Sunday, April 7, 2013, at the Champ-de-Mars, as part of the commemoration of the 210th anniversary of the death of Toussaint Louverture, the President Michel Martelly and his wife Sophia Martelly, laid a wreath of flowers at the foot of the statue of Toussaint Louverture, in the presence of Prime Minister, Laurent Lamothe, members of the Government, the great servants of the State, representatives of the diplomatic and Consular Corps and representatives of legislative and judicial powers.

For her part, Sophia Martelly, the First Lady of the Republic, also Honorary President of the Haitian National Pantheon Museum (MUPANAH), whose this April 7 brings the 30th anniversary, took advantage of this event to highlight the importance of the Museum in the conservation of the national memory. Opened April 7, 1983, let us recall that the MUPANAH welcomed on the same date, the remains of the precursor of Haitian independence, Toussaint Louverture, died at Fort de Joux, France, April 7, 1803.

At the initiative of the French authorities, the President Martelly was invited to 'meditates' to the dungeon of Fort de Joux, where Toussaint Louverture was imprisoned until his death.

In a statement, the MUPANAH recalls that "This April 7 is the occasion for all Haitians to meditate on the greatness of the History and Culture of Haiti, but also on the sacred spirit that animated the Founding Fathers, especially Toussaint Louverture [...] remember us also of those he led and who strove to continue his work : Jean Jacques Dessalines, Henry Christophe and Alexandre Pétion ; anonymous heroes and all the fighting men and women, our ancestors, who led us to our independence.

This moment of dialogue with the past is crutial in that it allows us, day after day, to better understand the future, to educate our political and intellectual elites as well as our youth, to civic education and to a cultural policy, enrichment factor [...]

Let us follow the path set for us, by this extraordinary visionary, this austere man, who, released from the fetters of slavery, knew how to ally with moral qualities known to all, an acute intelligence and a boundless courage to arrive, within the darkest forests of prejudice and inhumanity, to direct our steps of First black Nation, independent and free, marking in the hollow world an eternal footprint where every oppressed people and robbed, will find eternally its hope."

HL/ HaitiLibre