19465: Esser: The Haiti Boomerang (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

CounterPunch
http://www.counterpunch.org

Weekend Edition
February 28 / 29, 2004

When All is Looted & Pillaged, Your Hunger Will Remain

The Haiti Boomerang

By JG

When President Bush took to the airwaves on Wednesday of this week,
touting his Haitian counter-exodus measures, my suspicions of a
repeat of 1991s coup d'etat were confirmed. The Coast Guard is to
establish a wet line-of-defense, protecting the Cuban Shangri-La of
Miami from boatloads of greasy, AIDS infected, odiferous Haitians. A
carte blanche gifted to the water patrol units, granting cutter
vessels total amnesty from any outcry resulting from dubious
repatriation practices. The message was clear; this country will not
tolerate another influx of non-European immigrants, especially those
who defied our French brethren 200 years past.

Paraphrasing the State Department's policy vis-a-vis Les Haitiens:
Haitian refugees are not to be granted asylum of any kind because
their flight results from economic pressures versus political
oppression. This decision was put into law during the Reagan
administration only to be re-signed by President Clinton (after
having rallied on the issue of fair immigration policies, gaining
support from the Haitian community). Even if one were to starkly
ignore Haiti's riotous political history and the undeniable
reciprocity between instability and abject poverty, the above
rationale would seem at the very least laughable. One needs only to
analyze the diametrically polar legal regard for Cuban exiles to
bring on the hysterics. Above all else, the recent upheaval in Haiti
is the offspring of two feuding superpowers, the US government and
public opinion.

Au Debut

The ruling elite of the U$, since its savage conception, has
harnessed trepidation for the will and power of the masses.
Constitutional voting measures were implemented to indefinitely
postpone the rampage of the "bewildered herd" (James Madison); this
complemented by a myriad of other dealings now recognized as laws. As
astute as this despotism was, the "founding fathers" recognized
implicitly the inherent limitations to totalitarianism under the
guise of democracy; aside from the fist of governmental nuances, how
else could the power structure go about ensuring its supremacy? Not
out ruling direct intervention by para-militaristic forces, erudition
from Western European models of media-manipulation (Anglo-Franco
Industrialist Revolutions) gave way to the American propaganda model:
In simpler terms, the mode by which to bring about compliance through
the dissemination of mass-disinformation, or, the manufacturing of
consent. Assuming the aforementioned synthesis to be true, the two
world super powers are inexorably dyadic, veritable mutually
non-exclusive creatures in perpetual dialectic being.

The past decade of political affairs in Haiti provides a fantastic
backdrop to analyze this "theory" (which is in no way shape or form,
remotely mine); even more apt to conclusion is a brief glance at the
current state of terror, through the eyes of the mainstream media
body. In 1990, Haiti celebrated its first freely elected president,
Jean Bertrand Aristide. The previous 187 years of alleged
independence observed a lineage of brutal dictatorships, directly
supported by the U$, funded by and in compliance with the Haitian
Bourgeoisie. In addition to an openly racist hatred for the first
Black Independent country in this hemisphere, the U$ government &
private sector were desirous to solidify Haiti as one of many
cheap-export platforms throughout the region (long before the coining
of the term Globalization / Neo-Liberalism, the practice was in
effect). Aristide defied the coming of age to third world power. A
poor priest turned politician, who would woo the proletariat and
peasantry of the country, a romance ultimately leading to his
inauguration via an unprecedented 67% popular vote.

As with the vast majority of elections in Latin America, the
U$-elitist constituents were in full form, pursuing the
implementation of a puppet leader (under the guise of free
elections). In this case, the dove was former World Bank aficionado
Marc Bazin. The prowess of abject poverty at the time was
immeasurable (as it is now). Aristide capitalized on the hunger and
distress of the Haitian populace on a platform of quasi-socialist
rhetoric and Liberation Theology. The propaganda model failed in
1991, ensuing was the unacceptability of Third World peoples freely
electing a leader. In the view of the U$ government, President Bush
and the Haitian elite, the Negroes veered from their path, they
needed be put back in their place.

10 months following this hemispheric catastrophe, a coup d'etat
occurred. Columns of Haiti's rogue army, under the leadership of
General Raoul Cedras, mounted an offensive on the democratically
elected government of Aristide. In ironically queer resemblance to
the July 26th movement of Che and Fidel, this campaign began in the
Plateau region of Haiti; consequently the nucleus of Aristide's then
greatest constituency, MPP (National Peasant Movement of Papye). In
their descent to Port-Au-Prince, the rebels left aback a crater of
devastation, rape, murder and pillage (although the mass of killing
was yet to come). Within weeks, Aristide fled the country,
temporarily parting ways with the citizenry responsible for his
success. During these months, the Haitian Bourgeoisie was uncannily
oblivious to the tyranny of the moment. The expected denunciations
from the State Department were broadcast en masse. In response to
this miscarriage of Democracy, the U$ prepared and enacted a slew of
embargoes on the impoverished nation, ostensibly aimed at pressuring
Cedras and his tripartite cabinet to step down. These embargoes were
seen by virtually every Human Right's organization as globally
criminal, unjustifiable and incomprehensible. The effect of these
sanctions was an unequivocal dismantling of the resistance to Cedras
and his goons, whilst simultaneously bleeding the populace of their
diluted blood. This allowed Cedras to carry out a reign of Terror
comparable to the wiles of Stalin, Pinochet, Pol Pot, and Duvalier.

It was pretty obvious that these Presidential electives were
perfunctory in pursuit. President Clinton and the U$ government had
never stopped providing aid to the coup leaders and Haitian elite.
Both Bush and Clinton authorized Texaco to deliver oil to the
country, supplying the murders with fuel by which to continue a horde
of assassinations and tyranny. When the media pawns finally caught
wind of these blatant violations, congressional hearings were
scheduled, at which CIA officials vehemently denied the exportations.
The lies and deceit were profound.

In 1994, the benevolent "Big Dawg," Clinton, graced the Negroes with
his leniency, sending 20,000 Marines to "restore order" (rumor has it
that the Haitian people had perhaps learnt their lesson). Aristide
was allowed to return with the Yankee boot across his neck. The tacit
conditions on his re-implementation were oddly analogous to the
candidate who had received 14% of the 1991 vote, Marc Bazin: Harsh
Neo-Liberal polices were imposed on the nation; IMF / World Bank
dogma in quest to privatize the general public wealth of the nation.
Aristide proved unwilling to capitulate to this demagogy and was
reprimanded by a second onslaught of foreign aid related sanctions.
His incapability to deliver on many of his campaign promises were
directly correlated to this Neo-Liberal shackling. Those who
scrutinize and critique Haiti's plummet under Aristide's leadership,
would be moronically remiss in not acknowledging the extenuating
circumstances amidst a subjectively lackluster tenure.

Maintenant

If Frantz Fanon were an oligarch, he may have classified the recent
rebel uprising as a "boomerang" movement. Barring numerous
discrepancies of historical parallel, we are taking sight to a carbon
copy of what transpired in 1991.

The following are excerpts from an article in The Guardian Unlimited,
written by Paisley Dodds, 2-22-04.

Rebel commander Jean-Baptiste Joseph, formerly head of an association
of ex-soldiers from Haiti's disbanded army, declared ``It's the army
that's in charge here. It's the army that will free Haiti.''

- Curiously undemocratic rhetoric from the "liberators" ...

``We came in today and we took Cap-Haitien; tomorrow we take
Port-au-Prince,'' said Lucien Estime, 19. ``Our mission is to
liberate Haiti.''

- Yes, and so shall you hijack power and fatten the pockets of your
constituents...

Some looted the pro-Aristide Radio Africa station, and rebels shot up
the building while a crowd clapped. One man, said to be an Aristide
supporter, lay dead in the street from a bullet to the stomach. A
second man, whose allegiance was not known, was shot in the head and
killed.

- Conform an already suspect press, assassinate journalists, very
American...

``The people are happy. Finally we're free from terror,'' said Fifi
Jean, 30, unperturbed as she stood in front of the blazing police
headquarters building, where people looted everything in sight.

- When all is looted and pillaged, your hunger will remain...

La Victorie

Is it mere coincidence that the same disbanded army responsible for
1991s coup be the same perpetrators now in service? Is it similarly a
twist of fate that both the U$ government and opposition parties /
Haitian elite denounce the violent actions of this rogue squadron but
inexorably profit from their thuggery? Is it by chance the U$ has
evacuated its Embassy except key personnel? Is it happenstance the
umbrella opposition party, The Democratic Popular Group, be
spearheaded by the same wealthy families of the Democratic
Convergence (the original rivals to Aristide and the Fanmi Lavalas
and recipients to 100+ million USD via USAID)?

Without a doubt, even a casual observer can deduce that Aristide has
conducted questionable dealings in the past and present. There are
serious dilemmas pertaining to his ability to constructively govern a
Democratic society; of earsplitting concern, the tolerance of
violence against his opposition, by Lavalas supporters and or Police
units. These are evident truths. What is all the more transparent is
the assault on the automata of global citizenry by the media heads in
cohorts with the U$ powers. They, in coordination with the Haitian
elite, yearn to paint the political unrest in Haiti and the
proceedings of this rebel army, as representative of the will of the
people. Out-of-the-way of the illegal occupation of Iraq, the
world-jury has lightly ruled contrary to direct-interventionist
policies. Deploying platoons to whip the serfs into shape is an
infinitely easier task than the complex actions of 1991 & 2004. The
second world power has triumphed above the first, how fantastic!

JG is the lead Emcee for the politically leftist Hip-Hop duet, Over
The Counter Intelligence (JG & HavikenHayes), based in Fort
Lauderdale Florida. They are most recognized through their support of
various grassroots organizations throughout the country; most notably
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers -- The Taco Bell Boycott. They are
of the best known Indie-Hip Hop groups nationwide. JG has written
songs, articles and editorials specific to the oppression of the
Haitian Global Village, most importantly, the virulent immigration
statues pertaining to Haitian Refugees. He has recently recorded a
solo album entitled "Insurgent," which will be released this year via
record label. JG & Over The Counter Intelligence will be performing
at this year's Taco Bell Boycott, 3-5, Irvine, CA.

He can be reached by email: jg_1804@hotmail.com
.