20059: Pakapala: Political situation is beyond Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Pakapala@aol.com

Beyond partisan politics

What happened yesterday was another manifestation of how sick Haitian society
is.   One does not need to take a pro or con Aristide position to realize
that a society where only power is important cannot survive as such.
Unfortunately most news reports and analysis around the world ignore the groundswell of
transformation that has overtaken many Haitians in Haiti.   What is going on
in Haiti today is very complicated and can only be understood when one is in
Haiti and in touch with many different groups.   Haitians are good students and
have taken the issue of democracy to a level beyond what is called democracy
in the US.   Haitians in Haiti refuse to equate democracy with elections, the
way that the US government had previously defined it.   Aristide’s elections
and the parliamentary election that preceeded were never accepted by the
majority.   The year 2001 with the re-instatement of the Aristide government was a
year of great depression in Haiti.   The ballots on the street the morning
after the parlamentary elections were like wounds in the heart of the Haitian
people. Yet, most people would have preferred peace to what the Lavalas government
had in store for Haiti.
 Many non-haitians on this list do not realize the depth of the movement that
has overtaken the country in the last year.   Only in the letter from the
women’a group cannot you truly get an idea about that movement.   A simple
analysis by social class, skin color shade, income and assets, or job category no
longer holds.   The people of Haiti were seriously wounded by Lavalas.
Remember that Aristide went on the radio and advertised Cooperatives as the banks of
the people.   Cooperatives took in deposits for more than a year from Haitians
of all walks of life.   Very few were willing to say “no thanks” as the
cooperatives promised returns of 12% a month on investments.   Then the
cooperatives disappeared with everyone’s savings.   The rumor is that Aristide took the
money and proved that he did it by promising to give it back.   At the same
time fear of crime in the cities became a national phobia: from the Machann who
had to get out of her house to go buy goods a 4 in the morning to resell
later, to the fancy businessmen trying to get to the airport from his factory. Even
people who stayed home were in danger: the elderly, nuns, children, lack of
respect has no boundaries for Lavalas-approved criminals.    Everyone was
subject to attack, from the richest to the poorest, from dawn to the next dawn, it
really never mattered where and when, crime could happen anywhere and anytime
around Port-au-Prince.  Home invasion for robbery often included rapes.
Members of the Lavalas government were deeply involved in crimes.   Many
kidnappings against wealthier Haitians were resolved with involvement   government
people.   In addition several kidnappings occurred after an individual sold
something to the government.   Thugs in police cars would kidnap the person and
demand the exact amount that he person had just received in a sale to the
government.
Haitians had to find a way to function.   Those who could left the country
(Canada started giving immigrant visas to any high school educated young family
with ten thousand dollars in savings who could prove that they were employable
. Canada offered resident visas to 35 thousand educated people a year , a
very large number for Haiti).   Others organized small survival circles either as
families or as neighborhoods.   People needed to mind their own business but
really find ways to support each other for safety.   But the state continued
to torture the population.   The inconsistencies in the delivery of water and
electricity is part of the dictatorial posture of the government.   The
harassment by Chimere in all government offices made taking care of official business
disgusting.   The unexpected traffic jams created by the police”checking
papers” are another form of disrespect.
Most people in the greater Port-au-Prince middle class were disgusted with
the life that the Lavalas government was offering.   Most people are ready for
progress and for true democracy.   They will not be fooled by the remodeling of
public parks and the empowerment of young delinquents .
Aristide learned most of his lessons from Duvalier and no one has ever called
Duvalier a democrat.   Duvalier created   the makout as parallel powers to
the military to make sure that he a a line of defense.   Aristide created the
chimeres as a parallel force to the police.   Both Duvalier and Aristide talked
softly and used others to perform their dirty work.   Both came with support
of the poorest but were so insecure in their position that they did not even
have the time to think about real investments to help the poor.

Those people who are hooked on the manner by which Aristide left Haiti have
got it all wrong.   Whether he was kidnapped or not, he failed.   He no longer
represents the Haitian people.   He only represented the contractors making
money in the parks rennovations and the wild boys of Port-au-Prince.   The
Haitian people has changed.  We are not zombies anymore.   We have not only tasted
the salt of democracy but we have decided that we will pursue the salt of
democracy at any cost.   Throwing sugar at us to blind us will no longer work.
Those who are hooked on the process, the five year thing really do not
understand Haiti.   The movement that has taken hold now will not stop.   It will
encounter and it has encountered many obstacles.   The international intervention
and the temporary return of the army criminals is just one of many.   We live
on an island, there is nowhere to go.   Canada will not take us all, we have
to fix our home.