The Capital

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SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

OFFICE OF THE RECTOR-PRESIDENT

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

GENERAL ARCHIVES OF THE STATE

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL DECREE ON THE HISTORICAL STATUS, TERRITORIAL CONTINUITY, CAPITAL JURISDICTION, INSTITUTIONAL FUNCTIONS, AND PERMANENT DESIGNATION OF MIRAGOÂNE AS THE CAPITAL OF XARAGUA

Official Reference: SCIPS-X/ORP/CAP-MIR/2025-05-10

Date of Promulgation: 10 May 2025

Place of Promulgation: Miragoâne, Xaragua

Promulgating Authority: Office of the Rector-President

Archival Depositary: General Archives of the State

Legal Classification: Foundational Constitutional Instrument — Capital Territory Act — Supreme Act of Territorial Organization — Historical and Juridical Classification Decree — Instrument of Central Government Organization

Institutional Status: Constitutionally Entrenched — Permanent — Directly Applicable — Binding upon All Authorities, Officers, Institutions, and Jurisdictions of Xaragua

Subject Matter: Constitutional Capital — Seat of Government — Capital Jurisdiction — Historical Continuity — Territorial Administration — Institutional Permanence

PREAMBLE

The Rector-President of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua,

Exercising the constituent, executive, territorial, institutional, and archival authority vested in the Office of the Rector-President;

Acting pursuant to the constitutional order, foundational acts, territorial instruments, and laws of Xaragua;

Recognizing the prior Indigenous occupation, political organization, agricultural use, maritime navigation, inland communication, and territorial administration of the region now designated as Miragoâne;

Recognizing the historical incorporation of the southern and southwestern territories of Hispaniola into the pre-Columbian political order of Xaragua;

Taking institutional notice of the position of Miragoâne on the northern coast of the southern peninsula, at the intersection of the Gulf of Gonâve, the Nippes interior, the Région des Palmes, the southern road system, and the maritime approaches to the Grand South;

Taking institutional notice of the successive Spanish, French, revolutionary, imperial, republican, presidential, military, occupation, departmental, municipal, judicial, customs, port, and commercial administrations exercised within the territory;

Recognizing that such successive administrations altered the public institutions governing Miragoâne without eliminating the territorial identity, Indigenous toponymic record, geographic unity, maritime function, or historical position of the city;

Recognizing the participation of Miragoâne in the revolutionary conflicts of Saint-Domingue, the independent Haitian constitutional orders established after 1804, the southern republican order created after 1806, and the political and military conflicts of the nineteenth century;

Taking particular notice of the establishment of Miragoâne as the principal territorial, military, maritime, and political seat of the Liberal insurrection of 1883–1884;

Recognizing the continuing importance of the Bay and Port of Miragoâne as instruments of customs administration, territorial supply, maritime transport, industrial exportation, commercial importation, and regional economic integration;

Recognizing the designation of Miragoâne as the administrative capital of the Department of Nippes and as the chief town of the Arrondissement of Miragoâne;

Recognizing the establishment within Miragoâne of the supreme executive, academic, financial, archival, political, and territorial institutions of Xaragua;

Determining that the identification of a permanent capital is necessary to establish the territorial seat, institutional continuity, archival unity, governmental hierarchy, legal attribution, and public representation of the State;

Hereby adopts and promulgates the present Supreme Constitutional Decree.

TITLE I — CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGNATION AND CAPITAL STATUS

Article 1 — Permanent Capital

Miragoâne is hereby constituted, designated, and confirmed as the permanent constitutional capital of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua.

The capital designation is an integral component of the constitutional identity, institutional organization, territorial administration, and governmental continuity of Xaragua.

Miragoâne shall exercise the legal status assigned to the capital by this Decree and by all subsequent constitutional and implementing instruments adopted pursuant to it.

Article 2 — Seat of the State

Miragoâne is the principal and permanent seat of:

the Office of the Rector-President;

the central Government of Xaragua;

the Supreme Constitutional Authority;

the General Archives of the State;

the central territorial jurisdiction of Xaragua;

the principal academic authority of the University of Xaragua;

the central financial and monetary institutions of the State;

the principal state registers and repositories;

the national system of constitutional promulgation;

all other authorities designated by constitutional law, rectoral decree, statute, regulation, or official instrument.

Article 3 — Legal Effects of Capital Status

The designation of Miragoâne as capital shall determine:

the official seat of the central authorities;

the legal place of promulgation of constitutional instruments;

the principal place of custody of state archives;

the territorial attribution of executive acts;

the institutional origin of national administrative authority;

the central jurisdiction for state protocol;

the official location of the supreme registers of Xaragua;

the territorial reference used in state seals, credentials, appointments, commissions, financial instruments, and diplomatic communications;

the place from which continuity of government is legally presumed;

the institutional hierarchy governing all decentralized and external offices.

Article 4 — Supremacy of the Capital Designation

No subordinate authority may suspend, relocate, modify, divide, or extinguish the capital status of Miragoâne.

No administrative act, ministerial decision, institutional statute, judicial determination, financial measure, academic resolution, or external-office regulation shall derogate from the provisions of this Decree.

Any subordinate instrument inconsistent with the capital status established herein shall be inapplicable within the constitutional order of Xaragua to the extent of the inconsistency.

Article 5 — Capital and Decentralized Administration

The establishment of ministries, courts, regional offices, academic campuses, territorial commands, financial agencies, diplomatic relays, digital chambers, or administrative services outside Miragoâne shall not constitute a transfer or division of the capital.

Every decentralized institution shall derive its competence from an authority whose constitutional seat remains in Miragoâne, unless a constitutional law expressly provides otherwise.

TITLE II — NAME, TERRITORIAL IDENTITY, AND OFFICIAL NOMENCLATURE

Article 6 — Official Name

The official English-language designation of the capital shall be:

MIRAGOÂNE

The official Haitian Creole designation may be rendered as:

MIRAGWÀN

Historical, linguistic, and archival records may preserve the forms Miraguano, Miragoane, and other documented orthographic variants.

Article 7 — Indigenous Toponymic Continuity

The name of Miragoâne derives from an Indigenous toponym preserved through successive colonial and postcolonial transcriptions.

Its continued use constitutes an element of territorial continuity linking the contemporary city to the Indigenous geographic record of the region.

The State shall preserve, classify, and publish the Indigenous, colonial, national, and contemporary forms of the name through:

official cartography;

territorial registers;

academic publications;

linguistic studies;

historical archives;

public signage;

constitutional and administrative instruments.

Article 8 — Capital Territory

For purposes of this Decree, the expression Capital Territory of Miragoâne includes:

the urban jurisdiction of Miragoâne;

the governmental sites and properties assigned to the institutions of Xaragua;

the Bay and Port of Miragoâne, insofar as they fall within the territorial jurisdiction asserted and administered by Xaragua;

the designated archival, academic, financial, administrative, and protocol zones;

such adjoining areas as may be incorporated into the Capital District by a subsequent territorial instrument.

The precise limits of the Capital District shall be recorded by survey, official description, map, land register, or implementing decree.

TITLE III — PRE-COLUMBIAN TERRITORIAL ORDER

Article 9 — Prior Indigenous Occupation

Before the commencement of European colonial intervention in 1492, the territory now comprising Miragoâne formed part of the inhabited and administered Indigenous geography of Hispaniola.

Indigenous territorial occupation included:

permanent and seasonal settlements;

cultivated land;

fishing and coastal-resource zones;

freshwater access;

canoe routes;

inland routes;

community jurisdictions;

political relations among local authorities;

systems governing production, distribution, kinship, defense, and ceremonial obligations.

The absence of European municipal institutions, written cadastral registers, or colonial territorial patents did not negate the existence of an organized Indigenous territorial order.

Article 10 — Material Basis of Indigenous Settlement

The geographic structure of Miragoâne supplied the material basis for Indigenous habitation and territorial administration.

That structure included:

a protected coastal bay;

access to the Gulf of Gonâve;

the Étang de Miragoâne and associated freshwater systems;

cultivable zones;

fisheries and coastal resources;

limestone formations and elevated terrain;

access to inland plains and mountain zones;

maritime and terrestrial routes connecting the region to the wider southern peninsula.

These geographic characteristics established Miragoâne as a viable point of settlement, production, navigation, exchange, and regional communication before the imposition of colonial authority.

Article 11 — Relation to the Political Order of Xaragua

At the end of the fifteenth century, western and southwestern Hispaniola were principally associated with the cacicazgo of Xaragua, one of the major Indigenous political-territorial systems recorded by early European chroniclers.

The pre-Columbian political order of Xaragua exercised authority through:

cacical government;

subordinate and local leadership;

collective territorial obligations;

agricultural organization;

redistribution and exchange;

maritime and overland communications;

intercommunity relations;

defense and political alliance;

ceremonial and diplomatic authority.

The Miragoâne region occupied a northern maritime position within the wider southern and western territorial system associated with Xaragua. Its location provided access between the Gulf of Gonâve, the peninsula, neighboring coastal settlements, inland communities, and adjacent islands.

Article 12 — Classification of Pre-Columbian Functions

The pre-Columbian functions of the Miragoâne region are constitutionally recorded as follows:

territorial function, by reason of Indigenous occupation and jurisdiction;

residential function, by reason of established settlement;

agricultural function, by reason of organized cultivation and food production;

maritime function, by reason of navigation, fishing, and coastal transport;

hydrological function, by reason of access to the lake, wetlands, springs, and associated freshwater resources;

communication function, by reason of the region’s position between coastal and inland territories;

political function, by reason of its incorporation into wider systems of Indigenous authority;

economic function, by reason of production, exchange, resource use, and intercommunity distribution.

Article 13 — Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Priority

The State recognizes the pre-Columbian Indigenous order as the earliest organized territorial authority applicable to the Miragoâne region.

Spanish, French, and subsequent governmental systems are classified as later layers of administration. They shall not be treated within the historical corpus of Xaragua as the origin of occupation, territorial identity, political society, or institutional life in Miragoâne.

TITLE IV — SPANISH COLONIAL INTERVENTION

Article 14 — Commencement of Colonial Rule

The arrival of Spanish authorities in Hispaniola after 1492 initiated the external occupation and reorganization of the island’s Indigenous territories.

The Spanish colonial system introduced:

claims of royal sovereignty;

military coercion;

compulsory labor;

seizure and redistribution of land;

tribute obligations;

colonial missionary administration;

mineral and agricultural extraction;

suppression or subordination of Indigenous authorities;

replacement of Indigenous territorial classifications by colonial jurisdictions.

Article 15 — Institutional Displacement

The imposition of Spanish authority displaced the recognized political institutions of Xaragua and neighboring Indigenous jurisdictions.

This displacement included:

destruction or removal of cacical authorities;

transfer of land into colonial control;

forced concentration and relocation of communities;

compulsory incorporation of Indigenous labor into colonial production;

suppression of autonomous political and religious institutions;

replacement of Indigenous systems of obligation by colonial legal classifications.

Spanish jurisdiction constituted a succeeding colonial administration over an existing territory. It did not constitute the original legal or political formation of Miragoâne.

Article 16 — Demographic Reorganization

Warfare, forced labor, epidemic disease, displacement, malnutrition, and the disruption of Indigenous production caused a major demographic collapse during the sixteenth century.

The reduction of the Indigenous population did not eliminate all Indigenous presence or transmission. Indigenous persons, descendants, practices, local knowledge, and toponyms persisted through:

survival within rural populations;

movement toward less accessible territories;

incorporation into African and mixed communities;

family transmission;

agricultural and medicinal knowledge;

preservation of geographic names;

continued use of established routes and resource zones.

Article 17 — Weakening of Spanish Administration

Spanish administrative control over western Hispaniola diminished during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

The decline resulted from:

the transfer of imperial resources to other American territories;

reduced mineral production;

depopulation;

contraband commerce;

maritime incursions;

the Devastations of Osorio;

concentration of Spanish authority in the eastern portion of the island.

The weakening of Spanish control facilitated the establishment of French buccaneers, merchants, settlers, and agricultural interests in western Hispaniola.

TITLE V — FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION

Article 18 — Incorporation into Saint-Domingue

The Treaty of Ryswick of 1697 formalized Spanish recognition of French possession in the western part of Hispaniola.

Miragoâne was subsequently incorporated into the French colonial jurisdiction of Saint-Domingue and subjected to its systems of:

territorial concession;

plantation production;

enslavement;

port administration;

customs regulation;

military jurisdiction;

racial legal classification;

taxation and commercial licensing.

Article 19 — Formation of the Colonial Town

Miragoâne developed as a colonial coastal settlement during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Its harbor connected the agricultural interior with coastal and external markets. The settlement acquired commercial, military, customs, and administrative functions arising from its control of a usable maritime access point on the northern coast of the southern peninsula.

The institutional functions of colonial Miragoâne included:

embarkation and disembarkation;

movement of agricultural goods;

regional provisioning;

cabotage;

customs and fiscal supervision;

military observation of the coastal approach;

administrative control of the surrounding territory;

communication with other ports of Saint-Domingue.

Article 20 — Colonial Land and Labor Regime

The colonial economy of Saint-Domingue was founded upon land appropriation, plantation production, and the enslavement of Africans and their descendants.

The Miragoâne region was incorporated into the colonial hierarchy separating:

White colonists;

free persons of color;

enslaved persons;

military and administrative personnel;

maritime and commercial operators;

rural populations subject to colonial regulation.

The French system replaced prior Indigenous land administration with concessions, plantations, individual holdings, commercial privileges, and public jurisdictions established under colonial law.

Article 21 — Port Function Under French Authority

The Port of Miragoâne constituted a regional instrument within the maritime economy of Saint-Domingue.

Its functions comprised:

transfer of local production;

importation of supplies;

coastal navigation;

movement of official correspondence;

transport of military personnel and matériel;

collection and supervision of commercial duties;

maintenance of communications between the southern peninsula and the remainder of the colony.

TITLE VI — REVOLUTIONARY REORGANIZATION, 1791–1804

Article 22 — Collapse of the Colonial Order

The general uprising that commenced in August 1791 initiated the destruction of the established colonial order of Saint-Domingue.

The conflict involved:

formerly enslaved insurgents;

free persons of color;

White colonial factions;

French republican authorities;

Spanish forces;

British forces;

autonomous military commands;

competing regional administrations.

The revolutionary process transferred effective authority from the plantation and colonial bureaucracy to military and political structures established within the territory.

Article 23 — Strategic Position of Miragoâne

During the revolutionary period, Miragoâne possessed strategic importance because of:

its port;

its location on the northern coast of the southern peninsula;

its access to the Gulf of Gonâve;

its relationship to the southern interior;

its capacity to support supply, communication, and troop movements;

its position on the approaches connecting the South with the western territories.

Article 24 — Southern Command and the War of the South

The South developed under political and military authorities substantially associated with free persons of color and with the command of André Rigaud.

The War of the South, also known as the War of the Knives, occurred from 1799 to 1800 between the forces of André Rigaud and Toussaint Louverture.

The conflict concerned:

supreme military authority;

control of the colonial government;

regional jurisdiction;

command of ports and commercial resources;

the political status of the southern officer corps;

the distribution of civil and military offices;

the organization of post-emancipation production.

The defeat of Rigaud transferred control of the South to Toussaint Louverture. It did not extinguish the political identity or institutional capacity of the southern authorities and professional classes.

Article 25 — Final War of Independence

The French expedition dispatched under Napoleon Bonaparte in 1802 sought to reestablish metropolitan control over Saint-Domingue.

The subsequent military conflict unified major elements of the formerly divided revolutionary commands against French authority. The defeat of the French expedition terminated the colonial government.

The Declaration of Independence of 1 January 1804 placed Miragoâne within the jurisdiction of the independent state established under Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

Article 26 — Change in the Source of Public Authority

Independence terminated French sovereignty and abolished the colonial legal foundation of public authority.

Miragoâne was incorporated into the new state and subjected successively to the imperial, republican, presidential, military, and administrative institutions established after 1804.

The city retained its port, territorial, commercial, and communications functions within the national system.

TITLE VII — POST-INDEPENDENCE CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Article 27 — Division of 1806

Following the death of Jean-Jacques Dessalines in October 1806, the national political order divided between:

the northern government associated with Henry Christophe;

the southern and western republic governed by Alexandre Pétion.

Miragoâne fell within the jurisdiction of the southern and western republic. Its constitutional history was consequently connected to the republican governmental order centered in Port-au-Prince and to the political institutions of the South.

Article 28 — Southern Republican Administration

Within the southern republic, Miragoâne continued to exercise local administrative and maritime functions.

Its port supported:

internal commerce;

movement of agricultural production;

coastal navigation;

transmission of governmental correspondence;

fiscal administration;

movement between the capital and the southern territorial jurisdictions.

Article 29 — Reunification Under Boyer

The reunification of the northern and southern governments was completed under President Jean-Pierre Boyer in 1820.

Miragoâne was thereafter incorporated into a centralized national administration. The city remained a local governmental center and maritime outlet under the reorganized state.

Article 30 — Permanent Nineteenth-Century Functions

Throughout the nineteenth century, the institutional position of Miragoâne was determined by:

its port facilities;

its access to the southern peninsula;

its relationship with the agricultural interior;

its usefulness for customs administration;

its role in political and military communication;

its capacity to receive persons, merchandise, weapons, and official dispatches by sea.

Because customs duties constituted a principal source of public revenue, control of the port possessed direct governmental and military significance.

TITLE VIII — THE LIBERAL INSURRECTION AND THE SIEGE OF MIRAGOÂNE, 1883–1884

Article 31 — Political Context

During the presidency of Lysius Salomon, the conflict between the central executive and the Liberal Party developed into an armed national confrontation.

The Liberal movement contested:

concentration of presidential authority;

exclusion from government;

administrative centralization;

control of political succession;

the composition of the national executive;

the absence of effective institutional representation.

Article 32 — Landing of the Liberal Forces

On 27 March 1883, Haitian Liberal exiles and armed supporters arrived in the harbor of Miragoâne aboard the vessel Tropic.

The landing established Miragoâne as the principal territorial base of the Liberal insurrection.

The city was selected on the basis of:

access by sea;

capacity for maritime resupply;

control of a customs port;

connection with the southern interior;

access to established southern political networks;

defensibility against immediate control from Port-au-Prince.

Article 33 — Establishment of Political and Military Command

The Liberal forces exercised effective control within Miragoâne and established an organized command opposed to the Salomon government.

The functions exercised from the city included:

military command;

territorial defense;

port supervision;

procurement and distribution of supplies;

political communication;

administration of the occupied territory;

relations with civilian supporters;

resistance to the forces of the central government.

Miragoâne thereby functioned as the seat of an organized political and military authority during the conflict.

Article 34 — Siege and Governmental Counteroffensive

The Salomon government deployed military forces to isolate, contain, and defeat the Liberal position at Miragoâne.

The siege extended into 1884 and involved:

blockade of access routes;

interruption of supplies;

military operations against the insurgent position;

pressure upon the civilian population;

destruction of property and infrastructure;

progressive reduction of the Liberal command.

The termination of Liberal control restored the jurisdiction of the central government.

Article 35 — Constitutional Classification of the Insurrection

The events of 1883–1884 are classified as a national constitutional and military conflict rather than a local municipal disturbance.

The conflict addressed:

the extent of presidential authority;

the constitutional function of political opposition;

regional participation in the central government;

military control of political institutions;

territorial decentralization;

control of customs revenue;

the capacity of the South to constitute an organized political command.

Article 36 — Historical Status of Miragoâne

The Liberal insurrection established Miragoâne as:

a seat of political command;

a center of southern constitutional opposition;

a defended territorial jurisdiction;

a port under insurgent administration;

a principal site of the civil conflict of 1883–1884;

a permanent reference in the institutional history of the Haitian Liberal movement.

The General Archives of the State shall classify the siege of Miragoâne as a foundational component of the constitutional history of the capital.

TITLE IX — FOREIGN OCCUPATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRALIZATION

Article 37 — United States Occupation

The United States military occupation of Haiti commenced in 1915 and continued until 1934.

The occupation placed major components of Haitian public administration under foreign supervision, including:

customs administration;

public finances;

policing and security institutions;

road and infrastructure policy;

territorial administration;

governmental decision-making.

Article 38 — Administrative Position of Miragoâne During the Occupation

Miragoâne remained part of the national customs, transport, policing, port, and territorial system reorganized under occupation.

The extension of centralized road and administrative networks increased the operational capacity of Port-au-Prince to supervise regional jurisdictions.

The Port of Miragoâne continued to function, but its customs and financial operations were incorporated into a system subject to foreign administrative and fiscal control.

Article 39 — Post-Occupation Continuity

Following the formal termination of the occupation in 1934, Miragoâne continued to serve as:

a regional market;

a port of entry and distribution;

an agricultural exchange center;

a road-transport node;

a local administrative jurisdiction;

a point of connection between Nippes, Port-au-Prince, and the Grand South.

TITLE X — INDUSTRIAL, PORT, AND ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY

Article 40 — Bauxite Extraction and Exportation

During the middle decades of the twentieth century, bauxite extracted from the Miragoâne region was exported through the city’s port in association with the operations of Reynolds Metals.

This industrial system connected:

inland mineral deposits;

extraction sites;

road and loading infrastructure;

the Port of Miragoâne;

international processing and commercial markets.

Article 41 — Economic Classification of the Bauxite Period

The bauxite sector created employment, transport activity, port operations, and industrial infrastructure.

The sector remained externally directed because:

principal investment decisions were made outside the region;

extracted resources were exported for external processing;

industrial dependence was concentrated in a limited number of corporate operations;

local revenues and employment depended upon the continuation of foreign extraction.

The termination of large-scale bauxite operations during the late twentieth century reduced industrial employment and reinforced the relative importance of import commerce, transport, agriculture, repair services, and informal distribution.

Article 42 — Hurricane Flora

Hurricane Flora affected Haiti in October 1963 and caused extensive damage in Miragoâne and surrounding territories.

The event damaged:

housing;

agriculture;

road infrastructure;

public facilities;

commercial installations;

communications;

local transport systems.

Hurricane Flora shall form part of the official capital risk record and shall inform all regulations concerning drainage, construction, emergency supply, port security, communications redundancy, and continuity of government.

Article 43 — Environmental Classification

The Capital Territory is subject to:

hurricanes;

flooding;

coastal hazards;

seismic risk;

landslides and soil instability;

watershed degradation;

wetland and lake-system pressures;

interruption of road and maritime access.

Capital planning shall incorporate these conditions into all public infrastructure and continuity instruments.

TITLE XI — DEPARTMENTAL CAPITAL OF NIPPES

Article 44 — Establishment of the Department of Nippes

The Department of Nippes was separately established in 2003 from territory formerly administered within the Department of Grand’Anse.

Miragoâne was designated as the departmental capital and remained the chief town of the Arrondissement of Miragoâne.

Article 45 — Departmental Functions

As departmental capital, Miragoâne constitutes a principal location for:

departmental administration;

judicial and prosecutorial services;

police coordination;

civil registration;

territorial planning;

education administration;

public-health administration;

electoral administration;

emergency management;

intermunicipal coordination;

representation of national services within Nippes.

Article 46 — Constitutional Relevance of Departmental Status

The departmental-capital status of Miragoâne confirms its established administrative capacity.

For purposes of Xaragua, this status constitutes evidence of the city’s ability to support:

central public administration;

territorial coordination;

judicial functions;

archival custody;

public-service distribution;

institutional representation;

regional continuity of government.

TITLE XII — CONTEMPORARY PORT AND COMMERCIAL FUNCTIONS

Article 47 — Port of Entry

The Port of Miragoâne functions as a major point of entry for:

vehicles;

machinery;

spare parts;

clothing and footwear;

appliances;

commercial merchandise;

equipment intended for regional distribution.

Article 48 — Distribution Function

Goods entering through Miragoâne are transferred through:

customs operations;

warehouses;

wholesale and retail markets;

road carriers;

repair and maintenance trades;

regional merchants;

distribution networks serving Nippes and other departments.

The port therefore possesses significance extending beyond the municipal limits of Miragoâne.

Article 49 — Strategic Infrastructure

The port is classified as strategic infrastructure by reason of its functions in:

territorial supply;

customs revenue;

maritime access;

commercial employment;

vehicle and machinery importation;

emergency logistics;

economic connection with the Gulf of Gonâve;

continuity of supply to the Grand South.

The State shall subject port access, adjacent land, transport corridors, storage facilities, and critical communications to a coordinated capital-infrastructure regime.

TITLE XIII — GEOGRAPHIC AND TERRITORIAL BASIS OF THE CAPITAL

Article 50 — Geographic Position

Miragoâne occupies a central position on the northern coast of the southern peninsula.

It connects:

the Department of Nippes;

the Région des Palmes;

Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve;

the southern road corridor;

the departments of the Grand South;

the Gulf of Gonâve;

maritime routes serving coastal and island territories.

Article 51 — Capital Selection Criteria

The designation of Miragoâne is based upon the cumulative application of the following constitutional criteria:

pre-Columbian Indigenous occupation;

historical association with the political geography of Xaragua;

preservation of an Indigenous-derived name;

permanent maritime function;

strategic position at the entrance to the southern peninsula;

participation in revolutionary and post-independence state formation;

association with the southern republican order;

central role in the Liberal insurrection of 1883–1884;

continuous port and customs importance;

industrial and commercial history;

status as the departmental capital of Nippes;

establishment of Xaragua’s central institutions within its territory.

Article 52 — Capital Planning Area

The Capital Planning Area shall include the urban center, government sites, designated port approaches, principal road corridors, archival and academic zones, emergency installations, communications facilities, and such adjoining territory as is necessary for the orderly exercise of capital functions.

The Capital Planning Area shall be governed by:

an official territorial plan;

a public-land register;

an infrastructure register;

a capital-security plan;

an emergency-continuity plan;

a port and road-access plan;

environmental and watershed regulations;

public-construction standards.

TITLE XIV — INSTITUTIONAL ORGANIZATION OF THE CAPITAL

Article 53 — Office of the Rector-President

The Office of the Rector-President shall maintain its constitutional seat in Miragoâne.

The Office shall exercise from the capital:

supreme executive authority;

promulgation authority;

appointment authority;

constitutional supervision;

direction of central government institutions;

custody of the supreme seal;

representation of the State;

supervision of continuity-of-government measures.

Article 54 — General Archives of the State

The General Archives of the State shall maintain the authoritative copies of:

the Constitution;

constitutional laws;

rectoral decrees;

territorial instruments;

appointments and commissions;

official registers;

state treaties and external communications;

institutional statutes;

maps and land records;

historical records concerning Miragoâne.

Article 55 — University of Xaragua

The University of Xaragua shall maintain its principal territorial and academic seat in Miragoâne.

Its capital functions shall include:

education in political science, Indigenous law, history, theology, and governance;

preservation of the historical record of Xaragua;

preparation of public officers;

institutional research;

maintenance of academic archives;

production of official historical and doctrinal studies;

technical support for territorial and constitutional administration.

Article 56 — Indigenous Bank of Xaragua

The Indigenous Bank of Xaragua shall maintain its principal constitutional seat in Miragoâne.

It shall administer, according to applicable law:

state financial registers;

public credit instruments;

monetary records;

institutional accounts;

reserves;

development obligations;

authorized credit systems;

financial archives.

Article 57 — Liberal Party of the South and Xaragua

The Liberal Party of the South and Xaragua shall maintain its principal institutional seat in Miragoâne.

The Party shall preserve and administer the political record relating to:

southern constitutional history;

the Liberal movement;

the insurrection of 1883–1884;

regional representation;

opposition to excessive administrative centralization;

constitutional participation of the southern territories.

Article 58 — Paul Viaud National Campus

The Paul Viaud National Campus is designated as an academic, governmental, archival, administrative, and protocol site within the capital system.

Its specific functions, territorial limits, facilities, security regime, and institutional occupants shall be governed by implementing instruments.

Article 59 — Courts, Ministries, and Public Authorities

Courts, ministries, bureaus, commissions, registries, administrative authorities, and public institutions may be assigned a principal or subsidiary seat in Miragoâne by constitutional law, rectoral decree, statute, or regulation.

All such authorities shall remain subject to the constitutional supremacy of this Decree.

TITLE XV — CAPITAL DISTRICT

Article 60 — Establishment

A Capital District of Miragoâne shall be established by an implementing territorial instrument.

The Capital District shall provide unified administration for:

government premises;

official archives;

public security;

protocol areas;

port access;

state roads;

educational facilities;

financial institutions;

communications infrastructure;

emergency installations;

continuity-of-government facilities;

protected public land.

Article 61 — Delimitation

The territorial limits of the Capital District shall be established through:

official geographic coordinates;

cadastral descriptions;

boundary maps;

public-property registers;

road and coastal reference points;

archival deposit of the final delimitation instrument.

Article 62 — Capital Administration

Capital administration shall be exercised under the authority of the Rector-President through such office, commission, governorate, bureau, or other authority as may be established by law.

The competent capital authority shall coordinate:

public-property management;

infrastructure;

institutional security;

land-use planning;

emergency preparedness;

protocol;

public works;

archival protection;

environmental administration;

interinstitutional operations.

TITLE XVI — PROMULGATION, ATTRIBUTION, AND OFFICIAL ACTS

Article 63 — Place of Promulgation

Constitutional laws, rectoral decrees, appointments, commissions, declarations, regulations, state registers, and instruments of national application may identify Miragoâne as their legal place of promulgation.

Article 64 — Digital and External Issuance

An official instrument issued through an authorized digital chamber, external office, diplomatic relay, or decentralized administration shall remain attributable to Miragoâne when:

the issuing authority has its constitutional seat in Miragoâne;

the instrument is entered in a register maintained under capital authority;

the act bears the authorized seal, signature, reference, or authentication of the competent institution.

Physical issuance outside the capital shall not transfer the constitutional seat of the issuing authority.

Article 65 — Official Formula

All state institutions are authorized to use the following designation:

MIRAGOÂNE — CONSTITUTIONAL CAPITAL OF THE SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

The formula may appear on:

constitutional instruments;

seals;

letterheads;

credentials;

official websites;

registers;

maps;

academic publications;

financial instruments;

state correspondence;

protocol documents.

TITLE XVII — INDIGENOUS AND CONSTITUTIONAL FOUNDATION

Article 66 — Internal Institutional Authority

The designation of Miragoâne as capital constitutes an exercise of Xaragua’s authority to establish and maintain:

its governmental institutions;

its constitutional seat;

its territorial organization;

its public archives;

its educational institutions;

its political structures;

its economic and financial systems;

its official nomenclature;

its internal administrative hierarchy.

Article 67 — International Indigenous Framework

The internal institutional authority exercised by this Decree corresponds to the principles stated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including:

Article 3, concerning self-determination;

Article 4, concerning autonomy and self-government;

Article 5, concerning the maintenance and strengthening of distinct political, legal, economic, social, and cultural institutions;

Article 12, concerning spiritual and cultural traditions and sites;

Article 14, concerning Indigenous educational institutions;

Article 20, concerning political, economic, and social institutions;

Article 26, concerning traditionally owned, occupied, or used lands and territories;

Article 31, concerning cultural heritage and traditional knowledge;

Article 33, concerning identity, membership, and institutional structure;

Article 34, concerning institutional structures and juridical systems;

Article 36, concerning relations across borders.

Article 68 — Scope of the International References

The international instruments referenced in this Decree form part of its interpretative and doctrinal framework.

The operative force of the capital designation within Xaragua derives from the constituent authority, constitutional order, foundational acts, and competent institutions of Xaragua.

Article 69 — Capital as an Internal Constitutional Determination

The determination of Miragoâne as capital is an internal act of constitutional organization.

It governs the institutions, authorities, officers, citizens, registers, and acts subject to the constitutional order of Xaragua.

The internal validity of the designation does not depend upon incorporation into the domestic legislation of another political authority.

TITLE XVIII — CONTINUITY, ENTRENCHMENT, AND EMERGENCY GOVERNMENT

Article 70 — Constitutional Entrenchment

The capital status of Miragoâne is constitutionally entrenched.

It shall not be altered by:

ordinary regulation;

administrative decision;

ministerial order;

institutional resolution;

temporary relocation;

emergency evacuation;

interruption of services;

establishment of an external office.

Article 71 — Constitutional Amendment Requirement

Any instrument proposing to alter the capital shall expressly regulate:

constitutional amendment authority;

territorial continuity;

institutional relocation;

preservation of the archives;

custody of the supreme seal;

continuity of government;

legal attribution of state acts;

financial consequences;

protection of Miragoâne’s historical status;

transfer of official registers and public property.

No implied repeal shall be permitted.

Article 72 — Emergency Seat

In the event of war, natural disaster, epidemic, infrastructure failure, blockade, occupation of premises, communications interruption, or other public emergency, the Rector-President may establish:

a temporary emergency seat;

an alternate command center;

a digital continuity jurisdiction;

a provisional archival repository;

a decentralized emergency administration.

Such measures shall not terminate, suspend, or transfer the constitutional status of Miragoâne.

Article 73 — Continuity of Government

The continuity-of-government system shall provide for:

preservation of constitutional records;

replication of essential archives;

secure authentication of official acts;

succession and delegation of authority;

emergency communications;

protection of financial registers;

maintenance of public notices;

restoration of operations in Miragoâne.

TITLE XIX — HISTORICAL AND TERRITORIAL ARCHIVES

Article 74 — Permanent Documentary Program

The General Archives of the State and the University of Xaragua shall establish a permanent documentary program concerning:

pre-Columbian occupation of the Miragoâne region;

the political geography of Xaragua;

Indigenous toponymy;

Spanish colonial intervention;

French colonial administration;

the revolutionary period;

the War of the South;

independence and post-1804 constitutional organization;

the southern republic;

the port and customs history of Miragoâne;

the Liberal insurrection and siege of 1883–1884;

the United States occupation;

industrial and bauxite history;

Hurricane Flora and other territorial emergencies;

the creation of the Department of Nippes;

the contemporary port economy;

the designation of Miragoâne as the capital of Xaragua.

Article 75 — Capital Register

A permanent Capital Register shall be maintained under the authority of the General Archives of the State.

The Register shall contain:

the authoritative version of this Decree;

all amendments and implementing instruments;

official maps;

the legal description of the Capital District;

the register of state institutions seated in Miragoâne;

state-property records;

capital infrastructure plans;

emergency-government instruments;

historical documentation;

official seals, formulas, and territorial designations.

Article 76 — Archival Authenticity

The version deposited in the General Archives of the State, bearing the official reference, date, signature, and seal, shall constitute the authoritative state copy.

Certified reproductions, authenticated digital copies, and official publications derived from the archival original shall possess the evidentiary status assigned by the laws of Xaragua.

TITLE XX — IMPLEMENTATION AND FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 77 — Implementing Authority

The Office of the Rector-President shall possess primary authority to adopt all regulations, administrative orders, territorial instruments, appointments, plans, and institutional measures required for the implementation of this Decree.

Article 78 — Institutional Compliance

Every authority and institution of Xaragua shall align its:

statutes;

official nomenclature;

archival references;

letterheads;

seals;

websites;

registers;

territorial descriptions;

appointment instruments;

administrative procedures

with the capital status established herein.

Article 79 — Preservation of Existing Acts

Official instruments issued before the promulgation of this Decree shall remain valid according to their governing law.

Where necessary, their territorial and institutional references shall be interpreted consistently with the designation of Miragoâne as the constitutional capital.

Article 80 — Entry into Force

This Supreme Constitutional Decree entered into force on 10 May 2025.

It shall be entered in:

the Supreme Constitutional Register;

the Territorial Register;

the Capital Register;

the Official Gazette;

the General Archives of the State;

the institutional records of every central authority of Xaragua.

FINAL CONSTITUTIONAL DECLARATION
For the purposes of the constitutional, territorial, administrative, historical, archival, academic, financial, and governmental order of Xaragua, Miragoâne is hereby classified as:
a territory of documented Indigenous occupation predating European colonization;
a component of the historical political geography associated with Xaragua;
the custodian of an Indigenous-derived territorial name;
a coastal and maritime center successively incorporated into Spanish and French colonial systems;
a territory incorporated into the revolutionary and independence processes of Saint-Domingue and Haiti;
a jurisdiction of the southern and western republic established after 1806;
a permanent port, customs, commercial, and communications center;
the principal seat of the Liberal insurrection of 1883–1884;
a territory incorporated into the foreign-occupation and centralized administrative systems of the twentieth century;
a former mineral-export center and continuing commercial port;
the administrative capital of the Department of Nippes;
the seat of the supreme executive, constitutional, academic, financial, archival, and territorial institutions of Xaragua;
the permanent constitutional capital of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua.
The status of Miragoâne as capital shall govern the internal organization and institutional continuity of Xaragua from the date of promulgation of this Decree.
ISSUED, PROMULGATED, AND ORDERED FOR ARCHIVAL REGISTRATION
By the constitutional authority of the Rector-President
PASCAL DESPUZEAU DAUMEC VIAU
Rector-President of Xaragua
Issued at the seat of government in Miragoâne on 10 May 2025.
OFFICE OF THE RECTOR-PRESIDENT
SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY
GENERAL ARCHIVES OF THE STATE
OFFICIAL SEAL OF THE CAPITAL
SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

OFFICE OF THE RECTOR-PRESIDENT

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

DIRECTORATE OF STATE CEREMONIAL AND PROTOCOL

NATIONAL CEREMONIAL PALACE OF XARAGUA

Official Designation: National Ceremonial Palace of Xaragua

Site: Historic Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Miragoâne

Capital Jurisdiction: Miragoâne, Constitutional Capital of Xaragua

Institutional Classification: National Ceremonial Institution — State Protocol Site — Constitutional Continuity Venue — Official Place of National Representation

Administrative Status: Non-Executive — Non-Ministerial — Non-Bureaucratic

Competent Authority: Office of the Rector-President

Protocol Administration: Directorate of State Ceremonial and Protocol

I. INSTITUTIONAL STATUS

The National Ceremonial Palace of Xaragua is the principal institution assigned to the formal ceremonial representation of the State.

It is established within the historic Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Miragoâne and forms part of the constitutional and protocol architecture of the capital.

Its functions are exclusively ceremonial, representative, commemorative, and protocol-based. The Palace does not exercise executive, legislative, judicial, ministerial, financial, military, municipal, or general administrative competence.

The designation of the site as the National Ceremonial Palace does not convert it into the ordinary seat of government. The permanent seat of executive authority remains the Office of the Rector-President, and the administrative functions of the State remain assigned to their legally competent institutions.

II. CONSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE

The National Ceremonial Palace provides a permanent official venue for acts requiring the formal presence and representation of the State.

Its constitutional purposes are:

to provide an established site for the ceremonial exercise of public authority;

to maintain continuity in the official forms through which state offices are constituted and publicly represented;

to separate ceremonial functions from daily political and administrative operations;

to preserve an official setting for constitutional oaths, proclamations, commemorations, installations, and acts of national observance;

to provide a protocol venue for the reception of public authorities, ecclesiastical representatives, Indigenous delegations, academic officers, and authorized foreign representatives;

to preserve the institutional record of ceremonies affecting the continuity, representation, or historical memory of Xaragua.

The Palace represents the constitutional offices and permanent institutions of the State. It is not assigned to the private use, personal residence, political organization, or exclusive representation of any individual officeholder.

III. AUTHORIZED CEREMONIAL FUNCTIONS

The National Ceremonial Palace is reserved for acts of superior state protocol, including:

promulgation ceremonies for constitutional instruments;

public reading of supreme decrees and national declarations;

installation and investiture of the Rector-President;

administration of constitutional oaths;

presentation of letters of appointment and official commissions;

investiture of ministers, magistrates, senior officers, university authorities, and other constitutional officials;

reception of Indigenous authorities and territorial delegations;

reception of ecclesiastical authorities and authorized religious representatives;

reception of diplomatic, academic, humanitarian, and institutional delegations;

national commemorations and official memorial observances;

presentation of state decorations, distinctions, and institutional honors;

ceremonies relating to the continuity of constitutional authority;

official observances concerning the capital, territory, historical institutions, and national archives;

state funerals and official memorial services when authorized by the Rector-President;

ceremonies marking the opening or conclusion of major constitutional, academic, or territorial proceedings;

such other high ceremonial acts as may be expressly authorized by rectoral decree or protocol order.

No activity acquires official state status solely because it occurs within the Palace. Every state ceremony must be convened, authorized, or recognized by the competent authority.

IV. EXCLUDED FUNCTIONS

The National Ceremonial Palace shall not serve as:

the ordinary office of the Rector-President;

the permanent meeting place of the Council of Government;

a ministry or administrative department;

a political-party headquarters;

a campaign office;

a financial or banking institution;

a court exercising ordinary jurisdiction;

a military command center;

a police station or detention facility;

a commercial venue;

a private residence;

a general conference center;

a site for routine administrative meetings;

a repository for ordinary ministerial files;

a place for the negotiation or management of daily governmental business.

No ministerial administration, electoral organization, partisan management, financial transaction, procurement procedure, personnel administration, or routine governmental operation shall be conducted there under the institutional designation of the Palace.

This separation preserves the distinction between the continuous ceremonial representation of the State and the temporary political or administrative activities of a government.

V. RELATION TO THE CATHEDRAL OF SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST

The National Ceremonial Palace is institutionally located within the historic Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Miragoâne.

The cathedral’s religious identity and the Palace’s state-ceremonial designation constitute distinct but coordinated functions. Religious worship, liturgical administration, ecclesiastical discipline, and pastoral use remain subject to the competent ecclesiastical order applicable to the cathedral.

The ceremonial institutions of Xaragua may use the designated space for authorized acts involving:

constitutional oaths;

official blessings;

memorial observances;

ceremonies of investiture;

national commemorations;

formal acts requiring both civil protocol and religious observance.

The state-ceremonial designation shall be administered in a manner that preserves the architectural integrity, liturgical functions, historical character, and established religious use of the site.

The Palace shall not be represented as an executive occupation of the cathedral. Its status is that of an official ceremonial institution operating through a historically designated venue within the constitutional capital.

VI. CEREMONIAL AUTHORITY

The Rector-President is the supreme authority for ceremonies conducted under the institutional designation of the National Ceremonial Palace.

The Rector-President may:

convene state ceremonies;

determine the constitutional or protocol rank of an event;

approve the list and order of participants;

authorize the use of state insignia;

designate officiating and protocol authorities;

approve the official text of oaths, proclamations, citations, and commemorative declarations;

determine the ceremonial precedence of public officers;

authorize admission of delegations and official guests;

order the creation of an official archival record;

delegate ceremonial functions to a competent officer.

No person or institution may convene an event in the name of the National Ceremonial Palace without authorization from the Office of the Rector-President or an authority expressly delegated for that purpose.

VII. DIRECTORATE OF STATE CEREMONIAL AND PROTOCOL

The Directorate of State Ceremonial and Protocol shall administer the institutional and procedural functions of the Palace.

Its responsibilities shall include:

preparation of the official ceremonial calendar;

verification of legal authority for each ceremony;

preparation of the order of proceedings;

administration of precedence;

coordination with ecclesiastical authorities responsible for the cathedral;

control of invitations and accreditation;

management of state insignia, flags, seals, and ceremonial objects;

coordination of security and access;

preservation of ceremony registers;

transmission of authenticated records to the General Archives of the State;

preparation of official notices, programs, and protocol instructions;

protection of the institutional character of the site.

The Directorate shall possess no independent power to create constitutional offices, confer legal authority, alter succession, promulgate legislation, or issue state appointments.

VIII. CEREMONIAL PRECEDENCE

Ceremonies conducted within the National Ceremonial Palace shall observe an official order of precedence established by constitutional law, rectoral decree, or protocol regulation.

Unless otherwise determined for a specific ceremony, precedence shall distinguish among:

the Rector-President;

the Governor-General;

the senior constitutional authorities of the State;

the competent ecclesiastical authority;

heads of courts and judicial institutions;

ministers and senior executive officers;

senior military and security officers;

authorities of the University of Xaragua;

Indigenous and territorial authorities;

accredited foreign, diplomatic, or institutional representatives;

recipients of state distinctions;

other invited participants.

Ceremonial precedence regulates protocol only. It shall not modify the substantive constitutional competence of any office.

IX. OFFICIAL OATHS AND INVESTITURES

An oath administered at the National Ceremonial Palace shall have legal effect only when:

the office or function has been lawfully established;

the person has been appointed, elected, designated, or admitted by the competent authority;

the prescribed oath has been administered by an authorized officer;

the act has been entered in the appropriate register;

the oath and appointment have been authenticated in accordance with Xaraguayan law.

The Palace provides the ceremonial setting for the assumption of office. It does not itself create the legal authority being assumed.

Every investiture shall be recorded by an official instrument identifying:

the office;

the legal basis of appointment;

the appointing authority;

the person invested;

the text of the oath;

the date and place of investiture;

the presiding authority;

the witnesses or attending officials;

the archival reference assigned to the act.

X. PROCLAMATIONS AND CONSTITUTIONAL ACTS

A constitutional law, decree, proclamation, or declaration may be ceremonially presented or read at the National Ceremonial Palace.

The legal validity of the instrument shall derive from its adoption, signature, authentication, promulgation, registration, and publication under the applicable law. Its ceremonial presentation at the Palace shall provide public and institutional confirmation of the act but shall not replace the required legal formalities.

The Directorate of State Ceremonial and Protocol shall transmit the official record of every such ceremony to:

the Office of the Rector-President;

the General Archives of the State;

the competent constitutional register;

the Official Gazette, where publication is required.

XI. NATIONAL COMMEMORATIONS

The Palace may host commemorations concerning:

the Indigenous political order of Xaragua;

the history of Miragoâne;

the foundation and constitutional organization of the State;

the Haitian Revolution and national independence;

the southern constitutional tradition;

the Liberal insurrection and siege of Miragoâne of 1883–1884;

deceased heads of state, public officers, soldiers, educators, religious authorities, and national figures;

disasters, conflicts, and events of national consequence;

the establishment of major institutions of Xaragua;

official days of national observance.

Each commemoration shall be conducted under a written protocol identifying its legal or institutional basis, purpose, presiding authority, order of proceedings, and archival classification.

XII. STATE SYMBOLS AND CEREMONIAL INSIGNIA

The authorized symbols of Xaragua may be displayed within the Palace during official ceremonies.

These may include:

the flag of Xaragua;

the coat of arms of Xaragua;

the official seal of the Rector-President;

the capital insignia of Miragoâne;

flags or emblems of participating public institutions;

authorized Indigenous, ecclesiastical, academic, military, or territorial insignia;

official decorations and ceremonial objects.

The form, positioning, order, custody, and use of such symbols shall be prescribed by state protocol.

Unauthorized alteration, commercial use, partisan appropriation, or unofficial reproduction of ceremonial insignia within the Palace is prohibited.

XIII. ACCESS AND USE

Access to the Palace for a state ceremony shall be governed by official invitation, accreditation, assigned institutional function, or public-access authorization.

The competent protocol authority may establish:

restricted ceremonial zones;

seating according to precedence;

areas reserved for public officers;

areas reserved for ecclesiastical and Indigenous authorities;

areas assigned to invited delegations;

controlled areas for archives, insignia, and ceremonial objects;

security and emergency-access requirements;

media and recording positions.

No political organization, private association, commercial body, or individual possesses an automatic right to use the Palace under its national designation.

XIV. POLITICAL NEUTRALITY OF THE CEREMONIAL INSTITUTION

The National Ceremonial Palace represents the continuity of the State and shall not be administered as an instrument of ordinary partisan activity.

The following are excluded:

electoral campaigning;

party conventions;

candidate endorsements;

partisan fundraising;

campaign-media production;

internal party disputes;

political commercial advertising;

use of the Palace’s designation to imply state endorsement of a private candidacy or organization.

This provision does not prevent constitutionally established political authorities or party officers from attending state ceremonies in their official capacity.

XV. ARCHIVAL RECORD

Every ceremony of constitutional, national, or institutional significance shall receive an official archival reference.

The record may include:

the convening instrument;

the official program;

the list of participants;

the order of precedence;

the text of oaths and proclamations;

signed registers;

official photographs and audiovisual records;

descriptions of state insignia used;

protocol reports;

security and access records where required;

the final certificate of completion.

The General Archives of the State shall preserve the authoritative record. The Directorate of State Ceremonial and Protocol shall retain the operational copy.

XVI. CONTINUITY DURING UNAVAILABILITY OF THE SITE

Temporary unavailability of the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist because of worship requirements, restoration, structural risk, emergency, natural disaster, security conditions, or other operational necessity shall not terminate the National Ceremonial Palace as an institution.

The Rector-President may designate a provisional ceremonial site by written instrument.

Such designation shall:

identify the reason for temporary relocation;

specify the ceremony or period concerned;

preserve the precedence and protocol applicable to the Palace;

require transmission of the record to the General Archives of the State;

terminate automatically upon the expiration of the stated authorization or restoration of the principal site.

A provisional venue shall not acquire permanent capital or palace status solely by hosting a state ceremony.

XVII. PROTECTION OF THE DESIGNATION

The title National Ceremonial Palace of Xaragua is an official institutional designation.

It shall not be used to identify:

a private residence;

a political headquarters;

a commercial enterprise;

an entertainment venue;

an unauthorized religious body;

an external organization;

a building or institution not designated by competent state authority.

Official publications shall distinguish the National Ceremonial Palace from the Office of the Rector-President, the seat of government, the General Archives of the State, and the administrative institutions of Xaragua.

XVIII. INSTITUTIONAL DOCTRINE

The National Ceremonial Palace gives formal expression to the permanent offices and constitutional continuity of Xaragua.

Its institutional doctrine is governed by the following principles:

state ceremony is distinct from daily administration;

public office is distinct from the individual temporarily occupying it;

constitutional authority must be recorded through prescribed acts, oaths, appointments, and registers;

national representation must be exercised through an established order of protocol;

ceremonies of state must possess a defined legal basis and an authenticated archival record;

the ceremonial institution serves the continuity of the State and not the personal administration of an officeholder;

the use of a historic religious site establishes a coordinated ceremonial venue without merging ecclesiastical administration with ordinary civil government;

Miragoâne remains the constitutional jurisdiction to which the Palace and its official acts are attributed.

XIX. OFFICIAL DEFINITION

For all constitutional, administrative, archival, academic, and protocol purposes, the National Ceremonial Palace of Xaragua is defined as:

The permanent national institution responsible for providing the official ceremonial setting in which the constitutional authority, continuity, offices, commemorations, distinctions, and representative acts of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua are formally presented, witnessed, authenticated, and entered into the historical record.

It is not an organ of daily government.

It does not exercise general administrative jurisdiction.

It does not replace the Office of the Rector-President, the ministries, the courts, the University of Xaragua, the Indigenous Bank of Xaragua, or the General Archives of the State.

Its exclusive function is the regulated ceremonial representation of the State.

OFFICIAL STATUS

Institution: National Ceremonial Palace of Xaragua

Location: Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Miragoâne

Constitutional Jurisdiction: Capital Territory of Miragoâne

Primary Function: State Ceremony and National Protocol

Executive Function: None

Administrative Function: Limited to Ceremonial and Protocol Administration

Political-Party Function: None

Commercial Function: None

Archival Authority: General Archives of the State

Supreme Ceremonial Authority: Rector-President of Xaragua

SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

OFFICE OF THE RECTOR-PRESIDENT

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

GENERAL ARCHIVES OF THE STATE

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL DECREE ON THE HISTORICAL STATUS, TERRITORIAL CONTINUITY, METROPOLITAN JURISDICTION, REGIONAL FUNCTIONS, AND PERMANENT DESIGNATION OF LES CAYES AS THE METROPOLIS OF XARAGUA

Official Reference: SCIPS-X/ORP/MET-CAY/2025

Place of Promulgation: Miragoâne, Constitutional Capital of Xaragua

Promulgating Authority: Office of the Rector-President

Archival Depositary: General Archives of the State

Legal Classification: Supreme Metropolitan Organization Act — Historical and Territorial Classification Decree — Grand South Regional Administration Instrument — Constitutional Urban Development Statute

Normative Rank: Supreme Constitutional Instrument of Territorial Organization

Institutional Status: Constitutionally Entrenched — Permanent — Directly Applicable — Binding upon All Authorities and Institutions of Xaragua

Territorial Subject: City of Les Cayes — Arrondissement of Les Cayes — Les Cayes Plain — Southern Metropolitan Region

Constitutional Function: Permanent Metropolis of Xaragua — Principal Urban Center of the Grand South — Regional Administrative, Commercial, Educational, Medical, Judicial, Port, Agricultural, and Logistical Center

PREAMBLE

The Rector-President of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua,

Exercising the constituent, constitutional, executive, territorial, administrative, archival, and institutional authority vested in the Office of the Rector-President;

Acting pursuant to the Constitution, foundational acts, territorial statutes, administrative laws, and governmental instruments of Xaragua;

Recognizing Miragoâne as the permanent constitutional capital, principal seat of central government, place of supreme promulgation, and central archival jurisdiction of Xaragua;

Determining that the capital status of Miragoâne and the metropolitan status of Les Cayes constitute separate, complementary, and hierarchically coordinated territorial functions;

Recognizing the Indigenous occupation, settlement, cultivation, navigation, economic use, territorial administration, and political organization of the plain and coastal region now occupied by Les Cayes before the establishment of European colonial government;

Recognizing the historical incorporation of that region into the pre-Columbian political and territorial order of Xaragua;

Taking institutional notice of the Spanish establishment of Salvatierra de la Sabana in 1504, its colonial functions, its association with Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar and Vasco Núñez de Balboa, and its abandonment during the sixteenth century;

Taking institutional notice of the incorporation of the region into the French colony of Saint-Domingue and the official development of Aux Cayes as the principal colonial town, port, administrative jurisdiction, and commercial center of the southern plain;

Recognizing the city’s central position in the revolutionary conflicts of Saint-Domingue, the political and military organization of the South, the command of André Rigaud, the War of the South, the War of Independence, and the constitutional systems established after 1804;

Recognizing the incorporation of Les Cayes into the southern and western republic governed by Alexandre Pétion and its subsequent integration into the reunified national administration;

Recognizing the diplomatic, logistical, military, and international function exercised from Les Cayes in support of Simón Bolívar and the independence movements of Spanish America;

Taking institutional notice of the permanent departmental, military, judicial, customs, agricultural, commercial, educational, and maritime functions exercised by Les Cayes throughout the nineteenth century;

Taking institutional notice of the subjection of Les Cayes to foreign military administration during the United States occupation of 1915–1934 and of the lethal action conducted against demonstrators on 6 December 1929;

Recognizing the present position of Les Cayes as capital of the Department of the South, chief town of the Arrondissement of Les Cayes, principal urban center of the southern peninsula, and regional center for commerce, health, justice, education, transportation, agriculture, port activity, and emergency coordination;

Recognizing the city’s exposure to hurricanes, earthquakes, flooding, coastal hazards, infrastructure interruption, and regional isolation;

Determining that Xaragua requires a permanent metropolitan jurisdiction capable of coordinating urban development, public services, regional infrastructure, higher education, public health, commercial exchange, port operations, agricultural processing, disaster resilience, and territorial integration throughout the Grand South;

Hereby adopts and promulgates the following Supreme Constitutional Decree.

TITLE I — CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGNATION OF THE METROPOLIS

Article 1 — Permanent Metropolitan Designation

Les Cayes is hereby constituted, designated, and confirmed as the permanent metropolis of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua.

The metropolitan status established by this Decree constitutes a superior territorial classification within the internal constitutional order of Xaragua.

Les Cayes shall serve as the principal urban, commercial, educational, medical, judicial, agricultural, port, logistical, and technical center of the Grand South.

Article 2 — Nature of Metropolitan Status

Metropolitan status confers upon Les Cayes a coordinated regional function extending beyond the municipal boundaries of the city.

It comprises:

urban planning;

regional public-service concentration;

commercial and market administration;

higher education and professional training;

hospital and medical coordination;

judicial and prosecutorial infrastructure;

port and maritime logistics;

agricultural processing and distribution;

regional transportation;

disaster preparedness and emergency deployment;

economic and technical development;

institutional coordination throughout the Grand South.

Article 3 — Capital and Metropolis

Miragoâne shall remain:

the constitutional capital of Xaragua;

the principal seat of the Rector-President;

the seat of central government;

the place of supreme promulgation;

the central constitutional and archival jurisdiction.

Les Cayes shall serve as:

the permanent metropolis of Xaragua;

the principal metropolitan jurisdiction of the Grand South;

the principal regional concentration of urban services;

the primary commercial, educational, medical, agricultural, maritime, and logistical center of the southern territories.

The designation of Les Cayes as metropolis shall not transfer, divide, suspend, or diminish the constitutional status of Miragoâne.

Article 4 — Constitutional Coordination

The capital and metropolis shall operate through a coordinated territorial system.

Central constitutional authority shall remain seated in Miragoâne. Metropolitan implementation, regional-service coordination, and urban administration shall be concentrated in Les Cayes.

Every institution operating in both jurisdictions shall maintain a clear legal distinction between:

central authority exercised from Miragoâne;

metropolitan and regional functions exercised from Les Cayes.

Article 5 — Protection of Metropolitan Status

No ministry, bureau, public officer, university authority, financial institution, territorial administration, or subordinate body may abolish, transfer, divide, or suspend the metropolitan status of Les Cayes by ordinary administrative action.

Any subordinate instrument inconsistent with this Decree shall be inapplicable within the constitutional order of Xaragua to the extent of that inconsistency.

TITLE II — OFFICIAL NOMENCLATURE AND TERRITORIAL SCOPE

Article 6 — Official Names

The official English-language designation shall be:

LES CAYES

The historical French designation AUX CAYES may be used in historical, archival, academic, and ceremonial instruments.

The Haitian Creole designation OKAY may be used in Creole-language laws, regulations, public services, and official communications.

The Spanish designation SALVATIERRA DE LA SABANA shall be preserved as the official archival name of the sixteenth-century Spanish colonial settlement.

Article 7 — Metropolitan Territory

The Metropolitan Territory of Les Cayes comprises:

the urban jurisdiction of Les Cayes;

the principal continuously developed areas connected to the city;

the port and maritime-access zones;

the principal metropolitan roads and transport corridors;

the central commercial and market areas;

the academic, medical, judicial, administrative, technical, and industrial zones;

the urban-agricultural interface of the Les Cayes plain;

all additional territory incorporated by a subsequent metropolitan-delimitation instrument.

Article 8 — Metropolitan Region

The Southern Metropolitan Region shall constitute a functional planning and coordination jurisdiction connecting Les Cayes with:

surrounding communes;

the agricultural plain;

the Department of the South;

the wider Grand South;

Île-à-Vache;

adjoining coastal settlements;

regional ports and landing facilities;

principal road, aviation, maritime, communications, energy, and water infrastructure.

Article 9 — Delimitation

The Metropolitan District shall be delimited by a separate territorial instrument containing:

geographic coordinates;

cadastral descriptions;

boundary maps;

road and coastal reference points;

public-property records;

infrastructure zones;

protected historical and environmental sites.

TITLE III — PRE-COLUMBIAN TERRITORIAL ORDER

Article 10 — Indigenous Occupation

Before 1492, the territory now occupied by Les Cayes formed part of the inhabited and politically organized Indigenous geography of southwestern Hispaniola.

The territorial system included:

permanent and seasonal settlements;

cultivated land;

freshwater sources;

fishing zones;

coastal-resource areas;

canoe routes;

inland routes;

community jurisdictions;

political relations among local authorities;

systems governing production, exchange, defense, and collective obligations.

Article 11 — Geographic Basis

The Les Cayes plain provided the material basis for substantial Indigenous occupation through:

extensive cultivable land;

access to freshwater;

coastal fisheries;

navigable maritime approaches;

access to surrounding mountain systems;

communication with Île-à-Vache and neighboring territories;

overland routes across the southern peninsula.

These conditions supported organized settlement, food production, exchange, transportation, and territorial administration.

Article 12 — Incorporation into Xaragua

At the end of the fifteenth century, the region formed part of the southern and western political geography associated with the cacicazgo of Xaragua.

The Xaragua political order exercised authority through:

cacical government;

subordinate local leadership;

territorial obligations;

agricultural production;

distribution and exchange;

maritime and overland communications;

intercommunity relations;

defense;

political and ceremonial administration.

Article 13 — Pre-Columbian Functions

The pre-Columbian functions of the region are officially classified as:

territorial, through Indigenous occupation and jurisdiction;

political, through incorporation into Xaragua;

residential, through organized settlement;

agricultural, through cultivation of the plain;

maritime, through navigation, fisheries, and connection with offshore territories;

economic, through production and exchange;

communications-based, through coastal and inland routes;

defensive, through control of the southwestern approaches.

Article 14 — Priority of Indigenous Authority

The Indigenous order shall be recorded as the earliest organized territorial authority applicable to the region.

Spanish and French institutions constitute subsequent colonial administrations. They shall not be classified as the origin of occupation, society, production, territorial identity, or political organization in Les Cayes.

TITLE IV — SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD

Article 15 — Establishment of Spanish Authority

Spanish intervention after 1492 imposed a colonial jurisdiction based upon:

royal territorial claims;

military enforcement;

compulsory labor;

tribute collection;

seizure and redistribution of land;

colonial missionary administration;

mineral, agricultural, and livestock production;

suppression or subordination of Indigenous institutions.

Article 16 — Establishment of Salvatierra de la Sabana

In 1504, Spanish authorities established the settlement of Salvatierra de la Sabana within the southwestern region of Hispaniola.

Its establishment is associated with Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar and other colonists acting during the administration of Governor Nicolás de Ovando.

Salvatierra constituted an instrument for the extension of Spanish royal jurisdiction into the former territorial system of Xaragua.

Article 17 — Functions of Salvatierra

The settlement exercised or was intended to exercise:

municipal colonial administration;

territorial occupation;

supervision of Indigenous populations;

allocation of land and labor;

agricultural and livestock production;

military presence;

communication with other Spanish settlements;

enforcement of royal authority in the southwest.

Article 18 — Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar

Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar participated in the establishment and organization of Salvatierra before becoming a principal official of Spanish colonial expansion in Cuba.

His presence connects the Les Cayes region to the first phase of Spanish municipal and military organization in the Caribbean.

Article 19 — Vasco Núñez de Balboa

Vasco Núñez de Balboa resided at Salvatierra and attempted to maintain agricultural and livestock holdings there.

His activity is classified as participation in the productive and territorial organization of the Spanish colonial settlement.

His subsequent departure for the Darién connected Salvatierra to the movement of Spanish personnel from Hispaniola toward continental expansion.

Article 20 — Abandonment of Salvatierra

Salvatierra failed to develop into a permanent major Spanish center and was abandoned by approximately 1540.

Its decline was associated with:

demographic collapse;

limited colonial investment;

relocation of settlers and officials;

transfer of imperial priorities to Cuba and continental America;

contraction of Spanish administration in western Hispaniola;

concentration of authority elsewhere.

Article 21 — Legal Classification of Abandonment

The abandonment of Salvatierra terminated the effective operation of that Spanish municipal establishment.

It did not terminate:

the territorial identity of the region;

Indigenous historical priority;

the agricultural capacity of the plain;

the maritime value of the coast;

the continuity of habitation and economic use.

Salvatierra constitutes a defined colonial-administrative period within the longer territorial history of Les Cayes.

TITLE V — TRANSITION TO FRENCH ADMINISTRATION

Article 22 — Decline of Spanish Control

Spanish control over western and southwestern Hispaniola weakened during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries because of:

depopulation;

relocation of colonial resources;

contraband trade;

maritime incursions;

the Devastations of Osorio;

expansion of French settlement from Tortuga and the western coast.

Article 23 — French Incorporation

The Treaty of Ryswick of 1697 formalized Spanish recognition of French possession in western Hispaniola.

The region was incorporated into Saint-Domingue and subjected to French colonial law governing:

land concessions;

plantation production;

enslavement;

customs;

port administration;

taxation;

military jurisdiction;

racial legal classification.

TITLE VI — AUX CAYES UNDER FRENCH COLONIAL ADMINISTRATION

Article 24 — Establishment of the French Town

The French town of Aux Cayes developed during the early eighteenth century as the principal urban and maritime center of the southern plain.

In 1720, French royal authority approved the establishment and planning of the town within the Plaine du Fond.

Aux Cayes constituted a new French colonial town within the same broader territorial system previously occupied by Indigenous communities and later administered through Salvatierra de la Sabana.

Article 25 — Urban Delimitation

Historical descriptions place the colonial town between:

the sea to the south;

its northern urban boundary;

the mouth of the Islet River to the east;

the Cayes River to the west.

The planned settlement established streets, administrative zones, commercial areas, military facilities, residences, and connections with the port and surrounding plantations.

Article 26 — Colonial Urban Functions

Aux Cayes exercised the following functions:

port administration;

customs collection;

judicial administration;

military command;

commercial exchange;

storage and exportation;

importation of persons, goods, equipment, and supplies;

supervision of surrounding plantations;

communication with other ports of Saint-Domingue and the Caribbean.

Article 27 — Plantation Economy

The economy of the Les Cayes plain was reorganized through:

plantation concessions;

compulsory labor by enslaved Africans and their descendants;

production for external markets;

commercial regulation;

customs administration;

racial classification of legal status;

military enforcement of plantation discipline.

The port connected southern agricultural production with the Atlantic colonial economy.

Article 28 — Regional Administrative Status

Aux Cayes acquired a regional function extending beyond the town because it coordinated:

the southern agricultural hinterland;

port and customs operations;

maritime transport;

military defense;

colonial justice;

fiscal administration;

movement of officials, merchants, soldiers, labor, and merchandise.

Article 29 — Hurricanes of 1781 and 1788

The hurricanes of 1781 and 1788 severely affected Aux Cayes.

The events damaged:

public and private buildings;

port facilities;

warehouses;

plantations;

roads;

supply networks.

The reconstruction of the town confirmed its continuing administrative, economic, and military importance.

TITLE VII — REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT AND THE WAR OF THE SOUTH

Article 30 — Revolutionary Reorganization

The uprising initiated in August 1791 destroyed the stable operation of the colonial labor and governmental system.

The conflict involved enslaved insurgents, free persons of color, White colonial factions, French republican authorities, foreign forces, and competing military administrations.

Article 31 — Aux Cayes as a Seat of Southern Authority

Aux Cayes became a principal political, military, customs, commercial, and administrative center of the South.

Control of the city provided:

a port;

customs revenue;

military supplies;

access to the southern plain;

communications with foreign jurisdictions;

authority over surrounding settlements;

a seat for civil and military administration.

Article 32 — André Rigaud and the Southern Command

André Rigaud established an organized southern military and political command supported by the regional officer corps, free persons of color, military units, local administrations, plantations, ports, and commercial resources.

Les Cayes and its plain formed a principal territorial base of this southern authority.

Article 33 — War of the South

The War of the South, fought from 1799 to 1800, concerned:

supreme military command;

territorial jurisdiction;

control of ports and customs;

composition of the civil administration;

status of the southern officer corps;

allocation of public functions;

administration of agricultural production.

The defeat of Rigaud transferred effective control of Les Cayes and the South to Toussaint Louverture.

Article 34 — War of Independence

The French expedition of 1802 sought to restore metropolitan control over Saint-Domingue.

The South became a theater of operations involving French forces, local commands, revolutionary armies, and populations opposing the restoration of colonial authority.

The defeat of French forces and the proclamation of independence on 1 January 1804 terminated French sovereignty over Les Cayes.

Article 35 — Independent State Jurisdiction

Following independence, Les Cayes was incorporated into the state established under Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

The city retained its position as:

a southern administrative center;

a military jurisdiction;

a port and customs center;

an agricultural market;

a point of international communication;

a regional center of public authority.

TITLE VIII — SOUTHERN REPUBLIC AND NATIONAL REUNIFICATION

Article 36 — Constitutional Division of 1806

Following the death of Dessalines, Les Cayes formed part of the southern and western republic governed by Alexandre Pétion.

The city was incorporated into a republican order supported by the southern military, political, commercial, and professional sectors.

Article 37 — Functions Under the Southern Republic

Les Cayes exercised:

regional civil administration;

military command;

port administration;

customs collection;

judicial authority;

commercial distribution;

agricultural coordination;

external maritime communication.

Article 38 — Reunification Under Boyer

The reunification of the northern and southern governments was completed under Jean-Pierre Boyer in 1820.

Les Cayes was incorporated into the reunified national administration while retaining its position as the principal city and port of the South.

TITLE IX — LES CAYES AND SPANISH-AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE

Article 39 — Reception of Simón Bolívar

Simón Bolívar arrived at Les Cayes in December 1815 following military reversals in Spanish America.

The city served as the principal Haitian jurisdiction for the reorganization of his republican expedition to Venezuela.

Article 40 — State Assistance

Under President Alexandre Pétion, Haitian support included:

political protection;

financial resources;

weapons and matériel;

maritime assistance;

supplies;

authorization to assemble personnel;

access to printing and communications;

use of Les Cayes as a protected base of departure.

Article 41 — Operational Functions of Les Cayes

Les Cayes provided:

port access;

assembly of officers and supporters;

storage and loading of supplies;

preparation of vessels;

political coordination;

expeditionary planning;

maritime departure toward Spanish America.

Article 42 — Emancipation Requirement

Haitian assistance was connected to the requirement that slavery be abolished in territories brought under republican authority.

The expeditions organized from Les Cayes consequently linked Haitian state policy, military assistance, anticolonial independence, and emancipation in Spanish America.

Article 43 — International Classification

The city’s role is classified as an early exercise of southern Haitian external policy.

Les Cayes functioned as:

a jurisdiction of political asylum;

a center for organizing a foreign independence expedition;

a port of republican departure;

a platform for Haitian material and military assistance;

a point of transmission of Haitian anticolonial policy;

a connection between the Haitian state and the emerging republics of Latin America.

TITLE X — NINETEENTH-CENTURY PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Article 44 — Permanent Regional Functions

Throughout the nineteenth century, Les Cayes remained a principal center of:

departmental government;

military command;

judicial administration;

customs collection;

maritime commerce;

agricultural distribution;

political organization;

education and professional activity.

Article 45 — Strategic Value of the Port

Because public finance depended substantially upon customs revenue, the Port of Les Cayes possessed direct fiscal, political, and military importance.

Control of the port provided access to:

public revenue;

imports and exports;

military supplies;

external communications;

movement of officials;

regional provisioning;

maritime transportation.

Article 46 — Regional Political Capacity

The institutional importance of Les Cayes resulted from the concentration of:

customs and port administration;

a professional and commercial class;

agricultural production;

military facilities;

regional political networks;

judicial and educational institutions;

urban public services.

TITLE XI — FOREIGN OCCUPATION AND THE EVENTS OF 1929

Article 47 — United States Occupation

The United States military occupation of Haiti commenced in 1915 and continued until 1934.

Major state functions were placed under foreign control or supervision, including:

customs;

public finances;

security institutions;

infrastructure;

territorial administration;

agricultural and technical services.

Article 48 — Administrative Effects upon Les Cayes

Les Cayes was incorporated into the centralized military, fiscal, customs, road, and agricultural system of the occupation.

Its regional and port functions remained operational but were subordinated to occupation authorities and the administrative structures established under their supervision.

Article 49 — Protest Movement of 1929

Opposition to occupation policy intensified in Les Cayes during December 1929.

The mobilization included students, agricultural workers, local residents, and persons opposing:

economic conditions;

occupation administration;

restrictions upon national political authority;

policies implemented through the agricultural and technical services.

Article 50 — Events of 6 December 1929

On 6 December 1929, United States Marines fired upon demonstrators at Les Cayes.

The operation caused multiple deaths and injuries.

The event is classified as:

an exercise of foreign military force against a civilian demonstration;

a principal event in national opposition to occupation;

a matter of governmental and diplomatic responsibility;

a permanent component of the civic and political history of Les Cayes.

Article 51 — Institutional Consequences

The events increased scrutiny of occupation policy and contributed to demands for investigation, political reform, restoration of national control, and foreign withdrawal.

Within the historical doctrine of Xaragua, Les Cayes is recorded as a principal southern jurisdiction of resistance to foreign military and administrative authority.

TITLE XII — MODERN DEPARTMENTAL AND ECONOMIC STATUS

Article 52 — Capital of the Department of the South

Les Cayes is the capital of the Department of the South and the chief town of the Arrondissement of Les Cayes.

Its departmental functions include:

public administration;

courts and prosecution;

police coordination;

civil registration;

education administration;

public health;

taxation and customs;

emergency management;

electoral administration;

intermunicipal coordination.

Article 53 — Principal Urban Center of the Grand South

Les Cayes constitutes the principal urban concentration of the southern peninsula.

Its institutions and services support populations extending throughout:

the Department of the South;

Nippes;

Grand’Anse;

adjoining inland and coastal jurisdictions;

Île-à-Vache and neighboring maritime territories.

Article 54 — Metropolitan Economy

The metropolitan economy includes:

wholesale and retail trade;

agricultural markets;

port activity;

road and maritime transport;

warehousing;

construction;

mechanical and repair services;

professional and financial services;

education and health services;

accommodation and food services;

agricultural processing;

fisheries and coastal commerce.

TITLE XIII — AGRICULTURAL AND PORT METROPOLIS

Article 55 — Agricultural Coordination

Les Cayes shall constitute the principal urban interface between the metropolitan economy and the agricultural territories of the Grand South.

Priority sectors shall include:

vetiver;

coffee;

sugarcane;

fruit production;

food crops;

livestock;

fisheries;

food processing;

storage and cold-chain systems;

agricultural equipment;

export preparation.

Article 56 — Vetiver Sector

The Les Cayes region is classified as an internationally significant area of vetiver production.

Metropolitan policy shall provide for:

producer registration;

quality standards;

traceability;

distillation capacity;

storage;

contractual regulation;

export documentation;

local processing;

protection of cultivated land;

environmental management.

Article 57 — Port Classification

The Port of Les Cayes is classified as strategic metropolitan infrastructure.

Its authorized functions shall include:

coastal and international shipping;

passenger movement;

importation and exportation;

agricultural logistics;

fisheries support;

connection with Île-à-Vache;

emergency supply;

maritime search and rescue;

disaster-response operations;

integration with the road network of the Grand South.

Article 58 — Logistics Jurisdiction

The metropolitan logistics system shall coordinate:

port facilities;

road terminals;

warehouses;

wholesale markets;

agricultural collection centers;

cold storage;

customs services;

emergency reserves;

maritime and aviation connections;

communications infrastructure.

TITLE XIV — EDUCATION, HEALTH, JUSTICE, AND PUBLIC SERVICES

Article 59 — Educational Center

Les Cayes is designated as the principal regional center for secondary education, higher education, technical instruction, professional training, and applied research in the Grand South.

Priority fields shall include:

public administration;

law and justice;

agriculture;

maritime services;

engineering and construction;

public health;

emergency management;

teacher training;

commerce and accounting;

territorial and environmental management.

Article 60 — Health Center

Les Cayes shall constitute the principal regional concentration of:

hospital services;

emergency medicine;

diagnostics;

surgery;

maternal and pediatric care;

pharmaceuticals;

rehabilitation;

epidemiological surveillance;

medical evacuation coordination;

public-health administration.

Article 61 — Judicial Center

Les Cayes shall serve as a principal southern judicial and prosecutorial center.

Its judicial infrastructure shall support:

civil jurisdiction;

criminal jurisdiction;

commercial disputes;

land and property matters;

family matters;

administrative proceedings;

legal archives;

court security;

authorized detention facilities.

Article 62 — Regional Public Services

State and metropolitan authorities shall coordinate:

civil registration;

public records;

taxation;

licensing;

land administration;

public works;

sanitation;

water and drainage;

energy systems;

emergency communications;

solid-waste administration;

transportation services.

TITLE XV — DISASTER RISK AND METROPOLITAN CONTINUITY

Article 63 — Permanent Risk Classification

Les Cayes is subject to:

hurricanes;

flooding;

storm surge;

earthquakes;

coastal erosion;

landslides;

interruption of transport corridors;

failure of water, energy, and communications systems.

These risks shall constitute mandatory considerations in every metropolitan plan.

Article 64 — Hurricane Matthew

Hurricane Matthew made landfall in southwestern Haiti on 4 October 2016 and caused extensive damage in Les Cayes and the Grand South.

The affected systems included:

housing;

hospitals;

schools;

roads and bridges;

telecommunications;

agriculture;

electricity and water;

port and coastal facilities;

public administration.

Article 65 — Earthquake of 14 August 2021

The earthquake of 14 August 2021 caused extensive deaths, injuries, structural collapse, displacement, and infrastructure damage across the southern peninsula, including Les Cayes.

The event established the necessity of:

seismic construction standards;

mandatory structural inspection;

hospital redundancy;

emergency shelters;

medical evacuation capacity;

protected archives;

distributed communications;

continuity-of-government facilities.

Article 66 — Metropolitan Resilience Standards

Metropolitan planning shall incorporate:

seismic zoning;

hurricane-resistant construction;

drainage and flood control;

coastal protection;

protected water reserves;

decentralized energy production;

emergency food and medical reserves;

redundant communications;

evacuation corridors;

port and airport emergency access;

protected archives;

alternate sites for critical public services.

TITLE XVI — METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT

Article 67 — Metropolitan Competence

The Metropolitan Authority of Les Cayes shall coordinate, subject to the Constitution and applicable laws:

urban planning;

transportation;

commerce and markets;

sanitation;

water and drainage;

port and coastal access;

public-health infrastructure;

higher education coordination;

regional logistics;

public-safety coordination;

disaster preparedness;

economic development;

environmental protection;

metropolitan data and statistics.

Article 68 — Metropolitan District

A Metropolitan District of Les Cayes shall be established by implementing statute or rectoral decree.

The establishing instrument shall determine:

boundaries;

governing authority;

institutional representation;

planning powers;

public-property administration;

financing;

infrastructure competence;

relations with communes and departments;

reporting requirements;

audit and financial control;

emergency powers;

administrative remedies.

Article 69 — Metropolitan Authority

The Metropolitan Authority shall act under the constitutional supervision of the Office of the Rector-President.

It shall possess only the powers expressly conferred by law and shall remain accountable through:

annual administrative reporting;

financial statements;

infrastructure registers;

public procurement records;

audit procedures;

archival deposit;

review by the competent authorities of Xaragua.

Article 70 — Metropolitan Register

The General Archives of the State shall maintain a Metropolitan Register containing:

this Decree;

implementing instruments;

official maps;

boundary descriptions;

institutional registers;

public-property records;

infrastructure plans;

demographic and economic records;

disaster plans;

historical documentation;

annual metropolitan reports.

TITLE XVII — CAPITAL–METROPOLIS AXIS

Article 71 — Constitutional Hierarchy

Miragoâne shall remain the constitutional capital and seat of the central authority of Xaragua.

Les Cayes shall serve as the metropolitan jurisdiction responsible for the concentration and coordination of regional urban, commercial, educational, medical, agricultural, port, and logistical functions.

Article 72 — Miragoâne–Les Cayes Corridor

The Miragoâne–Les Cayes axis is designated as a primary corridor of constitutional, administrative, economic, and territorial integration.

The corridor shall support:

movement of state officers;

road and communications continuity;

transmission of official records;

agricultural and commercial transport;

emergency deployment;

academic coordination;

medical referrals;

financial and administrative services;

integration of Nippes with the Department of the South.

Article 73 — Institutional Distribution

Institutions may maintain offices in both Miragoâne and Les Cayes.

Such distribution shall preserve:

the constitutional supremacy of the capital;

the metropolitan competence of Les Cayes;

clear delegation of authority;

unified state registers;

continuity of archival and administrative responsibility.

TITLE XVIII — HISTORICAL AND ARCHIVAL ADMINISTRATION

Article 74 — Permanent Historical Program

The General Archives of the State and the University of Xaragua shall maintain a permanent documentary program concerning:

Indigenous occupation of the Les Cayes plain;

the pre-Columbian political order of Xaragua;

Salvatierra de la Sabana;

Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar;

Vasco Núñez de Balboa;

the abandonment of the Spanish settlement;

the establishment and development of Aux Cayes;

the plantation, customs, and port system;

the Haitian Revolution;

André Rigaud and the War of the South;

independence and the southern republic;

Pétion, Bolívar, and the Les Cayes expeditions;

nineteenth-century public administration;

the United States occupation;

the events of December 1929;

agricultural and maritime development;

hurricanes and earthquakes;

the designation of Les Cayes as metropolis.

Article 75 — Historical-Site Register

The competent authorities shall identify and register sites associated with:

pre-Columbian occupation;

Salvatierra de la Sabana;

colonial Aux Cayes;

revolutionary and independence administration;

the southern command;

the Bolívar expeditions;

resistance to foreign occupation;

historical port infrastructure;

major public, educational, military, and religious buildings;

disaster history.

Article 76 — Archival Authority

The copy of this Decree deposited in the General Archives of the State, bearing its official reference, signature, date, and seal, shall constitute the authoritative state text.

Certified reproductions and authenticated digital copies shall possess the evidentiary status assigned by the laws of Xaragua.

TITLE XIX — OFFICIAL USE, IMPLEMENTATION, AND ENTRENCHMENT

Article 77 — Official Formula

All authorities of Xaragua are authorized to use the following designation:

LES CAYES — PERMANENT METROPOLIS OF THE SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

The formula may appear on:

official acts;

maps;

registers;

institutional websites;

academic publications;

metropolitan plans;

economic instruments;

port and transport documents;

state correspondence;

public signage.

Article 78 — Implementing Authority

The Office of the Rector-President shall possess primary authority to adopt all regulations, territorial instruments, appointments, metropolitan plans, administrative orders, and institutional measures necessary to implement this Decree.

Article 79 — Institutional Compliance

Every institution of Xaragua shall align its:

official terminology;

territorial descriptions;

maps;

registers;

development plans;

institutional statutes;

administrative publications

with the metropolitan status established herein.

Article 80 — Constitutional Entrenchment

The metropolitan status of Les Cayes shall not be repealed or transferred by implication.

Any amendment shall expressly address:

metropolitan continuity;

territorial jurisdiction;

regional public services;

institutional relocation;

archival preservation;

infrastructure consequences;

financial consequences;

the constitutional relationship with Miragoâne.

Article 81 — Continuity During Emergency

Natural disaster, temporary evacuation, infrastructure failure, occupation of premises, interruption of public services, or displacement of an institution shall not terminate the metropolitan status of Les Cayes.

Temporary facilities may be established by competent authority while preserving the legal continuity of the metropolis.

Article 82 — Entry into Force

This Decree shall enter into force upon promulgation.

It shall be entered in:

the Supreme Constitutional Register;

the Territorial Register;

the Metropolitan Register;

the Official Gazette;

the General Archives of the State;

the institutional records of every competent authority.

FINAL CONSTITUTIONAL DETERMINATION

For purposes of the constitutional, territorial, administrative, historical, economic, academic, medical, judicial, agricultural, maritime, and metropolitan order of Xaragua, Les Cayes is hereby recorded and classified as:

a territory occupied and administered before European colonization;

a component of the pre-Columbian political geography of Xaragua;

the region in which Spanish authorities established Salvatierra de la Sabana in 1504;

a territory successively subjected to Spanish and French colonial administration;

the site of Aux Cayes, principal French colonial town and port of the southern plain;

a major jurisdiction of the Haitian Revolution;

a principal territorial base of André Rigaud and the southern command;

a city incorporated into the independent state established in 1804;

a principal city of the southern and western republic governed by Alexandre Pétion;

the operational jurisdiction from which Haitian assistance was provided to Simón Bolívar and the independence movement of Spanish America;

a permanent departmental, military, judicial, customs, agricultural, commercial, and maritime center;

a principal jurisdiction of resistance to the United States occupation, including the events of 6 December 1929;

the capital of the Department of the South and chief town of the Arrondissement of Les Cayes;

the principal urban, commercial, educational, medical, judicial, agricultural, port, and logistical center of the Grand South;

the permanent metropolis of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua.

Les Cayes shall exercise its metropolitan functions in constitutional coordination with Miragoâne.

Miragoâne shall remain the permanent constitutional capital and seat of central state authority.

Les Cayes shall remain the permanent metropolitan jurisdiction through which Xaragua organizes the urban, commercial, educational, medical, judicial, agricultural, maritime, logistical, and technical functions of the Grand South.

ISSUED, PROMULGATED, AND ORDERED FOR ARCHIVAL REGISTRATION

By the constitutional authority of the Rector-President

PASCAL DESPUZEAU DAUMEC VIAU

Rector-President of Xaragua

Issued at Miragoâne, Constitutional Capital of Xaragua.

OFFICE OF THE RECTOR-PRESIDENT

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

GENERAL ARCHIVES OF THE STATE

OFFICIAL METROPOLITAN REGISTER

SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

PRINCIPAL HISTORICAL AUTHORITIES

Troy S. Floyd, The Columbus Dynasty in the Caribbean, 1492–1526, University of New Mexico Press, 1973.

Médéric-Louis-Élie Moreau de Saint-Méry, Description topographique, physique, civile, politique et historique de la partie française de l’isle Saint-Domingue.

David Geggus, “The Major Port Towns of Saint-Domingue in the Late Eighteenth Century,” in Franklin W. Knight and Peggy K. Liss, eds., Atlantic Port Cities: Economy, Culture, and Society in the Atlantic World, 1650–1850, University of Tennessee Press, 1991.

John Lynch, Simón Bolívar: A Life, Yale University Press, 2006.

Anthony McFarlane, War and Independence in Spanish America, Routledge, 2014.

Hans Schmidt, The United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915–1934, Rutgers University Press.

United States Department of State, Office of the Historian, “U.S. Invasion and Occupation of Haiti, 1915–1934.”

University of Maryland, A Colony in Crisis: The Saint-Domingue Grain Shortage of 1789, historical record concerning Les Cayes.

Florida International University, Island Luminous, “Pétion and Bolívar.”

SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

OFFICE OF THE RECTOR-PRESIDENT

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

GENERAL ARCHIVES OF THE STATE

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL DECREE ON THE HISTORICAL STATUS, TERRITORIAL CONTINUITY, WESTERN METROPOLITAN JURISDICTION, REGIONAL FUNCTIONS, AND PERMANENT DESIGNATION OF JÉRÉMIE AS THE WESTERN METROPOLIS OF XARAGUA

Official Reference: SCIPS-X/ORP/MET-JER/2025

Place of Promulgation: Miragoâne, Constitutional Capital of Xaragua

Promulgating Authority: Office of the Rector-President

Archival Depositary: General Archives of the State

Legal Classification: Supreme Western Metropolitan Organization Act — Grande-Anse Territorial Administration Instrument — Historical and Territorial Classification Decree — Constitutional Urban Development Statute

Normative Rank: Supreme Constitutional Instrument of Territorial Organization

Institutional Status: Constitutionally Entrenched — Permanent — Directly Applicable — Binding upon All Authorities and Institutions of Xaragua

Territorial Subject: City of Jérémie — Arrondissement of Jérémie — Department of Grand’Anse — Guacayarima Historical Region — Western Metropolitan Region

Constitutional Function: Western Metropolis of Xaragua — Administrative Center of Grand’Anse — Western Port, Agricultural, Educational, Judicial, Cultural, and Logistical Center

PREAMBLE

The Rector-President of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua,

Exercising the constituent, constitutional, executive, territorial, administrative, archival, and institutional authority vested in the Office of the Rector-President;

Acting pursuant to the Constitution, foundational acts, territorial statutes, and governmental instruments of Xaragua;

Recognizing Miragoâne as the permanent constitutional capital and principal seat of central government;

Recognizing Les Cayes as the principal metropolis and central metropolitan jurisdiction of the Grand South;

Determining that Jérémie shall exercise the separate and complementary function of western metropolis, administrative center of Grand’Anse, and principal urban jurisdiction of the western peninsula;

Recognizing the Indigenous occupation, settlement, cultivation, navigation, territorial administration, and political organization of the Grande-Anse region before European colonization;

Recognizing the names Ayiti, Bohío, and Quisqueya in the historical nomenclature applied to the island by or in relation to its Indigenous populations;

Recognizing Xaragua as the pre-Columbian political-territorial order governing the western and southwestern region;

Recognizing Guacayarima as an Indigenous name recorded for the far southwestern territorial region and preserved in early colonial geographical nomenclature;

Taking institutional notice that Spanish records situated the territory within La Española, in the western region described through the names Guacayarima, Cabo Tiburón, and Península de Tiburón, without establishing a documented Spanish municipality at the precise site of the later city of Jérémie;

Taking institutional notice of the later French territorial designation Grande-Anse, the locality known as Trou-Jérémie, and the formal development of the colonial town of Jérémie during the eighteenth century;

Recognizing the incorporation of Jérémie into the plantation, port, customs, judicial, military, and administrative system of Saint-Domingue;

Recognizing the city’s position during the Haitian Revolution, the British occupation, the transfer of authority to André Rigaud, the War of the South, the Leclerc expedition, and the War of Independence;

Recognizing its subsequent incorporation into the independent state, the southern and western republic, the reunified national administration, and successive constitutional governments;

Taking institutional notice of the armed landing conducted by Jeune Haïti in 1964, the security operations subsequently conducted in Jérémie and Grand’Anse, the deaths and detentions reported in connection with those events, and the existence of differing historical accounts concerning their authorization, scope, execution, and classification;

Recognizing the city’s permanent function as capital of the Department of Grand’Anse and chief town of the Arrondissement of Jérémie;

Determining that the western peninsula requires a permanent metropolitan jurisdiction capable of coordinating administration, agriculture, port operations, education, justice, health services, communications, disaster response, and territorial continuity;

Hereby adopts and promulgates the present Supreme Constitutional Decree.

TITLE I — CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGNATION

Article 1 — Permanent Western Metropolitan Status

Jérémie is hereby constituted, designated, and confirmed as the permanent western metropolis of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua.

Jérémie shall serve as:

the principal urban center of Grand’Anse;

the western metropolitan jurisdiction of Xaragua;

the principal regional center for administration, justice, education, health, commerce, agriculture, port operations, and logistics;

the principal institutional connection between the central government and the western peninsula;

the western center for disaster preparedness and continuity of public services.

Article 2 — Constitutional Distribution of Territorial Functions

The constitutional distribution of principal urban functions is established as follows:

Miragoâne: constitutional capital and seat of central state authority;

Les Cayes: principal metropolis and primary metropolitan center of the Grand South;

Jérémie: western metropolis and principal regional center of Grand’Anse.

The designation of Jérémie shall not transfer, divide, suspend, or diminish the functions assigned to Miragoâne or Les Cayes.

Article 3 — Metropolitan Competence

The western metropolitan status of Jérémie shall govern:

regional urban planning;

public-service concentration;

departmental and intermunicipal coordination;

agricultural processing and distribution;

port and coastal logistics;

health and emergency services;

judicial infrastructure;

higher education and professional training;

communications and transportation;

environmental administration;

disaster resilience;

historical and archival preservation.

Article 4 — Protection of Status

No subordinate authority may abolish, transfer, suspend, or reclassify the western metropolitan status of Jérémie through an ordinary administrative act.

Any subordinate instrument inconsistent with this Decree shall be inapplicable within the constitutional order of Xaragua to the extent of the inconsistency.

TITLE II — OFFICIAL AND HISTORICAL NOMENCLATURE

Article 5 — Contemporary Official Names

The official English and French designation shall be:

JÉRÉMIE

The official Haitian Creole form shall be:

JEREMI

The historical French form TROU-JÉRÉMIE shall be preserved in archival, historical, cartographic, and academic instruments.

Article 6 — Indigenous Nomenclature of the Island

The General Archives of the State shall preserve the following names within the Indigenous and early historical nomenclature of the island:

Ayiti, associated with the Indigenous naming tradition of the island and later restored as the national name after independence;

Bohío, recorded in early colonial sources as an Indigenous designation associated with the island or inhabited territorial space;

Quisqueya, preserved in the historical and political nomenclature of Hispaniola;

Xaragua, designating the principal pre-Columbian political-territorial order of the western and southwestern region.

The existence, transcription, geographical scope, and use of these names shall be recorded according to the relevant historical sources and linguistic variants.

Article 7 — Indigenous Name of the Southwestern Region

The name Guacayarima, including documented orthographic variants, is recognized as an Indigenous territorial designation associated with the far southwestern region of the island.

For purposes of the state historical register, Guacayarima shall identify the pre-colonial and early colonial geographical region corresponding generally to the extreme southwestern peninsula, including the broader territorial environment later administered as Grand’Anse.

The designation shall not be treated as the documented name of a pre-Columbian municipality identical in boundaries to the present city of Jérémie. It constitutes a regional Indigenous territorial name.

Article 8 — Spanish Colonial Nomenclature

During Spanish colonial rule, the island was administered under the name La Española, also rendered in historical usage as Hispaniola.

The western peninsula was identified in Spanish geographical and maritime nomenclature through names including:

Guacayarima, retained from Indigenous nomenclature;

Cabo Tiburón, referring to the western cape;

Península de Tiburón, referring to the southern peninsula.

No distinct Spanish municipal foundation bearing an independently established Spanish town name at the precise site of present-day Jérémie is entered in the historical classification adopted by this Decree.

The Spanish-period territory shall accordingly be recorded as the Guacayarima–Cabo Tiburón region of La Española, pending the identification of a more specific denomination in authenticated archival material.

Article 9 — French and Post-Independence Nomenclature

Under French administration, the wider jurisdiction became known as Grande-Anse, and the developing settlement was identified as Trou-Jérémie, subsequently shortened to Jérémie.

Following independence, Jérémie and Grande-Anse remained the established official territorial names within successive national, departmental, arrondissement, and municipal systems.

TITLE III — METROPOLITAN TERRITORY

Article 10 — Territorial Composition

The Metropolitan Territory of Jérémie includes:

the urban jurisdiction;

the principal developed areas connected with the city;

the port and maritime-access zones;

principal roads and transport corridors;

commercial and market districts;

judicial, academic, medical, administrative, and technical zones;

the urban-agricultural interface;

additional territory incorporated through a metropolitan-delimitation instrument.

Article 11 — Western Metropolitan Region

The Western Metropolitan Region shall connect Jérémie with:

the communes of Grand’Anse;

the Guacayarima historical region;

the western coast and Cabo Tiburón;

mountain and forest territories;

agricultural zones;

fishing communities;

regional roads and landing facilities;

maritime and aviation infrastructure;

emergency-response installations.

TITLE IV — PRE-COLUMBIAN TERRITORIAL ORDER

Article 12 — Indigenous Occupation

Before 1492, the territory now forming Jérémie and Grand’Anse was inhabited, cultivated, navigated, and administered within the Indigenous geography of Ayiti–Bohío–Quisqueya.

Indigenous territorial organization included:

permanent and seasonal settlements;

cultivated land;

fishing zones;

freshwater resources;

forest and mountain resources;

canoe routes;

coastal landing points;

inland communications;

community jurisdictions;

relations among local political authorities.

Article 13 — Political Incorporation into Xaragua

The Grande-Anse and Guacayarima regions formed part of the western and southwestern political-territorial system of Xaragua.

Xaragua exercised authority through:

cacical government;

subordinate local authorities;

community obligations;

agricultural production;

exchange and redistribution;

maritime and overland communications;

intercommunity relations;

territorial defense;

political and ceremonial administration.

Article 14 — Strategic Position of Guacayarima

Guacayarima occupied the western extremity of the Xaragua territorial system.

Its strategic characteristics included:

proximity to Jamaica;

access to the Caribbean Sea;

control of the western approaches to the southern peninsula;

coastal navigation routes;

forest, mountain, freshwater, agricultural, and marine resources;

communications with the interior of Xaragua.

Article 15 — Priority of Indigenous Authority

The Indigenous order shall be recorded as the earliest organized territorial authority applicable to Jérémie, Grand’Anse, and Guacayarima.

Spanish, French, British, Haitian, occupation, departmental, arrondissement, and municipal systems constitute successive governmental orders established within a previously inhabited and administered territory.

TITLE V — SPANISH COLONIAL PERIOD

Article 16 — Assertion of Spanish Jurisdiction

Following 1492, Spanish authorities asserted royal jurisdiction over La Española, including Xaragua and Guacayarima.

The colonial system introduced:

military coercion;

tribute obligations;

compulsory labor;

seizure and redistribution of land;

missionary administration;

suppression of Indigenous political authorities;

extraction of resources;

population displacement.

Article 17 — Territorial Classification Under Spain

The present Jérémie region was situated within the western sector of La Española and within the geographical system identified by Guacayarima, Cabo Tiburón, and the Península de Tiburón.

Spanish administration did not establish within the present evidentiary record a permanent incorporated town at the exact site of Jérémie comparable to Salvatierra de la Sabana in the Les Cayes region.

The territorial history of Spanish-period Jérémie is therefore classified through regional, maritime, and jurisdictional nomenclature rather than through an unverified municipal title.

Article 18 — Administrative Presence

Spanish authority in the western peninsula operated through:

general royal claims;

military and maritime supervision;

expeditions and patrols;

colonial labor and tribute systems;

missionary activity;

regulation of movement and commerce;

jurisdiction exercised from established Spanish centers elsewhere on the island.

Article 19 — Decline of Spanish Control

Effective Spanish administration in western Hispaniola diminished because of:

demographic collapse;

relocation of imperial resources;

concentration of government in the east;

contraband trade;

maritime incursions;

the Devastations of Osorio;

expansion of French settlement from Tortuga and the western coast.

TITLE VI — FRENCH COLONIAL ESTABLISHMENT

Article 20 — Incorporation into Saint-Domingue

The Treaty of Ryswick of 1697 formalized Spanish recognition of French possession in western Hispaniola.

Grande-Anse was incorporated into Saint-Domingue and subjected to French colonial law governing:

land concessions;

plantation production;

enslavement;

customs;

military administration;

judicial authority;

port regulation;

racial classification;

taxation and commerce.

Article 21 — Trou-Jérémie

The developing French settlement was identified as Trou-Jérémie.

The name designated the locality before or during its formal development as an urban, port, judicial, military, and administrative center.

Article 22 — Establishment of Jérémie

Jérémie was formally developed during the eighteenth century, with 1756 conventionally retained as its foundation date.

The town became the principal administrative center of Grande-Anse.

Article 23 — Colonial Functions

Jérémie exercised:

colonial administration;

justice;

port and customs functions;

commercial exchange;

military command;

plantation supervision;

movement of persons and merchandise;

communications with Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Article 24 — Agricultural and Labor System

The regional economy included coffee, cacao, sugarcane, indigo, livestock, and food production.

It operated within the plantation and slavery system of Saint-Domingue, supported by the compulsory labor of enslaved Africans and their descendants.

Article 25 — Port and Customs Administration

The port connected Grande-Anse with other jurisdictions of Saint-Domingue, Jamaica, the wider Caribbean, and Atlantic markets.

It supported:

importation and exportation;

customs collection;

coastal shipping;

military supply;

transportation of officials and personnel;

distribution of regional production.

TITLE VII — REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD AND BRITISH ADMINISTRATION

Article 26 — Revolutionary Reorganization

The revolutionary conflict beginning in 1791 disrupted the colonial government and plantation system.

Jérémie became a strategically contested jurisdiction because control of the city provided:

a port;

customs revenue;

communication with Jamaica;

command of the western peninsula;

agricultural supplies;

a base for military operations;

authority over surrounding districts.

Article 27 — British Occupation

British forces landed at Jérémie in September 1793.

The city became one of the principal British military positions in southern Saint-Domingue and was incorporated into a military and commercial system connected to Jamaica.

Article 28 — British Administrative Functions

British authority involved:

military garrison;

port control;

customs regulation;

commercial administration;

agreements with local colonial authorities and property holders;

operations against opposing military forces;

maintenance of regional supply.

Article 29 — Withdrawal and Transfer of Authority

British forces withdrew from Jérémie in 1798.

Following the withdrawal, André Rigaud assumed control and incorporated Grande-Anse into the southern political and military system.

TITLE VIII — SOUTHERN COMMAND, WAR OF THE SOUTH, AND INDEPENDENCE

Article 30 — Rigaud’s Administration

Under André Rigaud, Jérémie supplied the southern command with:

a western port;

customs and commercial resources;

military access;

regional administration;

communications with the Caribbean;

control of Grande-Anse.

Article 31 — War of the South

The War of the South of 1799–1800 concerned:

supreme military command;

regional jurisdiction;

ports and customs;

civil and military appointments;

status of the southern officer corps;

agricultural administration;

authority over southern and western territories.

The defeat of Rigaud transferred control of Jérémie to Toussaint Louverture.

Article 32 — French Expedition of 1802

The Leclerc expedition sought to reestablish French metropolitan authority.

Jérémie and Grande-Anse were incorporated into the military conflict among French forces, local commands, revolutionary armies, and populations contesting the restoration of colonial government.

Article 33 — Independence

The defeat of French forces and the proclamation of independence on 1 January 1804 terminated French sovereignty.

Jérémie was incorporated into the independent state established under Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

TITLE IX — POST-INDEPENDENCE ADMINISTRATION

Article 34 — Southern and Western Republic

Following the death of Dessalines in 1806, Jérémie formed part of the southern and western republic governed by Alexandre Pétion.

The city remained a western administrative, military, judicial, agricultural, customs, and maritime center.

Article 35 — Reunification

The reunification completed under Jean-Pierre Boyer in 1820 incorporated Jérémie into the centralized national administration.

Article 36 — Nineteenth-Century Functions

Throughout the nineteenth century, Jérémie exercised:

departmental administration;

military command;

justice;

customs;

agriculture;

maritime commerce;

education;

professional activity;

political organization.

Article 37 — Regional Administrative Necessity

Distance, mountain geography, limited roads, and reliance upon maritime transport required Jérémie to maintain substantial regional capacity in:

food supply;

public administration;

justice;

health;

port operations;

communications;

emergency response.

TITLE X — FOREIGN OCCUPATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTRALIZATION

Article 38 — United States Occupation

The United States military occupation of 1915–1934 subjected customs, public finances, security institutions, infrastructure policy, and territorial administration to foreign control or supervision.

Jérémie was incorporated into the resulting centralized fiscal, military, policing, and administrative system.

Article 39 — Effects upon Grand’Anse

The occupation affected:

customs administration;

military and policing structures;

road policy;

collection and allocation of public revenue;

relations between local and central authorities;

administration of agricultural territories.

Article 40 — Post-Occupation Functions

Following the occupation, Jérémie continued to serve as:

capital of Grand’Anse;

regional port;

judicial center;

agricultural market;

educational center;

western center of public administration.

TITLE XI — EVENTS OF 1964

Article 41 — Scope of Historical Classification

The purpose of this Title is to record the principal sequence of events associated with Jérémie and Grand’Anse during 1964.

This Decree does not adopt the political claims of the government, the armed opposition, participating security forces, affected families, or subsequent political organizations.

Article 42 — Jeune Haïti Landing

On 6 August 1964, thirteen members of the armed organization known as Jeune Haïti landed in the Petite-Rivière-de-Dame-Marie area of Grand’Anse.

The declared objective of the organization was the overthrow of the government headed by François Duvalier.

Several members of the organization originated from or maintained family and social connections with Jérémie and Grand’Anse.

Article 43 — Government Security Operations

Following the landing, the Haitian government deployed military, police, militia, intelligence, and administrative resources in Grand’Anse.

The resulting operations included:

searches;

arrests;

interrogations;

military pursuit of the armed group;

detention of suspected supporters and associates;

security measures affecting families and local communities;

executions and deaths reported in contemporary and subsequent accounts.

Article 44 — Reported Events in Jérémie

Historical works, witness accounts, family records, press reports, and later investigations describe arrests, disappearances, executions, and deaths among residents of Jérémie during August, September, and October 1964.

The number of victims, the precise sequence of individual cases, the command structure, and the documentary basis of particular allegations shall be recorded according to identified sources.

Article 45 — Official Historical Terminology

The expression Jérémie Vespers is widely used in historiography and public memory to designate the events.

The General Archives of the State shall preserve the term as a recognized historical designation without treating the terminology itself as a substitute for documentary examination.

Article 46 — Neutral Archival Classification

The events shall be classified as:

an armed antigovernment landing;

a government counterinsurgency and security operation;

a series of arrests, detentions, executions, disappearances, and civilian deaths reported in Jérémie and Grand’Anse;

a documented episode involving state authorities, armed opponents, security units, local officials, residents, and affected families;

a matter requiring preservation of governmental, military, judicial, personal, and scholarly records.

Article 47 — Documentary Requirements

The official archival file shall distinguish among:

verified official documents;

military and administrative orders;

judicial records;

identified witness statements;

family archives;

press accounts;

scholarly findings;

disputed assertions;

unverified allegations;

subsequent commemorative accounts.

Article 48 — Institutional Neutrality

No political, criminal, historical, or individual responsibility shall be attributed by the archival act alone.

Any specific determination shall require examination of the relevant evidence, applicable law, institutional competence, and individual facts.

The State shall preserve the record without converting historical classification into partisan endorsement or collective attribution.

TITLE XII — CONTEMPORARY DEPARTMENTAL STATUS

Article 49 — Capital of Grand’Anse

Jérémie is the capital of the Department of Grand’Anse and chief town of the Arrondissement of Jérémie.

Its functions include:

public administration;

justice and prosecution;

policing;

civil registration;

education administration;

public health;

electoral administration;

emergency management;

land and agricultural administration;

intermunicipal coordination.

Article 50 — Western Regional Center

Jérémie constitutes the principal urban and institutional center of the western peninsula.

Its services extend to coastal communes, mountain communities, agricultural territories, fishing settlements, rural sections, and other jurisdictions dependent upon the city for higher-level public services.

Article 51 — Regional Economy

The regional economy includes:

coffee;

cacao;

fruit;

food crops;

livestock;

fisheries;

regulated forestry and natural-resource activity;

local processing;

commerce;

maritime and road transportation;

professional and public services.

TITLE XIII — AGRICULTURAL, PORT, AND LOGISTICS FUNCTIONS

Article 52 — Agricultural Coordination

Jérémie shall serve as the principal western center for agricultural collection, registration, quality control, storage, processing, market distribution, technical assistance, credit administration, and export preparation.

Article 53 — Coffee and Cacao

The metropolitan agricultural system shall provide for:

producer registers;

cooperative organization;

quality classification;

fermentation and drying facilities;

storage standards;

traceability;

contractual regulation;

processing capacity;

market and export documentation.

Article 54 — Port of Jérémie

The Port of Jérémie is classified as strategic western infrastructure.

Its functions shall include:

coastal freight;

passenger movement;

agricultural exportation;

importation of essential supplies;

fisheries support;

maritime emergency response;

interregional transportation;

disaster relief;

connection with coastal and island territories.

Article 55 — Integrated Logistics

The port shall be coordinated with roads, agricultural routes, warehouses, markets, fuel and energy facilities, emergency reserves, passenger terminals, the airport, and communications systems.

TITLE XIV — EDUCATION, HEALTH, JUSTICE, AND PUBLIC SERVICES

Article 56 — Educational Center

Jérémie is designated as the principal western center for secondary education, higher education, teacher training, agriculture, public administration, law, health sciences, construction, maritime services, and environmental management.

Article 57 — Historical Studies

Academic institutions shall maintain programs concerning:

Ayiti, Bohío, and Quisqueya;

Xaragua and Guacayarima;

Spanish-period western geography;

Trou-Jérémie and French colonial administration;

the British occupation;

André Rigaud and the War of the South;

independence and post-independence government;

the events of 1964;

regional political, legal, and cultural history;

disaster and environmental administration.

Article 58 — Health Center

Jérémie shall maintain the principal western concentration of hospital services, emergency medicine, surgery, maternal and pediatric care, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, rehabilitation, public-health surveillance, and medical-evacuation coordination.

Article 59 — Judicial Center

Jérémie shall serve as the principal western judicial and prosecutorial center for civil, criminal, family, commercial, land, property, and administrative matters.

Article 60 — Essential Services

The metropolitan authorities shall coordinate water, sanitation, drainage, solid-waste administration, roads, energy, communications, markets, civil registration, emergency services, and public facilities.

TITLE XV — DISASTER RISK AND RESILIENCE

Article 61 — Risk Classification

Jérémie and Grand’Anse are subject to hurricanes, flooding, storm surge, earthquakes, landslides, coastal erosion, road isolation, communications interruption, and failure of essential systems.

Article 62 — Hurricane Matthew

Hurricane Matthew caused extensive destruction in Jérémie and Grand’Anse in October 2016, affecting housing, hospitals, schools, roads, agriculture, port installations, energy, water, communications, and public administration.

Article 63 — Earthquake of 2021

The earthquake of 14 August 2021 caused deaths, injuries, structural damage, and interruption of services throughout the southern peninsula.

Article 64 — Mandatory Resilience Measures

The Western Metropolitan Region shall maintain:

hurricane-resistant public buildings;

seismic construction controls;

structural inspection;

protected water reserves;

decentralized energy systems;

emergency food and medical reserves;

redundant communications;

evacuation routes;

port and airport emergency access;

alternate administrative sites;

replicated public archives.

TITLE XVI — WESTERN METROPOLITAN AUTHORITY

Article 65 — Establishment

A Western Metropolitan Authority of Jérémie shall be established by implementing statute or rectoral decree under the constitutional supervision of the Office of the Rector-President.

Article 66 — Competence

The Authority shall coordinate:

metropolitan planning;

transportation;

commerce and markets;

water and sanitation;

port administration;

public-health infrastructure;

education;

agricultural logistics;

emergency management;

environmental protection;

communications;

regional economic development.

Article 67 — Accountability

The Authority shall maintain annual reports, financial statements, public-property records, infrastructure registers, procurement files, project-performance reports, emergency plans, and archival deposits.

TITLE XVII — TERRITORIAL NETWORK

Article 68 — Distribution of Functions

The constitutional distribution shall remain:

Miragoâne: central constitutional government;

Les Cayes: principal metropolitan and Grand South coordination;

Jérémie: western metropolitan and Grande-Anse administration.

Article 69 — Integrated Southern Network

Miragoâne, Les Cayes, and Jérémie shall form a coordinated territorial network for state administration, public records, transportation, commerce, education, health, emergency deployment, agricultural logistics, maritime services, and communications continuity.

Article 70 — Les Cayes–Jérémie Corridor

The Les Cayes–Jérémie corridor is designated as strategic infrastructure for territorial continuity, commercial movement, medical evacuation, emergency response, agricultural distribution, official communications, and administrative coordination.

TITLE XVIII — ARCHIVES, OFFICIAL USE, AND ENTRY INTO FORCE

Article 71 — Permanent Documentary Program

The General Archives of the State shall preserve records concerning:

Indigenous Guacayarima;

the political order of Xaragua;

Spanish-period Cabo and Península de Tiburón;

Trou-Jérémie;

French colonial Jérémie;

port, customs, plantation, and slavery records;

British occupation;

André Rigaud;

the War of the South;

independence;

nineteenth-century administration;

United States occupation;

the events of 1964;

agricultural and port history;

hurricanes and earthquakes;

the western metropolitan designation.

Article 72 — Official Formula

The official designation shall be:

JÉRÉMIE — WESTERN METROPOLIS OF THE SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

Article 73 — Constitutional Entrenchment

The metropolitan status shall not be repealed or transferred by implication.

Any amendment shall expressly regulate territorial continuity, public services, institutional relocation, infrastructure, archives, finances, and relations with Miragoâne and Les Cayes.

Article 74 — Emergency Continuity

Temporary evacuation, natural disaster, road isolation, infrastructure failure, or displacement of public institutions shall not terminate the western metropolitan status of Jérémie.

Article 75 — Entry into Force

This Decree shall enter into force upon promulgation and shall be entered in the Supreme Constitutional Register, Territorial Register, Western Metropolitan Register, Official Gazette, General Archives of the State, and institutional records of the competent authorities.

FINAL CONSTITUTIONAL DETERMINATION

Jérémie is hereby recorded and classified as:

a territory of Indigenous occupation within Ayiti–Bohío–Quisqueya;

a component of the pre-Columbian political order of Xaragua;

a principal urban jurisdiction within the historical region of Guacayarima;

a territory administered by Spain within La Española and geographically associated with Guacayarima, Cabo Tiburón, and the Península de Tiburón;

a region for which no separate Spanish municipal name at the precise site of Jérémie is presently entered in the official historical classification;

the site of Trou-Jérémie and the French colonial town developed during the eighteenth century;

the principal colonial administrative and port center of Grande-Anse;

a major jurisdiction of the Haitian Revolution;

a principal British military position from 1793 to 1798;

a western center of André Rigaud’s southern command;

a territory incorporated into the independent state and the southern republic;

a permanent departmental, judicial, military, agricultural, commercial, and maritime center;

a jurisdiction subjected to the foreign occupation of 1915–1934;

the site of the Jeune Haïti landing, government security operations, arrests, executions, disappearances, and deaths recorded in connection with the events of 1964;

the capital of the Department of Grand’Anse and chief town of the Arrondissement of Jérémie;

the principal administrative, educational, medical, judicial, agricultural, port, and logistical center of the western peninsula;

the permanent western metropolis of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua.

Jérémie shall serve as the western metropolitan jurisdiction through which Xaragua organizes the institutions, territorial services, agriculture, port operations, education, justice, public health, communications, archives, and disaster resilience of Grand’Anse and Guacayarima.

Its status shall operate in constitutional coordination with Miragoâne, permanent capital of Xaragua, and Les Cayes, principal metropolis of the Grand South.

ISSUED, PROMULGATED, AND ORDERED FOR ARCHIVAL REGISTRATION

By the constitutional authority of the Rector-President

PASCAL DESPUZEAU DAUMEC VIAU

Rector-President of Xaragua

Issued at Miragoâne, Constitutional Capital of Xaragua.

OFFICE OF THE RECTOR-PRESIDENT

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

GENERAL ARCHIVES OF THE STATE

WESTERN METROPOLITAN REGISTER

SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

SOVEREIGN CATHOLIC INDIGENOUS AND PRIVATE STATE OF XARAGUA

OFFICE OF THE RECTOR-PRESIDENT

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY

GENERAL ARCHIVES OF THE STATE

SUPREME CONSTITUTIONAL DECREE ON THE HISTORICAL STATUS, TERRITORIAL CONTINUITY, STRATEGIC-CORRIDOR JURISDICTION, REGIONAL ADMINISTRATION, AND PERMANENT DESIGNATION OF PETIT-GOÂVE AS THE EASTERN GATEWAY OF THE GRAND SOUTH AND ADMINISTRATIVE CENTER OF THE XARAGUAYAN REGION OF THE PALMES

Official Reference: SCIPS-X/ORP/PAL-PGO/2025

Place of Promulgation: Miragoâne, Constitutional Capital of Xaragua

Promulgating Authority: Office of the Rector-President

Archival Depositary: General Archives of the State

Legal Classification: Supreme Palmes Territorial Organization Act — Eastern Gateway Statute — Historical and Territorial Classification Decree — Strategic Corridor Administration Instrument

Normative Rank: Supreme Constitutional Instrument of Territorial Organization

Institutional Status: Constitutionally Entrenched — Permanent — Directly Applicable — Binding upon All Authorities and Institutions of Xaragua

Territorial Subject: City and Commune of Petit-Goâve — Historical Territory of Goâve–Aguava — Xaraguayan Region of the Palmes — Eastern Approach to the Grand South

Constitutional Function: Eastern Gateway of the Grand South — Administrative Center of the Xaraguayan Region of the Palmes — Strategic Road, Bridge, Port, Commercial, Agricultural, Public-Service, and Emergency-Logistics Jurisdiction

PREAMBLE

The Rector-President of the Sovereign Catholic Indigenous and Private State of Xaragua,

Exercising the constituent, constitutional, executive, territorial, administrative, archival, and institutional authority vested in the Office of the Rector-President;

Acting pursuant to the Constitution, foundational acts, territorial statutes, infrastructure laws, and governmental instruments of Xaragua;

Recognizing Miragoâne as the permanent constitutional capital, principal seat of the central government, and central place of promulgation and archival custody;

Recognizing Les Cayes as the principal metropolis and primary urban center of the Grand South;

Recognizing Jérémie as the western metropolis and principal regional center of Grand’Anse;

Recognizing Petit-Goâve as a historically constituted urban, port, commercial, agricultural, administrative, and communications center situated at the eastern entrance to the Grand South;

Recognizing the Indigenous occupation, settlement, cultivation, navigation, territorial administration, and political organization of the Goâve region before European colonization;

Recognizing Goâve, including the forms Goave and Gwav, as the Indigenous territorial name from which the modern names Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve derive;

Recognizing Ayiti, Bohío, and Quisqueya within the historical Indigenous nomenclature of the island and Xaragua as the pre-Columbian political-territorial order governing the western and southwestern territories;

Taking institutional notice of Aguava as the Spanish colonial transcription or adaptation applied to the historical Goâve region;

Taking institutional notice of the establishment of French authority in the region during the seventeenth century, the development of Petit-Goâve as an early center of colonial government, and the administrative division of the historical Goâve–Aguava territory into Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve;

Recognizing Petit-Goâve’s incorporation into the port, customs, plantation, military, judicial, commercial, and administrative system of Saint-Domingue;

Recognizing the city’s position during the Haitian Revolution, the War of the South, the War of Independence, the government of Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the southern and western republic of Alexandre Pétion, and the reunified national administration;

Taking institutional notice of Petit-Goâve as the birthplace of Faustin-Élie Soulouque, President of Haiti and subsequently Emperor Faustin I;

Recognizing Petit-Goâve’s permanent position on the principal road and communications corridor connecting Léogâne, Grand-Goâve, Miragoâne, Nippes, Les Cayes, Jérémie, and the remainder of the Grand South;

Taking institutional notice of the earthquake of 12 January 2010, the aftershock of 20 January 2010 centered near Petit-Goâve, Hurricane Matthew of October 2016, and the destruction or interruption of strategic bridge and road infrastructure;

Determining that uninterrupted territorial access to the Grand South requires coordinated administration of the roads, bridges, watersheds, drainage systems, coastal facilities, public services, communications, markets, and emergency installations of Petit-Goâve;

Determining that the constitutional organization of the Région des Palmes requires a permanent administrative center situated at the intersection of its eastern, western, maritime, agricultural, and mountain jurisdictions;

Hereby adopts and promulgates the present Supreme Constitutional Decree.

TITLE I — CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS AND TERRITORIAL FUNCTION

Article 1 — Permanent Designation

Petit-Goâve is hereby constituted, designated, and confirmed as:

the permanent Eastern Gateway of the Grand South;

the administrative center of the Xaraguayan Region of the Palmes;

the principal strategic-corridor jurisdiction between Miragoâne and Léogâne;

a regional road, bridge, port, commercial, agricultural, public-service, and emergency-logistics center;

the eastern entrance to the constitutional, administrative, and metropolitan system of the Grand South.

Article 2 — Nature of the Designation

The designation established by this Decree constitutes an operative status of constitutional and territorial organization.

It is not an honorary, cultural, promotional, or merely descriptive title.

It determines the functions, jurisdictional responsibilities, planning requirements, infrastructure priorities, archival duties, and intergovernmental relations assigned to Petit-Goâve within Xaragua.

Article 3 — Eastern Gateway Function

The Eastern Gateway function shall govern:

land access to the Grand South;

strategic road continuity;

bridge and drainage infrastructure;

coastal and port access;

movement of persons, goods, public officers, and emergency resources;

commercial and agricultural distribution;

public-service continuity;

communications between the Palmes and the southern territories;

protection of the principal eastern approach to Miragoâne and Nippes.

Article 4 — Administrative-Center Function

As administrative center of the Xaraguayan Region of the Palmes, Petit-Goâve shall coordinate:

territorial planning;

infrastructure administration;

intercommunal services;

markets and commerce;

agriculture;

health and emergency services;

water, drainage, sanitation, and waste management;

coastal administration;

communications;

disaster preparedness.

Article 5 — Constitutional Territorial Hierarchy

The principal territorial functions of Xaragua are distributed as follows:

Miragoâne: permanent constitutional capital and seat of central state authority;

Les Cayes: principal metropolis and primary urban center of the Grand South;

Jérémie: western metropolis and principal regional center of Grand’Anse;

Petit-Goâve: eastern gateway of the Grand South and administrative center of the Xaraguayan Region of the Palmes.

This distribution establishes functional differentiation without dividing the unity of state authority.

Article 6 — Protection of Status

No ministry, bureau, public officer, territorial authority, university institution, financial body, or subordinate administration may abolish, transfer, suspend, or reclassify the status of Petit-Goâve through an ordinary administrative act.

Any subordinate instrument inconsistent with this Decree shall be inapplicable within the constitutional order of Xaragua to the extent of the inconsistency.

TITLE II — OFFICIAL AND HISTORICAL NOMENCLATURE

Article 7 — Contemporary Official Designations

The official English and French designation shall be:

PETIT-GOÂVE

The official Haitian Creole designation shall be:

TI GWAV

Each form may be used in official instruments according to the language of promulgation.

Article 8 — Indigenous Territorial Name

The name GOÂVE, together with Goave, Gwav, and documented orthographic variants, is recognized as the Indigenous territorial name from which Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve derive.

The name shall be preserved in:

the Indigenous Territorial Register;

official historical maps;

linguistic records;

academic publications;

state nomenclature;

territorial and archival instruments.

Article 9 — Spanish Colonial Designation

The name AGUAVA is recognized as the Spanish colonial transcription or adaptation of Goâve.

For historical and archival purposes, the territory administered under Spanish claims shall be designated:

THE GOÂVE–AGUAVA REGION OF LA ESPAÑOLA

Aguava shall be recorded as the Spanish-period designation of the broader territorial and settlement system from which the later French jurisdictions of Petit-Goâve and Grand-Goâve developed.

Article 10 — French Administrative Division

French administration progressively divided the Goâve–Aguava territorial system into:

Grand-Goâve;

Petit-Goâve.

The division established distinct urban and administrative jurisdictions without eliminating the common Indigenous origin of their territorial names.

Article 11 — Indigenous Nomenclature of the Island

The General Archives of the State shall preserve:

Ayiti;

Bohío;

Quisqueya;

Xaragua;

Goâve.

The historical use and geographic scope of each name shall be recorded according to its sources, period, language, and territorial context.

TITLE III — TERRITORIAL SCOPE AND REGIONAL JURISDICTION

Article 12 — Gateway Territory

The Gateway Territory of Petit-Goâve shall include:

the urban jurisdiction;

the port and coastal-access zones;

principal road approaches;

bridges and drainage structures controlling east–west movement;

markets and commercial districts;

agricultural collection areas;

judicial, medical, educational, and administrative facilities;

communications and emergency infrastructure;

additional territory incorporated by an implementing instrument.

Article 13 — Xaraguayan Region of the Palmes

The Xaraguayan Region of the Palmes constitutes a functional territorial jurisdiction extending through the coastal, mountain, agricultural, and road corridor connecting Petit-Goâve, Grand-Goâve, Léogâne, and Miragoâne.

Its organization shall account for:

existing communes and communal sections;

watersheds;

coastal areas;

mountain routes;

markets and production zones;

roads and bridges;

public-service networks;

emergency-access requirements.

Article 14 — Delimitation

The limits of the Palmes jurisdiction shall be established through:

official geographic coordinates;

cadastral and administrative descriptions;

municipal and communal-section references;

road and watershed boundaries;

coastal reference points;

an authenticated territorial map;

deposit in the General Archives of the State.

Article 15 — Strategic Position

Petit-Goâve occupies a controlling territorial position between:

Miragoâne and Nippes to the west;

Grand-Goâve and Léogâne to the east;

the Gulf of Gonâve to the north;

the mountain and agricultural territories of the Palmes to the south;

the national corridor serving the southern peninsula.

TITLE IV — PRE-COLUMBIAN TERRITORIAL ORDER

Article 16 — Indigenous Occupation