In a profound address marking Haiti’s 222nd independence anniversary, Ambassador Emmanuel Fritz Longchamp delivered a stirring critique of the nation’s historical trajectory while calling for radical political transformation. The Haitian envoy to the Dominican Republic spoke on January 1st, 2026, commemorating the 1804 revolution that established the world’s first black republic.
Longchamp characterized Haiti’s independence as both a glorious legacy and an ongoing political challenge, noting that the revolution represented not merely military victory but an anthropological and philosophical breakthrough that challenged fundamental concepts of human dignity. He quoted founding father Jean-Jacques Dessalines’ historic proclamation: ‘Let’s swear to renounce France forever and to die rather than live under its domination.’
The ambassador presented a stark assessment of Haiti’s contemporary reality, describing the current institutional collapse as the product of ‘chronic misgovernance, systematic social exclusion, and a profound rupture between the state and society.’ He framed mass migration to the Dominican Republic not as cultural preference but as a survival strategy for people deprived of prospects in their homeland.
Longchamp proposed a biopolitical approach to rebuilding the Haitian state—one prioritizing security, dignity, health, education, and the value of human life as central to public action. He emphasized that true independence requires moving beyond ‘sterile divisions and narrow calculations’ toward collective awakening and national solidarity.
The ambassador concluded with tributes to Haitian officials and diplomatic staff while praising the resilience of the Haitian people, expressing hope that 2026 would bring ‘peace, stability, and renewal’ to the nation founded on revolutionary ideals of freedom and human dignity.