#3132: Of Jean Dominique and Giuliani (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:Karioka9@cs.com

With all his faults (his rabid anti-communism for one), Jean Dominique's assassination is a strong blow against the anti-fascist movement and the world of Haitian radio.  The irony of how that man survived the wrath of the Duvaliers and their military successors, only to succumb under his own Lavalas government, is not lost on the Haitian people.  In the Wild Wild West of Haitian "justice," we'll never know for sure if his death is a revenge killing for the lynching of Legitime Athis and his wife, or the result of some murky intra-Lavalas affair along the lines suggested in Ms Albert's query.  Instead, the public is regaled with insipid speeches by the likes of Jacques-Edouard Alexis, the pompous prime minister who presides over all this impunity, and Hubert Deronceray whose Duvalierist MPSN party (Legitime Athis's party) belongs on the list of suspects.

As to the reference to Dominique and Giuliani, wishful thinking aside, they belong in different categories. Dominique is a victim, Giuliani a perpetrator of violence.  Apart from obvious issues of self-entrapment and access, there would be little point in making Giuliani a martyr.  But Paulo Freire notwithstanding, I find there is generally too much preaching of nonviolence to the oppressed and not enough to the oppressors.  I like Malcolm X best on this score: if the enemy only understands the language of guns and hatred, he's not likely to take your babble about peace and love very seriously.

The Haitian Coalition for Justice wants to put Giuliani on trial for crimes committed against the people -- from his past collaboration with the Duvalier regime as a federal prosecutor in Reagan's Justice Department, to his present criminal incitement of police violence against people of color.  A people's trial in the court of public opinion.  To fully bring out the malfeasance of the fascist Giuliani and of everything he stands for, such a project will need the talents of ethical and legal minds, the research skills of journalists and scholars, and the dedication of activists and other concerned people.  More on that later.

Daniel Simidor