"Haiti: The Great Fear" - Mark Weisbrot

[EFerrari]

Sunday, 23 January 2011 15:00
CEPR Co-Director Mark Weisbrot writes in Ft. Lauderdale's Sun Sentinel today:

The controversy over the return of the infamous dictator, Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, to Haiti, is in many ways a distraction. Certainly, it is important he stand trial for crimes against humanity, including the murder and torture of opponents.

But there is another crime being committed against Haiti right now: Foreign powers are trying to rob Haitians once again of their democratic rights. More than 200 years after Haiti liberated itself from slavery and from France, the rich countries still seem to have a great fear of Haitians governing themselves.

It was obvious from the beginning of the disaster one year ago, when the United States took control of the air traffic into Haiti and immediately filled up most of the available landing slots with planes carrying soldiers and military equipment.

Their great fear of looting and crime in the aftermath of the earthquake never materialized, but in the first week after the earthquake, many people lost lives and limbs that could have been saved, if doctors and medical equipment had been the priority.


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[Judi Lynn]

1. Very good to see this article from Mark Weisbrot. Someone has to discuss the facts.

Thanks, a lot, EFerrari.

Recommend.

[Peace Patriot]

2. The thing that's hard to figure out (or one of them) in the Haiti election is how the U.S.

put together of team of six people from the U.S., France and Canada, and one Jamaican, to do the Haiti recount, and called this an OAS election group. The U.S. is notorious for interfering in Haiti. France is their former slave-master. Canada has a rightwing/corporate government that colludes with the U.S. in Latin America. And Jamaica--whatever their view--was outnumbered. What about Brazil (a big part of the UN peacekeeping force)? What about the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Argentina and so many others? For that matter, what about the Carter Center, which does well in troubled situations?

I am VERY worried about this--not just because of more U.S. interference in Haiti, but also because the normal OAS election monitoring process has such a good rep and has done such good work to establish honest, transparent elections in Latin America--which has resulted in leftist governments being elected all over the region (since leftists represent the interests of the majority and the rightwing represents the interests of the rich and the corporate--honest, transparent elections will therefore generally result in leftists winning). Has the U.S. deliberately targeted the integrity of the OAS election monitoring process?

Weisbrot mentions the fraudulence of the U.S.-run recount but he doesn't mention that it was the U.S.-France-Canada (and one Jamaican). He does mention one thing that is infuriating, and that is the exclusion from the ballot of the MAJORITY party--Lavalas--the party of the elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was brutally removed by Bush-Cheney's thugs in 2004. I'm not sure why Weisbrot says he was ousted "by the 'international community." Is he making a joke? Being ironical?

I also don't agree with Weisbrot that "Baby Doc"'s return is a "distraction." I think it was quite clearly intended as a threat to the people of Haiti by the U.S. "Baby Doc" could not have returned without a U.S. okay--and he was probably recruited by the U.S. to return. The CIA was most certainly keeping an eye on him (and were probably the recruiters). The U.S. military controls the airport in Haiti. The U.S. controls one billion in international aid that has yet to be dispensed. They have Haitians by the throat. And, furthermore, the U.S. was the one who sent "Baby Doc" packing, back when. He is a coward--a torturer, a murderer--and filthily corrupt. He wouldn't have dared return on his own. The U.S. message to Haitians is: If you don't bend over for another U.S.-rigged election, then you're in for more bloodshed, torture and tyranny.

It's kind of like having Cheney lurking around the edges of U.S. elections.

Anyway, what the U.S. is ultimately up to is probably the "election" of Mirlande Manigat ("capitalism with a human face")--and forcing Haitians to swallow this under the threat posed by "Baby Doc" while keeping Aristide out of Haiti and Lavalas off the ballot. Weisbrot has one STUNNING statistic: 75% of Haitians didn't vote!. Manigat won half of 25%, if that. I've read a leftist site that says her support is 5%! Most Haitians want Aristide, but he is far too independent and far too committed to social justice for the U.S., which prefers fascists but will settle for "centrists."

---

*(It's become apparent to me that Martelly--the other candidate that the U.S. has boosted--is just a freakish additional threat connected to "Baby Doc." At first, I thought he was their "made man." But various researches here at DU have made it evident that he is just too bizarre and probably a criminal. I think now that Manigat is their pick--and France's. She is Sorbonne education, and was First Lady to a former president of Haiti. I think she's Hilary's answer to Aristide. She would be Haiti's first woman president and "capitalism with a human face" will make sure that the billion dollars in unspent aid mainly benefits U.S. multinationals and "war on drugs" and other war profiteers. I think the Pentagon is going to get a new base out of this, for their Caribbean/Central America "circle the wagons" area.)

[EFerrari]

3. That's a good question re the OAS group. nt

[rabs]

4. Wonder if the media is missing the big picture

The NYT floated the theory a few days ago that Baby Doc's return was about his 5 to 7 million dollars frozen in Swiss banks. Bloomberg is following the same line, as are the AP and others.

Baby Doc's frozen funds are CHUMP CHANGE.

Because there are NINE-plus BILLION dollars out there for the reconstruction of Haiti. Those billions were raised after the earthquake, but only a fraction has been released. Bechtel, K&R, and other international giants are probably salivating.

Now, Manigat or Martelly? Seem to be half-dozen of one and six of the same. The question is why the U.S./France/Canada are so anxious to get rid of Preval's chosen candidate? Is it because Preval is not toeing the line set by Hil and her French and Canadian pals?



Preval, Fernandez, the Haitian foreign minister and the DR ambassador to Haiti meeting in Santo Domingo yesterday (Saturday).

Speaking of Preval, don't know if the English-language reported it but last night was reading Listin Diario, an important newspaper in Santo Domingo.

It has a story of an unannounced, whirlwind trip by Preval to meet with Dominican President Fernandez. They met for three hours at the presidential palace and at a joint news conference after, Preval was asked about the possibility of Aristides' return.

Preval did not say yes, but he did not say no either. He mentioned that all Haitians have the right to return because the constitution does not recognize exile, the same thing the foreign minister said last week about Baby Doc.

Preval said the return of Aristide was a "constitutional matter." Preval said the same constitution says all citizens fall under the judicial system, as in the case of Baby Doc.

Fernandez said they had discussed how to avoid a "power vacuum" in Haiti, the cholera outbreak (more than 100 cases have been reported in the DR, one death reported today, Sunday), and the electoral crisis (a new president is to be inaugurated on Feb. 7).

Preval at the news conference denied that he and Fernandez had discussed the possibility of him (Preval) seeking political asylum in the DR.

Preval added an interesting fact, that since 1986, all of the Haitian presidents since then have gone into exile, except for him. (He still has about three weeks to do so !!!)



Preval arrived in Santo Domingo from Port-au-Prince in this cool helicopter, which looks to be unmarked. Wonder who in Haiti has a RED helicopter?


Edit to add one cholera death reported today in DR.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Who, indeed, arranged that red helicopter?

It is startling hearing the information they all have gone into exile since 1986, with the end of his own presidency looming as Preval starts talking to Fernandez.

[Peace Patriot]

6. Yeah, I think Preval must have balked at some U.S. dictate, for U.S.-France,-Canada to

bump his candidate Celestin out and push Martelly into the run-off. And the gigantic "elephant in the room" is certainly Aristide. Could have been about that. I was very interested to read that Preval had made a campaign promise to bring Aristde back, but then reniged--no doubt under bludgeoning by the U.S. Maybe he's still smarting from the bruises and decided that his last act in office will be to grant Aristide a visa, then he's off to DR.

I'm pretty quite sure that "Baby Doc"'s return was a U.S.-France-Canada warning about Aristide, because "Baby Doc" cannot have entered Haiti without their collusion. And the warning is that if Haitians don't accept "capitalism with a human face" (Manigat), they will get another dictator (Martelly--or maybe "Baby Doc" himself). (But Martelly or "Baby Doc" could evaporate the $9 billion in aid--just too ugly--so it's gotta be Manigat--very clean looking, by comparison, first woman prez of Haiti, Sorbonne-educated, etc.)

Thanks for this intel on Preval (re DR). I think you're right. He's had a tiff with the U.S. (And that red helicopter says a lot.)

Poor Aristide! If he does return, runs for president and (of course) wins, what a bloody awful, treacherous, impossible, goddamn mess he has on his hands!

I CAN'T BELIEVE they still have a MILLION people living under tarps--not even tents--tarps!--with $9 BILLION to spend!

You know what I think Aristide ought to do? I think he ought to tell the U.S.-France-Canada to GET OUT and "Take your $9 billion with you!" and call a conference with Brazil, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and maybe some others, and ask them to help design and build a modest and very low cost, sustainable Haiti, with land distributed into small farms, people mostly dispersed back onto the land, a real "best practices" government--such as we have seen in the ideals of past OAS and Carter Center election monitoring groups--with healthy, new, small markets among these countries and Haiti, and very modest goals--adequate housing, health care, schools. Given modest help and good design, Haitians will create their own economy. Design is all, not money.

I am quite serious. The problems will be, a) the U.S. of course (what's it gonna do with all that filthy lucre, with so many non-Haitian corporate hands held out for their slice? and the Pentagon lurking.), b) all the NGO's (most doing good work or doing what they can--got to ease them out, without people suffering), and c) the rich few who own all the land (the main problem to begin with).

Collective clout? Latin America collectively telling the U.S. "Go away!"?

They could ask the U.S. for one small favor--to please take the tiny group of rich landowners as refugees and give them really big condos in Miami. (Nope. That's against the Haitian constitution. Can't force them to go (as they did to Aristide). What to do with the tiny rich elites who own everything and spoil every plan for modest alleviation of poverty and hopelessness? Put them in padded zoo cages for all to observe and learn?)

I'm chuckling to myself. Is this realistic? But sometimes you gotta think BIG.