The Haitian Times
By Onz Chery
CAP-HAITIEN — Back in 2011, when Fénelon Jean-Manick, a street money changer, first heard about the $1.50 tax on remittances to fund a free education program in Haiti, he was hopeful.
But over the past decade, as the education program for middle schoolers failed to materialize, Jean-Manick and countless others have felt deceived and helpless. Saturday, when Jean-Manick learned from The Haitian Times that a lawsuit against former President Michel Martelly and other Haitian leaders and companies was proceeding in the United States, he began to feel hope.
“We were on our own,” said Jean-Manick, standing at a street corner, a stack of cash in hand. “No one was standing up for us. If we protested to ask where this $1.50 went, they would’ve shot and tear gassed us.”
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