22443: (Craig) Article: Haiti After the Press Went Home (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>

Haiti After the Press Went Home
Chaos Upon Chaos
By LUCSON PIERRE-CHARLES
June 21, 2004

The recent disastrous floods that killed more than 2,000 people, left
some 1,800 missing and 10,000 more homeless have been a tragedy of
enormous proportion and unless some drastic measures are taken, this
disaster could be seen as a preview of the things to strike Haiti. Such
a tragedy is the consequence of years of bad policies and mismanagement
inherited by the current administration. The Prime Minister’s reaction
to the disaster demonstrated undoubtedly that his administration is
reluctant to deal with one of the most important crisis facing this
impoverished nation today. He blamed deforestation for what happened and
promised, among other things, to create a forest protection unit made of
former soldiers of the demobilized Haitian army. Blaming deforestation
as the only cause is easy but the environmental degradation is much
greater than that. It is a chain-linked dilemma and until Haitians pull
up their forces together, the prospect will remain grim.

The situation on the ground is dreadful. The country is in desperate
need but meaningful assistance fails to materialize. Following
Aristide’s ouster, the United Nations called for $35 million in
emergency funds from foreign donors but so far has only managed to raise
about $9 million. The country is descending into chaos and to have a
better understanding of what lies ahead, one needs to look no further
than to the latest travel warning for Haiti issued by the Bureau of
consular affairs at the State Department.

According to that statement, the “situation in Haiti remains
unpredictable and potentially dangerous despite the presence of foreign
security forces.” This warning followed a report issued in early May by
the United Nations reaching a similar conclusion.

On June 1, the U.N. troops headed by Brazil, deployed to the island in
order to replace the current contingent of American, French and Canadian
soldiers. According to Augusto Heleno Ribeiro Pereira, the Brazilian
general who will head the U.N. contingent, this mission will be Haiti’s
last chance to end decades of violence. The Prime Minister, Mr. Gérard
Latortue, will certainly count on these troops to disarm all rebels and
gangs. Knowing that the survival of his administration depends largely
upon the presence of the foreign troops, he is appealing to the
Americans – even 100 troops – to extend their mission but mindful that
the last American soldier will leave at the end of June, he is shifting
reliance upon the new U.N. troops by inviting them to stay until
February 7, 2006 when the new President will take office. The job of
this latest U.N. mission is manifold but disarmament of all factions
will not be part of it. This latest transfer of command is nothing more
than a window dressed opportunity designed to give this puppet
administration some imaginary stability in order to run a farcical
election where the winner will be drawn from the same party affiliation.

The whole mission’s contingent will be around 8,000 troops but so far
only Brazil has provided 1,400 troops, with Chile to send 600 and
Argentina, 500. Following the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
in 1994, a contingent of 20,000 Marines failed to disarm the newly
disbanded army. Hence, one must wonder where this small U.N. contingent
will find the necessary means to carry out such a colossal task? In
order to get a glimpse of how disarmament will take place, one needs to
look at a recent incident where 8 ex-soldiers decided to parade in the
capital with their heavy-loaded weapons. These so-called rebels were
arrested by the American-led troops. But following protest by other
ex-soldiers, they were released but refused to leave the facility
without their weapons. After two days of intense negotiations, the
administration and the police remarkably bowed to their request and
granted them three of the weapons.

This interim administration boasts itself about being technocratic and
bringing tangible change to the population. But, as it is becoming
clear, these technocrats have not only embarked on a regressive trend,
they have set the stage for a complete turnaround toward chaos. The
security apparatus is in the verge of collapsing due to the
proliferation of small arms, the mere presence of the heavily armed
rebels and Aristide loyalists, the increasing gang activities, the
rampant rise in kidnappings and the release of 3,000 prisoners by Guy
Philippe and his squads following the ouster of Mr. Aristide. Some of
the rebels will be integrated into the police force despite the fact
that they killed a great number of policemen and burned down police
headquarters in the lead up to the coup.
In most parts of the country, they appointed themselves as mayors,
police chiefs and judges. Under Mr. Aristide’s leadership, the police
force was often criticized for being too heavily politicized. Under this
technocratic administration, the police force will consist of convicted
human rights abusers, murderers, rapists, thugs and death squads who
have committed some of the worst atrocities during the first coup in 1991.

Military strategists and commanders often argue that victory – or
success for that matter – is measured not only by the defeat of the
enemy but most importantly by what is left behind. In 1994, 20,000
Marines were sent to return a democratically elected President to his
office. They left behind a disbanded army but not disarmed, which will
later be used to undermine the same democracy that the Marines went to
uphold in the first place. Ten years later, the U.S.-led troops will
leave behind these same ex-soldiers heavily armed once again but this
time in control and set to prolong the reign of abuse and impunity. They
even have plans to run the country and make laws – they recently
established their own political party.

In such a context, providing security and stability – put forward as a
pretext for military intervention – was never a priority for the
American-led coalition. It was to get rid of a democratically elected
President, establish a puppet administration – disregard the
constitution for instance – and lay the groundwork for the upcoming
capture of the presidency by the oligarchy. Such an intervention was to
ultimately show the rest of the world that this endangered island is
incapable of self-governance and to highlight such dismal legacy,
disarmament must take a back seat. But if history is to repeat itself,
the people will somehow find ways to overcome this challenge and portray
a different story.

Lucson Pierre-Charles, a native of Haiti, now lives in Maryland. He can
be reached at: lpierrecharles@yahoo.com
<mailto:lpierrecharles@yahoo.com>
http://www.counterpunch.org/pierre06212004.html
<mailto:lpierrecharles@yahoo.com>