18848: Esser: TransAfrica Forum News: Statement on Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

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

TransAfrica Forum News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBRUARY 17, 2004 6:02 PM

CONTACT:  TransAfrica Forum News
Bill Fletcher bfletcher@transafricaforum.org

 
Statement on Haiti

WASHINGTON - February 17 - In recent weeks, the Haitian crisis has
been deepening. In addition to mass protests against President
Aristide, demanding his resignation, there have been military
assaults in several cities and what appears to be a move toward
insurrection. The alleged rebels have been described in different
ways, but they appear to be the armed wing of at least a section of
the opposition. It is in light of this worsening situation that we
feel compelled to speak out clearly and broadly.

Our starting point is and has been that the people of Haiti should
determine their own destiny. For nearly 200 years, the United States
government has taken a different approach. After the success of the
Haitian Revolution, the United States imposed a policy of isolation
on the island. This policy was not only about restricting the ability
of the Haitian people to truly exercise self-determination. The
policy was also about neutralizing the influence of the Haitian
Revolution, particularly with regard to African slaves in the USA and
the rest of the Caribbean. Since 1804 the USA has done what it could
to undermine efforts at genuine independence, including through
military interventions, threats, and the support of corrupt puppet
regimes. When Haiti has attempted to stand, its legs have been cut
from under it by its arrogant northern neighbor.

President Aristide was duly elected by the Haitian people. In fact,
he was elected twice. In the most recent election there is no
credible source that questions the legitimacy of the election. There
is no credible allegation that the election was stolen or that
methods of intimidation were utilized. In fact, the cries about
electoral irregularities have focused almost entirely on several
parliamentary seats, the results of which, even if overturned, would
not have changed the balance of power in government.

Therefore, we at TransAfrica Forum hold that a duly elected leader,
irrespective of one's opinion, should be permitted to peacefully
complete his or her term of office unless one has violated the
constitution. In the case of an alleged constitutional violation, in
keeping with democratic and legal practices, formal procedures should
be pursued with regard to removing any elected leader from office.
This does not mean that protests have no place. Protests, however,
are not the same as constitutional procedures for challenging an
elected leader and removing him or her from office. We believe that
President Aristide should complete his term. At that juncture any of
the opposition forces can choose to run its own candidates for office
and articulate their own vision of the future.

We believe that there are legitimate criticisms of President
Aristide. There have been criticisms of the penetration of his
political party-Famli Lavalas-by opportunist elements from the old
regime who have utilized political power in order to run roughshod
over the rights of the people. We have been perplexed and
disheartened by the apparent inability of President Aristide to
identify and exclude such elements from his party, particularly given
the damage that they cost him. While such elements are no where near
in the majority of the party, their impact has been noted.

There have been additional criticisms of human rights abuses
allegedly carried out by the government and/or its allies, as well as
the failure of the government to fully investigate such abuses. Some
Haitian trade unionists, for example, have faced repression from the
government, a development that does not match the verbal commitment
of President Aristide to champion the rights of the dispossessed.
Such actions have apparently resulted in the alienation of many
former allies of the President.

These are all serious concerns, but as the former President of
TransAfrica Forum, Randall Robinson, has noted, the forced
resignation of President Aristide will do nothing to advance
democracy. It is more than clear that the opposition is extremely
diverse, held together by little more than their demand for President
Aristide's removal. What, then, comes next? What will be the program
for Haiti should President Aristide be forced from office? Given the
association of the so-called rebels with the old regime, are we not
on a slippery slope toward a Duvalier-ist future if President
Aristide is driven from office? In fact, given the strong support
that President Aristide continues to enjoy in much of Haiti, is not
the scenario of civil war more likely than civil peace if President
Aristide is compelled to step down due to extra-legal (if notillegal)
pressure?

In this situation the Bush administration, predictably, is playing a
less than honorable role. The multi-year restriction on the release
of badly needed loans worsened the internal situation in the Western
Hemisphere's poorest country. Now the Bush administration is implying
that it is time for President Aristide to leave, while at the same
time having Secretary of State Powell state that a coup would not be
acceptable. One gets the feeling of a good cop/bad cop scenario. None
of this should come as a surprise to us in light of world events as
well as the policy and practice of hostility by this administration
toward President Aristide since the beginning.

Haitians must solve the political crisis. It appears that at least
some elements of the Haitian opposition are less interested in
resolving the crisis than in bringing the country to the brink of
disaster. Despite repeated concessions by President Aristide,
elements of the opposition continue to raise the bar, making a
peaceful, Haitian-centered and driven resolution of the crisis
difficult, if not impossible.

Outside forces should not be interfering. There have been quite
credible allegations that the Bush administration is far too involved
in supporting the opposition. Statements by its spokespersons lend
such allegations credibility when inferences can be drawn to the
effect that the Bush administration wishes President Aristide's
departure.

Along with many other friends of Haiti our position is that the Bush
administration should not consider intervening in Haiti. No US troops
should go to Haiti. The US should, however, provide material
assistance in order to improve the basic living conditions of the
Haitian people. If Secretary of State Powell's words from February
13th are to be received as credible, then the US can assist mutually
acceptable third party mediators help to bring the government and the
opposition to a peaceful resolution of the political crisis.

The Bush administration should restrain itself from its imperial
arrogance that has so alienated countries around the world. Their
contempt for the United Nations in the dash to war with Iraq; their
support of the coup in Venezuela in April 2002, and the continuing
hostility toward President Chavez; the pressure on nations of the
world to exempt the US from the International Criminal Court, now
joined by their contemptuous attitude toward President Aristide must
be halted. It is time for the people of the USA to make this point
clear even if the administration continues to walk around with wax in
its collective ears, with eyes closed, and ranting about its version
of the world as defined by Bush. .
.