The Fight for Haiti is a feature length documentary film that explores the direct impact corruption and impunity has had on the lives of Haitian citizens and gives frontline movement leaders a chance to share their stories with Haitian society and international audiences alike. Director Etant Dupain takes viewers to the incomplete projects that were set to be financed by the PetroCaribe program and sits down with a wide range of Haitian stakeholders including activists, lawyers, students, economists, and victims of the La Saline and Bel Air massacres. The film also documents the role of the international community and foreign donors who, as some in the film argue, could not permit the success of a solidarity-based financing instrument between Haiti and Venezuela.
Overview and Background
Between 2008 and 2016 Haitian government officials misused or outright embezzled an estimated two billion USD from the discount oil-purchasing program known as PetroCaribe. According to reports released by Haiti’s Superior Court of Auditors, funds which were slated to support development efforts were instead diverted towards no-bid government contracts, shell companies, and projects that were never completed. In 2018 a historic nationwide struggle against corruption and impunity emerged following decades of broken promises, worsening economic conditions, and a growing resentment towards a system that enriches the few at the expense of the many. With a rallying cry of “Kot kòb PetroCaribe a” / “Where is the PetroCaribe money,” young activists in Haiti mobilized online and in the streets to demand an investigation and trial for those incriminated in one of the largest corruption scandals in Haitian history.
Though public pressure intensified and protests grew across all sectors of Haitian society, poor communities including La Saline, Bel Air, and Cite Soleil served as some of the most critical strongholds for government opposition protests. In an effort to quelch the uprisings and demands for accountability, more than a dozen state-sanctioned massacres have been carried out in these communities since 2018. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have been displaced in these widespread and systematic attacks, which have been met with impunity for implicated government officials and criminal gang leaders.
Despite targeted political repression and worsening economic and political crises, activists and Haitian communities have continued to engage in this struggle with a defiant and unwavering commitment. In doing so they are not just fighting in the hopes of a future PetroCaribe trial, but ultimately for a more liveable future for the country and its people.
