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The White Curse<br>
by Eduardo Galeano<br>
<br>
The Progressive magazine, June 2004<br>
<a href="http://www.progressive.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.progressive.org/</a>
<<a href="http://www.progressive.org/" eudora="autourl">http://www.progressive.org/</a>><br>
<br>
<br>
On the first day of his year, freedom in this world turned 200. But<br>
no one noticed, or almost no one. A few days later, the country where<br>
this birth occurred, Haiti, found itself in the media spotlight, not<br>
for the anniversary of universal freedom but for the ouster of<br>
President Aristide.<br>
<br>
Haiti was the first country to abolish slavery. However, the most<br>
widely read encyclopedias and almost all educational textbooks<br>
attribute this honorable deed to England. It is true that one fine<br>
day the empire that had been the champion in the slave trade changed<br>
its mind about it. But abolition in Britain took place in 1807, three<br>
years after the Haitian revolution, and it was so unconvincing that<br>
in 1832 Britain had to ban slavery again.<br>
<br>
There is nothing new about this slight of Haiti. For two centuries it<br>
has suffered scorn and punishment. Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner<br>
and champion of liberty at the same time, warned that Haiti had<br>
created a bad example and argued it was necessary to "confine the<br>
plague to the island." His country heeded him. It was sixty years<br>
before the U.S. granted diplomatic recognition to this freest of<br>
nations. Meanwhile in Brazil disorder and violence came to be called<br>
"Haitianism." Slave owners there were saved from this fury until 1888<br>
when Brazil abolished slavery-the last country in the world to do so.<br>
<br>
And Haiti went back to being an invisible nation-until the next<br>
bloodbath. During its brief sojourn on TV screens and front pages<br>
earlier this year, the media showed confusion and violence and<br>
confirmed that Haitians were born to do evil well and do good badly.<br>
Since its revolution, Haiti has been capable only of mounting<br>
tragedies. Once a happy and prosperous colony, it is now the poorest<br>
nation in the Western Hemisphere.<br>
<br>
Revolutions, certain specialists have concluded, lead straight to the<br>
abyss; others have suggested, if not stated outright, that the<br>
Haitian tendency to fratricide derives from its savage African<br>
heredity. The rule of the ancestors. The black curse that engenders<br>
crime and chaos.<br>
<br>
Of the white curse, nothing was said.<br>
<br>
The French revolution had abolished slavery, but Napoleon revived it.<br>
<br>
"Which regime was most prosperous for the colonies?"<br>
<br>
"The previous one."<br>
<br>
"Then reinstate it."<br>
<br>
To reinstate slavery in Haiti, France sent more than fifty shiploads<br>
of soldiers. The country's blacks rose up and defeated France and won<br>
national independence and freedom for the slaves. In 1804, they<br>
inherited a land that had been razed to grow sugarcane and a land<br>
consumed by the conflagrations of a fierce civil war. And they<br>
inherited "the French debt." France made Haiti pay dearly for the<br>
humiliation it inflicted on Napoleon Bonaparte. The newly born nation<br>
had to commit to pay a gigantic indemnification for the damage it had<br>
caused in winning its freedom. This expiation of the sin of freedom<br>
would cost Haiti 150 million gold francs.<br>
<br>
The new country was born with a rope wrapped tightly around its neck:<br>
the equivalent of $21.7 billion in today's dollars, or forty-four<br>
times Haiti's current yearly budget.<br>
<br>
In exchange for this fortune, France officially recognized the new<br>
nation. No other countries did so. Haiti was born condemned to<br>
solitude.<br>
<br>
Not even Simon Bolivar recognized Haiti, though he owed it<br>
everything. In 1816, it was Haiti that furnished Bolivar with boats,<br>
arms, and soldiers when he showed up on the island defeated and<br>
asking for shelter and help.<br>
<br>
Haiti gave him everything with only one condition: that he free the<br>
slaves-an idea that had not occurred to him until then. The great man<br>
triumphed in his war of independence and showed his gratitude by<br>
sending a sword as a gift to Port-au-Prince. Of recognition he made<br>
no mention.<br>
<br>
In 1915, the Marines landed in Haiti. They stayed nineteen years. The<br>
first thing they did was occupy the customs house and duty<br>
collection facilities. The occupying army suspended the salary of the<br>
Haitian president until he agreed to sign off on the liquidation of<br>
the Bank of the Nation, which became a branch of City Bank of New<br>
York. The president and other blacks were barred entry into the<br>
private hotels, restaurants, and clubs of the foreign occupying<br>
power. The occupiers didn't dare reestablish slavery, but they did<br>
impose forced labor for the building of public works. And they killed<br>
a lot of people. It wasn't easy to quell the fires of resistance.<br>
<br>
The guerrilla chief, Charlemagne Peralte, was exhibited in the public<br>
square, crucified on a door to teach the people a lesson.<br>
<br>
This civilizing mission ended in 1934. The occupiers withdrew,<br>
leaving a National Guard, which they had created, in their place to<br>
exterminate any possible trace of democracy. They did the same in the<br>
Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. A short time afterwards, Duvalier<br>
became the Haitian equivalent of Trujillo and Somoza.<br>
<br>
And so, from dictator to dictator, from promise to betrayal, one<br>
misfortune followed another.<br>
<br>
Aristide, the rebel priest, became president in 1991. He lasted a few<br>
months before the U.S. government helped to oust him, brought him to<br>
the United States, subjected him to Washington's treatment, and then<br>
sent him back a few years later, in the arms of Marines, to resume<br>
his post. Then once again, in 2004, the U.S. helped to remove him<br>
from power, and yet again there was killing. And yet again the<br>
Marines came back, as they always seem to, like the flu.<br>
<br>
But the international experts are far more destructive than invading<br>
troops. Placed under strict orders from the World Bank and the<br>
International Monetary Fund, Haiti obeyed every instruction, without<br>
cheating. The government paid what it was told to even if it meant<br>
there would be neither bread nor salt. Its credit was frozen despite<br>
the fact that the state had been dismantled and the subsidies and<br>
tariffs that had protected national production had been eliminated.<br>
Rice farmers, once the majority, soon became beggars or boat people.<br>
Many have ended in the depths of the Caribbean, and more are<br>
following them to the bottom, only these shipwreck victims aren't<br>
Cuban so their plight never makes the papers.<br>
<br>
Today Haiti imports its rice from the United States, where<br>
international experts, who are rather distracted people, forgot to<br>
prohibit tariffs and subsidies to protect national production.<br>
<br>
On the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic, there is a<br>
large sign that reads: Road to Ruin.<br>
<br>
Down that road, everyone is a sculptor. Haitians have the habit of<br>
collecting tin cans and scrap metal that they cut and shape and<br>
hammer with old-world mastery, creating marvels that are sold in the<br>
street markets.<br>
<br>
Haiti is a country that has been thrown away, as an eternal<br>
punishment of its dignity. There it lies, like scrap metal. It awaits<br>
the hands of its people.<br>
<br>
<br>
Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan journalist, is the author of "The Open<br>
Veins of Latin America," "Memory of Fire," and "Soccer in Sun and<br>
Shadow. " This article is published with permission of IPS Columnist<br>
Service.<br>
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