13101: Durban on Simidor's Criticism of Elites (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lance Durban <lpdurban@yahoo.com>

Self-described "vaguely middle class" Daniel Simidor is unhappy
with the Haitian elite (see post 13062), but he doesn't quite
complete the picture.

Freshly arriving in Haiti back in 1979 as an advisor on a U.N
housing project, I heard variations on this anti-elite thesis
all the time.  Parroting that line at one of those stuffed shirt
U.N. soirees, I was stopped short by none other than elite
lawyer, Guy Mallary, who pointed out that getting involved meant
getting politically involved, and that under Duvalier that could
be very dangerous indeed.  Little wonder that most upper class
Haitians preferred to do their thing outside of the political
arena, he implied.    As we all know, Guy subsequently got
involved, and his tragic assassination some years later burned
the memory of that earlier conversation into my mind.

Sorry Daniel, but you can put me in that "feeble-minded
consensus" that there are both good and bad members of the
Haitian elite.  One might legitimately ask if Haiti's elite
really have the skills needed, but people with money, education,
drive, and vision are crucial assets for any struggling country,
and need to be harnessed to the common good.  Unfortunately,
Haiti has been unable to attract and even retain the best and
brightest of its own sons and daughters.  Why are so many of the
Daniel Simidor's on this list writing from the United States and
Canada?

To be effective any Haitian leader must not only bridge the gap
between the elites and the masses, but try and close it.  To do
that effectively, he needs to consciously step away from
whatever group that put him in power and appeal to the other
side.  It's a high risk proposition for any leader, yet it seems
to me to be the only way to get beyond the political frictions
that otherwise divide the country.

Lance Durban




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