His words angered millions, but they may be the medicine the Haitian nation desperately needs.

Opinion | The Haitian Pulse Editorial Team | September 2025

Haiti erupted this week — not from protests in the streets, but from words uttered on the airwaves. During a recent interview with Guy Wewe Radio, economist Etzer Emile said something that sliced deep into the national soul.

“We are now in 2025, and we keep beating our chest celebrating what took place during the Battle of Vertières. That time is long gone. Today, what have we done, except take a free ride on Dessalines’ accomplishment? We proclaim that we are the first Black nation to gain independence, but what are we today? We are a failure in the eyes of the global community. Have we no shame?”

Within hours, social media caught fire. Emile’s comments were replayed, dissected, and denounced by Haitians from every corner of the world. Some called him arrogant, others a traitor. But behind the outrage hides an uncomfortable truth: he is right.

Now, let me make something clear before the critics sharpen their knives.
As a writer, I am not particularly fond of Etzer Emile. I am not his follower, nor have I ever subscribed to all his economic theories. In fact, I often find his delivery sharp, even abrasive. But truth is truth — no matter whose mouth speaks it. And in this case, the truth he uttered deserves to be heard, whether we like him or not.

Who Is Etzer Emile?

Etzer Emile is one of Haiti’s most visible economists and educators — founder of Haïti Efficace, president of Fondation Avenir, a university professor, consultant, and author of Haïti a choisi de devenir un pays pauvre : Les vingt raisons qui le prouvent. Educated at Université Quisqueya and later trained in finance and public-leadership programs abroad, Emile has built a reputation for challenging Haitians to take responsibility for their own national destiny.

He is not a politician. He has no army of followers. But he has something far more dangerous to the establishment — clarity. When he speaks, he forces Haitians to confront the mirror they have avoided for generations.

The Outrage and the Echo

Why did his statement sting so hard? Because it broke the last sacred taboo.

For more than two centuries, the triumph of 1804 has been Haiti’s unshakable source of pride. The heroes of Vertières — Dessalines, Christophe, Capois La Mort — embody courage in its purest form. They defeated the greatest colonial power of their era and gave birth to the world’s first Black republic. That story is sacred. But Etzer Emile’s provocation reminds us that pride without progress becomes parody.

Every November, banners wave, speeches echo, and politicians quote Dessalines with tears in their eyes — yet the same leaders preside over hunger, insecurity, and corruption. The people, weary and wounded, attend these ceremonies as if participating in a ritual of self-deception.

Emile’s question — “What have we done since?” — shatters that illusion.

Haiti’s Complacency Crisis

The truth is that the Haitian people, after enduring endless trauma, have become dangerously tolerant of mediocrity.

We accept promises that never materialize. We accept leaders who steal with impunity. We accept living without electricity, water, safety, or justice — and call it “normal.” Each generation inherits not opportunity, but resignation.

Complacency has become the new dictatorship.

“When a people is left with no hope,” Emile observed, “they can easily cling to anyone as their savior.”

That sentence alone explains decades of political manipulation. Haitians, desperate for relief, anoint new “messiahs” every few years — men and women who promise to cleanse the system, then drink from its poisoned well. The people suffer, forget, forgive, and repeat.

Living Off the Glory of the Dead

There is nothing wrong with honoring our ancestors. But to honor them truthfully means to continue their mission, not merely to celebrate their memory.

Dessalines did not fight for parades. He fought for permanence — a system where Black people could live as dignified human beings. Yet today, Haiti’s independence survives more in memory than in reality.

We sing about freedom while living under imported policies.
We invoke sovereignty while surviving on remittances and foreign aid.
We glorify revolution while fearing responsibility.

We have turned history into a hammock — a comfortable place to rest instead of a foundation to build upon.

Etzer Emile’s Challenge: The Shame Question

“Have we no shame?” he asked.

The question offends because it holds truth. Pride without accountability is arrogance. A nation cannot forever wave its revolutionary credentials while ranking among the poorest, most unstable, and least governed countries on earth.

What does independence mean when our ports are run by foreign interests, our schools fail to educate, our doctors flee, and our youth risk death at sea searching for dignity elsewhere?

Haitians have mastered the art of survival but forgotten the discipline of construction.

The Cult of Excuses

Part of the national sickness is the comfort of excuses.

We blame the United States, France, the UN, the elites, the diaspora, even God — anyone but ourselves. Yes, history has been brutal to Haiti. Yes, foreign interference has been constant. But at what point do we reclaim our agency?

Every excuse we make buys another year of stagnation. Every justification protects another corrupt official. Every argument about external oppression distracts from the internal rot.

Haiti’s freedom was not gifted — it was earned. And that means our current failure is not destiny; it is neglect.

The Moral Collapse

Corruption in Haiti is not just political — it is moral. It seeps into daily behavior: the bribe to get paperwork done, the lie to avoid accountability, the silence in the face of injustice.

If every Haitian demanded honesty from themselves with the same intensity they demand it from others, the system would begin to crumble from within.

Instead, dishonesty has become cultural currency. It buys survival in a system where integrity is punished and deceit rewarded. This is why Emile’s criticism strikes at the heart of the nation’s character — not its government, but its people.

The New Definition of Patriotism

True patriotism is not in waving flags on January 1st or marching on November 18th. It is in building something worthy of the flag.

It is in paying taxes honestly, teaching with integrity, refusing bribes, respecting contracts, protecting women and children, cleaning your neighborhood, and holding power to account.

Patriotism must be practiced, not performed.

Until we understand that, every commemoration of Vertières is just noise echoing across broken streets.

The Economist’s Truth

Etzer Emile’s professional work has always centered on economic discipline. He preaches productivity, entrepreneurship, and the reform of institutions. In his lectures he repeats a painful truth: Haiti’s poverty is not only a result of exploitation; it is also a result of disorganization.

We are a nation rich in ideas and talent but allergic to structure.
We value charisma more than competence, noise more than results.

Our ancestors fought to break chains. We forge new ones every election.

The Role of the Diaspora

The diaspora must not watch this drama as spectators sending pity and remittances. The diaspora is Haiti’s second lung. It must breathe life into the homeland through investment, innovation, and mentorship.

Remittances keep people alive — but they do not make a nation thrive. The Haitian abroad who complains about the country while contributing nothing to its development is also part of the problem.

We must turn nostalgia into strategy. The diaspora must be organized, vocal, and economically present in shaping the Haiti it claims to love.

The Youth and the Revolt of Consciousness

Haiti’s youth are its greatest resource — yet they grow up surrounded by decay. They deserve a revolution not of violence, but of consciousness.

The new generation must stop waiting for permission to act. They must form cooperatives, digital start-ups, civic networks, and independent media platforms. They must study not to flee, but to rebuild.

The world owes us nothing. The ancestors gave us everything. The rest is up to us.

From National Pride to National Performance

The problem is not that Haitians lack intelligence or creativity — it is that we lack coordination and collective discipline.

A country cannot live forever on memory. It must produce measurable results. Independence is a beginning, not an eternal badge of honor. The global community respects nations that solve problems, not those that repeat slogans.

Let us honor our ancestors not by chanting their names, but by restoring their vision — a nation that works, educates, trades, and governs itself with dignity.

The Courage to Be Ashamed

There is a kind of shame that is healthy. It is the shame that wakes you up in the morning determined to do better.

If Etzer Emile’s words sting, let them sting deeply enough to provoke movement. Haiti does not need more pride; it needs progress. And sometimes progress begins with the humility to admit we have failed.

What Comes Next

If Haiti is to survive, it must embrace a new social contract built on three non-negotiable truths:

1. No one is coming to save us. Every foreign mission, every aid program, every speech about “helping Haiti” has proven that salvation must be internal.

2. Accountability starts with the citizen. Before we condemn politicians, we must examine ourselves — our habits, our complicity, our silence.

3. The revolution must be faceless. Change cannot depend on personalities. It must come from a collective awakening — from disciplined, anonymous citizens determined to rebuild without asking for permission or applause.

A Final Word to the Haitian People

Haiti, look in the mirror. The reflection is not your enemy; it is your unfinished promise.

We cannot forever call ourselves the first if we remain the last in everything that matters.
We cannot boast of freedom while chained to corruption.
We cannot honor Dessalines with speeches while betraying his dream with our inaction.

The world is watching — but more importantly, our children are watching. What will they inherit? A memory of greatness, or a future of substance?

Etzer Emile’s words were not meant to humiliate; they were meant to awaken. And though I am not a follower of the man, I will defend the truth he spoke — because truth does not belong to personalities, it belongs to the people willing to face it.

The Haitian Pulse believes Haiti’s salvation will not come through nostalgia or noise but through responsibility. Pride must now evolve into production, and memory into movement. Every Haitian must rise — not to defend the past, but to design the future. Leave your comment below. Let us know what kind of nation you are willing to build, not just the one you claim to love.