Haiti: Aristide Speech - September 27, 1991

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide delivers speech in front of Haiti's national Palace on September 27, 1991.

Few Haitians, scholars and historians have had the opportunity to hear and study the full speech of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on September 27, 1991. The speech was mired in controversy after Raymond Joseph, current Haitian ambassador to Washington D.C. but then Publisher of the right-wing newspaper Haiti Observateur, released his "translation" of the speech.


Joseph's translation was circulated by Ellen Cosgrove, the political officer of the U.S. Embassy in 1991, to the international press as proof that Aristide supported "pe lebrun" or necklacing with burning tires doused with gasoline. Many translators and scholars have since criticized Joseph and the U.S. for slanting the translation countering that Aristide's reference to "tool" and "smell" were colorful Kreyol metaphors describing Haiti's constitution. They say this only becomes clear when heard in the context of the entire speech.

The historical context of the speech is equally important as it follows an attempt by the Duavlierists and Roger Lafontant to overthrow Aristide's government in a coup only three months earlier. Aristide was caught between plots by Duvalierists aligned with Haiti's wealthy elite and the violent reaction and impulses of the Haitian masses to decades of brutal repression known as dechoukaj.

Aristide was overthrown two days after delivering this speech on September 31, 1991. The Joseph translation of the speech was handed out by Ellen Cosgrove to the press on October 7, 1991 during a visit by the Organization of American States (OAS) to Haiti.

This speech has been referred to many times, including in the present context, to justify keeping Aristide out of politics and the violent repression of Haiti's poor masses represented by the Lavalas movement.

Kevin Pina and the Haiti Information Project (HIP) now offer for history the complete unedited speech in Kreyol as it was videotaped that day in Sept. 1991.

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Format: NTSC 4:3, color, stereo, TRT: 66-minutes 


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Haiti: Harvest of Hope

Narrated by Roscoe Lee Browne, Haiti: Harvest of Hope is the quintessential primer for understanding the roots of the current crisis in Haiti. The film dramatically captures seminal moments in the history of Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the Lavalas movement that swept him into the presidency in December 1990.

Haiti: Harvest of Hope was originally planned as a documentary about democracy coming to Haiti with the election of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in December 1990. During the final editing of the original (late September 1991) Haiti was struck by yet another military coup. Editing of the first version came to a halt as Kevin Pina (the filmmaker) returned to Haiti and spent the next three weeks chronicling the brutality and machinations of Haiti's new military leaders and their supporters.

Kevin Pina returned to Haiti in late July 1993 just after the negotiation of the Governor's Island Accord between the Haitian Government in exile and General Raoul Cedras. Pina returned again in 1994 to film Aristide's return to Haiti. The world television premiere of Harvest of Hope was in Haiti on Mother's Day, March 28, 1994. The broadcast was dedicated to the mothers of Haiti who sacrificed so much during the years of the coup to restore democracy to Haiti.

The Creole version was produced in association with Jean-Claude Martineau who also introduced the film on Haitian National Television. The first English version of Harvest of Hope was shown to a sold-out house at the Mill Valley, California Film Festival in the summer of 1994.

Never having received wide distribution since, Harvest of Hope is a rare film that few have had the opportunity to experience. The final director's cut was completed in 1998 and has only been seen by a select few. (DVD, 57 minutes, 1998)


WATCH Haiti: Harvest of Hope FREE!!

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Also WATCH Kevin Pina's latest video  

Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits"

WATCH the FINAL CUT of 

Haiti: We Must Kill the Bandits

and support documentary film making

Available on DVD for personal home viewing for $20 plus shipping (CA residents add 8.25% tax)