[van-announce] Oppose US Annexation of Haiti!
Charles Boylan
charles_boylan at telus.net
Thu Feb 26 23:00:47 PST 2004
Dear Friends:
To counteract the mass media disinformation on the current coup d'etat being organized against the elected government of Haiti, I am forwarding you the latest issue of TML which is devoted to this issue. Some material printed in it you may have seen through other e-mails sent to you.
Now is the time to speak out, and I strongly urge everyone to find some means of conveying their opposition to the bloody coup to the Martin government, and whatever ways possible of passing this information to your e-mail lists or discussing the matter with your work-mates, colleagues, friends and neighbours.
Best wishes,
Charles Boylan
February 23, 2004 - No. 26
No to U.S. Imperialist Interference to Destabilize Haiti!
No to Canada's Ignominious Role!
Justice for Haiti!
- Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), February 23, 2004 -
No to U.S. Imperialist Interference to Destabilize Haiti! No to Canada's Ignominious Role!
. Justice for Haiti! - Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist)
. Vigourously Oppose the Disinformation About Haiti - Sandra L. Smith
. Haitian Civilians Erect Barricades to Protect Port-au-Prince
. Criminals Lead Armed Opposition
. Cuba Calls on Caribbean Not to Abandon Haiti
. Media vs. Reality in Haiti - Anthony Fenton, Znet
For Your Information
. SUPPLEMENT ON HAITI
. Unfair and Indecent Diplomacy: Washington's Vendetta Against Haiti's President Aristide - Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA)
. Haiti's Cracked Screen: Lavalas Under Siege While the Poor Get Poorer - Kevin Pina
. U.S. Double Game in Haiti - Tom Reeves
. How the U.S. Impoverished Haiti - J. Dumu
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No to U.S. Imperialist Interference to Destabilize Haiti!
No to Canada's Ignominious Role!
Justice for Haiti!
- Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), February 23, 2004 -
The Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist) condemns the nefarious role which the U.S. and Canada are playing in Haiti and demands Justice for Haiti! The U.S. is backing the current coup attempt by the so-called opposition whose aim is to overthrow the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Canada and other countries are playing their role to facilitate this take-over of Haiti by criminal elements instigated by the U.S. All of this is taking place in a context where these countries have refused to provide Haiti with the economic and other support it required to stabilize itself and the U.S. is engaging in wrecking activities throughout the Caribbean and Latin America to maintain and strengthen its grip over the region. While the U.S. and Canada scream and shout in international fora about the need for democratic and constitutional governments, the policy of "regime change" they are implementing in Haiti in the name of high ideals is all designed to cover up who is responsible for the plight of the people and lack of stability in the first place.
CPC(M-L) also condemns the massive disinformation campaign which the official circles in the U.S. and Canada and their media have launched to demonize the Haitian government as a violator of human and democratic rights to cover up their own support for the worst criminals they themselves have given rise to. Attempts to legitimize the so- called opposition which is supporting the violent actions of what has been called a motley group of thugs, ex-soldiers from the disbanded Haitian army and death squad commanders from the previous military dictatorship must not pass!
Canada has joined the U.S. as a "peace broker" in Haiti - as the U.S. has done for years in the Middle East - dictating that Aristide must give up certain powers, including control of the police. In return, the U.S. is claiming that the armed gangs, which are targeting and killing police and Aristide supporters, will be disarmed once a "political settlement" is reached! This is to cover up the nefarious role the U.S. has played in escalating the situation by cutting economic aid to Haiti under the pretext of government human rights violations and giving free rein to the armed thugs. Amongst other things, it invited its representatives to meet with editorial boards of U.S. newspapers to set the line against the Aristide government.
CPC(M-L) condemns the stand of the Government of Canada which has whole-heartedly joined the U.S. disinformation campaign, making Aristide the issue and refusing to condemn the violent coup attempt against his government. Foreign Minister Bill Graham declared, "Aristide must accept some constraints on his behaviour and be willing to work with the opposition, while his opponents must agree to work towards elections." The Canadian government, along with that of the U.S., is making a mockery of rule of law and interfering in the internal affairs of Haiti in the name of "brokering a peace deal."
CPC(M-L) calls on the Canadian working class and people to vigorously support the struggle of the Haitian people for justice, including the demand that every penny of its $1.1 billion foreign debt be forgiven and that unconditional aid be provided to fund schools, hospitals and infrastructure required by the people. CPC(M-L) calls on Canadians to oppose the disinformation campaign against the Government of Haiti and uphold Haiti's right to self-determination.
Justice for Haiti!
Annexation No! Sovereignty Yes!
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Vigourously Oppose the Disinformation About Haiti
- Sandra L. Smith* -
Disinformation about the situation in Haiti to hide what is really taking place includes suggestions that the coup attempt is a "popular uprising." The U.S. claims that it is not actively engaged in carrying out "regime change" in Haiti, but when Haiti requested aid in the face of the coup attempt, the U.S., Canada, France and others all responded with one voice that any help was conditional on a "political agreement" with an "opposition" which is backing criminal elements instigated by the U.S. This blatant interference in the affairs of Haiti shows that they are up to no good.
Who has set the remnants of the hated Tontons Macoutes, the death squads and ex-officers of the disbanded Haitian army in motion if not the U.S. and others without whose support and instigation they could not exist? To put the onus for the violence and human rights violations on Aristide will not wash. It is the same crisis-ridden policy used in the Palestinian territories where the Israeli occupiers commit untold crimes and the onus for the violence is put on the Palestinians.
The U.S. attack on Haiti to force "regime change," abetted by France, Canada and institutions doing their bidding is a precursor to U.S. plans to protect its interests in the Dominican Republic, attack Cuba and force "regime change" in Venezuela and other countries of the Caribbean and Central and South America. This is also the aim of the FTAA whereby every country must change its institutions to defend private property as the U.S. demanded at the Monterey Summit.
Canada likes to present itself as the defender of rule of law, stability and constitutional governments but its actions in Haiti reveal what is behind this veneer. Why is it responding to Haiti's call for help by insisting that the issue on the table is a "political compromise" between the Aristide government and the "opposition," and raising the question of Aristide's "human rights violations" to cover up how the U.S. and Canada have undermined the Aristide government from being effective? Why is Canada prepared to send police forces to Haiti once "new political arrangements" have been made? How can "political arrangements" be made with armed gangs of wreckers whose sole aim is to establish their stranglehold over Haiti so that it can be used as a base for the U.S. in the Caribbean, at the cost of more misery for the Haitian people and another corrupt and criminal rule? All attempts to prettify the likes of the Tontons Macoutes and remnants of the criminal Haitian Army disbanded by Aristide who are now parading as an "opposition" must be opposed.
The disinformation on Haiti seeks to cover up the ignominious role which the U.S. and Canada are playing to destabilize Haiti. The U.S. and Canada and other members of the international commission must be held fully responsible for the outcome of their actions.
* Sandra L. Smith is the National Leader of the Communist Party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist).
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Haitian Civilians Erect Barricades to
Protect Port-au-Prince
Haitian civilians are erecting barricades on roads leading into the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince in an effort to protect it from the groups of armed thugs which have occupied the main towns in the north and are threatening to storm the capital within days. Most of the civilians agree the barricades are not for or against the government, Prensa Latina reports, but to protect the people in the area from the groups of armed thugs, who on February 22 took Cap-Haitien, the country's second city. The armed groups, led by Louis-Jodel Chamblain, an infamous death squad ringleader who had been living in exile, have been sending truckloads of armed men to patrol the streets and going from house to house arresting Aristide's supporters and looting their possessions, Prensa Latina reports. The armed groups, including ex- soldiers and leaders of death squads, launched an armed revolt in the western city of Gonaives on February 5. According to media reports, more than 60 people have died.
In response to the escalating violence and breakdown of order in Haiti, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) approved a resolution "that calls for an immediate end to the violence in several regions of Haiti and deplores the loss of lives and physical damage as a result of the current crisis," the Caribbean Media Corporation reported. The organization "also condemned the criminal elements and activities that defy the rules of law and established government institutions. It also expressed its support for the CARICOM initiative aimed at promoting a peaceful resolution of the situation in Haiti." (The CARICOM Prior Action Plan called for "compliance with relevant OAS resolutions, negotiations to establish rules for demonstrations, the release of detainees, the disarming of armed gangs and the establishment of a new government with a neutral and independent Prime Minister who enjoys the public trust," Prensa Latina reports.)
The OAS resolution also called on the democratic political opposition and civil society to act responsibly and to be engaged in the democratic process in accordance with the CARICOM proposal. It also called on all parties involved in the current crisis to ensure the full, safe and unhindered access of humanitarian personnel and assistance to all civilians who need it.
Instead of intervening to enforce the rule of law in response to the appeal of President Aristide, and in particular the CARICOM proposal to disarm the armed gangs of thugs, an "international diplomatic mission" arrived in Haiti February 21 and declared there would be no assistance to restore order unless a political settlement was reached with an opposition that has made it clear it will accept nothing less than Aristide's resignation. Led by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roger Noriega, the mission includes envoys from Canada, Germany on behalf of the European Union, the Bahamas for the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and a special Organization of American States (OAS) mission. It gave the government and opposition a three-day ultimatum to accept a "peace plan" which requires that the government and opposition agree by February 24 to a three-way commission of representatives from both sides and international delegates. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide would have to cede significant powers, including control of the police, to a new government, but remain in office until his current term ends in 2006. According to news reports quoting anonymous diplomats, the ultimatum is being laid at both doorsteps, but the onus is on Aristide.
Whereas Aristide announced on February 21 that he accepted the plan, the opposition refuses to give up its demand for his immediate removal. Meanwhile Aristide's pleas to the international community to help him defend order in Haiti have gone unheeded.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told CNN that the United States has "no enthusiasm right now for sending in military or police forces to put down the violence that we are seeing" in Haiti. Some countries may be willing to send peace-keepers to the country once an agreement is reached to restore peace, he said. Discussions with Canada, the Caribbean Community and the OAS were about "sending in police to sustain a political settlement, not to go in and put down the current violence," Powell said. "What we want to do right now is find a political solution, and then there are willing nations that would come forward with a police presence to implement the political agreement that the sides come to."
The United States said it would keep working within multilateral institutions to restore human rights and the "rule of law as called for in the Organization of American States resolutions," White House spokeswoman Claire Buchan said.
"I know there are calls for some kind of force to go in," Canadian Foreign Minister Bill Graham said. "Clearly, that is only going to happen with the support of the international community," he added, making the precondition clear: "Both sides on the island must compromise. Aristide must accept some constraints on his behaviour and be willing to work with the opposition, while his opponents must agree to work towards elections." "To stabilize the situation, a group of countries, including Canada, is prepared to help," he said. "The international community will send a group of emissaries to put pressure on Mr. Aristide, who is not keeping to the promises made in Kingston (Jamaica)," Graham said.
Meanwhile, executive member of the Barbados- based Pan Caribbean Congress (PCC) David Comissiong said that the political chaos taking place in Haiti is an attempt to overthrow a democratically elected president and his government. Comissiong regretted the poor efforts the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has made to bring about a fair resolution to the political crisis, Prensa Latina reports. "This really is not good enough, we need to have CARICOM standing on principle and we need to hear CARICOM saying very loudly and clearly that President Aristide was elected by the people and that elections and the democratic process must be allowed to take root in Haiti," Comissiong said. The position being taken by the U.S. and Caribbean leaders is giving comfort to the "kind of very undemocratic and backward" stance that will result in the loss of more lives and force Haiti closer to a civil war, he said.
In related news, on February 23, some 50 U.S. Marines, part of an "Anti-Terrorist Security Team," flew in on two C-130 Hercules transport planes to Port-au-Prince airport on a mission to protect the U.S. Embassy and other U.S. facilities in Haiti.
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Criminals Lead Armed Opposition
On February 14 Louis Jodel Chamblain, a notorious former paramilitary leader, reportedly gave an interview to a Haitian radio station to say that he had joined the armed movement seeking to overthrow President Jean Bertrand Aristide. He was accompanied by a former police commissioner.
In September 1995 Chamblain was among seven senior military and paramilitary leaders convicted in absentia and sentenced to forced labour for life for involvement in the September 1993 extrajudicial execution of Antoine Izméry, a well-known pro-democracy activist. Chamblain had gone into exile to avoid prosecution. Chamblain has reportedly joined forces with the leaders of the armed opposition based in Gonaïves.
Another of the leaders, Jean Pierre Baptiste, alias "Jean Tatoune," is also a former paramilitary leader who was sentenced to forced labour for life for participation in the 1994 Raboteau massacre. He was among the prisoners who escaped from Gonaïves prison during the August 2002 jailbreak of Amiot "Cubain" Métayer, deceased leader of the formerly pro-government group which violently took over control of Gonaïves on 5 February. Gang members under Jean Tatoune's direction have been accused of numerous abuses against government officials and supporters, as well as other Gonaïves residents, over past months.
Louis Jodel Chamblain and Jean Tatoune both belonged to the paramilitary organization FRAPH, formed by military authorities who were the de facto leaders of the country following the 1991 coup against then-President Jean Bertrand Aristide. FRAPH members were responsible for numerous human rights violations before the 1994 restoration of democratic governance.
The group was at first known as the Front révolutionnaire pour l'avancement et le progrès haïtiens, Revolutionary Front for Haitian Advancement and Progress. The acronym FRAPH phonetically resembles the French and Creole words for 'to beat' or 'to thrash.'
"The Haitian authorities must do everything in their power to arrest these individuals, who have both already been convicted of serious violations," Amnesty International (AI) said. "For their part, political opposition parties must condemn the emergence of these notorious figures at the head of the armed movement to oust Aristide, and must do everything in their power to demonstrate their own commitment to human rights and the rule of law," AI said.
"At this crucial stage, when the rule of law is so fragile, the last thing that the country needs is for those who committed abuses in the past to take up leadership positions in the armed opposition," it said.
The disbanded Haitian Army (FAD'H)
Created during the U.S. occupation (1915-34), the Haitian Army, which played a nefarious role to defend a reactionary economic elite and to repress movements for political change, was disbanded by Aristide in 1995. Guy Philippe is a former member of the FAD'H. During the 1991-94 military regime, he and a number of other officers received training from the U.S. Special Forces in Equador, and when the FAD'H was dissolved by Aristide in early 1995, Philippe was incorporated into the new National Police Force. He served as police chief in the Port-au-Prince suburb of Delmas and in the second city, Cap-Haitien, before he fled Haiti in October 2000 when Haitian authorities discovered him plotting what they described as a coup, together with a clique of other police chiefs. Since that time, the Haitian government has accused Philippe of master-minding deadly attacks on the Haitian Police Academy and the National Palace in July and December 2001, as well as hit- and-run raids against police stations on Haiti's Central Plateau over last two years.
The Democratic Convergence
An article published in The Washington Post newspaper on February 2, 2001 stated that: "The (Democratic) Convergence was formed as a broad group with help from the International Republican Institute, an organization that promotes democracy that is closely identified with the U.S. Republican Party. It includes former Aristide allies -- people who helped him fight Haiti's dictators, then soured as they watched him at work. But it also includes former backers of the hated Duvalier family dictatorship and of the military officers who overthrew Aristide in 1991 and terrorised the country for three years."
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Cuba Calls on Caribbean Not to Abandon Haiti
Cuban Foreign Affairs Minister Felipe Perez Roque called on the nations of the Caribbean "not to abandon Haiti" in his speech at the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Ministers of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) that took place in Panama on February 12-13. The social situation in Haiti is becoming worse, he said, pointing out that new urgent difficulties associated with the unjust and exclusive international economic order are added to the old problems inherited from colonialism and exploitation. "We should not forget that 200 years ago the struggle of our Caribbean and Latin American people for their freedom began in Haiti," he said.
Perez Roque highlighted the concrete aid Cuba provides to Haiti, including a 525 person medical brigade which includes 332 doctors. It is estimated that Cuban health workers in Haiti have saved almost 86,000 lives. Almost 300 young people are studying at the Faculty of Medicine founded in Haiti by the Cuban specialists, while another 372 are studying medicine in Cuba.
Perez Roque reported that with regard to the current internal situation in Haiti the Cuban government specifically instructed its embassy in Port-au-Prince to keep all the members of the Cuban Medical brigade working at their posts. The Cuban medical staff strictly follow the principle of "not involving themselves in Haiti's internal affairs," he said. He also mentioned other sectors in which Cuba's cooperation with Haiti is in force such as the sugar industry, education, health staff training, aquaculture and agriculture, culture and road construction.
On February 17, Cuban Ambassador to Haiti Marie Andrine Constant said,"Opposition forces are working on a common goal: ousting President Jean Bertrand Aristide from power and thus boycotting any peaceful solution to the current crisis." "Many of them took advantage of the statesman's popularity to strengthen their classist position and have now taken side with the opposition and are against the social programs undertaken by Aristide in major sectors like education and health," she added. In order to summon allies, added Constant, opponents to the administration have resorted to the media, held by the right wing, and have organized anti-government campaigns based on lies, slanders and false information. The ambassador pointed out that Aristide has been in touch with representatives of the international community, especially the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS) and the United Nations (UN). The Haitian government requested police reinforcements from the OAS to control the crisis situation and armed insurgency, which have resulted in an outbreak of violence that has cost at least 55 lives.
"Aristide has favored dialogue with the opposition and the solution of the political and social crisis, repeating that he will not resign and will complete his presidential mandate in 2006," Constant stressed. However, she added, the opposition forces do not want to meet with the government to present their candidates for the presidential race, because they know that in the event of elections, the governing Lavalas party would win.
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Media vs. Reality in Haiti
- Anthony Fenton, Znet, February 13, 2004 -
Judging by the corporate media's recent coverage of the crisis in Haiti, one might be led to believe that they are "aiding and abetting" an attempted coup d'etat aimed at the democratically elected Jean Bertrand Aristide. On a daily basis, mainstream international media is churning out stories provided mainly by the Associated Press and Reuters that have little basis in fact.
On February 10, the Globe and Mail, Canada's main national daily, reprinted an AP article that relied on Haiti's elite-owned Radio Vision 2000. [1] This article contrasted the recent "violent uprising" in Gonaives, Haiti's fourth-largest city, with the 1986 uprising that saw the overthrow of the oppressive Duvalier dictatorship. The inevitable conclusion that the Canadian readership is steered toward is that Aristide is, or could be, a dictator, who may or may not deserve what he is about to get. This is hardly the kind of context that will compel citizens to lend support to the embattled Haitians.
The Globe's Paul Knox has been reporting from Haiti since February 11, and has submitted two stories thus far, neither of which have strayed from the "disinformation loop" which sees the recycling of dubious elite-spawned information by the corporate press corps. The same context as above is given credence - that Aristide faces a legitimate opposition that has every right to support his violent overthrow. Knox quotes Charles Baker, a wealthy factory owner who says: "We are all fighting for the same thing. Aristide has to resign." [2]
Canada's other national daily, the National Post (also considered the more "right wing" of the two dailies) has no problem running headlines like the one featured on February 13 website: "Rock- throwing Aristide militants force opponents to cancel protest march." [3] Nowhere in the article is President Aristide's press release mentioned, which condemned the obstruction of the protest, and called for the constitutional right of peaceful demonstration to be adhered to.
Interestingly, the corporate media has neglected to mention that the "opposition" to which they refer and repeatedly give legitimacy to, only represents a meagre 8 per cent of registered voters in Haiti, according to a U.S. poll conducted in 2000. According to the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), "their only policy goal seems to be reconstituting the army and the implementation of rigorous structural adjustment programs." [4] As corporate journalists rely on the opposition for little more than inflammatory soundbites, information that would otherwise be sought to lend their efforts credibility is repeatedly overlooked.
U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters issued a press release February 11, on the heels of her recent visit to Haiti, that called on the Bush administration to join her in condemning the "so-called opposition" and, specifically, André Apaid Jr., who is a "Duvalier supporter" that, along with his Group of 184, is "attempting to instigate a bloodbath in Haiti and then blame the government for the resulting disaster in the belief that the U.S. will aid the so-called protestors against President Aristide." [5]
She also took aim at the World Bank and IMF and their "continuing embargo" , which amounts to hundreds of millions of desperately needed funds. Rep. Waters outlined the following positive measures that Aristide has initiated:
"Under his leadership, the Haitian government has made major investments in agriculture, public transportation and infrastructure.... The government [recently] doubled the minimum wage from 36 to 70 gourdes per day, despite strong opposition from the business community.... President Aristide has also made healthcare and education national priorities. More schools were built in Haiti between 1994 and 2000 than between 1804 and 1994. The government expanded school lunch and school bus programs and provides a 70 per cent subsidy for schoolbooks and uniforms."
Rep. Waters made clear assertions on Aristide's behalf that are otherwise absent from Bush administration commentary and corporate media deceptions regarding Haiti. Waters completed her statement with an important appeal, which called on the corporate media to "discontinue the practice of repeating rumours and innuendos," whereby they function as "international megaphones for the opposition. They lie shamelessly on a daily basis."
Another Congresswoman, Barbara Lee, directly challenged Colin Powell in a formal letter to him February 12, after Powell had announced that the U.S. administration is "not interested in regime change" in Haiti. Said Lee: "It appears that the U.S. is aiding and abetting the attempt to violently topple the Aristide government. With all due respect, this looks like 'regime change'.... Our actions - or inaction - may be making things worse." [6]
In a press conference Wednesday [February 11], Aristide called for peace and a democratic resolution to the unrest ongoing in Haiti. He once again called on the opposition to rationally discuss things with his government so that they can work toward an equitable resolution.
Now would seem to be a good opportunity for broad-based social justice groups to galvanize around the critical issue of Haiti. Haitians are desperately in need of popular international support if they are to overcome the latest onslaught. With history as our guide, we should be extremely wary when one side of the U.S. administration's mouth promotes "democracy and freedom" and a "peaceful resolution" to the situation in Haiti, while out of the other they support the interests of such players as André Apaid Jr. The statements of some U.S. representatives are encouraging. Others are somewhat flaky.
In a conversation today with Congressman Gregory Meeks, his slippery position was made quite clear. Meeks's "primary concern is democracy" and the promotion of democracy does not entail "taking sides." This is a familiar position that is being trumpeted, whereby the U.S. supports democracy but is not willing to actively support the democratically elected leader. The Miami Herald made note today that the Congressional Black Caucus, whose position is supported by Meeks, "is calling for an end to the violence in Haiti but not repeating its traditional support of Aristide."
These are some dangerous indications, considering that Haitian towns remain under illegal siege by former paramilitary members, who - according to Pina - "Gathered in the Dominican and are now brandishing brand new M16s." Pina also made note that the Dominican Republic is known to have recently received a shipment of 20,000 American made M16s.
Since a great deal of the current problems plaguing Haiti stem from dire economic issues, we should now turn to these. In his 1997 book, Haiti in the New World Order, Alex Dupuy sums up the U.S. disposition toward Haiti:
"For the foreign policy intelligentsia, the defence and promotion of democracy and the free market serve as the 'grander vision' underlying U.S. policy objectives in the new world order.... Democracy is not likely to take hold unless its corollaries - a free market economy and a free trade system - are also fostered." [7]
The logic of the State Department, according to COHA, sees Aristide as "little more than a `beardless Castro'," who was despised by Jesse Helms, a tradition that is being carried on by his "ideological heirs" in the State Department, Roger Noriega and Otto Reich. We should recall that this sort of attitude was prominent over a decade ago, when Aristide was first elected President.
In 1991, Aristide was overthrown by the brutal paramilitary, led by former CIA employees Emmanuel Constant and Raoul Cedras. The massive influx of refugees fleeing Haiti from the brutal FRAPH paramilitary regime, in addition to a groundswell of domestic support for Haiti, forced Clinton to "restore democracy" to Haiti in 1994. Aristide, having his way cleared by U.S. troops, returned to Haiti recognized internationally as its legitimate leader.
Aristide's return was only made possible when he "embraced the Haitian bourgeoisie and accepted a U.S. occupation and Washington's neo-liberal agenda." As Noam Chomsky has detailed, "The Aristide government [was] to keep to a standard 'structural adjustment' package, with foreign funds devoted primarily to debt repayment and the needs of the business sectors, and with an 'open foreign investment policy'." [8]
By then, the neo-liberal agenda has become entrenched as part of the New World Order, which was designed to respond to "the South's plea for justice, equity, and democracy in the global society." This agenda has led others such as Susan George to sum it up as such:
"Neo-liberalism has become the major world religion with its dogmatic doctrine, its priesthood, its law-giving institutions and perhaps most important of all, its hell for heathen and sinners who dare to contest the revealed truth." [9]
The World Bank predicted in 1996 that up to 70 per cent of Haitians would be unlikely to survive bank-advocated free market measures in Haiti. According to a 2002 Guardian article, by the end of the 1990's "Haiti's rice production had halved and subsidized imports from the U.S. accounted for over half of local rice sales." [10] As Haiti became the "star pupil" of IMF and World Bank, such policies "devastated" local farmers.
Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), which have been forced upon Haiti, have in traditional style promoted the privatization of state industries. According to Aristide in his 2000 book Eyes of the Heart, privatization will "further concentrate wealth" where 1 per cent of the population already controls 45 per cent of the overall wealth. As for why Haiti would agree to World Bank and IMF measures, Aristide provides context along a "dead if we do, dead if we don't" line: "Either we enter a global economic system, in which we know we cannot survive, or, we refuse, and face death by slow starvation." [11]
While keeping in mind that the U.S. effectively controls the World Bank and IMF [12], we should consider Susan George and the Transnational Institutes findings based on extensive research of these institutions: "The economic policies imposed on debtors... caused untold human suffering and widespread environmental suffering while simultaneously emptying debtor countries of their resources." [13]
George notes how the consequences of this "debt boomerang" which sees rich nations actually profiting from the enormous debt service rendered on the poor, as affecting all of us. While the people in the South "are far more grievously affected by debt than those in the North, in both cases, a tiny minority benefits while the overwhelming majority pays." [14]
The U.S. administration, the World Bank-IMF couplet, and Haitian elites who stand to benefit from a neo-liberal agenda, are all aware that Aristide favours genuine democracy over neo-liberal reform. Aristide still stands behind the beliefs that swept him to power as the first democratically elected Haitian leader in 1991. As Kevin Pina told me yesterday, the popular (impoverished) masses who revered Aristide in 1991 "are still willing to fight for him. They are willing to die if it means Aristide can complete his term."
In Monterrey last month at the Special Summit of the Americas, a Third Border Initiative was committed to by the Caribbean Community and the United States. One of the primary aims of the initiative is to "make sure the benefits of globalization are felt in even the smallest economies," while coordinating ties that discourage terrorist activities and increase security for the area. [15]
We will only know for certain how this applies to the case of Haiti as things progress - or deteriorate. In closing our conversation yesterday, Kevin Pina asserted the following:
"Haiti desperately needs to establish democratic traditions. How is the pattern of instability supposed to be broken? What's to stop the next democratically elected President from being asked to step down? If people are falling for these distortions and lies they are doing a disservice to Haiti."
Citizens of Canada, the United States and Europe all have a stake in this, to the extent that the fomenting of Haitian instability and continued Haitian misery is being carried out and financed in our names. By falling for the delusional picture of Haiti that is drawn by our corporate media, we are actively violating fundamental human rights along with Haiti's right to self-determination. Anything that can be done to expose this circulation of lies should be done so with an immediacy that above all appreciates the right of all Haitians to determine their own future.
Notes
[1] Globe and Mail, February 10, 2004, "Haitian Insurrection Spreads to several more towns." A16.
[2] Globe and Mail, February 11, 2004 "Haiti's `peaceful people' erupt in Violence", A16.
[3] National Post, February 13, 2004.
[4] "Unfair and Indecent Diplomacy: Washington's Vendetta against Haiti's President Aristide," January 15, 2004.
[5] Transcript obtained from Haiti's Foreign Press Liason, Michelle Karshan, February 11, 2004.
[6] From the office of Congresswoman Barbara Lee. Contact: 202-225-2398
[7] Alex Dupuy, "Haiti in the New World Order: The Limits of Democratic Revolution," p. 7.
[8] See Chomsky's "The Tragedy of Haiti" in his "Year 501: The Conquest Continues" pp. 197-219.
[9] Susan George's "A Short History of Neo- liberalism" speech, March 1999: http://www.globalpolicy.org/globaliz/econ/histneol.htm
[10] See The Guardian's "Haiti: proof of hypocrisy", April 11, 2002:
[11] Excerpts from Aristide's book.
[12] Quoting the Brookings Institution's "U.S. Relations with the World Bank: 1945-1992": "More than any other country, the United States has shaped and directed the institutional evolution, policies, and activities of the World Bank," p. 88. The Brookings Institution, incidentally, is a known affiliate of the Haiti Democracy Project, which is friendly with Andre Apaid Jr., and G-184.
[13] See George's "The Debt Boomerang," 1992.
[14] Ibid.
[15] Bush II quote, U.S. Department of State website.
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