19317: Simidor: Just leave! (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Simidor <karioka9@mail.arczip.com>

I wrote an open letter to Mr. Aristide over a year ago, calling on him to resign “in order to spare Haiti an unnecessary blood bath,” and also “to spare the country the evil of another US occupation.”  Said letter was posted on this list and was later published with my permission in the weekly Haiti-Observateur.  It predicted with fair accuracy what has happened since.  The writing, as I said then, was already on the wall.

The president, needless to say, did not comply.  Back then Mr. Aristide tried to hide his own obsession with power behind a Constitution he had already shredded to pieces.  Then as now, Ira Kurzban didn’t want Aristide to leave because he didn’t want to lose his retainer.  Then as now, the Lavalas apologists tried to argue there was no one to replace him, as if the country needed another savior to replace Mr. Aristide’s sorry ass.

Today, a year later, what has Aristide’s government accomplished to justify the destruction, the suffering and the deaths caused by his decision to stay?

Now, the emperor has lost his long sleeves.  Soon he will have no clothes.  Wasn’t it predictable though (in the Marxist sense) that the tragedy of Aristide’s first exile in 1991 would some day repeat itself as a bloody farce?  The usual diplomatic channels had predicted that Aristide would resign last night.  Instead here he was on CNN, on what one hopes will be his last public shuffle, trying to entice George W. to lend a few troops to save his worthless hide.  Come now, Titid, you ain’t so cute to be selling tricks on TV.  You’d better leave now or the bogeyman will come and get you.

Some people will tell you I don’t like Titid.  The fact remains I tried to save his skin once.  But the truth is, I don’t worry much about his safety.  He will make his unglorious exit some time soon, leaving Port-au-Prince to burn and the unfortunate Chimères to pay for his sins.  I wouldn’t write to Aristide today, but with our moderator’s permission, I should like to attach my original letter to him here – as we, Haitians, are fond of saying, “pour l’histoire!”

Daniel Simidor

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

A Plea to President Aristide

I called on this forum last week for President Aristide to resign, in order to spare Haiti an unnecessary blood bath.  This past Thursday (Thanksgiving), he gave his answer to the nation and to the world: he will not leave.  Today, I call again on the president to resign -- the sooner, the better -- this time not only to avoid a blood bath, but also to spare the country the evil of another US occupation.  If Mr. Aristide, or his wife, or some "significant other," happens to be lurking on this list, I beg him, I beg them, to please consider the following:

1.  An early resignation will allow you to retain your dignity and your possessions, and will spare much agony to the country.  This is the lesson from Lascahobas and from Gonaives this week.  Some of your squad leaders are no doubt pressuring you not to abandon them.  Still, this is probably their best chance of coming out alive.  An early and organized retreat will provide enough time to the most exposed to find their way to the border, or to use the privilege of their "green card," for those who have one, to return to the US or to Canada.

2.  You were once fond of saying: "I'd rather lose with the people than win without them."  Your chance to win with the people is now past.  Too many mistakes, too little time; too much corruption and waste!  And now the writing is on the wall.  Now is the time to accept an honorable defeat and to beg the people for forgiveness.  For, you cannot sanely consider winning without them -- with just a few hundred chimères and a weak stronghold in La Saline and Cité Soleil.

3.  History will not forget, nor will the people ever forgive you, if you should cause the United States to invade Haiti, not once, but twice, during your presidency.  If you stay on too long, if you allow the situation to deteriorate into a bloody civil confrontation, you will give George Bush the excuse he needs for a US/OAS/Dominican intervention.  Bush and his war party in Washington cannot wait to declare Haiti a "failed state," so that imperialism can have the last laugh, 200 years after Haiti's independence.  Save Dessalines, save Capois-la-Mort, save your own children this ultimate humiliation.

4.  And what do you think will happen to you if the US should invade again?  Do you think they will rent Tabarre from you, like they rented Cedras' mansion eight years ago?  Do you think that the American mercenaries who now protect you will also keep you safe from their country's forces?  Do you think Washington will send a courtesy plane for your last minute exit, as they did for Baby Doc in 1986?  Or is it more likely that they will kill you, because your death will put all the chimères instantly on the run?  And if they do not kill you, do you not fear that they will indict you for running drugs, as they did with Noriega a decade ago?

5.  It is not true, Mr. President, that there is no alternative, or that there will be a power vacuum if you were to leave "too" early.  A transitional and representative government, one that includes a representation from your own party, can be formed very easily and without trauma.  Bush and his war party don't want a bloodless outcome to this crisis, because it would deprive them of the pretext they need for another July 28, 1915.  The clock is ticking, but you can still take the higher road.

Sincerely,
Daniel Simidor
Brooklyn
3 December 2002