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Interview of Ambassador Pedro Canino with Lionel Lafortune

Haiti Progrès (French)

Translated from the French by Dady Chery for Haiti Chery

This interview was conducted on the 200th anniversary of Venezuelan Independence. In recent years Venezuela has consistently provided Haiti with invaluable support and obviously has not forgotten the support given to help free herself from Spain.

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Ambassador Pedro Canino: I apologize for being unable to see you last week. We were busy with the work of cooperation between Venezuela and Haiti.

Lionel Lafortune, Haiti Progrès: Good morning, Mr. Ambassador. Thank you for seeing us. Please tell us about the 200th anniversary of the independence of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. We know that your country is a true friend of Haiti. How do you see the participation of our ancestors in her liberation?

The Mother Flag of Venezuela, designed in Jacmel, Haiti, and carried by Francisco de Miranda back to Venezuela in the 1811 independence war. The emblem on the canton is the figure of an Indian woman who holds a lance crowned by a Phrygian Cap (Image: Antonio Martins).

PC: You see, it is the signing of the act of independence. It’s not just me as an ambassador but all Venezuelans who see the participation of Haitians in the Venezuelan war of independence in a very positive light. Our liberator Simon Bolivar said,

“Haiti is the mother of Venezuelan independence.”

He also said another time that

“Haiti is the father of Venezuelan independence.”

First, there was Francisco Miranda, who arrived in Haiti in February 1806 (during the government of Dessalines, Ed). He left Haiti on 12 March 1806. The Venezuelan flag you see here was designed in Jacmel, Haiti. It is Miranda who carried this flag to Venezuela. And 10 years later, in 1816, Simon Bolivar would return to Venezuela from Haiti (during the government of Petion, Ed) to lead two expeditions. One at the beginning of the year and the other near the end of the year.

Bolivar acknowledged the participation of Haiti in the War of Independence of Venezuela as a historical fact two years later, at the headquarters of the Angostura Party.  On the day he revealed the Haitian participation in the war of independence in 1818, Bolivar said:

“I thought that New Granada* was lost, but the island of Haiti greeted us with tremendous hospitality, which helped us to drive away the tyrants. President Alexandre Petion granted us all necessary protection. By Petion’s decree, I was able to put together a group of his valiant patriots. Very few of them survived the war, but the army against which they fought also lost many men. This group of Haitians that faced down 10,000 European tyrants numbered 300 men.”

This is why we say in Venezuela,

“Haitians aren’t cowards.”

Today, to honor Simon Bolivar, our country is called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

LL: Venezuela helps Haiti a great deal as part of many cooperations. Can you tell us what this help consists of?

PC: The cooperation is vast and deep. Even the Yankees’ representative in Haiti, Bill Clinton, acknowledged in several international meetings that the Cuban and Venezuelan cooperation brings much more support to Haiti than all the other donors. No one can hide this truth. It is solidarity that the Venezuelan cooperation brings to the Haitian people. Our government, the Venezuelan people and Commander Chavez offer cooperation to the country.

In the health sector, $40 million are invested, in conjunction with the Cuban cooperation. Cuba has had doctors working for the welfare of the people of Haiti for 13 years. Venezuela also participates in the work being done, with $20 million given before the earthquake and another $20 million after the earthquake. We have built with that money 15 diagnostic centers across the country. We have made donations to hospitals and paid doctors. We have also provided housing for them.

We also donate for agriculture. We are involved in rice production in the Artibonite Department and Central Plateau, with $9.3 million.

We also participate in housing by building homes in the area of the Renaissance in Cité Soleil. I am not speaking of miserable construction. I’m talking about houses for chosen Haitian families where everyone can live humanely and for free.

After the earthquake of January 12, 2010, Venezuela erased a debt of $395 million that Haiti owed her.

In energy, Venezuela installed three power plants in Haiti. One in Cap-Haitien, one in Gonaives, and a third in Port-au-Prince. We arrived at a deal to provide the country with 14,000 barrels of oil under the PetroCaribe agreement, recognized by the Haitian Parliament, with extremely favorable conditions to the country.

For the Literacy Project, Venezuela contributed $5 million.

After the earthquake, we donated 9,000 tons of top-quality food.

Finally, as I told you, this is a very deep cooperation. It is not just because we have oil that we engaged in this cooperation. For a century, we have had oil. But there were reactionary governments in Venezuela and Haiti that never really considered the well being of the Venezuelan and the Haitian people.

We must also say that this cooperation can be explained by the fact that, in Venezuela, there is a Bolivarian revolutionary anti-imperialist government led by Commander Hugo Chavez who loves the Haitian people and respects them. We have a lot of gratitude toward Haiti and its people.

LL: Do you have a message for the Haitian people?

PC: The message of the Venezuelan government to the Haitian people is clear. This is a message of hope, trust, and faith in the future. Anything is possible with continued work and a spirit of sacrifice, with a historical project that is linked with the glorious past of your country. There is a passage in the Bible that says, “Brothers, encourage those who are discouraged, uplift those who are weak.” Thank you.

LL: It is we who must thank you Mr. Ambassador for agreeing to provide all these details to our readers.

___________________________________________________________

*Notes

Viceroyalty of New Granada (Virreinato de la Nueva Granada) was the name given on May 27, 1717 to a Spanish colonial jurisdiction that mainly included the areas with modern Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, and Venezuela. Panama was incorporated later in 1739. In addition to these core areas, the Viceroyalty included Guyana, and parts of northwestern Brazil, northern Peru, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua. After a series of military and political battles, these territories gained full independence from Spain between 1819 – 1822 and united as one republic called Gran Colombia. The congress declared Venezuelan independence on July 5, 1811, establishing the Republic of Venezuela. — Wikipedia

Simon Bolívar, The Liberator, led Latin Americans to defeat the Spanish for the independence of New Granada, but he did not realize his dream of uniting New Granada under one flag.

Sources: Haiti Progrès (French) | Haiti Chery (English)