Haiti honors earthquake victims after 12 years

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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Flags fluttered at half mast in the wind on Wednesday as Haiti honored the estimated 316,000 people who died in the devastating earthquake 12 years ago.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry and other government officials in black suits visit the large boulder-surfaced memorial to commemorate the victims of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12, 2010.

“We still have a lot to rebuild,” Henry said. “January 12th has not only destroyed one house. It has destroyed the entire economy of the country. It will take a long time to get back to where we were before the earthquake.”

The earthquake destroyed more than 100,000 buildings and damaged another 200,000. Henry said billions of dollars were spent in the name of Haiti but that no one had any clue as to where some of that money went.

Henry, who is seeking to form a coalition government after the July 7 assassination of President Jovenel Moise in a country struggling with rising gang violence, said Haitians do not have the strength to stop natural disasters but they can put an end to the violence.

Without peace, he said, Haiti cannot rebuild its economy or democratic institutions, open schools or hold general elections scheduled for later this year.

“January 12th is a good time to ask ourselves where we want to go with the country,” Henry said. It’s not time to keep fighting.”

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