19004: radtimes: Things Fall Apart (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: radtimes <resist@best.com>

Things Fall Apart

http://tompaine.com/feature2.cfm/ID/9983

Jean Marceau Lohier is a Haitian national living in the United States.

Feb 19 2004

Before the Bush administration makes a cheap and hasty exit from Iraq, it
should look in its own backyard. In many ways, today's collapse of the
Aristide regime is linked to the Clinton administration's decision in 1994
to hustle out of Haiti.

Washington might have had good intentions when it returned Jean Bertrand
Aristide to power in October 1994, but it failed to complete the
restoration of democracy. Yes, it returned the democratically elected
Aristide to his post, but that alone did not convert Haiti to a democracy.
The United States left its task undone, and left the hope it had raised in
the Haitian people into the hands of a man hungry for power. Indeed,
Washington and others poured more than two billion dollars into greedy
hands. The money was rarely used for that for which it was intended:
building infrastructure, educating a population that is mostly illiterate,
training law enforcement officers, implementing and reinforcing democratic
institutions and reforming the judiciary system.

Washington's unwillingness to follow up and the partiality of some in the
international community have granted Aristide the freedom to take over
institutions such as the Haitian National Police and the judiciary system.
For instance, after the departure of the U.S. troops in 1995, Aristide
replaced the U.S. trained police by unqualified supporters and accused
those who disagreed with him of wrongdoing, leading to a politicized and
uncontrolled police force.

The years of abuses (and lack of safeguards) since 1994—encouraged and
perpetrated by Aristide and his cronies—have led to today's chaos. In the
past few weeks, we have seen Haiti slowly fall into what some might call an
inevitable civil war. It is reported that as of late, more than 50 people
have been killed during peaceful protests and at least 57 others since the
armed uprising initiated by former allies of Aristide on Thursday, February
5, 2004 . These former allies blame him for the killing of their gang
leader, Amiot Metayer, in September 2003, in the city of Gonaives, Haiti's
fourth largest.

Today, some parts of Haiti are controlled by Aristide's former gangs and
others by his militia supported by the Haitian National Police. This
situation is an embarrassment for Washington and the international
community who, despite evidence of longstanding human rights violations,
abuses of power, and corruption, have chosen to limit themselves to
platonic comments and refuse to take action, leaving the Haitian people to
their miserable destiny.

To those who would like to argue that Washington should let Haiti be, let
them not forget that Haiti is the poorest nation in the northwestern
hemisphere. While Washington chooses to be involved in conflicts worlds
away, must it not also care for its closest neighbor located less than 800
miles off of Florida's coast? Moreover, Washington is running the risk of
standing by while unnumbered innocent people are killed, caught between
Aristide's thugs and his former allies, and hundreds of thousands of
Haitian immigrants flee to its southern coast.

Few worse fates can befall a nation than a dictator who hides under the
umbrella of democracy. However, this cynical strategy seems to be working
in Haiti. For although the mobilization to oust Mr. Aristide is gaining
strength daily both in Haiti and abroad, the OAS continues to act as if
there is an authentic democracy in Haiti. Nothing could be further from the
truth, and the insisting call by the OAS and the CARICOM to organize
elections under the existing Haitian regime is aberrant. The present
political powers in Haiti might organize elections, but they will not be
democratic. The evidence that there will not be free elections in Haiti as
long as Mr. Aristide is in power is abundant and should be, by now,
indisputable to any fair-minded observer.

Washington needs a drastic change in its policy towards the small island
nation. While statements are being made by Washington in support of
democratic principles in Haiti, and these statements clearly acknowledge
the failure of the Haitian government to fulfill its duty to create a
climate of security and support the democratic process, the reluctance to
ask Mr. Aristide to step down needs to be overcome. Such a change would be
a first step toward the renewal of a constructive effort to rectify past
mistakes in Haiti, and clearly in the U.S. national interest. For as long
as there is turmoil, and political and economic instability in Haiti, the
United States can count on having a volatile neighbor. Washington should
not support one man to the demise of the Haitian people.

.