Margaret Prescod, host of "Sojourner Truth," is live on the ground in Port Au Prince, Haiti, where a preisdential election was held on Sunday, November 20. There was much anticipation and tension in the buildup to election day.
On Friday, November 18th, Prescod was with a crowd of approximately 20,000 people in Cite Soleil, the most impoverished place in the Western Hemisphere. Crowds gathered there to greet their favorite candidate, Dr. Maryse Narcisse of the Lavalas Party and her endorser, former President Jean Bertrand Aristide. It was an electrifying moment as a sea of Black people danced and chanted, and held up hope for change to their beleaguered lives.
But as election day wore on, it was becoming clear to those visiting polling sites – as well as to scores of voters who were turned away at the polls – that worries about an electoral coup was in fact possible. One Haitian told Prescod that on election day, either the system would work or it would be destroyed. By election night, there was a national electrical blackout, and a major marketplace run by impoverished women was burned to the ground. What is going on?
Today, live from Haiti, we will bring you the voices of Haitian voters, my observations, and the latest update on the state of the election from Yvon Kernizan, a Haitian activist who is based in the country.