26301: Antoine re 26293: A Reply to Dailey's "bootlicking " characterization (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Guy S. Antoine <guyantoine@haitiforever.com>

Since Peter Dailey clearly intended to expose me through his recollection,
let me facilitate the task for him.  I will not respond to his tirade, other
than making FULL DISCLOSURE of a reference he makes to an open
letter to President Aristide, which I wrote on May 20, 2000. After five
full years of it being written, I am glad to find out that it created such a
stir with at least one person that I know. No, it was not part of Windows
on Haiti, but now it is, thanks to Mr. Dailey.

Peter calls it "a notable exercise in bootlicking".  Judge for yourself the
veracity or inexactitude of Peter's characterization.

I  republish the integral text of that letter, which I researched and found
in the Corbett List archives. Thanks, Bob, for the memories and here's
to you, Peter!


#3719: A letter to Aristide : Comment from Antoine
________________________________________
. To: Haiti mailing list <haiti@lists.webster.edu>
. Subject: #3719: A letter to Aristide : Comment from Antoine
. From: Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>
. Date: Sat, 20 May 2000 08:27:55 -0700 (PDT)
. Sender: owner-haiti@lists.webster.edu
________________________________________

From: Guy Antoine <GuyAntoine@windowsonhaiti.com>

Quote:
For a country at peace...
Vote peacefully under the flag of peace...
You who fear defeat
And who choose violence
Remember
We are all brothers and sisters.
Haiti is for all Haitians.
We must all work for peace
So that we can all live in peace.

Boulevard 15 Octobre, Tabarre, Haiti
End of Quote

Mr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide,

I thank you for those words. I know that for one reason or another, many
will not give you credit for sending this message. However your words speak
to the core of our worries for the future of our country.

In any democratic system, free elections are a sine qua non, meaning that if
the people cannot freely elect their political representatives, you simply
do not have a democracy. There has been so much external pressure, so much
posturing, so many veiled or not so veiled threats, so many politically
motivated assassinations, so much pre-electoral violence... that one is
FORCED to wonder: what the HELL is going on?

There must be elections in Haiti, but these elections must not be hijacked
by any party, nor should they be held by the will of the international
community, but by the will of the Haitian people. I would have wanted to see
more pre-electoral preparation, more civic education, more polls showing
that the population is truly going to participate, and the complete
assurance that these elections will be largely (never totally, to be sure)
uncontestable. The sad fact is that if the population does not vote in
significant proportions OR if we are going to witness another round of
recriminations and interminable accusations of electoral fraud, this will
not be a step ahead for democracy in Haiti, as is the prevailing sentiment,
but rather a huge step backwards (another one, still).

When, oh when, will Haitians decide to move forward as ONE PEOPLE?

Pardon my striking a note of pessimism, when in fact, I ache to be
optimistic. May the upcoming elections reduce all my fears to the point of
silliness!

Those who commit the violence must not only hate Haiti, but must surely hate
themselves for wholesomely participating in the destruction of our Haitian
society. This is simply not the Haiti that we knew and cherished. We have a
bunch of imbeciles who are so short-sighted they cannot see that the
violence they inflict on others will, like a boomerang, be visited upon them
in return. Even if they could acquire all the money and power available,
they still need to have a livable society. Just what will they do after they
have destroyed it, after the societal values and safeguards that are there
to protect all citizens have vanished away due to their selfish actions?
What will happen? They die.

This is not to say that Haitian society is finished yet, Many, many 
Haitians
living abroad still enjoy renewing their spirits by going back to the
countryside, the communities, the small municipalities, the rivers that
unlike the Saint Laurent, the Hudson, the Delaware, the Mississipi, etc, are
small enough to almost give you a sense of ownership, the beaches, the mango
and almond trees and their shadow, the juices from the kachiman, the
korosol, and the grenadine, and countless other pleasures. And from what I
hear from recent visitors of the Port-à-Piment and Port-Salut areas, even
the cleanliness! Not a word that is commonly associated with Haiti these
days. Those people were thinking that Haiti is still an ideal place to live,
if you skip Port-au-Prince altogether (too bad, it used to be a fairly
decent city,
too).

Will Haiti return to greater civility or continue its descent to Hell?

Mr. Aristide, if you were in any way responsible for the pre-electoral
violence that many have accused your party of waging, I would ask you then
to do the honorable thing and not run for President of Haiti, because quite
frankly, you would be undeserving of such an honor and privilege. You would
not have the moral capacity necessary to provide the leadership our country
desperately needs. Make no mistake about that. If on the other hand, all of
this violence has been part of the cynical games aimed to prevent, weaken,
or destabilize the choice of the people of Haiti, may you triumph over your
detractors, large and small, because in the end... the Haitian people must
for themselves determine their future and build a path out of violence and
misery towards peace, justice and prosperity.

Respectfully,
Guy S. Antoine
Look and Imagine!
http://windowsonhaiti.com

Sat, 20 May 2000 08:27:55 -0700 (PDT)

For background on this topic, see
http://www.haitiforever.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3844
My letter to Aristide was found in Bob Corbett's archives at this address:
http://www.webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti-archive/msg03773.html