Prime Minister Dr Ariel Henry urged the Haitians to ”build the new Haiti” on the 218th anniversary of the Battle of Vertières as the country is facing political unrest and escalating criminal activities in country.
On Thursday, while addressing a ceremony during the celebration at the Museum of the Haitian National Pantheon, PM Henry said that the time has came to repeat the history in another form. PM Henry became Prime Minister after the assassination of President Jovenel Moise on July 7.
PM Henry said, “The Battle of Vertières on November 18, 1803, was the culmination of the will to be free. The victory of the native troops over the Napoleonic army paved the way for independence and national sovereignty. Despite the antagonisms between them, slaves and freedmen, blacks and mulattoes, had the intelligence to opt for the union.”
He added that now Haitians should unite and give a meaning to “Vertières”. Haiti was the place that escorted the world to the path of freedom. The Haitians have an obligation again, to form a new Haiti, “A united Haiti, A prosperous Haiti”, again while confronting the country’s increasing criminal activities and rising gangs.
PM Henry was accompanied by some senior officials, including the Commander-in-Chief of the Haitian National Police (PNH), Frantz Elbé and Minister of Defense Enold Joseph and officers of the Armed Forces of Haiti.
According to the statement by PM Henry, Haitians should remember this day because it will be helping them for understanding the present situation of the country and will be preparing them to fight for making Haiti a better place in future.
PM Henry concluded, “Fate makes us both the witnesses of the collapse of our institutions and the architects of their reconstruction. May we, like our ancestors, respond to this urgent call, to this new rendezvous with history.”
