「抵抗の祭典」　治安悪化が深刻なハイチ首都で３年ぶりジャズフェス

【ポルトープランスＡＦＰ＝時事】ハイチで２８日、３年ぶりに首都ポルトープランスで開催された国際的なジャズフェスティバル「ＰＡＰＪＡＺＺ」が閉幕した。市内では治安の悪化が深刻化しており、会場周辺は厳戒態勢が敷かれた。（写真は、ハイチの首都ポルトープランスで開催された国際ジャズフェスティバル「Ｐａｐｊａｚｚ」で演奏するミュージシャン）
　今年で１７回目となった同フェスティバルは、２０２２年は延期。昨年は首都ポルトープランスの治安への懸念から北部の都市カパイシアンに変更された。
　国連は、ポルトープランス首都圏の推定８割の地区が武装ギャングの影響下、もしくは直接的な支配下にあるとしている。
　主催者の一人はＡＦＰに、「これは、起きているすべてのことに対する抵抗の祭典であり、私たちの信念、そして前進したいという意欲を示す、自分たちなりの表現だ」と説明。首都圏の住民に「夢を持ち、共生できるという希望」を与えるための祭りだと語った。
　南北米大陸で最貧国のハイチは、武装ギャングの影響力が増しており、暴力事件が多発。経済と公衆衛生システムが混乱を極めている。国連の最新の報告書によると、昨年の殺人と誘拐件数は前年比で２倍以上に増加した。
　治安上の問題に対応するため、今年のフェスティバルは例年の８日間から４日間に短縮され、会場は、比較的安全な住宅地域に限定された。さらに、会場周辺ではボランティアと警察官が警備に当たった。
　観客の大半は外国人居住者と中間層のハイチ人で、期間中は毎晩、踊って歌いながらコンサートを楽しむ姿が見られた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/01/30-16:31）

Hundreds of concertgoers attended the PAPJAZZ music festival in Haiti's capital this week, which returned for the first time since 2021 with a modified schedule and strict security precautions amid the city's dire security situation.
The international jazz festival was postponed in 2022 and then relocated to the northern city of Cap-Haitien last year over security concerns in Port-au-Prince, where the United Nations estimates that gangs control as much as 80 percent of the area.
This is the festival of resistance to everything that's happening, our way of saying that we believe -- and want to move forward, Milena Sandler, one of the organizers of the festival, told AFP.
The event, in its 17th edition and ending Sunday, gives residents of Port-au-Prince the hope that they can dream, live together, Sandler said.
The city is not dead despite everything, she added.
Haiti, the poorest nation in the Americas, has been in turmoil for years, with armed gangs growing increasingly powerful and unleashing brutal violence, leaving the economy and public health system in tatters.
A recent UN report said homicides and kidnappings in the country had more than doubled last year.
In response to the security challenges, the 2024 PAPJAZZ festival was shortened to four days from eight, and concerts only held in a relatively safe residential neighborhood.
Stages were set up outside the Karibe Hotel, which hosts UN offices and where the visiting artists were housed.
Volunteers and national police officers ensured security around the venue.
Sometimes seated, sometimes on their feet, the audience -- mostly expats and middle-class Haitians -- danced and sang each night, with groups performing local Rara carnival music in between the acts.
- 'Resilience' -
Despite the challenges, the festival bears witness to an impressive resilience. It's a celebration of Haitian cultural richness, spectator Esmeralda Milce, who works in marketing, told AFP.
Milce said she was particularly excited to see Haitian artist Beethova Obas, whom she hadn't seen perform in over a decade.
People are in a festive spirit, rejoiced Samantha Rabel, a young doctor.
Performers at the festival included foreign artists such as Cameroon-born American Richard Bona and Frenchman Ludovic Louis, as well as Haitian musicians based in-country or from the diaspora.
According to the Haiti Jazz Foundation organizing group, PAPJAZZ welcomed between 550 and 850 guests each evening from Thursday to Saturday.
Others flocked to see emerging musicians at free after-show concerts, held in three restaurants in the Petion-Ville neighborhood, which drew large crowds, according to an AFP correspondent.
The free concerts normally held in public squares and universities were excluded from this year's festivities.