On October 17, 2022, as part of the commemoration of the 216th anniversary of the assassination of Emperor Jacques 1er (Jean-Jacques Dessalines September 20, 1758 - October 17, 1806), Prime Minister a.i. Ariel Henry laid a wreath at the foot of the Father of the Nation monument at the Haitian National Pantheon Museum in memory of the founding father of the first independent black republic in the world.

"We have for too long perpetuated this implacable hatred that taints our daily lives. Our Haiti today was not the one Dessalines dreamed of. We murdered his dreams, his visions and his beliefs. But, the country must change. Haiti will not die. Haiti is our country, land of love, peace, reconciliation, sharing and union.

216 years later, we seek each other in the dark corridor of division, with a torch where hope and reconciliation crackle. 216 years after the assassination of the founder of the Nation, we are still looking for a certain political stability, an essential condition for the economic and social progress of our country. We must fight this spirit of intolerance to replace it with dialogue and the republican principles called to guide our steps.

I invite my Haitian sisters and brothers, while honoring the memory of the Father of the Nation, to turn the pages of a history marked by division to open, with a determined and sincere hand, the doors of a future of Peace, living together and solidarity.

216 years later, we are where we are : a country that challenges the conscience of its daughters and sons.

In the name of our motherland, we must work for a united, hard-working, confident and strong Haiti. This fight for salvation must be sparked once again by the flame of faith, mutual aid, union and fraternity. It is this flame that must inspire the whole country. It is this same flame that will inspire, in the name of the future, as in the past, the soul of our eternal Haiti."

Ariel Henry, acting Prime Minister

HL/ HaitiLibre