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<font size=4><b>HAITI: THE NEXT ROUND</b></font><font size=3> <br><br>
by Robert Roth<br>
<br>
On March 18th, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his family returned
home from a 7-year forced exile in South Africa – an exile brought about
by the violent U.S.-orchestrated coup in 2004. Up until the last minute,
the U.S. government tried to stop the return, with President Obama going
so far as to place a last-minute call to President Zuma of South Africa.
<br><br>
In a speech at Toussaint Louverture airport in Port-au-Prince, Aristide
commented on the undemocratic elections then taking place in Haiti. He
stressed the need for including all Haitians in the political process of
the country, including his party, Fanmi Lavalas, the most popular in the
country.<br><br>
"The problem is exclusion. The solution is inclusion. Exclusion of
Fanmi Lavalas is the exclusion of the majority. And the exclusion of the
majority is like cutting off the very branch we are all sitting on. Every
Haitian without exception, because every person is a human being, so the
vote of every person counts."<br><br>
Thousands of Haiti’s poor followed his car as it moved from the airport,
through the streets of Port-au-Prince, and towards his house. Then a roar
erupted and thousands of people climbed over walls, rushed past security
and engulfed the courtyard. They were exuberant, singing and
chanting for hours: "Welcome back Titid. Welcome back schools.
Welcome back hope." "Lavalas – We bend but do not break."
<br><br>
It was a beautiful moment, made possible by years of sacrifice and effort
by Haiti’s grassroots movement, aided by a determined international
solidarity campaign. For those who had doubted that Aristide’s
return was possible – and there were many, both within and outside of
Haiti – it showed, once again, the power of the people.<br><br>
Aristide’s return demonstrates Haiti’s independent will and
self-determination. He brings back a deep, abiding respect for the poor
of Haiti and a belief in their intelligence, their wisdom and the justice
of their demands. His return challenges the racist notion that the poor
of Haiti can only look to the U.S., the UN and the NGO’s for relief and
development. This is why he is loved and this is why he is feared.
<br><br>
Aristide has made clear that his focus will be education. Haiti’s
education system has always enforced the system of social apartheid –
completely eliminating the poor while building up a small elite. During
the Lavalas administrations, more schools were built in Haiti than in its
entire history. Adult literacy programs – often led by women –
reduced the illiteracy rate. When the Aristide Foundation’s
University (UniFA) opened a Medical School in 2001, it recruited students
from the poorest communities throughout Haiti, each of whom committed to
return to their communities upon graduation. These were
revolutionary initiatives in a country whose elite despise the poor and
have worked for generations to keep them away from any form of literacy
or higher education. It was no accident that U.S. and UN forces
drove students out of the campus after the 2004 coup and turned the
building into a military barracks.<br><br>
Even with limited resources, Aristide’s return will generate the impetus
to reopen the medical school. The Aristide Foundation’s continuing work
among youth – a Youth League has begun, with over 1000 young people
meeting at the Foundation a few months ago –reflects a growing mobilizing
of a new generation of activists, whose dynamism will be needed in this
next phase of Haiti’s development. And – given a little time - the
thousands of dedicated grass roots organizers, whose work has never
ceased in all these years of repression and occupation, will surely
regroup and make their demands heard. <br><br>
The task is daunting. Aristide returns to a colonized country. Bill
Clinton has set up an Interim Recovery Commission that is now sitting on
over $10 billion. U.S. AID is pouring money into U.S.-based NGO’s that
pay more for staff than they do for projects. Construction companies are
lining up to bid for earthquake rubble removal contracts. Cholera
–brought to Haiti by UN forces from Nepal – has spread throughout the
country, with recent reports citing 800,000 cases. A seemingly permanent
foreign MINUSTAH occupation patrols the streets, with their blue helmets
and pointed guns.<br><br>
As if to rub salt into the wounds, there is the new president, Michel
Martelly. A kompa singer and long-time proponent of Jean-Claude Duvalier,
Martelly worked with the dreaded FRAPH death squads that killed over 5000
people in Haiti after the first coup against Aristide in 1991. He has
made the reestablishment of Haiti’s hated military a priority of his
administration. In the past, he has called for a ban on "all strikes
and demonstrations." In a revolting video released right before the
election, Martelly called Lavalas members "faggots" and
threatened sexual violence against Aristide. Some of his chief aides had
warned that "the country would burn" if he were not
selected.<br><br>
In the end, Martelly was selected by only 17% of eligible Haitian voters.
With Fanmi Lavalas excluded, and two right-wing candidates running, the
vast majority of Haitians stayed away, refusing to lend credibility to
the charade. The percentage of voters who turned out was the smallest in
60 years for any presidential election in the Americas. <br><br>
Right after his election, Martelly obediently traveled to Washington,
where he met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who declared that
the United States was with him, "all the way." He then
made the rounds with officials of the World Bank, the Inter-American
Development Bank, and the chair of the International Monetary Fund chair,
Dominique Strauss-Kahn (later arrested for attempted rape in New York).
After the discussion with Strauss-Kahn, Martelly beamed and announced
that, "the meeting had gone well." (2) Of course it did. The
vultures are hovering over Haiti.<br><br>
Consider the recent deal brokered by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
with South Korean garment giant, Sae-A Trading Company, which will soon
become Haiti’s largest private employer. Sae-A is building a
617-acre "free trade zone" near the northern city of
Cap-Haitien. It plans to employ 20,000 workers and pay them only
2/3 of Haiti’s minimum wage. U.S. AID is contributing $124 million,
the Inter-American Development Bank $100 million, and Sae-A will put in
$78 million. The planned industrial park will supply Wal-Mart, Target,
Kohl’s and other major U.S.-based retailers. When confronted with
questions over the deal – including whether the new factories will be
sweatshops – Hillary Clinton dismissed all concerns, declaring,
"Haiti is now open for business."<br><br>
The Sae-A project is just one part of the structural adjustment plan now
being consolidated in Haiti. Known as the "death plan" in
Haiti, it involves privatization, new contracts for elite import-export
barons, and continued limits on social investment – all combined with
targeted repression of grassroots organizations. In one particularly
frank analysis, UN economic advisor Paul Collier highlighted the new
possibilities for investment in Haiti: "Due to its poverty and
relatively unregulated labor market, Haiti has labor costs that are fully
competitive with China, which is the global benchmark."<br><br>
Taking note, Coca-Cola has expanded its Haiti operations, through its
"Hope for Haiti" mango drink. Royal Caribbean Cruise
Lines, which didn’t even have the decency to postpone its post-earthquake
Haiti tours, has received funding from U.S. AID to multiply its tourist
operations in northern Haiti, training Haitians to be "hospitality
workers." And energy companies are lining up to grab contracts to
dig up the country in order to exploit Haiti’s vast mineral
wealth.<br><br>
Yet, despite decades of repression, the popular movement in Haiti remains
active and alive. Women’s organizers are right now supporting market
women through low-interest micro-credit programs. Human rights workers
continue to demand the release of political prisoners and expose the
horrific conditions within Haiti’s prisons. Progressive radio
stations have taken great risk to denounce Martelly and the sham
elections. The popular church (ti legliz) continues its work among
peasants throughout the countryside. Young people have flocked to
the Foundation by the thousands for education and training. And the
reopening of the medical school is on the horizon.<br><br>
All of this demands international solidarity. As we take a breath and
celebrate Aristide’s hard-fought for return, we know that the work
continues. Hopefully, we are all ready for this next round. <br>
<i>Robert Roth is a co-founder of Haiti Action Committee and a
board member of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund. He was in Haiti
for President Aristide’s return. A version of this article originally
appeared in the Summer 2011 Newsletter of the Ecumenical Peace
Institute<br>
</i> <br>
<a href="http://www.haitisolidarity.net/">www.haitisolidarity.net</a> and
on FACEBOOK<br><br>
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