23365: Simidor: Something deeply disturbing (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Simidor <karioka9@mail.arczip.com>



There is something cowardly and deeply disturbing about the Lavalas dual strategy of “koupe tèt, boule kay” in its strongholds of La Saline, Cité Soleil, St. Martin and Belair, and denial on the other hand of any connection with the insurgency and the beheadings going on.  In a major offensive, when your shock troops are fully engaged, it is treason for the civilian command to denounce as police agents the very men who are putting their lives on the line.  The message from Angervil, Voltaire, Feuillé and Co. is basically that these poor devils are just cannon fodder, it doesn’t matter what happens to them.

Meanwhile, Aristide is sitting pretty in South Africa, signifying to his bourgeois opponents in Haiti that it is maybe time to reach out to him if they want to avoid the worse.  This is the meaning of Aristide’s emphasis on dialogue in his recent interview with the South African press: either you cut me in on the deal, or it’s “Operation Bagdad all the way....”

Whether it is through money, organization or feudal allegiance, Aristide still maintains control over the slums in Port-au-Prince.  And for now, the slums are calling the shots in terms of Haitian politics.  Lavalas’ basic weakness is that it’s all about raw power and greed. But the opposition, left and right, is unable to exploit this weakness, because they too lack a program that connects with the aspirations of the people.  And that’s the sadness of Haitian politics today: we have the perfect case for change, but lack the means for it.

Daniel Simidor