14081: Hyppolite replying to Post 14066: stanley honorat responce to hyppolite pierre (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Hyppolite Pierre <hpierre@irsp.org>

Stanley,

I promise you that I will not be long. I'll try to be specific with you this
time. Again, I must refer to your points so I can get my own point accross
in this argument.

You wrote:

<<<<<<  i believe that we have not begun the democracy and that a change of
government is needed to begin that process.>>>>>>

Well, I am not sure I could revere this argument. This is why. The
democratic process in Haiti had begun prior to 1986, with the then United
States president Carter in 1978-79 sending diplomats in Haiti to encourage
Baby Doc to better his Human Rights records. That made it possible for
movements like Ti Legliz to burgeon, for radio stations like Radio Soleil,
and Radio Haiti Inter to give uncensored news broadcast with competent
journalists like Kompè Philo and Liliane Pierre-Paul, and of course, Jean
Dominique.

That process took a serious but not deadly blow on Friday, November 28,
1980, shortly after Reagan was elected president of the United States. Baby
Doc felt as though he had a free hand, and went on to have destroyed Radio
Haiti-Inter, and send Liliane Pierre-Paul, Jean Dominique, Kompè Philo and
many others in exile.

That process got reinvigorated when Baby Doc left in 1986, and even during
the 1991-1994 coup d'état, that process was still continuing despite Michel
François and general Cédras' wishes.

This process, Stanley, is irreversible, regardless of who is in power.

In today's Haiti, whether you like the results of elections or not,
elections do take place oftentimes if not always before national and
international observers. You and I know that each elected official is there
for a specific period of time, including the president. It is even more
difficult for a president because he cannot even have two consecutive terms.
Brilliant idea by the way.

In today's Haiti, you have human rights organizations that denounce even
when only one-sided, exactions of government officials. Their members are in
Haiti. You have radio stations that freely give news that are sometimes even
derogatory towards government officials. You have opposition politicians
living in Haiti, travelling from West (Port-au-Prince) to North
(Cap-Haïtien). Those leaders demonstrate along with their partisans and are
well protected by the Police. Would they have been able to do so under
Duvalier, or even under Cédras? You an I know the answer: it's a resounding
NO!

So yes, Stanley, the democratic process is well and alive in Haiti. I could
give you countless other examples. That is unnecessary, as you know. It is
an irreversible process, regardless of who is in power. The genie is indeed,
out of the bottle.

Stanley, you went on to write:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>> you are correct in saying that i don't believe it is best for haiti if aristide finishes his term.  there are several reasons why:....>>>>>>>

Then you listed your reasons and went on to express your opinions on
Aristide. Here you are, Stanley:

>>>>>>>> is aristide the man to unite our society?  i say no.  he
> had the chance but squandered it by inciting, among other things, class
> warfare, racial prejudice and anarchy.  you cannot sit and negociate with a man that you do not trust.  he has lied and schemed enough to lose what ever semblance of integrity he may have had before.  he, along with his croonies
> (mario dupuy et al) have proven how they can blatantly lie and simply deny
> it afterwards.  in a situation like this, it is hard to give someone the
> benefit of the doubt and negociate in good faith.
> once again, let me reaffirm my faith that haiti will get through this
> impasse.  may those of you who believe in god pray for this country and pray that we all act in good faith and to the betterment of our land.>>>>>>>


Then again Stanley, this is your opinion of Aristide. I am happy that you
share such opinion with all of us, while living in Haiti and enjoying its
bright and shiny sun, and ever so joyful people. Having said this, let's get
to the real issues.

Aristide is one man with a big, BIG job. Well of course he has mastered the
art of politics, in a way that is quite surprising at times to most if not
all of us, for better or worse. He has his own limits which have cause his
failures on the economic front. But he cannot be blamed for all the ills.

The issue again, Stanley, is not Aristide. It is creating the proper
structural environment for a healthy democratic process which will ensure a
better Haiti. How do you do this?

Perhaps the initial thing for us to do, is not to think of Aristide neither
as God, nor as Mephisto. He is neither. If you have a machine that is well
oiled, with checks and balances, Aristide's margin will be reduced to simply
campaign for his partisans during elections time. He can use his verve to
try and convince people to vote for so and so. But he won't be able to
"steal" elections as I presume you believe he does.

Every time we have elections in Haiti, there are problems, and countless
accusations. Unfortunately, what do the losers do next? Nothing. In fact,
in such cases, we all should first investigate whether anything went wrong,
what went wrong, where the electoral machines are defective. Thus, we could
come up with proposals for solutions so those problems (real or fictitious)
no longer occur next time.

If you reduce the whole electoral process to a one man issue, Haiti will
never move ahead. You cannot tell me that Aristide represents the strength
or weaknesses of all the institutions in Haiti. That Stanley, is quite
demeaning to the process itself. The day when we begin to look passed
individual leaders, and focus on larger issues such as building viable
institutions despite, despite whatever one leader would want to do, Haiti
will have achieved a tremendous leap towards development.

Again, my best to you, Stanley,
Hyppolite Pierre
IRSP
http://www.irsp.org