#4427: Morse to Driver (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: oloffsonram <oloffsonram@globelsud.net>


To Driver:
I'm not sure what your Haiti backround is, and I'm not sure what 
Hypolitte Pierre's backround is, but its tough to express yourself when 
your radio station is being shot at or when the head of your radio 
station is assassinated. Its also tough to hold a political rally when 
urine is raining down and the police stand and watch.
The 1991 coup (which was waiting to happen and was looking for a 
trigger) happened shortly after the Lavalas parliament jumped party 
lines, refused to accept Preval as Prime Minister, and people started 
standing at the parliament entryways with tires. I do not, of course 
defend the coup or killing thousands to put Cedras in power, but by the 
same token I do not  believe in tire politics either. I do believe 
there was a point where the tires and rocks were essential to 
communicate to the world that something is wrong down in Haiti and it 
did attract the necessary attention, but at a certain point we have to 
get past that. 
I've noticed that twice the Haitian people have voted in a Lavalas 
parliament and as soon as the parliamentary sessions got under way, 
party affiliations were thrown out the window. The first time they 
refused Preval candidacy as Prime Minister and the second time there 
was so much disaccord that  now-President Preval closed the parliament. 
The four points you made, though very logical are also very western and 
I hate to say this but "we're not in Kansas anymore".

To Grey: There was no offense intended when I used the word "blanc". I 
went back and reread the post and once again I found no offense. We're 
trying to establish a new system of "self-government" in Haiti but it 
is a system brought from the "outside" hence "system blanc".
The elder who used the term used to beat the drums for my mom back in 
the 1940's. He first met me when I was about two and my mom brought 
the "ti-blanc"(thats his affectionate reference for me) for her fellow 
artists to meet. He knows that I have been brought up in a "blanc 
(foreign)" environment and he also knows I sing vodou, which is his 
reference. He needed some insight to the current situation. I couldn't 
go into the math of "if one person voted for three senators, two voted 
for two and four voted for one, how many people voted?" I was never 
that good at those seventh grade math word problems. My response was 
based on the reaction to an apparent setback, which was tires, fire and 
airport closings.
Preval has now said the final decision has been taken...I remember in 
the summer of '87 when Namphy said that he and the army had final say 
and they could override the CEP. A whole lot of fire, tires and 
rocks.....

Richard Morse