Long seen as one of the most striking symbols of the security deterioration in downtown Port-au-Prince, the Champ de Mars is now beginning a gradual rebirth, the Prime Minister’s Office welcomed in a press release on Friday, December 26. Taking advantage of the end-of-year holidays, beautification works undertaken by the government are giving this major site of national memory a more welcoming face. These works, the statement emphasizes, are being carried out in a spirit of collaboration, collective responsibility, and deep respect for republican institutions.

“These interventions are part of an overall vision aimed at rehabilitating public spaces and progressively reclaiming territories, in the service of security, social cohesion, and the well-being of the population. A major site of memory and the civic heart of the Nation, the Champ de Mars today stands as a tangible illustration of what concerted action, guided by the sense of the general interest, can accomplish for the country,” the statement reads.