20572: Esser: Condi Rice, In a Sense, Makes a Fool of Herself (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. E s s e r <torx@joimail.com>

Dissident Voice
http:// www.dissidentvoice.org

March 18, 2004

Condi Rice, In a Sense, Makes a Fool of Herself
by Justin Felux

When asked about the overthrow of Haiti's Aristide government in a
television interview, Condoleezza Rice lent credibility to Hugo
Chavez's claim that she is an illiterate by saying, "We believe that
President Aristide, in a sense, forfeited his ability to lead his
people, because he did not govern democratically."  She later said,
"Haiti is moving forward.  There's a new president.  There is a new
prime minister.  There is a new chief of police. There's an Eminent
Persons Council that is trying to guide that process."  So let me get
this straight:  becoming president by winning an overwhelming
majority of the vote in free and fair elections is not democratic,
but being arbitrarily appointed by a council of "eminent persons" is?

Let's step through the process by which this new puppet government
has been created.  First, the "Council of Wise Men" was to be named
by 3 representatives, one from Lavalas, one from the opposition, and
one from the "international community."  This arrangement is already
grossly anti-democratic.  The "international community" is a warm and
fuzzy code phrase which actually means "the powerful countries in the
world."  In this case, the United States and France.  Given the fact
that the U.S. and France have always been on the side of Haiti's
wealthy elite, one can expect the opposition and the "international
community" to vote together, giving them a 2 to 1 advantage over
Lavalas.

Aristide's opposition has never had the support of more than 6-15% of
the population, yet they are effectively given 66% of the influence
over the political process under these circumstances.  This means
that right at the outset, the Lavalas movement had been all but shut
out from the formation of the new government.  Lavalas is the most
popular political organization in Haitian history.  It represents the
poorer, blacker masses of Haitian society.  Apparently, the U.S. sees
no reason to allow those folks any meaningful say in how they are to
be governed.

These representatives then went on to pick a seven member "Council of
Wise Men" to form the new government of Haiti.  The obvious
implication of having a "Council of Wise Men" creating the new
government would be that the Haitian people are not "wise" enough to
choose their own leaders, which is the obvious sentiment of
Washington.  Every time they are given the opportunity, Haitians seem
to pick someone who represents their interests rather than the
interests of multinational corporations and international financial
institutions.  That all looks like it's about to change, however,
under this new government.  The "Council of Wise Men" picked Gerard
Latortue as the new prime minister.  Latortue is a neoliberal
economist and former Haitian official who has been living in Florida
since the late 1980s.  He will undoubtedly carry out the IMF reforms
that Aristide resisted, despite the fact that they will further
eviscerate the Haitian economy.  Haiti's economy has already been
undermined by low-priced imports, odious debt, the withholding of
humanitarian aid, and the selling off of state-owned enterprises for
only a fraction of what they're worth.

One of Latortue's first actions was to call for the return of the
Haitian military.  The military was disbanded by Aristide in the
1990s, an act that is widely considered to be the greatest victory
for human rights in recent Haitian history.  Even many of Aristide's
opponents applauded the elimination of the military.  The only people
who want the military to return are the wealthy elite who once used
the military as attack dogs to guard their large estates and
intimidate union organizers.  Many former members of the military
have been working with the armed group of thugs and killers that have
been terrorizing Haiti's rural areas and slums with brand new M-16s
provided by the U.S. government.  The armed bands have emptied
Haiti's largest prisons, setting free many known human rights abusers.

The new government and its thug army are undoing every one of
Aristide's accomplishments.  A medical school founded by Aristide is
reportedly being occupied by U.S. soldiers.  The government decided
to discard the very successful literacy program started under
Aristide.  Radio Timoun, the children's radio station founded by
Aristide, has been ransacked by gangs.  The Aristide Foundation for
Democracy has also been looted along with the homes of many Lavalas
supporters and public officials, including the home of President
Aristide.  Dr. Paul Farmer's clinic in rural Haiti has been harassed
by "rebel" gangs.  Schools have been shut down and attacked by the
gangs.  Essentially anything that has any relation to President
Aristide or Lavalas is being attacked or destroyed (including,
according to one report, a young girl whose only crime was handing a
flower to President Aristide in a photograph).

Not a single one of the 13 ministries of the government were given to
members of Lavalas, despite claims by the new government that they
are leading Haiti through a period of "reconciliation."  According to
Latortue, Lavalas has only themselves to blame for being shut out of
the government:  "Had there been an organization that sponsored a
Lavalas member, I would have been happy. But there weren't any," he
told Reuters.  Perhaps the reason nobody came forward is because they
are afraid of being killed.  Many Lavalas leaders are in hiding.  The
police (who have apparently made an unholy alliance with the gangs)
have started indiscriminately arresting Lavalas supporters. 

Reports of atrocities in the countryside and the slums have been
coming in on a daily basis.  In one incident a container full of
people was allegedly thrown into the water, allowing the people to
drown.  Another reported incident involved people being herded into
an outhouse that was subsequently doused with gasoline and set on
fire.  None of these events have been confirmed, and it is unlikely
that we will know the true scope of the atrocities for some time. 
Appeals are being made to human rights organizations to launch an
investigation.  In Port-au-Prince, people with dreadlocks, a hair
style sometimes associated with a certain political culture, are
reportedly being shot at night.  Aid workers and missionaries who
attempt to provide help to people are being intimidated by the armed
gangs.

The disturbing events surrounding this crisis aren't limited to the
island nation.  Here in the United States, the media has played the
role of cheerleader for the coup.  White liberals, I am ashamed to
say, have been eerily silent on this issue.  Around the time of the
coup there were a spate of articles and commentaries which lightly
condemned the Bush administration, but most white liberals seem to
have already forgotten where Haiti is on the map.  Some have even
fallen for the propaganda and declared Aristide's ouster a victory
for human rights.  The left should be up in arms over what this
administration has done to Haiti, and not just for moral reasons. 

Attacking Bush on Haiti could be sound political strategy as well. 
How can the Bush administration reconcile supporting the Haitian
death squads with its "War on Terror?"  How can the Bush
administration reconcile its alleged goal of sprinkling the seeds of
democracy all around the world with the overthrow of a democratically
elected president and the establishment of a markedly anti-democratic
puppet government (one which CARICOM, Venezuela, and the African
Union have refused to recognize)?  These are questions that could put
the Bush administration in a pretty awkward position, especially when
it becomes clear that the U.S. has been actively supporting the
"armed opposition."

Justin Felux can be contacted at justins@alacrityisp.net.
.