Sunday, March 18, 2012
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Historic Roots of the Haitian Civil War
Have you ever wondered: Why are things the way they are in Haiti?
The present civil war has brought Haiti back into the news again, along with its many problems that have afflicted the country for over a century. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and now is stricken with a civil war that threatens to bring about a humanitarian catastrophe. The civil war has also prompted the Bush administration to consider military intervention in Haiti. Haiti’s problems to a great extend are due to interventions by foreign powers, mainly France and the United States. Further interventions cannot fix Haiti’s problems; they are one of the main sources of its problems.
Haiti was formed as the result of a slave uprising against their French owners two hundred years ago. Inspired by enlightenment ideology, they waged a decade long revolutionary war which succeeded in ending slavery in Haiti and obtaining independence from France. They named their new country Haiti, which is what the original inhabitants, the Arawaks, called the island. The United States feared that Haiti’s revolution might inspire a similar revolution in the US and, along with France and many other countries, became extremely hostile towards Haiti. France demanded that they pay reparations for all the slaves that were freed in the revolution. In 1825 Haiti was pressured into agreeing to pay France reparations for daring to infringe on French property by freeing the slaves. Schools, healthcare and other social programs were shut down in what some have called the first Structural Adjustment Program in the western hemisphere. France's insistence on this debt, and the decision of the Haitian elite to go along with it, plunged the country into deep dept and is part of the reason the country is so poor today. It's legacy lives on.
In 1915 the United States invaded Haiti and occupied it until 1934. Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat who won election with a platform critical of the imperialist policies of his Republican predecessors, was President during the invasion. US troops broke into Haiti’s treasury, stole all the gold and shipped it to the First National City Bank in New York. The US installed a puppet government, writing a new constitution for Haiti favorable to US investment & control and forcing the government to accept a treaty ratifying American control. The US employed a policy of forced labor against the population; Haitian peasants were forced at gunpoint to build railroads, buildings and other infrastructure for American companies and the neocolonial administration. Charlemagne Péralte and Benoit Batraville organized and led a guerilla army called the Cacos against the US occupation. The US brutally suppressed the insurgency. Haitians who resisted were forced into concentration camps and innocent civilians mercilessly slaughtered. There were several massacres committed by US troops; in 1929 US marines gunned down 264 protesting peasants in Les Cayes.
The United States built up a brutal proxy army that was used to suppress resistance and maintain Haiti as an American satellite state after the occupation ended. The US supported several dictators after the end of the occupation, including Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. Under their rule over 30,000 Haitians were killed and even more tortured by their death squads. As Haiti became the poorest country in the hemisphere they enriched themselves by exploiting the population and stealing foreign aid, including $16 million from a $22 million 1980 IMF loan. Baby Doc turned the country into a trans-shipment point for cocaine trafficking.
In 1986 Baby Doc was forced out of power. In 1990 elections were held. The United States supported Marc Bazin, a former World Bank official, and gave him millions of dollars plus all sorts of resources to win. The priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, running on a left-wing reformist platform, won with 67% of the vote. Bazin only got 12%. The military didn't like this and launched a coup, with the quiet support of the US. Aristide was forced to flee Haiti. Over the next three years Haitian soldiers and paramilitaries launched a reign of terror and murdered several thousand Haitians.
In 1994 the US invaded and restored Aristide to power, on the condition that the new regime would implement neoliberal "free market" reforms such as IMF structural adjustment programs, privatization, and the like. The US gained by having Aristide implement neoliberalism because he had popular support and so would encounter less resistance than a military dictatorship trying to do the same. Due to these "free enterprise" policies 80% of Haitians live in abject poverty and sweatshops have proliferated. In the mid-90s Aristide allowed an ally to take over the Presidency, and in 2000 Aristide became President again.
Because Aristide’s policies have failed to improve the lives of most Haitians he has lost the popular support he once had. Now that he has worn out his usefulness, the US has allowed the old oligarchy to launch a campaign to overthrow him and restore themselves to power. Several leaders of the rebellion were previously leaders and death squad commanders in the military dictatorship of the early ‘90s, including Jean “Tatoune” Pierre, Louis Jodel Chamblain, Andre Apaid Jr., and others. Congresswoman Maxine Waters had alleged that the right-wing rebellion is covertly supported by the United States. One of their leaders, Guy Phillippe, told British reporters about the decision to wait on attacking the capital that "I heard the United States asked our men to stop their advance to Port-au-Prince. It’s on the news on the Net ... If they ask us, it’s because they have a better option, option for peace, and we always give peace a chance here, so we’ll wait to see for one or two days ... We will keep on sending troops but we won’t attack Port-au-Prince until we understand what the US means." This is basically an admission that the rebels are following orders from the US. After the US invaded in 1994 the Haitian army was disbanded, which has made it very easy for the current rebellion to defeat the government.
Some reports from the capitalist media have described the current civil war as “anarchy,” which is obvious nonsense. Neither the government nor the rebels have any intention of abolishing capitalism or the state. The rebels are simply replacing the current state with another one. There are no workers councils, no popular assemblies, no self-managed workplaces or anything else remotely resembling anarchy. No attempt has been made to abolish capitalism. Sweatshops, bosses, and many other hierarchies still exist. The media is just continuing a long tradition of slandering anarchism by pointing to hellholes and civil wars as “anarchy.” A few centuries ago similar slander was directed against “democracy” and “republics,” both of which were associated with chaos. Fortunately, the media’s description of the civil war as “anarchy” is not as common as it has been in other cases.
To think that any intervention by the United States into Haiti will be motivated by humanitarian concerns is totally a-historical and absurd. The United States has a long history of intervention in Haiti, none of which was designed to actually help Haitians. American interventions, from setting up concentration camps to supporting murderous dictators, have just brought death and misery. To talk of US humanitarian interventions is like suggesting that the Soviet Union was only engaged in humanitarian interventions in all of its client states of Eastern Europe. Haiti is an American satellite state, just as Poland, et al. were Russian satellite states. Any intervention will be undertaken to protect American imperial interests, not for humanitarian purposes.
The present civil war has brought Haiti back into the news again, along with its many problems that have afflicted the country for over a century. Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere and now is stricken with a civil war that threatens to bring about a humanitarian catastrophe. The civil war has also prompted the Bush administration to consider military intervention in Haiti. Haiti’s problems to a great extend are due to interventions by foreign powers, mainly France and the United States. Further interventions cannot fix Haiti’s problems; they are one of the main sources of its problems.
Haiti was formed as the result of a slave uprising against their French owners two hundred years ago. Inspired by enlightenment ideology, they waged a decade long revolutionary war which succeeded in ending slavery in Haiti and obtaining independence from France. They named their new country Haiti, which is what the original inhabitants, the Arawaks, called the island. The United States feared that Haiti’s revolution might inspire a similar revolution in the US and, along with France and many other countries, became extremely hostile towards Haiti. France demanded that they pay reparations for all the slaves that were freed in the revolution. In 1825 Haiti was pressured into agreeing to pay France reparations for daring to infringe on French property by freeing the slaves. Schools, healthcare and other social programs were shut down in what some have called the first Structural Adjustment Program in the western hemisphere. France's insistence on this debt, and the decision of the Haitian elite to go along with it, plunged the country into deep dept and is part of the reason the country is so poor today. It's legacy lives on.
In 1915 the United States invaded Haiti and occupied it until 1934. Woodrow Wilson, a Democrat who won election with a platform critical of the imperialist policies of his Republican predecessors, was President during the invasion. US troops broke into Haiti’s treasury, stole all the gold and shipped it to the First National City Bank in New York. The US installed a puppet government, writing a new constitution for Haiti favorable to US investment & control and forcing the government to accept a treaty ratifying American control. The US employed a policy of forced labor against the population; Haitian peasants were forced at gunpoint to build railroads, buildings and other infrastructure for American companies and the neocolonial administration. Charlemagne Péralte and Benoit Batraville organized and led a guerilla army called the Cacos against the US occupation. The US brutally suppressed the insurgency. Haitians who resisted were forced into concentration camps and innocent civilians mercilessly slaughtered. There were several massacres committed by US troops; in 1929 US marines gunned down 264 protesting peasants in Les Cayes.
The United States built up a brutal proxy army that was used to suppress resistance and maintain Haiti as an American satellite state after the occupation ended. The US supported several dictators after the end of the occupation, including Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier. Under their rule over 30,000 Haitians were killed and even more tortured by their death squads. As Haiti became the poorest country in the hemisphere they enriched themselves by exploiting the population and stealing foreign aid, including $16 million from a $22 million 1980 IMF loan. Baby Doc turned the country into a trans-shipment point for cocaine trafficking.
In 1986 Baby Doc was forced out of power. In 1990 elections were held. The United States supported Marc Bazin, a former World Bank official, and gave him millions of dollars plus all sorts of resources to win. The priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, running on a left-wing reformist platform, won with 67% of the vote. Bazin only got 12%. The military didn't like this and launched a coup, with the quiet support of the US. Aristide was forced to flee Haiti. Over the next three years Haitian soldiers and paramilitaries launched a reign of terror and murdered several thousand Haitians.
In 1994 the US invaded and restored Aristide to power, on the condition that the new regime would implement neoliberal "free market" reforms such as IMF structural adjustment programs, privatization, and the like. The US gained by having Aristide implement neoliberalism because he had popular support and so would encounter less resistance than a military dictatorship trying to do the same. Due to these "free enterprise" policies 80% of Haitians live in abject poverty and sweatshops have proliferated. In the mid-90s Aristide allowed an ally to take over the Presidency, and in 2000 Aristide became President again.
Because Aristide’s policies have failed to improve the lives of most Haitians he has lost the popular support he once had. Now that he has worn out his usefulness, the US has allowed the old oligarchy to launch a campaign to overthrow him and restore themselves to power. Several leaders of the rebellion were previously leaders and death squad commanders in the military dictatorship of the early ‘90s, including Jean “Tatoune” Pierre, Louis Jodel Chamblain, Andre Apaid Jr., and others. Congresswoman Maxine Waters had alleged that the right-wing rebellion is covertly supported by the United States. One of their leaders, Guy Phillippe, told British reporters about the decision to wait on attacking the capital that "I heard the United States asked our men to stop their advance to Port-au-Prince. It’s on the news on the Net ... If they ask us, it’s because they have a better option, option for peace, and we always give peace a chance here, so we’ll wait to see for one or two days ... We will keep on sending troops but we won’t attack Port-au-Prince until we understand what the US means." This is basically an admission that the rebels are following orders from the US. After the US invaded in 1994 the Haitian army was disbanded, which has made it very easy for the current rebellion to defeat the government.
Some reports from the capitalist media have described the current civil war as “anarchy,” which is obvious nonsense. Neither the government nor the rebels have any intention of abolishing capitalism or the state. The rebels are simply replacing the current state with another one. There are no workers councils, no popular assemblies, no self-managed workplaces or anything else remotely resembling anarchy. No attempt has been made to abolish capitalism. Sweatshops, bosses, and many other hierarchies still exist. The media is just continuing a long tradition of slandering anarchism by pointing to hellholes and civil wars as “anarchy.” A few centuries ago similar slander was directed against “democracy” and “republics,” both of which were associated with chaos. Fortunately, the media’s description of the civil war as “anarchy” is not as common as it has been in other cases.
To think that any intervention by the United States into Haiti will be motivated by humanitarian concerns is totally a-historical and absurd. The United States has a long history of intervention in Haiti, none of which was designed to actually help Haitians. American interventions, from setting up concentration camps to supporting murderous dictators, have just brought death and misery. To talk of US humanitarian interventions is like suggesting that the Soviet Union was only engaged in humanitarian interventions in all of its client states of Eastern Europe. Haiti is an American satellite state, just as Poland, et al. were Russian satellite states. Any intervention will be undertaken to protect American imperial interests, not for humanitarian purposes.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Help Haiti Now
Donors who pledged aid must deliver on promises
MIAMI — As of last week, when Haitian Prime Minister Michele Pierre-Louis visited Miami, Haiti still had not received a penny of the $300 million in hurricane aid promised to the storm-ravaged island by the international community at a donors conference in April.
This is an unacceptably slow response to Haiti's critical needs. With June almost over, the most dangerous part of the hurricane season will soon be upon us. If aid is not received soon, it will be too late to prevent a repetition of the series of disasters that occurred last year when Haiti was hit by four consecutive storms within a matter of weeks, inflicting death, misery and enormous economic damage.
Haiti has barely begun to recover from the trauma of last year's punishing storms, but its needs are vast and its resources are scant. Without international help it cannot reasonably hope to be ready for this year's Caribbean storms, which strike with regularity at this time of year on Hispaniola and other islands in Hurricane Alley.
Pierre-Louis rightly expressed frustration with the international community's failure to deliver on its promises.
It's time for the donors to pony up. A promise made should be a promise delivered, particularly for a country where the needs are great and millions live in poverty.
It makes no sense whatsoever for this country to be offering aid and economic support for Haiti and at the same time deporting Haitians who don't meet the proper immigration requirements. These are the very people whose money transfers to friends and family on the island provide the most direct source of aid. They should remain here while Haiti rebuilds. Here, they can work and help family back home. In Haiti they would only add to the ranks of the needy.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Change is in the Air
When we hear the word 'change', many of us expect instant or over night results. As in the case of Haiti, we are seing an accumulation of years of instability, unrest and embargos, it would be unrealistic therefore to assume that our current situation will be fixed over night. Knowing exactly where we are as a country, makes it easier for us to determine where we need to be. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. As long as we are ready to take the first step toward a brighter future for Haiti, we are on the right track.
We have never seen a more optimistic Haiti. we all feel it, there is indeed something in the air, so thick that one can almost touch it. Many, when visiting Haiti, all they see is proverty and instability. Taking the time to look pass the poverty, Haiti is a crountry with great potential and filled with opportunities. Haiti Without Borders - Diasponitiative is that call to action that we all have been waiting for. Although we don't want to discourage foreign investors in Haiti, our focus is to encourage Haitian companies to start investing in Haiti. It is a known fact that we have a lot of Haitian experts across various fields and disciplnes throughout the Diaspora.
Reaching out will certainly strengthen this initiative. The result: A lush and forested island - restoring the natural beauty of Haiti, solid infrastructure (electricity, fresh water, communications, agriculture), quality education and the introduction of a system that will make landfills absolete.
In Unity There Is Strength
We have never seen a more optimistic Haiti. we all feel it, there is indeed something in the air, so thick that one can almost touch it. Many, when visiting Haiti, all they see is proverty and instability. Taking the time to look pass the poverty, Haiti is a crountry with great potential and filled with opportunities. Haiti Without Borders - Diasponitiative is that call to action that we all have been waiting for. Although we don't want to discourage foreign investors in Haiti, our focus is to encourage Haitian companies to start investing in Haiti. It is a known fact that we have a lot of Haitian experts across various fields and disciplnes throughout the Diaspora.
Reaching out will certainly strengthen this initiative. The result: A lush and forested island - restoring the natural beauty of Haiti, solid infrastructure (electricity, fresh water, communications, agriculture), quality education and the introduction of a system that will make landfills absolete.
In Unity There Is Strength
The State of Haiti Today
With a population of approximately 9 million in a country the size of Maryland. Haiti is often referred to as the poorest country in the Western hemisphere; and third-poorest country in the world.
Literacy rates: 50 to 70 percent, depending on the study. Nearly half of Haitian schools are private or run by religious organizations. the educational system is declining pretty quickly.
The economy of Haiti relies primarily on coal production and street merchants, and approximately 65 percent of Haiti's economy comes from international aid.
"When people ask a very straightforward question, 'How do people make a living?' it's hard to answer that question. It's hard to say there is an economy, because we simply don't have one."
Change for Haiti is no longer an option ... It is a must !
Yes we can ! Yes we will !
Together, lets find and restore the pearl.
Literacy rates: 50 to 70 percent, depending on the study. Nearly half of Haitian schools are private or run by religious organizations. the educational system is declining pretty quickly.
The economy of Haiti relies primarily on coal production and street merchants, and approximately 65 percent of Haiti's economy comes from international aid.
"When people ask a very straightforward question, 'How do people make a living?' it's hard to answer that question. It's hard to say there is an economy, because we simply don't have one."
Change for Haiti is no longer an option ... It is a must !
Yes we can ! Yes we will !
Together, lets find and restore the pearl.
Haiti - The Pearl of the Islands
A little over 200 years ago, Haiti enjoyed great prosperity, one of the richest black colony in the world. She was widely known as the pearl of the islands. Somehow, we've allowed the pearl to get washed away. Haiti has reached yet another crossroad at which it needs to reevaluate its current position. It is important to glance into the past in an effort to shape the course of our future. Haiti Without Borders is inviting the Diaspora community to take a quick glance at Haiti to see how the abundant richness of Haiti’s heritage has captured the creative spirit of its people. Now we need to envision solutions to its present impasse, and trace new pathways for the future.
Analysing Haiti’s rich legacy, past, present, and future will help us in determining how to preserve Haiti's distinguished historical, cultural traditions that have shaped the creative spirit of its people. Creating new pathways for tomorrow is rooted in the conception of Haiti Without Borders' envisioned models that rely on fundamental choices between continuity with the past and change for the future. We encourage the entire Haitian diaspora community to respond to this call to action. Being at the treshold of various technological breakthroughs, puts Haiti in an ideal position to reap the benefits.
Analysing Haiti’s rich legacy, past, present, and future will help us in determining how to preserve Haiti's distinguished historical, cultural traditions that have shaped the creative spirit of its people. Creating new pathways for tomorrow is rooted in the conception of Haiti Without Borders' envisioned models that rely on fundamental choices between continuity with the past and change for the future. We encourage the entire Haitian diaspora community to respond to this call to action. Being at the treshold of various technological breakthroughs, puts Haiti in an ideal position to reap the benefits.
The Truth About Haiti
First of all, it is good to take a swift glance at the historical and cultural background of the Haitian people. In order to fully understand present and actual conditions, it is necessary to be familiar with the fact that the Haitian people have a glorious history behind them. Haiti was the first of the American Republics, after the United States, to gain its independence and the richest black colony during that time. The story of the war for Haitian independence is one of the most thrilling chapters in the history of the world. If one reads only what alien historians have written, he gains the idea that the Haitian struggle was nothing more than the massacre of outnumbered whites by hordes of semi-savage blacks. There was massacre and savagery but it was on both sides. But the war itself was one which suffers very little in magnitude by comparison with the American Revolution. There were times when the French troops and the Haitian troops engaged, aggregated more than 80,000 men. The French troops were the best that Napoleon could send. The Haitian troops were not a band of lawless guerrillas but were well drilled and well officered. There were battles in which these troops compelled the admiration of the French for their valor, and their commanders, for their military ability and gallantry.
It should also be borne in mind that the Haitian Revolution was not merely a political revolution. It was also a social revolution. There was a complete overturn of both the political and social organization of the country. The man who had been the chattel became the ruler.
Haiti gained her independence 205 years ago and maintained her complete sovereignty down to 1915, the year of American intervention. None of the Latin-American Republics had the difficulties in maintaining their independence that Haiti encountered. The Black Republic did not receive from the United States the support which it had a right to expect. Haiti had fought France, England and Spain, but the United States was the last of all the strong nations to recognize her independence, when, indeed, she should have been the first.
From day one of becoming the first black country in the world to gain its freedom, Haiti was faced with an embargo. More than 200 years later, Haiti is still facing the same fate. While it is easy for some to look at haiti and see poverty, Haiti remains a country with great potential and opportunities.
Diasponitiative is a call to action to Haitians all across the globe. From East to West, North to South, you are called upon to join the Diasponitiative in an effort to rebuild Haiti and regain our sense of pride. It is our responsibility to restore the legacy that our forefathers have fought so hard to establish. So lets get to it.
Remember this: “ In killing me, they have cut down the tree of liberty of the blacks. It will grow back because the roots are many and deep." - Toussaint Louverture
It should also be borne in mind that the Haitian Revolution was not merely a political revolution. It was also a social revolution. There was a complete overturn of both the political and social organization of the country. The man who had been the chattel became the ruler.
Haiti gained her independence 205 years ago and maintained her complete sovereignty down to 1915, the year of American intervention. None of the Latin-American Republics had the difficulties in maintaining their independence that Haiti encountered. The Black Republic did not receive from the United States the support which it had a right to expect. Haiti had fought France, England and Spain, but the United States was the last of all the strong nations to recognize her independence, when, indeed, she should have been the first.
From day one of becoming the first black country in the world to gain its freedom, Haiti was faced with an embargo. More than 200 years later, Haiti is still facing the same fate. While it is easy for some to look at haiti and see poverty, Haiti remains a country with great potential and opportunities.
Diasponitiative is a call to action to Haitians all across the globe. From East to West, North to South, you are called upon to join the Diasponitiative in an effort to rebuild Haiti and regain our sense of pride. It is our responsibility to restore the legacy that our forefathers have fought so hard to establish. So lets get to it.
Remember this: “ In killing me, they have cut down the tree of liberty of the blacks. It will grow back because the roots are many and deep." - Toussaint Louverture
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