a964: This Week in Haiti 19:50 2/27/2002 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: K. M. Ives <kives@toast.net>

"This Week in Haiti" is the English section of HAITI PROGRES
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                           HAITI PROGRES
              "Le journal qui offre une alternative"

                      * THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

                   February 27 - March 5, 2002
                          Vol. 19, No. 50

CARICOM DELEGATE SPEAKS OUT AGAINST BULLYING OF HAITI

Dame Eugenia Charles is no anti-imperialist firebrand. On the
contrary, as Prime Minister of  Dominica from 1980 to 1995, she
was one of Washington's staunchest allies in the Caribbean. She
is best remembered for "requesting," on behalf of the five-member
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, that President Ronald
Reagan send thousands of U.S. troops to invade Grenada on Oct.
23, 1983 "to protect the lives of U.S. citizens" -- about 900
medical students -- following the overthrow and assassination of
progressive leader Maurice Bishop.

After retiring from politics in 1995, Charles was named the
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Representative to the Organization
of American States/Caricom Mission which visited Haiti from May
29 - 31, 2001. The delegation was supposed to facilitate
negotiations between the Haitian government and the Democratic
Convergence, a popularly reviled opposition front of 15 long-
discredited parties, which survives only thanks to Washington's
generous backing.

Last summer, Wall Street Journal writer Mary Anastasia O'Grady
wrote a piece quoting Eugenia Charles as saying that she "found
the Haitians are only interested in what financial help they can
get from the international world. I don't know if they are
interested in having the matter solved." (WSJ 7/6/01)

Betraying her own transparent bias, O'Grady concluded that "it's
not surprising that [Eugenia Charles] recognizes Mr. Aristide's
modus operandi." Unfortunately for Ms. O'Grady, the following
interview makes it clear that Charles was not referring to
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide but rather to the author's
darling, the Convergence opposition.

Throughout the interview, Dame Eugenia, now 83 years old,
emphasizes her opposition to the strong-arm tactics employed by
the OAS/CARICOM delegation of which she was a part. "I do not
think that we [should] give aid to people because we like them or
because they're obedient to our wishes," she says. "We [should]
give aid because the people of the country require it... We kept
saying, 'If you do things right, we will give you aid.  If you
don't, we won't.' That was not a good approach. I do not agree
with that approach."

This interview gains relevance in light of the Bush
administration's snub of CARICOM's strong recommendation earlier
this month that the U.S. lift its aid embargo on Haiti. The
interview, which Haïti Progrès has edited down from the original,
was conducted by Hazel Ross-Robinson, who does public relations
for the Haitian government in Washington, DC.

- - - - -

Hazel Ross-Robinson: How would you assess the prospects for a
workable solution being found to the political crisis in Haiti?

Dame Eugenia: We met with government officials, members of civil
society and Convergence. After listening to the members of
Convergence, I had to ask them why they called themselves
"Convergence." They were not converging on anything. They were
not agreeing on anything. They cannot get together to form a
plan. No one in Convergence was talking about what the Haitian
people themselves want. That bothered me. No one is asking "What
do the Haitian people want?"

HRR: Please expand on Convergence's inability to unify around a
common goal.

DE: Well, there were about 50 Convergence people there, but no
two people could agree on any point. There was no sense that
there was a need to work things out, to find a solution. I was
very concerned that no one was concerned about the Haitian people
deciding what is good for the country.

HRR: What was Convergence's response to your concerns about each
individual member having their own views and objectives, and the
lack of any unifying objective?

DE: They shrugged their shoulders. Nobody is thinking "How can we
work together to find something in common between us all?" I did
not see that happening. I was concerned about that.

But they were prepared to listen and talk to me. They were glad
that we had come to talk with them. There was no doubt about
that. But they were not putting anything forward that could be a
solution. (...)

I must say that I was very pleased with the government's point of
view. They were anxious to get this matter settled. They weren't
trying to say, "We are the government so we are right." There was
no feeling like that at all. Their position was: "How can we get
this thing solved?" And they did in fact do things that showed
that they were interested in getting things settled.

The civil society meeting was very good. They all had good ideas,
but again I didn't see anyone in Convergence saying "If we do
this, then they'll do that, and therefore we can get together." I
didn't see that type of argument going on, so I don't know how
it's going to work out.

The government was very anxious to listen to what we had to say.
To me it was obvious that the government is anxious to get
something settled. In fact, they did give their word, and they
did what they said. They recognized that it was necessary to work
together. They agreed to new elections, and to establish a new
commission to oversee the elections.

When we were there, President Aristide was very eager to work
things out. People were saying that he's quick to make promises,
but then he doesn't do it. But he moved to make clear that these
things were done. He was clearly anxious to get this settled.

I did not and do not think that the criticism of Aristide was
right. I think that he was very anxious to get the Haitian people
to settle their affairs and feel comfortable with the settlement.

We also met with all the Ambassadors of all the countries
represented to Haiti. I thought that there was too much pressure
on the Haitians to "settle or else they would not get any help
from the countries outside." I did not see this in the Haitians
themselves, but I did see it in those of us who were there trying
to solve the matter. I did not think that was correct.

HRR: Did you get the impression that the people of Haiti were
standing with Convergence, or standing with the government?

DE: No. That's the thing that bothered me. I don't see how after
an election that was supposed to be flawed, that we're there
trying to correct, the people themselves were not shouting for
this or that to be done. The Haitian people do not realize that
this is their business. They're too accepting of people coming in
and fixing their affairs for them. (...)

DE: As I've said, I was very concerned that when we met the
Convergence there were no two people there agreed on anything.
Every political opinion was expressed. There is no consensus with
Convergence.

It seemed that there was too much emphasis on telling the
Haitians that they would not get any international help unless
they came to a settlement. I was concerned about that. I do not
think that this is the way to solve things. I do not think that
we were getting the people themselves to consider that they have
a right to think for themselves regarding what they want to do.
To me, democracy, true democracy, is not apparent in the move we
are making. It seems that we are saying to the Haitians "You need
financial help. If we give it to you, you must do what we say." I
do not believe that that is the way to run a country. I may be
wrong in that, but that's the way I feel. (...)

HRR: The OAS passed a resolution - unanimously - in Costa Rica,
outlining in great detail the conditions that had to be met by
Haiti in order for the financial embargo to be lifted.
Convergence has since pushed for the conditions to be expanded
beyond those specified at the OAS Summit. Comment?

DE: Nothing will happen at that rate. And they will try to blame
the President again. I thought that he was very willing to listen
to what was being said and to make sure that Haiti took care of
its business, which is what I think needs to be done.

HRR: As you know Haiti is the poorest nation in this hemisphere -

DE: That doesn't mean that they have no voice, that they have no
say. They are the ones that have to decide if they want to do
what is being pushed on them. They are the ones that have to
decide what they will do to help them grow out of it. And they
must be the ones to make the decisions that are good for
Haiti.(...)

DE: We've been telling the Haitians that unless Haiti can get
something solved they won't get any help from the international
community. That is the wrong way to handle it! What is required
to make the people of Haiti better off? What's required to give
the people of Haiti a better life? Those are the important
questions. And let's face it - Haiti did not go out and get the
AIDS virus, you know. They did not go and import it. People came
to Haiti and left the AIDS with the Haitians. People are not
thinking about this, and it worries me.

HRR: Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere but it
has a strong track record on loan repayments. The Government of
Haiti has therefore said to the international community "If you
do not want to give us aid, that is your prerogative.   We do
ask, however, that you not block our access to the international
loans which our people need and for which you will be repaid!"
Yet the international community has stopped all loans to Haiti -
for education, for health, for agriculture.

DE: Stopping loans for health?! Nothing else can happen in
country if you don't have health in the country.

HRR: Your insights will be very helpful in helping the people of
the Caribbean get a better understanding of what is going on in
Haiti.

DE: What I did not like was the way we kept saying , "If you do
these things, we'll give you aid. If you don't, aid will stop."
That is what was being said, and I did not like that. I do not
think that we [should] give aid to people because we like them or
because they're obedient to our wishes. We [should] give aid
because the people of the country require it.

When I came back to Dominica, I did not feel that we had achieved
very much. We kept saying, "If you do things right, we will give
you aid. If you don't, we won't." That was not a good approach. I
do not agree with that approach.


MARDI GRAS IN HAITI
by Katia Ulysse

Tom was once renowned for his ability to draw big game out of the
deep sea. Fish seemed to jump aboard his boat; his voice alone
made terrific bait. Seven years ago he cast his net aside and
moved to Haiti with his wife, a former schoolteacher. They
abandoned their house in New England, taking only a few books and
their passion to turn a corner of the world into one big
Thanksgiving holiday.

Every year on Fat Tuesday, Tom spends the morning fishing for
kribish to liven up his famous bouillabaisse. By sunset a legion
of hungry children and their families gather in the couple's
fenced backyard - ready to pose for pictures with their hosts and
eat until they burst. For the children's amusement, Tom and his
wife don masks of peacock feathers and sequins. Then they take
turns snapping pictures, which they later mail to family and
friends.

Tom adores the children. Sometimes he spends hours watching them
play. They remind him of the bear cubs he'd seen on TV. "They're
so cute," he tells his wife. The children call to her mind the
wild natives she had read about in John Winthrop's writings, but
she does not share this with her husband.

Behind the 8-foot wall topped with barbed wire, steam rises out
of the aromatic bouillabaisse. The children form a line. One by
one they approach Tom, who ladles happily into the dried hollowed
gourds in their outstretched hands. "Thank you, M'sye Tom," each
child says. "Mèsi anpil."

Ti Pitit is last in line. He lowers his eyes in gratitude for the
couple's generosity. The small boy extends his hands, licking his
lips, already tasting the bouillabaisse. As he stands before Tom,
Ti Pitit's spindly arms begin to quiver in time to the bamboo
flute and manman tanbou beckoning from afar. "Hold still," Tom's
voice is stern. "Wi," Ti Pitit replies anxiously, but his legs
and arms continue tremble to the vibrations of the rara band
simmering in the distance.

"You're this year's winner!" Tom announces. His wife tosses her
hair and flashes Ti Pitit a sympathetic smile.

Every year without fail, a child leaves Tom's bouillabaisse feast
as famished as he had arrived. This time, everyone but Ti Pitit
had been able to ignore the pulsating beat filling the
atmosphere. "You must learn to stop dancing to this terrible
music," Tom says contemptuously.

"No bouillabaisse for Ti Pitit," his wife agrees, shaking her
head. Ti Pitit's eyes swivel with shame, wishing he could have
separated the hunger in his belly from an irrepressible urge to
dance. The other children make faces at him as they empty their
bowls.

On the way back from Tom's house, the children tease Ti Pitit. As
they disperse toward their own homes, they add their own melody
to the rara drum now beating stronger, moving closer: "Manje
devan, danse dèyè!" They dance as they sang, "Always eat first,
and dance later."

All articles copyrighted Haiti Progres, Inc. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED
Please credit Haiti Progres.

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