Source: Sun-Sentinel
On April 22, 2004 the Sun-Sentinel reported, "The exclusion of Vodou practitioners in plans to uplift Haiti will keep the country in a chaotic state, a Vodou priest said Wednesday. Max Beauvoir, 68, of the Temple of Yehwe in Mariani, Haiti, said politicians, humanitarian organizations, and Christian leaders from abroad have refused to acknowledge the role of the religion in the country's culture for 200 years. As a result, Haiti is on the brink of total collapse, and he believes Vodou gods are upset. 'I think if they continue with this kind of scheme of unfairness, [the gods] may soon be tired of them and see us all disappear,' he said...Beauvoir said Vodou is very much alive in South Florida, which has the largest Haitian population in the United States. It's influenced by African and American Indian religions, and is related to the Santeria religion of Cuba, the Shango of Trinidad and Tobago and Macumba of Brazil. All can be traced to African religions, which slaves brought to the New World...'The largest part of the Haitians practice the religion,' he said. 'They solve their daily problems through Vodou.'"