12784: Time U.S. rethought strategy for woebegone nation - Houston Chronicle Aug. 18, 2002, 6:12PM (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Stanley  Lucas <slucas@iri.org>

Aug. 18, 2002, 6:12PM

HAITI
Time U.S. rethought strategy for woebegone nation
Earlier this month, armed supporters crashed through a prison wall, freeing 159 prisoners in the Haitian city of Gonaives, 60 miles from Port-au-Prince. Last week, one of the escaped prisoners, a longtime foe of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, led riots and calls for Aristide's ouster. The political upheaval -- along with Haiti's chronic and widespread economic misery -- presents an opportunity to reflect not only on Aristide's utter failures and the absence of any viable alternative to his government, but on the failure of U.S. policies aimed at spurring reform on the island.

Clinton administration officials had hoped that Aristide, the nation's first democratically elected leader, could build a functional democracy in Haiti. But evidence of corruption and human rights abuses, including rigged legislative elections in May 2000, prompted the Bush administration to cut off foreign aid to Haiti and to block international loans. Aristide initiated minor reforms, but Secretary of State Colin Powell declared recently, and credibly, that these have not gone far enough.

The State Department continues to send humanitarian aid, just not directly to the Haitian government.

Haitian supporters counter that without U.S. foreign aid, Aristide is doomed to fail. That, too, is a convincing argument. Denying direct aid to Aristide likely will assist in his overthrow, while the lack of a suitable alternative to his Lavalas political party is sure to abet the current lawlessness.

Beyond the humanitarian arguments, Americans share a practical interest in calming Haitian unrest. A descent into anarchy could spur another mass migration of Haitians to the United States, such as the one that followed the early '90s terror commencing after the military overthrew Aristide just months after his first election. Relieving the country's economic stagnation also will help check drug trafficking through Haiti, although this is complicated by the fact that Aristide himself has been accused of drug involvement.

The political and economic reforms hoped for in Haiti clearly have not come to pass. If a complete meltdown in this hemisphere's poorest nation is to be averted, the United States must rethink its policy on Haiti.