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27924: Dailey Re: 27906 (Reply) Rossier (fwd)






Dailey Re: 27906 Rossier (Reply)


Nicholas,

Had you been following events in Haiti from 1996-2000, you would realize that although Aristide surrendered office to Preval he retained power. Preval's last vestige of independence was lost when his cousin and advisor Robert Manuel was forced into exile in Guatemala. Thereafter Aristide cemented his control over the police and electoral machinery and when Aristide coughed, Preval spat. Do you really think that the decisions to disband parliament in January, 1999 or for the contested senatorial candidates to skip the runoff elections in June, 2000 were ones that Preval made? Although Aristide was prepared to relinquish office in 2006 to his wife or some other surrogate, he would have retained his hold on power the same way he had before, via the street. The outlines of his political career have more in common with Trujillo or Balaquer than they do with anyone you or I would recognize as a democrat. I reckon that Aristide's years in power were a little short of nine years.

You are right that he inherited a mess and that international aid was limited or non-existent. But for this Aristide bore a large share of the responsibility. It is hard to think of another politician in recent Haitian history apart from Papa Doc who when told by international donors that they would suspend all further aid if a runoff election for the senatorial seats was not held in June, 2000 would have called their bluff. But of course the disappearance of aid had no impact on him, only on the Haitian people.

As an administrator he was grossly incompetent as were many of the people around him. "Millions" of manuals were printed for literacy instruction but few teachers were ever trained or classes held, etc.. and his plans for the country never advanced beyond vague generalities like the "third way." If he had possessed large sums to dispense on an ad hoc basis he would have liked to do so in a way consistent with a preferential option for the poor, but of course politics soon entered into it, and his obsession with preventing any potential rivals from developing a following, including those within FL. If a new Father Aristide had arisen preaching from a church in Cite Soleil he would have had it burned down.

I noticed that Robert Manuel and Fritz Longchamps are part of the Preval entourage. It will be very interesting in the next few days to see who else is brought back, including Americans, and what the fate of the Aristide Foundation will be.

Peter Dailey