las hazañas de Jean Philippe

The exploits of jean Philippe Augustin
Among the youngsters who were involved in Haitian politics in the eighties, none had as much determination as jean Philippe Augustin.
My friend Leblanc saw him and interviewed him. He was a young man from a poor family who became a very famous political activist. Augustin played an important role in the overthrow of the military dictatorship of General Avril. He was arrested many times for having given the nickname “fish eye” to the General. Avril tortured Augustin and presented him on national television humiliated and covered with blood. However, he had the strength to carry on. He fought many times after by sending tapes to radio stations in which he denounced the evils of the military government.
The true popularity of Augustin began on April 14, 1989, when he got shot during a student demonstration by the soldiers who fired at man’s height into the crowd. A month after that incident, the military government closed a radio station who arranged an interview with Augustin. Jean Philippe made the following comments: “my goal is to overthrow the repressive military government that offers nothing but curfew and more curfews. Nothing works in Port au Prince. It is total chaos. The soldiers fire without stopping every night. People have to go to bed early. The bedroom is usually hot as an oven, without electricity, a luxury object in the country.”
One night, shortly before the dictatorship ended. In the bedroom where Augustin slept, the heat was unbearable. Augustin woke up sweating and dying of thirst. He raised the window to let in some air. He got up. He lit the night lamp and walked into the kitchen. He quenched his thirst with a glass of warm water that he took from the refrigerator. It was twelve o’clock. At this time the soldiers’ gunshots were often heard. Jean Philippe did not hear anything. He thought that something strange was happening. He attributed the silence to a slaughter. He got scared and returned to his room. He turned off the light and jumped into bed. He could not sleep because the wind was not blowing. Augustin looked through the window and did not see the moon that was hidden between the clouds of the dark sky. It started to rain. He closed the window because huge drops of water were coming in. He turned on the radio. To the tune of a song and the rustle of the rain on the roof of sheet metal, Augustin slept until dawn.
That night they planned to kill many political activists and Augustin’s name was on the top of the list. The soldiers did no dare to go out because it rained all night long. Upon learning of a new conspiracy, jean Philippe decided to seek refuge in jacmel. He disguised like a woman with a long wig. He rode in the back seat of a rented motorcycle driven by a friend who dressed like a missionary.