On massacre anniversary, Henry vows to provide security for next elections

PORT-AU-PRINCE — Prime Minister Ariel Henry has pledged to honor the lives taken during an election three decades ago by creating a “peaceful, secure climate” for the next set of elections to take place in Haiti, his office said.

Henry made the vow Monday as part of his tribute commemorating at least two dozen killed in Ruelle Vaillant, the site of the Nov. 29, 1987 massacre. 

On that day in 1987, Haiti was holding its first election after the Duvalier dictatorship ended. Gunmen shot and killed voters lined up to cast their ballots at Ecole Nationale Argentine Bellegarde, a polling place in Ruelle Vaillant, Port-au-Prince. Children, entire families and foreign journalists were among those killed.

On Monday, Henry went to the site and laid a wreath. He vowed to create a favorable and peaceful, secure climate to organize the next elections, the office of the prime minister announced via Twitter Monday. 

The tweet said Henry will work to create “a serene social and political climate, aimed at guaranteeing the organization of free, transparent and non-partisan elections throughout the territory of the Republic.”

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