19281: Esser: Go to Haiti! (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

San Francicsco Bay View
http://www.sfbayview.com

Feb. 25 2004

Go to Haiti!

‘The more we show up, the safer we can keep it,’ advises Rep. Maxine
Waters

by Wanda Sabir

Congresswoman Maxine Waters has been in public office since 1976,
first as a member of the California State Assembly, where she
eventually became majority whip, working on civil rights and women’s
issues, and helped establish the Child Abuse Prevention Training
Program, the first in the nation.

This commitment to human service continued when she became the second
Black woman in Congress in 1990, representing of the 35th District of
California, a district that includes a large part of South Central
Los Angeles.

Waters’ investment in the community began even earlier though. While
an assistant teacher in 1966, then volunteer supervisor, at Head
Start, Waters found her calling as champion for the rights of poor
people, especially children. When I asked this fifth child of 13
children where her strength came from, she pointed to her mother, who
raised her family single-handedly in the segregated Southern town of
St. Louis, Missouri.

“My mother told us we could accomplish things - do things - no matter
how poor we were. You get up every morning, you work hard, you give
it your best. That’s what I tried to do.”

Waters believed her mother when her first job, at 13, was in a
segregated restaurant. She continued to have faith when she moved to
LA in 1961 with her husband and two children, her first jobs in a
garment factory, telephone company, then Head Start. She continued to
practice this philosophy when she entered Cal State University Los
Angeles and, in 1970, got her bachelor of arts degree in sociology.

“I have a philosophy of life. It is one that teaches me to respect
others, to do unto others as you would have them do unto you, and the
business of the rich and the powerful taking advantage of the poor
and suffering cannot stand. I’m always on the side of poor people and
the ‘least of these.’ That’s kind of what my life has been about. I
see too much in our society of the very, very powerful (rich) having
all the advantages gained on the backs of the poor people,” Waters
said in an interview Wednesday.

“Haiti is a classic example of it. I am driven simply by my beliefs
that it is not right and that every human being deserves to realize
his or her potential. To the degree that those who are more
advantaged block those kind of opportunities, the more we have to
fight them.”

As Waters and I spoke, each of us was on edge, not knowing if when we
finished speaking what the news on Haiti would bring. A staunch
supporter of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s right to an office he
was democratically elected to in December 1990, then overthrown in
September 1991 after serving just nine months of his term.

Waters was arrested in front of the White House about 10 years ago
when she protested the treatment of Haitian refugees in Florida and
argued for “the restoration of democracy in Haiti,” which occurred in
October 1994. Elected again to office in 2000, taking office Feb. 7,
2001, Aristide’s term is once again challenged.

Also, once again Congresswoman Waters is the lone voice of reason in
a U.S. government that seems bent on facilitating a coup d’état.
Waters stressed the importance of not letting Haiti become isolated.

Those who are able to should go to Haiti, she said, and everyone
should bombard Secretary of State Colin Powell with faxes, letters
and emails stating: “Help Haiti. Help Haiti now! Strengthen the
Haitian police force and stop the rebels from taking over. Stop the
coup d’état! It’s in your power to do that.”

“Colin Powell, in the final analysis, is the person who really
determines the final policy about Haiti. I want him to get Roger F.
Noriega, assistant secretary of state, out the way and truly take
charge and do what needs to be done. I think that we need to try to
keep focused, even though he is busy with Iraq, Afghanistan - but
this is too close to home to ignore.”

Wanda Sabir: When you look at the history of the first Black
democracy in the Western Hemisphere, do you see any parallels between
the U.S. diplomatic relationships then and now?

Maxine Waters: “Unfortunately, Haiti has always been a stepchild. It
has always been a country that has been considered something less
than a sovereign nation by the United States. Even after occupation,
we’ve had ex-CIA agents and conservative members of Congress and
business interests outside of Haiti all determining the public policy
of Haiti and seeing Haiti as a nation to be exploited or to have
people make money off of, but never the respect of a sovereign
country whose constitution should be respected. It’s unfortunate, but
that has been the history.”

WS: Haiti was France’s richest colony, yet when the average American
citizen thinks about Haiti they see or think abject poverty, or a
confused political state. What is it about a Black democracy that
terrorizes this nation so much that it sends money clandestinely to
people and organizations to undermine this democracy? I’m speaking of
all the ones you’ve named - Andy Apaid Jr. and Evans Paul, leaders of
the Group of 184, etc.

MW: “Yes, absolutely, the fact of the matter is Haiti had the
audacity to free itself from slavery and from France. This little
country not only fought France, they won. I don’t think they’ve ever
been really forgiven for the audacity to sound the bell of freedom in
this Western Hemisphere.

“After all, they were sending signals to other slaves (such as
Gabriel Posser in Richmond, Virginia) that we should be revolting
also. I think that it (Haiti) is very African and has never been
accepted. (Because of this), Haiti’s seen as something that needed to
be contained, not to be able to rule itself.

“It’s all right to have dictators that can be controlled from the
United States, but never to have a presence and a government that was
making its own decisions.”

WS: I was wondering, if African people in the United States, a
country African Haitians like Dessalines helped free from British
rule, looked to Haiti the way Jews look to Israel, as our country,
and challenged all politicians who dared undermine this in the polls
as a strategy – for example, we challenge George Bush and Colin
Powell - do you think that might give Bush and Co. pause?

MW: “To tell you the truth, if we were ever unified in defense of
Haiti, and we were armed – if people were armed with the information
of this history to argue the case and to watch the (U.S.) government
and challenge the government, then we could win.

“But unfortunately, we have not paid enough attention to Haiti, and
we have oftentimes believed what the press is writing about Haiti.
And again, instead of us rallying around Haiti, too many of us are
suspicious or don’t feel that we have the responsibility to help
protect Haiti and their sovereignty. We have not employed a strategy,
yet we could if we really, really worked at it.”

WS: In light of that, since writing your directive on Feb. 11, what
would you like to see happen in Haiti now?

MW: “I’m very worried about Haiti. The thugs have taken over and have
been joined by the old military Front for the Advancement and
Progress of Haiti organization that has been exiled from Haiti. And I
have understood as of today, Emmanuel Toto Constant (founder of
FRAPH), who was discovered on the CIA payroll and responsible for the
deaths of so many Haitians, who was exiled in New York, may be back
in Haiti as of today with some of the old military officers. (This)
seems (to them) like an opportunity to get back in there and to
exercise some power and control in Haiti.

“I want the United Nations to pay more attention. I (also) want our
own government and State Department that’s supposed to be working
with France and Canada to give the Haiti police some assistance. They
need equipment and supplies. They need to be able to stop the
violence that is going on in Haiti. They are ill-equipped in a
country of 8 million people now with less than 4,000 police officers.
It’s very difficult for them to stay strong in the face of this
onslaught of people who appear to be well-armed. Haiti needs some
assistance right away, right now.

“It’s a crisis, and I think, once more, that assistance is being held
up, particularly by Mr. Roger F. Noriega, assistant secretary of
state, who’s always been an enemy of Haiti. He’s a former chief of
staff to conservative Sen. Jesse Helms. They’ve always worked against
Haiti, and now he’s over the Haiti policy in the State Department.

I was told he was asked to be put there by Jeb Bush (Florida’s
governor, and the president’s brother). We’re working against a lot
of odds here, but I call on the United States to do the right thing.
I would call on the United Nations. The other countries, Canada and
France, who have interests in Haiti, I would call on them to provide
President Aristide and this government with the assistance to put
down violence and to stop these ex-military officers and the thugs
who’ve taken over Gonaïves and other places. And then I’d ask the
World Bank to come in and the United States to lift the embargo
against Haiti and provide resources to strengthen the infrastructure.
Clean up the water and help Haiti get on its feet.”

WS: A lot of the Haitians are young in age. The majority of the
population is under 40, which means there are a lot of children
there. I was wondering what it looks like on the ground? Are people
afraid? Should we expect more people to try to make that dangerous
journey to the United States in unstable sailing vessels?

Given your background in early childhood education, this must be
painful to watch, particularly with your work around child
exploitation. The Haitian corporations have children working in
factories illegally, while others have children employed as
indentured servants.

MW: “They are absolutely true. In Port-au-Prince when I left, people
were going about their business selling their goods and wares,
children were going to school – Haitians are hard working people. As
the violence gets closer to Port-au-Prince, there will be greater
disruption. Up in Gonaïves, which is 70 miles away (there have been
attacks). The last attack was on a city which is just 45 miles away.
I understand that they are threatening to come into Port-au-Prince.
The police force is not strong, and they have been killing police
officers, so the police officers are getting very concerned about
their ability to just protect themselves.

“This is, like you said, a situation where children will suffer more
than anybody else. Already the children do suffer in many of the
areas where there’s not safe drinking water. Children die from
dysentery and diarrhea. Sometimes that cannot get clean drinking
water for days, so they’re drinking ‘do-do’ water. That’s so sad,
because I tell you, any time a country, whether it’s our country or
any other country, that can run an embargo against a country as poor
as Haiti and not supply drinking water, then that says something
about how you really feel about the country. You really don’t care.

“Haiti has riches. It’s a beautiful country. You go up in the
hillsides and you look out and it has a lot to offer. If only it
could get the support from the international community to strengthen
that infrastructure and its institutions, then Haiti could be all
right. It cannot be seen as a place to exploit.”

WS: Would you say that this is a class struggle between the educated
against the peasantry?

MW: “Well, it’s clear that the so-called bourgeois in Haiti have
always had great advantage. These are some of the business people
whose (ethnicity is) a mixture of French and African, who see
themselves as better than the average Haitian. They are in control of
the economics of Haiti. They own the newspapers and the television.

“Everything that comes into Haiti, they own it and they sell it, and
they keep their foot on the people’s backs. At the factories, they
work (employees) for no money.

“One thing about Aristide they don’t like is that they forced them to
increase the pay. He (also) stopped the practice of indentured
servitude, where these young girls are given to families that work
them from sun up to sun down, just in exchange for a place to sleep
and food.

“I’m proud that he’s expanded the number of schools from 38 for many
years to like 138 now. You see more and more children going to school.

“Haiti is in trouble, and the United States has to take some
responsibility for that. I’m very anxious this evening about Haiti’s
future and whether or not I’ll wake up in the morning and something
bad would have happened.”

WS: Yes, it’s really escalating isn’t it? From moment to moment as we
speak. It’s so amazing on the 200 anniversary all this bad stuff is
happening at historic places like Gonaïves where the revolution
started.

I spoke to Congresswoman Barbara Lee at an event for president
emeritus of the National Council of Negro Women, Dorothy Height,
Ph.D. Rep. Lee said that she was scheduled to go to Haiti and was
told by the State Department that she couldn’t go because it wasn’t
safe, so she didn’t go.

Yet, you keep going anyway. I was wondering if you feel like voodoo
priest and priestess, Boukman and Cecil Fatiman, when they decided to
take what was rightfully theirs - freedom? You keep Haiti in the
forefront of the policies of this government, almost singularly.

MW: “I am not afraid, even though it’s a scary situation for most.
When I was there for the bicentennial, I got into the helicopter and
went up to Gonaïves with the president, whose life was being
threatened. But I think the more we stand with him, the more we
strengthen him, and the more we back them (the bad guys) off.

“I won’t let the State Department tell me not to go to Haiti. I think
they’re trying to keep people out of Haiti because they’re trying to
isolate Haiti and Aristide, and so I defy that. I’ve been twice. I
went up on the first and I just got back last Tuesday (Feb. 3),
again. And I’m going back again.

“I think it’s very important for people to understand that it’s safe
in Port-au-Prince. The airlines still fly there. The transport from
the airport to the hotel is fine. Walking on the street during the
day - and I went between my hotel and the palace - was fine.

“I think that the more we show up, the safer we can keep it. It’s
only when it gets isolated and people are not coming in that I think
some of them would dare to get more confrontational.”

WS: What do you think of the Caribbean Community and Common Market?
And does Aristide agree with the plan, or has his hand been forced?
Is Cuba a part of that organization, and if not, are they an ally.

MW: “Yes, Cuba is certainly an ally. The CARICOM proposal that has
been accepted by everybody - not that it is the best proposal. There
are some things in it that I have a few problems with, but we decided
to put aside our points of difference so that we could get everybody
to the table.

“The United States agreed to go to the table, France, Canada, all the
CARICOM nations, everyone except the so-called opposition led by
Apaid. The president has accepted that as the basis for coming to the
table, so it has served as a vehicle to give people something to
rally around. I think we could have worked out some of the kinks with
it, but the opposition refuses to play.”

“You’re absolutely right,” Congresswoman Waters said in response to
my query, “they don’t want Haitians showing up on the shores of
Florida. But it this keeps up, they’re going to be in boats and any
kind of vehicle that they can put together to try to get out of there
and get to Florida. That’s another whole problem.”

Email Wanda at wsab1@aol.com.
.