17885: Esser: Haiti in Crisis (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. E s s e r <torx@joimail.com>

The Nassau Guardian (Bahamas)

Tuesday, January 13, 2004
Haiti in Crisis

By Mindell Small

Guardian Staff Reporter

The Haitian Ambassador to The Bahamas, Mr. Louis Harrold
Joseph, said Haiti needs international help to solve its
political crisis so that a true democratic system could
prevail.

He made the remarks while on Island 102.9 FM's Sunday
afternoon programme "Parliament Street," hosted by Jessica
Robertson and Fayne Thompson.

The Ambassador, who hails from Cap Haitien, gave an overview
of his country, speaking on matters from politics, religion,
quality of life and history.

As most Haitians, he said he was very concerned about the
stability and security of the republic and pointed out that
as long as those two conditions remain in crisis, the
country would not develop.

He said he could not confirm reports that Haiti was refused
international aid while other countries received it. He
said, however, that the country had been receiving monetary
assistance from non-profit organizations over the past four
years, but assistance hinged to the government moving toward
democracy.

Political History:
He said though democracy was taking shape, the political
situation in Haiti could best be described as one in
transition from the previous totalitarian system. He
stressed that the country never had a democratic system over
its 180-year history and that the democratic concept is
still a fairly new one.

The hosts pressed the envoy to further explain the political
situation in Haiti so that Bahamians would have a better
appreciation of the struggles of its people and not just see
them as people who come here to take jobs.

The Ambassador said from a broad perspective, the political
turmoil in Haiti centres on the two minority groups, the
whites and mulattos wanting to take control of the country.
The mulattos, he claimed, feel that they should run the
country because they believe they are neutral and could
represent both the whites and blacks.

On elections, the Ambassador said in 1986 when Jean Claude
'Baby Doc' Duvalier left the country, a new constitution,
laying down the framework for democracy, was created. But,
he said, up to now, only some of the provisions in the
constitution have been implemented. In 1990 the country had
its first free election.

He said free election was a good start; Jean-Bertrand
Aristide was the first democratically elected president in
the republic's history. However, he said Aristide was
overthrown by a military coup in 1991, but was returned to
power in 1994, following a United Nations intervention.

The political turmoil did not end there. In 1995, René
Préval was elected to succeed Aristide, who was barred from
running. But in the 2000 elections, Aristide again won the
presidency.

However, the opposition again wanted to get rid of Aristide.
Since 2000, the political trouble intensified when the
Organization of American States representatives said there
was an institutional flaw in the legislative elections and
questioned the percentage of votes obtained by eight
senatorial candidates. The government, however, refused to
conduct a re-election for the senatorial seats.

Because of the extreme poverty, the coup, the violence and
hence instability, international investors avoided Haiti.
The Ambassador said he genuinely felt that Haitians have the
power to change their destiny. He said they need, first of
all, to get the country's political crisis under control
before they could look at any type of development. He
admitted that many have the desire to work towards solving
the political problems but international assistance is
needed.

Quality of Life:
When asked why the quality of life in Haiti had sunk to such
intolerable levels, the diplomat said the country was not
always poor.

He said for many years, Haiti used to export a lot of food
items to The Bahamas such as rice, yam and other products.

The relationship between The Bahamas and Haiti was much
better at that time, but had been tarnished due to the
burden of immigration. He said he was encouraged by the
bilateral agreement between the two countries and added that
one of the best ways The Bahamas could help Haiti would be
to trade with it. He gave mango and coffee as examples of
products, which The Bahamas could import from Haiti. The
minimum wage in Haiti is less than on dollar a day.

Religion:
The Ambassador said a high percentage of people in Haiti
practice Voodoo, an established religion. He added that
Voodoo is poorly understood and people fear what they do not
understand. He denied that the religion was a dark and evil
practice as portrayed in the media.

He said because freedom of religion is protected in the
constitution, president Aristide was obligated to ensure the
constitutional provision was upheld if the country is to be
seen as democratic. He said just as there is freedom of
religion in The Bahamas, there is freedom of religion in
Haiti and that a person was free to subscribe to any
religion he or she desires.

He pointed out that since Haiti was the first Caribbean
country to achieve independence, it has very old traditions
and its music goes back to African roots. He said Voodoo is
an African religion, and unlike many black Caribbean
countries, which achieved independence after Haiti, the
African traditions, including Voodoo, remain very strong in
Haiti. He admitted the government had done a poor job in
explaining the religion, but pointed out that stabilizing
the political situation is taking precedence over any other
issue.

History:
About an hour of the program was devoted to the history of
the country, which shares a border with the Dominican
Republic situated to the east of Haiti.

The Ambassador said the indigenous population died by the
thousands from 1492 to 1889. At that time the country had a
burgeoning economy, supplying 60 percent of Europe's coffee
imports. He was quick to add, however, that the richness of
the country was built on the backs of the slaves who
comprised a majority of the population.

He said the seven million inhabitants include approximately
50,000 whites, 30,000 mulattos or free-colour people and
6,500,000 blacks. The population proportion was similar
during the slavery era, but obviously smaller.

He explained that most books about Haiti were written by the
rich white or mulatto minority or by foreigners. He added
that the country was in the process of rewriting some of
those books to tell the "real" story about Haiti.

He said during the war of independence, the country's
plantation system and infrastructure were destroyed. He
added that during most of the 19th century, development was
impossible as the country had become barren and the blockade
and embargo against it made matters worse. He stressed that
Haiti is extremely difficult to reconstruct.


Sidebar Facts on Haitians Migrants in The Bahamas

Authorities estimate that approximately 60,000 Haitians are
living in The Bahamas illegally. 2002 was one of the busiest
years in illegal immigrant apprehension: 4,220 Haitians were
caught, nearly 50 percent more than in 2001.

The Ministry of Education recently reported that a third of
public-school students are children of Haitian migrants. At
the hospital, seven of 10 maternity patients are Haitians.

Most Haitian migrants pay smugglers anywhere between $500 to
$5,000 US dollars for passage to The Bahamas. The journey is
usually made in rickety homemade boats that often capsize.

Haitians who make it to land, whether in Nassau, Eight Mile
Rock or The Mud Abaco, the places with the largest Haitian
population, still endure poverty almost the same as in their
homeland.

Most Haitian villages do not have running water or
electricity. There is no desire to try to attain these basic
amenities due to the risk of being caught and subsequently
repatriated.

The Bahamas repatriated more than 3,000 Haitian migrants in
2002, at a cost of more than $1 million.



Sidebar Facts on Haiti's Republic

Haiti is referred to as the first black-led republic - it
was the first Caribbean country to gain independence.

Haiti has been ranked by the United Nations as the poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization also
categorized Haiti as the third hungriest nation in the
world, behind Afghanistan and Somalia.

More than 1.2 million children are affected or infected by
HIV/AIDS or other diseases and about a quarter of Haitian
children under age five are suffering from chronic
malnutrition.

Haiti's social problems stem from the huge wealth gap
between the impoverished Creole-speaking black majority and
the French-speaking mulattos.

Haiti's French-speaking mulattos, approximately 1 percent of
population, own about half of the country's wealth.

Paul L'Overture (Toussaint), considered a hero and
emancipator in the republic fought with his troops in the
war, which freed the country from the French colonizers.

In the 12 years leading up to its Jan. 1 1804 independence,
Toussaint L'Overture started the fire burning to the
declaration of a republic, when black Haitians defeated
France, Spain, England and the mulatto population. He was
later arrested and taken from Haiti by the French in 1803;
he was killed in France.<cr>




Posted: Tuesday January 13, 2004