20069: Dupuy: Haiti, After the Storm

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: alex dupuy <adupuy@wesleyan.edu>

Perspective/Op-Ed


Haiti, after the storm

Getting it right this time

Sunday, March 07, 2004

BY ALEX DUPUY

Once again, Haiti's streets are being patrolled by a multinational force
authorized by the United Nations. The last time that happened, in October
1994, the troops, led by the United States, came to return President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide to office and give walking papers to the military
junta that had toppled him in 1991. This time, the situation is grimmer and
the future more uncertain.

The peacekeepers are there to support an interim president and an
as-yet-unformed government of "wise men" after an armed insurgency
forced Aristide from office yet again. Behind the insurgency were former
members of the Haitian Armed Forces and the affiliated death squad
called the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti.

This time, however, the insurgents were aided by France and the United
States. Both countries, fed up with Aristide, allowed the opposition
coalition to spurn a plan proposed by the leaders of the Caribbean
Community Secretariat that might have resolved the crisis peacefully.
What's more, France and the United States blamed Aristide for the crisis,
called on him to resign and refused to deploy peacekeeping forces until a
political settlement was reached. As the insurgents advanced toward
Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, the United States made it clear to Aristide
that he was on his own, giving him the implicit choice of being killed or
resigning and leaving the country. Last Sunday, Aristide began a balky
exile in Africa.

U.S. and French support for his departure raises serious questions.
Certainly, removing Aristide in this way seriously undermines the Santiago
Declaration of 1991, which committed the nations of the Organization of
American States to supporting democracy and opposing the violent
overthrow of elected governments. Establishing democracy in Haiti was
never going to be easy, but Aristide's overthrow -- and the lack of support
for him along the way -- sets the cause back considerably.

Moreover, Aristide's departure solves nothing. A struggle is now under way
to determine the composition of the interim government that will stay in
power until parliamentary and presidential elections are held. And
whatever the outcome, the majority of Haitians cannot trust that the
government will make their interests its priority.

This is because Haiti, with a population of almost 8 million, is a deeply
polarized society. One percent of the population appropriates more than
half the national income, and four percent control more than 66 percent of
total assets. Seventy percent live below the poverty line. The members of
the interim government will undoubtedly be drawn from the tiny elite that
has historically disdained the masses and supported dictatorial regimes
that safeguarded the interests of the upper crust.

It is clear that Aristide himself did not defend the interests of the
impoverished majority whose cause he professed to champion. In his
second term, Aristide ruled autocratically and continued the long-standing
practice of using state power as a means of personal enrichment. He
tolerated widespread government corruption, drug trafficking and violence
against his opponents. Other than a wish list presented at his inaugural
address in February 2001, he failed to articulate coherent policies to
address the plight of his people.

The Democratic Platform, a coalition of opposition parties and civilian
groups, will do no better. Its leaders come from the traditional political and
economic elite and have been united only by their hatred of Aristide.
Though they point to his autocratic rule as justification, the unstated
reason is that Aristide dared to raise, if only rhetorically, the vexing issue
of social inequalities and the place of the poor at the negotiating table.

The opposition leaders have few constructive ideas and have never
articulated a program that distinguished them from the now-exiled leader.
They also view politics as a zero-sum game: The winners, and the class
factions that support them, get the spoils of office. More alarming still is
their embrace of the armed rebels, many of whom are responsible for
some of the worst human-rights abuses. Interim President Boniface
Alexander even referred to some of these rebels as "patriotic men of
honor." And some prominent members of the opposition joined the rebels
in calling for the return of the corrupt and repressive Haitian army that
Aristide disbanded in 1995.

Neither can the majority of Haitians expect the international community to
promote their interests. Foreign aid donors have historically been allied
with the Haitian elite who, with rare exceptions, have blindly followed their
policies, leading to devastating economic consequences and widening the
gap between the wealthy majority and the impoverished minority.

That is not to say that the international community cannot play a
constructive role now. The United Nations and the Organization for
American States, for example, can provide invaluable assistance
rebuilding the security and other institutions that support the rule of law
and protect Haitian human rights. And the greatest contribution the
international community can make to Haiti is a commitment to respect
the will and agenda of the majority when they are expressed
democratically, rather than undermining the country when it's deemed that
the democratic will is inimical to international economic and political
interests.

For their part, Haitians who wish for a different, democratic and more just
country need to reject the culture of violence, respect the rule of law,
break with the tradition of "one-manism" and realize that only they, not
false messiahs, can and must articulate and defend their interests.

Alex Dupuy is Professor of Sociology at Wesleyan University in
Connecticut. His most recent book is "Haiti in the New World Order: The
Limits of the Democratic Revolution."


    Copyright 2004 The Star-Ledger. Used by NJ.com with permission.


__________

Alex Dupuy
Professor of Sociology
Wesleyan University
Middletown, CT 06459
860-685-2952
Fax: 860-685-2781