19114: Hyppolite Pierre Re: Aristide's demise (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Hyppolite Pierre <hpierre@irsp.org>

I know. It's impossible for me to become a "fashionable" Haitian, asking for
the removal of Aristide as a way to resolve all the obvious and
heart-wrenching ills of Haiti. Perhaps it is because I am not an
intellectual. I try to find my guidance though, through historical analyses.
That's perhaps where my "problem" resides. I am in that sense, a die-hard
skeptic.

In any case, the rush right now, as always, is for Power. The adrenaline in
many of us is up high, some waiting for the right moment to have the Pol
Pot's of Haiti return to power in military camouflage. Meanwhile Pierre
Jean, who seems to have been an honest and frustrated insider of the régime,
is deconstructing for us all on this list, a system of corruption almost
completely modeled after that of former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. It
may be hard to believe but it is true. He should be applauded for his work
and honesty.

Nevertheless, what we have now are a mélange of former FRAPH members and the
still defunct military, returning and going house to house in Cap-Haïtien
and other parts of the country, searching for loyalists of the current
régime, probably to kill them. What have also been noted are the credible
reports of Lavalas supporters having committed equally appalling exactions
if not worse, in St-Marc after they had "reconquered" that territory. All
that while, the official opposition in Port-au-Prince is refusing to agree
to anything short of Aristide resigning. Some call it intransigence; I call
it predictable. That's what they had always wanted all along. Eversince 1997
they've had one goal: the complete eradication of the Lavalas movement from
the political scene. If the military front can come and finish-off what's
left of a "once-before-but-now-utterly-spoiled", formidable Lavalas machine,
than so be it. They might finally get their wishes. Once again, that will
satisfy their collective and individual ego, as Haitian politics is an
excercise in extreme machismo. It's history, my friends; Haitian history for
you...

As Aristide's days in power (and perhaps even life) seem numbered, there is
this tragic reality of Haiti that we will all Haitians, have to reckon with.
It's not just tragic and/or sad; it is also appalling. Whether Aristide
finishes his term as a figurehead, or not, it is interesting to note one
more thing about Haiti that we have not even began to discuss: the failure
of the middle ground.

There is indeed an implosion occurring, as no one can establish a democratic
régime based on the same old concepts of governance in Haiti. It's a country
that had mostly been run as a dictatorship and therefore, establishing a
democracy requires first and foremost an aggressive but yet, incremental
process of eradicating the old structures, and the creation of new and
democratic ones. Aside from quick references to such ideas, these issues had
never been thoroughly discussed by this soon-to-be-in-power official
opposition. So my question would be: how are they going to govern?

There is a need for viable and truly democratic parties in Haiti, to
eventually become part of the very institutions of Haiti. Despite the fact
that the opposition had survived all these years, more likely than not
because they had financial support from abroad, they had never tried to or
succeeded at [not a single one of those political parties] creating a
national structure with strong ideological basis. So the question is again:
how long will it take for them to do so, when they get to power?

My next and final question would be, whether they believe that Guy Philippe,
Chamblain and the likes will authorize them to do so?

The failure of the State since the fall of Duvalier in 1986, is not simply
because we don't have intelligence in the country or abroad. We have plenty
of those, indeed. Rather, it is because we've always stayed on the political
fringe, the extremes, ignoring therefore the important issues that need to
be tackled on, like trying to figure out the root causes of our collective
problems above the simplistic demonization of individual leaders.

There has always been a rush in our politics. The rush to destroy all
remnants of the Duvalier régime; the rush to destroy the adversary when and
if we disagree with him. Therefore, instead of developing an adversarial
system, we've developed an inimical political system, clearly incompatible
with true democracy. No one wants for once to sit and think of viable
alternatives to seemingly easy solutions.

Perhaps the worst of it all, is with the obvious fact that we have not given
ourselves the opportunity to listen to different voices that suggest
moderation, rather than Revolution, our interminable collective disease.

The truth is that right now, as things are progressing or regressing in
Haiti, there is this political vacuum that is being filled unfortunately, by
remnants of a once-despised old régime which has now suddenly become
acceptable to the political class: "So long as we push Aristide out, it's
okay to do it". It's the credit card formula of "buy now, and pay later".

Had there been non-intransigent political parties, all that time, that were
offering viable alternatives to the Aristide II cronyism and so obvious
incompetence, former FRAPH goons would not be so threatening to the future
prospect of a democratic Haiti. The prospect would have been much brighter.
Lavalas would have lost squarely any election, outright. Perhaps even more
importantly, had the so-called independent media in Haiti focused on issues
rather than Aristide first, there could have been air time and newspaper
space for qualified individuals adding their two cents to the debate of a
modern and democratic Haiti.

Serious debates and discussions never make the news in Haiti, after all.
It's easier to vilify, voye monte as we say it. So those who can or could
participate in such debates, prefer silence to depressing accusations of
being "secret Lavalas lobbyists". But as I see it right now, there is very
little hope. It's all about "scoring".

More people will probably die. The official opposition will probably keep on
dragging its feet, until the Front can and does make it to Port-au-Prince,
finally filling up the vacuum for those timid, yet most qualified to help
this country move forward: the non-intransigent few. This is indeed, quite
an ugly prospect. I can only say this at this point: "Alea jacta est". And
still,

Best regards,
Hyppolite Pierre
IRSP
http://www.irsp.org