12693: FW: Discontented residents foresee unrest in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Merrie Archer <MArcher@nchr.org>
> ---------------------------------
> Posted on Mon, Aug. 12, 2002
> Discontented residents foresee unrest in Haiti
> BY NANCY SAN MARTIN
> nsanmartin@herald.com
>
> CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti -- In the streets of Haiti's
> second-largest city, the traditional harbinger of
> political upheaval, the atmosphere of discontent is
> almost palpable. It can be seen at the corner gas
> station, with its shotgun-wielding guard. It can be
> heard from self-styled popular leaders.
>
> ''A lot of people are fed up. They are tired of
> hunger and poverty,'' said Wilkenson Charles, 27,
> the head of one of the biggest grass-roots
> organizations in Le Cap, or ''The Cap,'' as the
> locals call Cap-Haitien. ``The Cap is definitely
> next in line, but before we do anything, we have to
> decide on a strategy.''
>
> The ominous mood is the product of a variety of
> factors, principally the political stagnation and
> economic deterioration that have characterized the
> past two years of Jean-Bertrand Aristide's rule. Add
> a critical shortage of fuel and the rumble of
> protest elsewhere in Haiti and the ingredients of
> potential upheaval appear to be in place.
>
> Even since a gang broke down a prison wall in
> Gonaives, which lies halfway between here and the
> capital of Port-au-Prince, residents have been
> waiting for some sort of cue to take to the streets.
> So far, there has been little open defiance, but
> many say the future will bring turmoil.
>
> ''Most likely there will be trouble here,'' said
> Herve Jasmin, 30, an unemployed house painter. ``It
> usually starts on the outskirts and then moves into
> town.''
>
> ''Most people are not satisfied with Aristide, only
> those who have jobs are satisfied,'' Jasmin said.
> ``Gonaives was first [with the unrest]. Petit-Goave
> is usually second. After that it's us. This
> government won't be able to control it. They will
> have to go.''
>
> The attitude is widely shared, and the fear of
> speaking out that pervades the capital is generally
> absent here. Said Gilbertson Pierre, 40, a money
> changer: ``If something happens here, things will
> probably blow up.''
>
> The jailbreak, in which 159 prisoners escaped,
> sparked defiant anti-government protests in Gonaives
> and random outbreaks of violence spread to various
> parts of the country, but they have not yet reached
> Cap-Haitien, which has often served as a barometer
> of national political attitudes.
>
> In 1986, the anti-government protest movement that
> swept Jean-Claude ''Baby Doc'' Duvalier -- the scion
> of a hated dynasty that ruled for more than 30 years
> -- out of office began in Cap-Haitien before there
> was a hint of violence in the capital.
>
> ''If Cap-Haitien radically comes out against
> Aristide, that would send a signal through the
> country, and it would especially resonate in the
> capital,'' said a Western diplomat who spoke on
> condition of anonymity.
>
> ''Everybody knows that if people from The Cap make
> trouble, there's going to be trouble for a long
> time,'' said Charles, the grass-roots leader.
> ``We've got a lot of power to make any kind of
> manifestation we want.''
>
> Asked when action might be taken, he said: ``Maybe
> tomorrow. Maybe the next day. I can't really say.''
>
> Jean Myrto Julien, the highest-ranking official in
> Cap-Haitien, blames the opposition for staging the
> jailbreak in Gonaives and trying to spread chaos in
> order to destabilize the government.
>
> ''They sent people here to the hot areas to give
> money and try to incite an uprising,'' said Julien,
> adding that an opposition group has been identified
> and one suspect is behind bars.
>
> ''This person was found with seditious material,''
> he said. ``But the trap they set for the government
> has failed. This disease in Gonaives has not
> affected Cap-Haitien yet and will not affect us.''
>
> But maintaining order will be a challenge.
>
> In addition to festering discontent, police in
> Cap-Haitien also have been confronted with an
> increase in street crime and rising tensions due to
> a fuel shortage.
>
> A two-day delay in shipment during the weekend
> escalated into crisis mode with the cost of fuel
> doubling on the black market and frustrated
> residents lobbing bottles at night to keep robbers
> from entering homes and business during electricity
> blackouts.
>
> ''What a coincidence that we don't have fuel at the
> same time there are problems in Gonaives,'' said
> Jean Yves Cidor, 23, a car mechanic. ``The
> government did that. Most of the power is in the
> hands of bandits.''
>
> ''We have problems because people are pretty
> aggressive when they don't have gas,'' Michele
> Henoz, an armed guard at a Texaco station, said as
> he shooed away angry motorists. ``I hope the
> situation doesn't get worse.''
>
> Cap-Haitien, a city of about half a million, is one
> of the few lined with sidewalks. Centuries-old
> buildings are reminiscent of a fading French
> Quarter. Nearly every street is cluttered with
> vendors selling produce, clothes and home products.
> But the economy relies heavily on fishing.
>
> Those who are dependent on the trade said they are
> too busy trying to survive to be bothered with
> politics.
>
> ''We don't pay attention to what is going on because
> there are problems every day in this country,'' said
> Katy Joanis, 25, who lives in a fishing village on
> the outskirts of town called La Rival. ''I wasn't
> for Aristide from the beginning. Usually, presidents
> only take care of their own clans,'' she added.
>
> ''There is no Aristide for us,'' said Dieu Fait, a
> lifelong fisherman. ``We put these people in power,
> but once they're in power, they don't worry about
> us.
>
> ''Aristide has been here many times. He knows this
> village and the problems we have here. If he wanted
> to, he would help,'' said Fait, 46, who has 10
> children. ``I worry about my fishing, that's it. If
> I don't catch fish, my children don't eat.''
>


=====
Michael L. Wilson

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