Wednesday March 7, 2012

Lanse kòd animate Jacmel Carnival

Carnival spectators watch as the lanse kòd pass by on the parade route. Lanse kòd, or the rope-throwers, work out for months to prepare for their menacing role in Jacmel, Haiti's Carnival parade. (Photo: Ben Depp)

The past few weeks have been the season of carnivals in the Americas, but when it comes to street celebrations there's over-the-top, and then there's Haiti.

In the southern town of Jacmel, for example, the drunky-go-lucky atmosphere of Rio or Mardi Gras in New Orleans, is instead a parade of aggression, summoned from the country's dark history.

And Canadian journalist Susana Ferreira has been running with the Rope Throwers, the baddest boys on Jacmel's block.

Susana's dispatch