14486: Karshan: Contents of President Aristide's speech at the legislature (BBC Monitoring) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com

Haitian president warns racism undermining democracy in address to the nation

BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Jan 15, 2003

Democratic elections, racism and the economy were the central themes of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's address to the nation on 13 January. In a
speech from the Legislative Palace in Port-au-Prince, broadcast by Haitian
Radio Nationale, Aristide urged Haitians not to let racism endanger the
process of democratic elections and stressed that it is his duty to
"guarantee ideological pluralism and political alternation". He lamented the
economic impact of the embargo against Haiti and the recent rise in fuel
prices, stressing: "The fuel of this embargo falls directly on to the flame
of the fire of extreme poverty." The following is the text of the speech;
passages within double oblique strokes in Creole; subheadings inserted
editorially:

Excellency Mr Prime Minister, Distinguished Members of the Ministerial
Cabinet, Mr President of the National Assembly, Mr Vice-President of the
National Assembly, Distinguished Members of the [Executive] Office,
Honourable Senators and Deputies of the Republic, Mr President of the Court
of Appeals, Honourable Magistrates, Excellency Mr Apostolic Nuncio,
Distinguished Members of the Diplomatic Corps, Distinguished Members of the
Consular Corps, Mr President of the Superior Court of Accounts, Distinguished
Members of the Great Bodies of the State, Distinguished Members of
International Organizations, Dear Fellow Citizens:

The first lady and I have the honour of saluting you patriotically. May we be
allowed to send a special salute to the seven senators who wanted to free
Haiti from this so-called electoral crisis through their resignations. Let us
express this special salute from the heart. [Applause] All you, honourable
senators and deputies, have also made patriotic sacrifices. Allow me to
congratulate you as well. [Applause]

Racism and democracy

Honourable members of parliament: Thanks to their struggle against racism,
the founders of the homeland have contributed to the advent of a world where
human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Today, in our
country, it is appropriate to talk about a social web which is affected by or
gnawed at by the viruses of racism, prejudice and social discrimination. Even
before making a diagnosis, many might wonder why this pertinent question? Why
should one wonder about this at this juncture?

The United Nations has already held three world conferences on racism. The
action plan outlined during the latest of these world conferences held in
September 2001 in Durban, South Africa, should lead to the emergence of a
more egalitarian society. In fact, racism is at the opposite end of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, whose Article 21 stipulates: Open
quote, the people are the foundation of the public powers' authority. This
will must be expressed through honest elections. The latter must be held
periodically through universal suffrage, end quote.

I believe that many scientists have sought the correlation between racial
pollution and electoral pollution. By spreading the virus of racism, racial
pollution rejects ipso facto the democratic principle of one man and one
vote. [word indistinct] whether you like it or not, one manages to hold free
and democratic elections, it is the responsibility of civilized men and women
to handle commitments through dialogue, thereby preventing the electoral
crises from turning into electoral pollution. Otherwise, disastrous
consequences can arise, affecting not only the groups or parties concerned
but also the nation's interests.

Honourable members of parliament, dear fellow citizens, at this juncture, Dr
Price Mars [20th century Haitian writer and ideologist], through his memoirs
and his literary works, and the great writer Francois Mauriac stimulate us to
establish a diagnosis in order to pursue an objective political analysis.
Mauriac, philosopher and Nobel Prize winner, who promoted the cause of the
colonized people because he longed for political justice, journeyed this path
of objectivity beyond his death.

//Commenting on something such as this calls for us to be seated, seated to
think, think so that we can move forwards in order to get the country
unblocked. This question of unblocking is not a game, despite the fact that
certain people are playing with it. By the way, when it is a true game,
tripping up knows that it is excluded [Creole: Le se jwet an jwet kochet
konnen l pa ladan l]. This question of unblocking is an impending danger; we
need to eliminate and drop this democratically.//

Here in 1843, many of our fellow citizens could not accept the fact that an
illiterate people were able to go to the polls and choose their
representatives freely. From 1843 to 2003, that is 160 years later, we are in
danger of discovering the same reflexes and the same complexes. Hence the
uncontrollable need to listen to one another, to talk to one another and to
understand one another. In fact, the understanding of psychological complexes
allows a better analysis of the collective phenomena. Obviously, when
analytical psychology scrutinizes the collective unconscious, it is possible
to discover that myths born are again in the psychic universe of an
individual. Tolerance to cultivate in any democratic process plunges its
roots into the spring of these deep dimensions.

>From 1804 to 1904, that is, the first 100 years of independence, Haiti had 19
heads of state. None of them were democratically elected. From 1904 to 2004,
finally, fortunately, on the night of the dictatorships, the first flame of
democratic transition arose during the last decade. Late, certainly very
late, but better late than never! The essential thing is to protect this
democratic flame. It shines and will shine for all without distinction. When
electoral pollution unfortunately comes from our political environment, we
must open ourselves to wisdom, to maturity and to magnanimity in order to: 1)
Manage disputes through dialogue; 2) Slow down the dynamics of radicalization
and polarization; 3) Calm the storms of violence which can destroy the social
web.

Free, honest and democratic elections

Dear brothers and sisters: Aware of my duty to strengthen national unity, to
guarantee ideological pluralism and political alternation, once again I
invite my dear fellow citizens to opt in a Lavalas [ruling party] manner for
a convergence, a convergence towards elections, free, honest and democratic
elections, elections which are supposed to be held during the first six
months of 2003 in order to renew two-thirds of the Senate, the Chamber of
Deputies and the territorial collectives. These elections are supposed to be
held in an environment of security in accordance with Resolution 822.

Honourable members of parliament, dear fellow citizens, in 1950, Central
America had a population of 8 million inhabitants, which is our population
today. Because the electoral path was not chosen, violence burst in and, in
less than three decades, the murderous weapons caused the death of 250,000
people. In South Africa, it was not violence but the ballots which eventually
broke down the walls of apartheid and racial discriminations.

//Like a good chemist, the 1987 Constitution had good medicines to help us
heal. If the 1806 Constitution brought many vitamins of freedom for all men
on earth, we shall not forget how much power it gave the Senate of the
Republic to allow [Alexandre] Petion to limit the powers of [Henri]
Christophe [president of the northern part of Haiti from 1807 to 1811 and
king of the same area from 1811 to 1820].

Whether you consider the 1816 Constitution, which is the constitution which
lasted longer than all the others, whether you consider the 1867
Constitution, which guided Simon Bolivar for the liberation of Latin America,
whether you consider the 1946 Constitution, which allowed the Senate of the
republic to replace the Chamber of Deputies, none of them strengthened
democracy enough to put it on the track of democracy and elections in the
same way as the 1987 Constitution did.

In good Creole, we say if democratic oxen leg is supposed to be bought, we
would rather buy if from our customer, [applause] that is through elections.
[Applause] I see that you have reacted. This means that the message is
understood. I am then going to repeat it. In good Creole, in good Creole
[repeats himself], we say if democratic oxen leg is supposed to be bought, we
would rather buy it from our customer [applause], that is through elections.
[Applause]

In fact, it is a fundamental choice. As free people, we have chosen the
peaceful and democratic route, the one which implies democratic alternation
in order to promote justice and social justice, political stability and
economic growth. By the way, on the world scene, the economic storms have not
stopped multiplying the number of victims, a consequence of a global economy
as opposed to a economy of solidarity.

Economic inequality

Since the crisis of 1997, the emerging markets have held only seven per cent
of the total value of the stock market, whereas they represent 45 per cent of
world production and 85 per cent of the global population. Less than a year
ago, the Mercosur [Common Market of the South] countries reported a
41-per-cent fall in the volume of their exports, which caused the
unemployment rate, which had already been growing since the end of the 1990s,
to increase to a level higher than that of World War II. In the last decade,
the foreign debt of the less advanced countries has gone from 121.2bn dollars
to 150.4bn dollars.

In the middle of this geoeconomic pathology, our dear Haiti has not stopped
demanding the lifting of the economic sanctions imposed wrongly on its worthy
sons and daughters. Whereas our exports have gone from 156.24m dollars to
128.72m dollars between 1998 and 2002, our imports have experienced an
enormous increase. Hold on, from 884m dollars, they have reached the record
level of 1.55bn dollars. //In the year 2001, Haiti bought for 17,000
[corrects himself] sorry, in the year 2001, Haiti bought 11,754 cars abroad.
In 2002, the number of vehicles imported by Haiti has gone up to 14,907. The
more vehicles we have, the more we need fuel, not to mention kerosene.

//Whereas fuel prices have become twice as expensive overseas, here we feel
the consequences of the embargo twice much. While expecting the light of
agreement to shine so that we can feel relief, the itching of the pain is
sharp when the people say aloud that the fuel of this embargo falls directly
on to the flame of the fire of extreme poverty. The fuel of this embargo
falls directly on to the flame of the fire of extreme poverty [repeats
himself].// Oil fever has therefore given rise to an abnormal increase in the
temperature of the social body.

The demonstrations witnessed at the beginning of this new year have revealed,
like symptoms, how much the social body is struggling vigorously against the
violation of the economic rights and against the anti-democratic bacteria and
microbes in order to facilitate the birth of a collective health, economic
health, political health, democratic health, yes, this social health we all
need. As the blood of each human being contains 18bn cells, may each of us
discover, through his or her blood, 18bn democratic cells. Haiti will then
enjoy good health in a world from which less racial pollution and less
electoral pollution come.

Health and peace to you all. Thank you. [Applause]

Source: Radio Nationale, Port-au-Prince, in French 1825 gmt 13 Jan 03

/© BBC Monitoring

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