Message - Haiti Observer Blog

Haiti's Carnival has a dark side when it comes to music played during its annual celebration . At the festival, revelers respond to messages contained within song lyrics, and what they suggest sometimes makes the government of Haiti (GOH) uneasy. Some songs encourage festival celebrants to act out their resentment at the GOH.

During Carnival '97, the monster hit of music group Koudjay, "Si Yo Vle", urged Haitians to hang amoral politicians then in power. In response, many symbolic hangmen's nooses whirled above the crowd. Although the GOH refrained from commenting on the song, they responded with a direct show of force. Forty SWAT officers were deployed to brandish their semi-automatic rifles at the crowd with gestures that intended serious injury.

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