to resolve the situation we are facing," he advocates.
Check out the full interview below:
To listen and watch
TheBdF Interviewairs from Monday to Friday at 4 p.m., onBrazil's Fact Radio, 98.9 FM in Greater São Paulo.