Some Critics Say Ghost of Cite Soleil is Propanda

Whatever his motive is, Wyclef should be commanded for the work that he is doing in Haiti and overseas on behalf of all Haitians and people of Haitian descent.

Wyclef Jean is the founder of Yéle Haiti.

A movement, according to Yele.org, the organization's official website, that is helping to bring hope back to Haiti.

Projects are designed to make a difference in the fields of education, health, environment and community development.

The power and reach of music, sports and the media is used to increase the impact of these projects.

Some people are curious as to why Wyclef is asking people if they have seen the film entitled "The Ghost of Cite Soleil", which is such a controversial film. Does Wyclef believe in the film?

Or is he promoting it?

If so, why?

This is what a critic of the film had to say about the film: "A recently released film, "The Ghosts of Cite Soleil," tells the story of two young men, Bily and 2pac, who live in Cite Soleil, a poor neighborhood of Port-au-Prince.

Most people who have reviewed the film suggest that viewers are at once titillated and repelled by these young men because of their violence-ridden lifestyle.

We learn that they are "chimeres" (a word that loosely means "monster" and used for several years to demonize supporters of former Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide).

It's a label that adds a certain drama, if you are looking at it from a cinematic standpoint, but its political implications are serious.

Several years ago, a mainstream journalist introduced "chimereEbroadly into the international media suggesting that President Aristide had a corps of violence-prone monster-creatures responsible for attacks on his political opponents.

The introduction and extensive use of "chimereEby journalists was part of an international plot to turn world opinion against Aristide paving the way for a coup d'etat that would oust him in 2004 and lead to the murder of thousands of his supporters.

While "GhostsEappears to be the belle of the blogs and various newspapers, many of the reviews, analyses, and discussions about the film are unenlightened by facts concerning Haiti's history and politics.

Filmmaker, Asgor Leth, is under the mistaken impression that his movie is a documentary.

Actually, it is a staged fraud of a movie that exploits the poverty and social circumstances of life in Cite Soleil.

Just below the film's veneer of gangster rap, sex, and violence lies an unmistakable and intentional subtext: supporters of Aristide are violence-prone sub-humans who, because of their overwhelming majority and continued demand for the return of Aristide, must be contained and then eliminated.

A lack of context might lead viewers to assume that the "chimeresEare the primary aggressors in Haitian society.

Quite the opposite is true. Those labeled "chimereEduring and after the coup were met with certain incarceration or execution by the Haitian National Police Emany were accused over Haitian radio.

Rather than aggressors, those labeled "chimeresEhave been, and continue to be, the victims.

Not long after the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSTAH, arrived in Haiti, it began to raid poor, Aristide- supporting neighborhoods.

Yet, the indiscriminate attacks were causing it a public relations problem.

In need of a propaganda advantage, MINUSTAH came up with its own term for the "resistantEpopulation that remains loyal to Aristide E"bandit.EThis term may not be as exotic as "chimere,Ebut with its roots in the 1915-1934 US occupation of Haiti, where the mere utterance of the word provided Marines carte blanche to kill, it resonated well and has become pervasive in the media and a major theme in speeches by the UN Secretary General's representative in Haiti, Edmond Mulet.

And, this brings another political reality to the fore. MINUSTAH's mandate calls for bringing security to Haiti yet, security for all Haitians is not part of its agenda.

Make no mistake, MINUSTAH was sent to Haiti by a US-dominated UN Security Council to do one thing: make the coup of February 2004 "stick.EElite Haitians and international business interests are banking on an Aristide-less Haiti.

Aristide was on a path of shifting the balance of power into the hands of the majority of Haitians who are poor by doubling the minimum wage, dedicating 20% of the nation's budget to education, instituting widespread literacy programs and struggling successfully with international financial institutions to not privatize all of Haiti's state-owned companies.

The last thing the business class needs in Haiti is a better-paid, better-educated workforce."

Watch the related video:

Ghosts Of Cite Soleil Movie Trailer

Watch the movie trailer of Ghosts Of Cite Soleil, a documentary about Haitian gang leaders who strive to make better...

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