Hit By Crisis, Haitians Hold Voodoo Ritual To Honor Ancestors

JAKARTA - Haitians held a voodoo ritual on Tuesday's 'Day of the Dead', marking a tribute to their ancestors, in the midst of Haiti's day-to-day crises of fuel shortages, gang violence, and rising malnutrition.

Voodoo followers in the Caribbean nation gather at cemeteries, many dressed in white and some with faces covered in white powder, to sing and dance as part of rituals that involve communication with ancestral spirits.

"Voodoo, if you want to define it, is the means at your disposal to establish harmony between you and everything around you, both visible and invisible," said Carl-Henry Desmornes, the "ATI" or supreme leader of the religion, in an interview, citing Reuters November 3.

More than half of Haitians, numbering around 11 million, are believed to practice voodoo, a religion brought from West Africa by enslaved men and women who were practiced clandestinely under French colonial rule.

It is closely linked to the struggle against slavery in Haiti, which declared independence from France in 1804, following what is widely regarded as the world's only successful slave revolt.

"Despite the difficulties due to the lack of gas, people have traveled to the cemetery. As I speak, my car is running out of gas," said Valcin Antoine, a voodoo or "ougan" priest known as "Toutou," who presided over Monday's ceremony at a cemetery on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince in Petion-ville, Haiti.

"We are not afraid when we do spirit work, they protect us," he continued.

For decades voodoo has been depicted in Western films as a black magic cult, but was officially recognized as a religion by the Haitian government in 2003 under President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Haiti has been experiencing a severe fuel shortage for nearly two weeks. Gang blockades have prevented trucks from reaching the fuel terminal, forcing some businesses to close doors and hospitals to restrict services.

A wave of gang kidnappings, including the kidnapping of a group of US and Canadian missionaries last month, has sparked local outrage and led some transportation industry groups to call for a general strike.