18073: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Aristide, the opposition must call for a truce (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Thu, Jan. 22, 2004

HAITI
Aristide, the opposition must call for a truce
BY MARIFELI PEREZ-STABLE
marifeli.perez_stable@fiu.edu

Haiti is at the heart of the Americas. In 1789 in St. Domingue, 500,000
slaves produced vast wealth in sugar, coffee and indigo, making French
Hispaniola the world's premier colony. Europe, Africa and the New World were
joined there as nowhere else, and only there did slaves gain freedom by
their own hands. On Jan. 1, 1804, Haiti became the second American republic.
This past New Year's Day, Haitians marked the bicentennial with little to
celebrate except the steadfast valor of their founders.

Since 2000, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the opposition have been
locked in combat over that year's parliamentary elections. Fanmi Lavalas,
the ruling party, manipulated the results that already favored its
candidates to gain an even stronger majority. The opposition seeks nothing
less than Aristide's resignation, and Aristide is standing fast to serve out
his term, which ends in 2006. Violence has recently claimed two dozen lives.

The economy is in direr straits than ever. Except for emergency humanitarian
relief, all international aid has stopped; 80 percent of the population
lives amid worsening poverty, nearly half eats less than the daily minimum,
most do not have access to clean water; and the diaspora's $800 million in
yearly remittances and the lucrative transport of 15 percent of the cocaine
entering the United States are the only assured sources of foreign exchange.

Hailed as a Haitian Nelson Mandela, Aristide drew overwhelming support among
the poor when first elected in 1990. Rays of hope emanated from the
then-priest turned politician who promised his compatriots that Haiti
finally would become the ''empire of liberty'' sought by their ancestors.
While still retaining favor among the poor, Aristide no longer commands the
same allegiance. Opposition now flows from all quarters, albeit still more
strongly from the middle class.

Though both sides are to blame for the dangerous impasse, Aristide bears the
greater share. It was he, after all, who inspired trust among impoverished
Haitians, and it is he who has failed to bolster the fledgling institutions
of Haitian democracy. He has shown greater zeal for grabbing power than for
alleviating the abject living conditions of his fellow citizens. How else to
explain the crass manipulation of the already favorable election results in
2000 that he knew would endanger the international aid that Haiti needs?

The opposition's demands are reasonable: Disband the armed gangs that do the
government's rough bidding, reform the police, end impunity and hold
internationally supervised elections. What is unreasonable is the
intransigent demand for Aristide's immediate resignation. Why not call his
bluff -- if that's what it is -- on the recent offer to hold new elections
within six months? Though stronger and more broadly based, the opposition
doesn't seem poised to displace Aristide via mass demonstrations any time
soon.

The situation requires urgent action by all concerned. Mediation has been
offered by the Organization of American States, the Caribbean Community, the
Haitian Catholic Bishops' Conference and possibly Mexico. France has created
a commission to improve relations with Haiti, which should include an offer
to deal with the $21.7 billion in today's money that France exacted as
reparations after independence. Washington is engaged elsewhere but needs to
focus a bit on Haiti.

Without a brake, the crisis will spin further out of control. A new wave of
refugees and even greater passage of drugs to the U.S. mainland are certain
to follow. Famine would not be far behind. Escalating factional violence
would likely prompt a peacekeeping intervention. Haitian and international
actors should feel compelled to embrace nation-building in earnest before it
is irretrievably late.

The first step away from the abyss is for Aristide and the opposition to
call a truce so that international mediation can come into play. If Aristide
and his opponents do not muster the requisite political will, then he will
have become a Caribbean Robert Mugabe and Haiti, Zimbabwe. Then all without
exception would be the losers.

Marifeli Pérez-Stable teaches at Florida International University.

_________________________________________________________________
Scope out the new MSN Plus Internet Software — optimizes dial-up to the max!
   http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-us&page=byoa/plus&ST=1