In our Hands, lies our Destiny

The hundreds of thousands of deaths that occurred on January 12th 2010, no doubt tragic and unfortunate, could have served as a catalyst for a renewal of the Haitian spirit that has been adversely afflicted with a defeatist sentiment as long as any Haitian alive today could remember. But the hope of Haitians retaking and rebuilding their country is becoming more and more a distant dream struggling in the shadows of the unimaginable loss of lives and physical destruction of Haiti. The country’s political leaders’ inability to find a Haitian solution to the crisis and their overreliance on foreigners practically doom Haiti’s chance at regaining its sovereignty for the foreseeable future. What other country in our world would ask for outside “technical” help with recounting ballots, which involves matching cast votes with voter registration lists? With these fraudulent elections and René Préval’s pathetic plea for outside help with the recount, Haiti has sunk to a new low and revealed to the world her shortcomings. The country founded on the sweat and blood of resolute lovers of freedom and justice does not deserve such fate.
When Nazi Germany surrendered on May 7th 1945, the victorious Allies were quick to tell the German people that they were not in Germany to restore civil life in that country which, they insisted, was the task of the German people. Even though Haiti was not defeated in a war, but a victim of geopolitical power play, this historical analogy is nonetheless warranted, since the Haitian leaders, unlike the Germans, simply abandoned the building of their society to the care of the occupiers. This sentiment has permeated the population to the point where the nation sits idly and waits for the administrators of the occupation 2004-? to come up with whatever they may perceive is best for Haiti.
Sadly, there is currently no institution in Haiti with the moral gravitas to impose a solution on the feuding political class which remains pathologically inclined to bring destruction to the country and its people. However, the quest for international mediation by the government and Michel Martelly, the wronged presidential candidate, is reflexive amongst Haitian politicians and only reinforces the notion that we have failed as a nation.
Furthermore, it is outrageous that the presidential candidates, having accepted the legitimacy of the Electoral Provisional Council (CEP) by participating in what was from the beginning a fraudulent endeavor, are now crying foul. Given that the framework established by the CEP was one of exclusion which they willfully agreed on, the aggrieved candidates must now accept the consequences. Because countries are ruled by laws that must be respected, especially by those aspiring to lead them, any solution outside the framework of the Constitution and the electoral laws would only accelerate the country’s descent into the realm of the rule of necessity. Adding a third candidate to the January 16th run-off, as advocated by the international community or a second vote that includes all 18 presidential candidates, as suggested by Michel Martelly, would be illegal under the 1987 Constitution and the current electoral laws.
The politicians’ appeals to the international community for mediation may seem reasonable, seeing that the country is hopelessly locked in a battle of wills amongst the actors and a consensus cannot be reached, however, is there really a need to proceed with this course? Unfortunately, the international community is actually the chief protagonist in the crisis and cannot therefore be expected to play a constructive or impartial role that could bring peace to the dysfunctional and weary nation. One must remember that before the closing of the polls on November 28th and frauds were evident and widespread, the international community had come out in favor of upholding the legitimacy of the vote. It is therefore inconceivable that a solution could come from an entity that stood ready to sanction an elaborate deception that was only thwarted by the vigilance of the people.
Any Haitian or a presidential candidate, for that matter, who willingly encourages the prolongation of this crisis, does not represent the interests of the country. The cholera epidemic (2402 deaths) that must be contained and the urgent need to rebuild Haiti must supersede political or personal ambitions, if the country were to regain its footing and move forward. Undoubtedly magnanimity and patriotism are presently in short supply, but plain common sense can still prevail since the ramifications from a prolonged crisis are too dreadful to contemplate. While Haitian politics is devoid of morality and ethics, saving a dying Haiti is a moral obligation to which all politicians must bear. The aggrieved candidates must therefore look past the November 28th travesty and work toward reforming the CEP which, within its actual framework, can easily be corrupted by Machiavellian characters, like the ostensibly harmless but astute René Préval.
Haiti has become a laughingstock due to the actions of its politicians and Haitians everywhere are treated with utter disrespect by others because they represent a failed nation, notwithstanding their academic and professional achievements that surpass those of many of their detractors. The paternalism and intrigues of the international community that pitted Haitians against Haitians and caused us to lose of our raison d’être must end, because in our hands, lies our destiny. The sooner collaborators and occupiers come to this realization, the better the solution, and the pernicious “threat to international peace and security” will automatically disappear.

Haiti's Constitution Hijacked; The Electoral Process under Siege

On December 7th, as previously announced, Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council CEP released the preliminarily results of the November 28th disputed elections amid daily protests for the annulment of the vote, which many Haitians consider tainted. One can only speculate as to what would have happened had a great majority of the 4.7 million eligible voters cast their ballots on November 28th, considering that less than a quarter of the electorate voted in these elections and it took the CEP nine days to tally the vote.
According to the tally presented by the CEP president Gaillot Dorsinvil, which differed from the expectations of many, Préval’s handpicked candidate, Jude Célestin, received the second highest most votes 22.48 surpassing Michel Martelly. The popular singer, who claimed to have won 46.5 of the votes, came in third with 21.84, even though an obscure organization financed by the European Union (National Election Observation Council) had days before put him ahead of Jude Célestin. As such, Célestin will face Myrlande Manigat, a former first lady and the leading vote-getter 31.37, in the January 16th run-off. This inconsistency or rather confusing development is likely to add fuel to the already volatile situation and validates the notion of failed state that serves as basis for the occupation of Haiti. As a result of the November 28th travesty, the cholera epidemic, 2120 deaths so far, has now taken a back seat on the list of priorities of the U.N and the Haitian government. Despite a scientific report by French epidemiologist Renaud Piarroux pinpointing the outbreak to a Nepalese-manned base near a tributary of the Artibonite River, the U.N remains steadfast in its denial that its troops are responsible.
Funded by the international community to the tune of 29 million of dollars, these elections were supposed to showcase political progress amid the despair wrought by the January 12th earthquake, but the dynamic in place presaged what transpired on Nov 28th. Besides the presence of MINUSTAH, the imperial occupation forces, the exclusion of the country’s largest political party and the monopolization of the economy by Haiti’s elite families, the electorate had to contend with pitiable politicians whose thirst for power verged on the pathological. When history revisits these elections, its definite conclusion will be that the international community, which colluded with Préval to disenfranchise a majority of the electorate, had gotten its money worth. Any recount with an outcome different than that announced on December 7th will further discredit the process.
The statement of the head of the joint Organization of American States-Caribbean Community mission implying that the CEP could consider putting a third candidate in the runoff is paternalistic and highlights the duplicitous nature of the occupation. It clearly shows that the alleged mission to promote the “rule of law” in Haiti can be replaced by the “rule of necessity” as long as the latter serves the interests of the international community. Basically, the CEP is being ordered by these representatives of the international community to violate the Haitian Constitution in order to validate the electoral fraud perpetuated on behalf of the government-backed candidate and placate the supporters of a victimized candidate. Betting on everyone, the international community will likely emerge the winner in this convoluted and surreal atmosphere that calls for the Haitian people to seize control of their destiny or face the prospect of genocide.
Stability under the barrel of guns is at best ephemeral, a time-honored reality that continues to escape the attention of the self-appointed nation-builders in this world. The widespread disturbances over the election results will likely die down, since they do not address the overriding issue, which remains the illegal occupation of the country (2004-?). In the name of stability (subjective), this occupation has turned Haiti into a plantation where a select group of Haitians conspired with the international community to subjugate the population. Under Gérard Latortue, the imperial prime minister 2004-06, impunity and unaccountability became an institutionalized form of government at par with the worst dictatorships Haiti had endured throughout its 206-year history. Though the extrajudicial executions of innocent Haitian citizens that took place under Latortue were, in legal parlance, crimes against humanity, the buffoon former prime minister was allowed to ride into a golden exile and never held accountable for his criminal deeds.
One can only hope the unconcealed attempt at subverting the Constitution on November 28th finally brings the rule of law in Haiti. For this to happen, Préval and his minions at the CEP must account for the lives that were lost and their Machiavellian deed, which could plunge the country into anarchy. Such precedent will deter future presidents from destroying the foundation upon which Haiti must stand in order to prosper, protect its identity and sovereignty from predatory countries that never ceased to deny its people their rightful place in the family of nations.
Though we are living in an interdependent world and political relations with other countries are essential to progress and development, this reality however does not require Haiti to belong to collective international organizations, which he predates by more than a century. The paternalistic and harmful attitude of these political bodies toward Haiti calls for a reassessment of the country’s membership in these organizations which, thus far, has caused more harm than good as it correlates to its sovereignty and its people’s inalienable right to self-determination.

President or Collaborator-in-Chief

18 presidential candidates, many could not even get their wives and family members to vote for them, and 66 political parties took part in the latest scheme of the Great Experiment last Sunday, November 28th, amid calls from 12 candidates that day for the CEP to annul the vote because of massive fraud. Besides their pathological thirst for power, these candidates shared other attributes not the least of which is their belief that Haiti needs supervision, which inadvertently highlights their incompetence and mental inability to lead. Not surprisingly, they read from the same script, endorsed the policies advocated by the occupiers and, most importantly, showed utter disregard for the feelings and sufferings of their fellow countrymen.
Once more, the Haitian people were duped into participating in a futile exercise that validated this proverb “Zegwi koud rad, men se zepeng ki al nan nos.” They will have to settle for hurricanes, earthquakes, hunger and pestilence while the politicians continue to play their duplicitous game of collaborating with our enemies and peddling false hope. Because the preliminary results will not be known until December 7th and none of the candidates is expected to muster the 50 percent threshold needed to avoid a run-off, the travesty will be finalized on January 16th, when the two leading vote-getters, presumably Jude Célestin and Myrlande Manigat, face each other again for the unenviable title of collaborator-in-chief.
As expected, the specter of instability, the buzzword of the occupation, was used as rationale to intimidate the electorate into participating in the charade in the midst of the cholera epidemic that has, so far, killed 1900 and infected 60-70.000 Haitians. In a clear denial of the cholera epidemic, the head of the EU diplomatic mission in Haiti, Lut Fabert-Gossens, announced at a news conference on November 22nd "At the moment, the EU sees no obstacle blocking these elections from happening." Even China, a country unaccustomed to having its citizens go to the polls, views these elections as a maturity test for Haiti amid the wreckage and chaos wrought by last January's earthquake and the ongoing cholera epidemic. As for Kenneth H. Merten, the U.S ambassador to Haiti, he maintained that the elections should take place, need to take place, and we are here to support that effort. As a rule, electoral politics obscure false hope with the attractive concept of stability. Sunday’s vote however increases the possibility of unrests rather than promotes stability, which can only be achieved through sustainable economic development, the missing component in the Great experiment.
In fairness, Haitian politicians are responsible for the international community’s condescension, seeing that Préval could have formed a national unity government in the aftermath of the January 12th earthquake that reduced Port-au-Prince and nearby cities into piles of rubbles, but the man, too distraught over the collapse of his palace, failed to see the implications of his actions or lack thereof. Besides the fact that René Préval’s shortsightedness facilitated the takeover of the government’s constitutional prerogatives by the foreign-dominated Haiti reconstruction Fund (HRF), it also opened a floodgate to would-be saviors who thought they could do a better job. Were it not the prohibitive cost of registration and the stringent requirements on seeking the presidency imposed by the 1987 Constitution, I presume that half of the population would have presented themselves as bona fide candidates to replace a man many consider the personification of mediocrity and failure as a politician.
Refreshingly enough, Myrlande Manigat, who stands a good chance of becoming the next collaborator-in-chief, hinted that the U.N should wrap up its mission and leave, which is a clear departure from what one expects from a Haitian politician. "MINUSTAH is a foreign military body. It's against the constitution and it brings back bad memories. The presence of a foreign military force, even a multilateral one, is not normal", said Ms. Manigat. Was this unexpected declaration an accurate sentiment of a genuine patriot or a well-thought out electoral posturing, meant to placate the large anti-MINUSTAH segment of the population? Though the answer could be the former, the latter, or both, Ms. Manigat should be commended for tackling this delicate issue nevertheless.
Indeed, the first long-term occupation (1915-34) has had a devastating effect on Haiti as evidenced by the lost of parts of its territory (1929), which later resulted in the mass murders of Haitians by the Dominicans (1937), and the minority-rule of the mulatto elite supported by the US-trained Haitian Armed Forces (FA d’H). Obviously, the longer this occupation endures, the more likely Haiti stands to suffer from its nefarious goals of marginalizing and subjugating the proud nation. With her statement denouncing the U.N occupation of Haiti, Myrlande Manigat, a member of the intelligentsia, a group that has abdicated its role as the moral force of the nation, had redeemed herself.
Pompous as usual, Edmond Mulet, The U.N General-Secretary’s representative in “The plantation”, made a veiled reference to an eventual departure of MINUSTAH while insisting such possibility remains contingent on the elections occurring without incident and power is transferred democratically. Considering that no less than the destruction of the Republic of NGOs (2004-?) will satisfy the great majority of Haitians, Mulet’s thinking illustrates his poor understanding or downright denial of the reality. Quite possibly, Mulet anticipated the travesty that was to occur last Sunday or the Brazilian contingent, MINUSTAH’s largest, is urgently needed in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.

The Great Experiment: A Nightmare for Haitians

Never in the Haiti’s two centuries of storied existence have its people experienced this succession of calamities in such a short period of time, which coincides with the unlawful occupation of country under the fictitious pretext of saving its people from the tyranny of their leaders. 2004: Hurricane Jeanne 3000 dead; 2004-06: MINUSTAH-Latortue regime 4000 plus, 2008: Hurricanes Fay, Gustav, Hanna and Ike 800, January 12th 2010 earthquake: 250.000 plus and 1.5 million homeless, 2010 cholera epidemic: 1200 and counting. These are tangible evidences that the UN’s Great Experiment (2004-?), whose purpose is at best insidious, poses an existential threat to this little nation, which was liberated at the beginning of the 19th century by rebellious slaves. Untold numbers were asphyxiated with sulfur dioxide and others burned alive by the vengeful French in a chilling forerunner to the 20th century use of crematories by the Nazis. The selfless sacrifices of these freedom fighters on behalf of an entire race could never be erased despite repeated attempts by detractors, even though their achievement seems lost on many of their descendants.
Through treacherous actions of local collaborators, Haitians have lost faith in their illustrious past that once made them the vanguard of self-determination against organized repression and injustice. The handover of the government’s constitutional prerogatives to the foreign-dominated Haiti Reconstruction Project (HRP) by a truncated parliament, acting at the behest of foreign entities and the local elite, fits a pattern of dereliction of duty and political delinquency, if not outright treason. Fortunately history is on our side, because great nations, despite setbacks, always lived up to their predestined purpose. Our indomitable ancestors must be turning in their graves, seeing that their selfless sacrifices are being negated by the vile actions of impenitent collaborators and opportunists whose raison d’être is self-preservation at any cost.
Though no one, particularly Haitians, can accurately predict what will happen next, the smart money is no doubt betting on something more catastrophic happening in the near future, which would be consistent with the trend. It could be a global food shortage that disproportionately affects Haiti and results in a large scale famine (the country currently imports 80% of its food needs) or some unknown mutating virus for which there is no known cure. Yet, Haitian politicians, from René Préval to the 19 presidential contenders in the November 28th elections, oblivious of the looming danger, remain in awe of the empty promises of the Great Experiment which is a nightmare for the people.
Within days of the cholera epidemic and without the benefit of concrete actions, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Préval regime irresponsibly announced that the disease was under control and measures were being implemented to prevent it from spreading. The generic statement, consistent with the pattern of calculated deception, arrogance and unaccountability underlying the Great Experiment, turned out to be premature, seeing that the epidemic is spreading at an alarming rate unseen in the history of treatable diseases. At the very least, the Nepalese contingent, the most likely or circumstantial originator of the disease, should have been repatriated. The occupiers however would not even entertain the idea and, oddly enough, appear indignant at the people’s indignation.
Responding to the public outcry over the epidemic in Cap-Haitien, Haiti’s second largest city, Vincenzo Pugliese, the U.N spokesman, angrily blamed political actors for instigating the protests. "It looks like the demonstration began in three or four parts in the city in a simultaneous way that means it was planned ahead or organized," said Pugliese in a statement that exemplifies arrogance and apathy in the face of human sufferings. Ironically, Pugliese got it backward, as it is actually the dearth of dedicated agitators that allows this abomination to continue. Therefore, doing away with the occupation is the prerequisite to extricating Haiti from this Great Experiment conceived in the dark rooms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that bears the hallmarks of a planned genocide.
When Colin L. Powell, the former U.S secretary of state, declared in March 2004 that France had the right to intervene in Haiti, his statement was based on our colonial association with the French, which many consider indissoluble. In which case, it would not be presumptuous for us, Haitians, to borrow the first verse of La Marseillaise as a battle cry: “Let’s go children of the fatherland; the day of glory has arrived. Against us stands tyranny. The bloody banner is raised. Do you hear in the countryside the howling of those ferocious soldiers? They have come into our midst to slit the throat of our sons and wives. To arms citizens! To arms citizens! Form your battalions. Let’s march, let’s march, so that the impure blood should irrigate our fields.” The lyrics, which reflect on the invasion of France by the armies of Prussia and Austria (1792) in the aftermath of the French Revolution (1789), illustrate what is actually happening in Haiti.
Indeed, the roar of MINUSTAH’s armored vehicles is terrorizing the population into submission under the assertion “the protesters are being manipulated by enemies of stability and democracy in Haiti.” Unbeknownst to the occupiers, the muffled cries of the victims are resonating in the remotest corners of the globe and the lovers of freedom are attentively listening, as the Great Experiment resembles more a war of extermination than the mission of mercy its architects want the world to believe.

It Is Selection Time; Therefore Time to Vote

The one certainty about the November 28th upcoming legislative and presidential elections in Haiti is that they will be declared “free and fair” by the international community, despite the illegal machinations of Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). In contrast, the November 7th election in Myanmar (formerly Burma) was, for all purposes and intents, declared unfair and undemocratic by the international community, even before the first votes were cast. Two elections with similar dynamic; Haiti and Myanmar’s two largest political parties are excluded in both instances and their leaders, Jean Bertrand Aristide and Aung San Suu Kyi, in exile and under house arrest, respectively. Apparently, free and fair elections, the bedrock of democracy, far from being a universal concept are actually subjective. Based on that reality, wouldn’t it be fair for Haitians to be asked whether they want to be part of this charade?
It is by now an historical fact that voting for the wrong candidate can have terrible consequences for Haiti and its people, the electorate should therefore refrain itself from engaging in an exercise that is being used to suppress its aspirations. Unless the people’s choice, no matter misguided it may be, can be validated and respected, what is the point in participating in a protracted process that is expensive and, most importantly, lacking credibility. Obviously, we are going back to the days when a king, having converted to a new faith, orders his subjects to embrace it, regardless of their aversion to it, or face the harshest of punishments. The analogy being: unless the Haitian people conform to this tyrannical, perverted and discriminatory form of democracy, they will be ostracized from the family of nations and made to suffer the consequences.
It should be noted that the Haitian people are receptive to the notion of electing their own leaders, which is a core democratic principle, as opposed to sticking with their country’s storied history of imposed rule. They have done so on several occasions but their choice was scornfully and violently rejected by the international community. There are apparently no discernible differences between the two political systems, which are inherently narcissistic and based on unaccountability, subjugation, exploitation and exclusion. Hence, voting on November 28th is tantamount to the Haitian people willingly endorsing the tyrannical rule of their tormentors, as it will be all but impossible to get rid of the tyrants except through the ballot box which, in itself, is stacked against their aspirations. Try imagining an armed rebellion against a Gerard Latortue-type tyrant, not sanctioned by the international community. Unlike Guy Philippe, the wannabe generalissimo, who spearheaded the 2004 armed insurrection against the country’s democratically elected government, any would-be liberator will be sitting on the dock at The Hague answering for a plethora of crimes before the International Criminal Court.
Though it may be naïve to expect a modicum of decency from the selected crop of candidates in the upcoming November 28th presidential election, this great little nation deserves better nonetheless. Exceedingly ambitious and correspondingly short on ethical and leadership qualities, this slate of politicians is the embodiment of self-preservation and political expediency and rightfully deserves the labels collaborators” and “puppets.” No one among them can stand up against the politic of organized chaos created by outsiders with the help of the mulatto elite, which allows the international community to present itself as “the savior” rather than the instigator of the cycle of destruction and misery.
Though it has been established that the strain of cholera creating havoc in Haiti is South Asian, U.S medical experts are now concerned about its possible spread to the U.S and other countries, which implies that Haiti may be considered ground zero for the epidemic. Yet, Michel Chancy, the Haitian minister in charge of coordinating a response to the epidemic concluded: “Haitians will always complain; it is part of the culture. They blame everyone and anything from colonialism to international aid agencies.” Basically, the man is saying there is nothing to complain about, and no one asks for his resignation. It shows that despite a succession of calamities befallen Haiti since February 29th, 2004, many of which the doings of the occupiers, Haitian politicians remain active participants in the enslavement of their fellow countrymen.
A perfunctory look at the problems facing Haiti and the slate of candidates clearly show that the elections will not solve anything. Consider the two frontrunners, Myrlande Manigat and Jude Celestin, as examples. Ms. Manigat is an over-emotional woman who angrily refused to participate in a run-off for a senate seat she was slated to win. This, after René Préval was declared the winner in the UN-organized, fraud-marred, 2006 presidential and legislative elections in which her husband, Leslie Manigat, received a little over 13 percent of the vote and denied a run-off. Even the most dedicated feminist should have second thoughts about voting for such an impulsive leader. As for Célestin, how can he convince the Diaspora and foreign investors to come and invest in Haiti when he, himself, saw fit to invest in real estate ventures in the U.S rather than injecting the money into the Haitian economy and helping create jobs?
As per the selective process, one of these two politicians will be president of Haiti on February 7th 2011, and the cycle of apathy, misery and condescension will endure. Aptly, the electorate should desist from participating in this charade until the present situation is reversed.

Democracy or Demographic Project

As early as 2003, many western governments have been mulling the possibility of containing Haiti’s population, which was expected to reach 20 million by the year 2025. Accordingly, they decided that a poor and overpopulated Haiti, historically resistant to the orthodoxy of the western civilization, represented a threat to the western hemisphere, hence a time bomb to be defused. Fittingly, the occupation (2004-?), coming in the year of Haiti’s bicentennial, correlates with this line of thinking which has since developed into a policy to be implemented. The occupation unfortunately ended a period (1986-2004) which would have gone down in history as “The Haitian Renaissance.” Rasin music embodied the Haitian consciousness, Creole or more suitably “Haitian” was recognized along with French as the country’s two official languages and the long-oppressed majority finally started enjoying the rewards of political empowerment.
However, in the euphoria of their newfound freedom, the masses failed to notice the danger lurking in the shadow: a reactionary group, guided and financed by foreign entities and the mulatto elite, willing to undo their political gains. Afflicted with a chronic case of political narcissism and prodded by the international community, these enemies of the people embarked on a near religious crusade to save Haiti from the uncivilized Lavalas hordes. On the other hand, the masses, ignoring the lessons of history, failed to consolidate their gains by not applying victor’s justice against their former oppressors, which proved to be a blunder of monumental proportion. As a result, the Renaissance fizzled under the machinations of the international community and the political economic sabotage from these enemies of the Haitian people.
One of them, Edwige Lalane, a former Haitian diplomat and enabler of the U.N occupation of Haiti, went so far as to advocating the physical elimination of 5% of the residents of Sité Solèy, pop.350.000, whom he deemed incorrigible and uncontainable bandits. Even Joachim Von Ribbentrop, the Nazi’s top diplomat (1938-45) was never that callous, even though the extermination of European Jewry was the Nazis’ stated policy. When Hitler started his denunciation of the German Jews at the beginning of his political career, no one could have foreseen the consequences of his intolerance against a group he felt had no place in his vision of a racially pure Germany. His diatribes won over a majority of Germans nevertheless and the rest is history: crematories, special treatments, concentration camps, final solution and mass exterminations became part of the world’s lexicons.
It is therefore inconceivable that at the beginning of the 21st century, a third rate diplomat and simple minded fascist could advocate the physical elimination of humans he deemed undesirables and not be criminally charged for making terroristic and genocidal threats against humanity. Distorted ideas are more amenable to common folks than simple facts and, once a rationale is ingrained in their psyche, irrationality automatically prevails. This helps explain why Haiti’s current situation, the result of centuries of persecutions by western powers, is invariably blamed on Jean Bertrand Aristide, whom the same Edwige Lalane alleged would cause harm to the country and the international community, if he were allowed to return from the imposed exile in South Africa. And, also Charles Baker’s contention that restoring the now-defunct Haitian Armed Forces (F A d’H) would deter criminality and set the country in the path of development.
As expected, the international community was in accord with Edwige Lalane’s method of dealing with the so-called bandits of Sité Solèy, because on June 6 of that year MINUSTAH soldiers mounted an indiscriminate bombing and land campaign against the area’s residents. The U.N reported 13 deaths, most of them it attributed to collateral damage, while independent sources registered dozens fatalities. Despite the generic press release by MINUSTAH promising an investigation on the circumstances of the untimely demise of the innocent victims, no report were ever released to the public.
For centuries, the Artibonite Valley abutting both sides of Haiti’s largest river by the same name was the breadbasket of the country and a lifeline for millions of Haitian peasants. With the inhabitants of the region presently afraid to use the contaminated river water for their daily chores, including cooking and farming, the cholera epidemic may well suit the designs of Lalane’s Haiti Democracy Project and its backers. The probable cause of the cholera epidemic, a MINUSTAH base manned by Nepalese soldiers, will be ignored in accordance with the U.N standard practice of promising an investigation without ever intending to release any conclusion to the public. Now that the U.S Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta has confirmed that the cholera strain is South Asian, in effect substantiating the Nepalese connection to the outbreak, will the UN repatriate the contingent?
The Haitian government’s response apparently precludes such possibility, if one refers to the statement of Dr. Alex Larsen, Haiti's Minister of Health. "Although these results indicate that the strain is non-Haitian, cholera strains may move between different areas due to global travel and trade." Therefore, we will never know the exact origin of the strain that is causing the epidemic in Haiti” said Dr Larsen. Like Gérard Latortue, Haiti’s prime minister (2004-06), who famously acknowledged not having read the document granting the MINUSTAH jurisdictional power over the Haitian National Police, Dr. Larsen may, one day, admit not having seen this statement that bore his name.
Could Lalane’s “Haiti Democracy Project” be a misnomer for Haiti Demographic Project?

Financing the Reconstruction

In the seven months following the International Donors’ Conference of March 31st in NY, it has become apparent to most Haitians that the promised funds for the Reconstruction Project are subject to international intrigues and the tent cities will be around for decades, unless Haitians extricate themselves from this dependency. Moreover, with the government practically bankrupt, hence deprived of its constitutional prerogatives to formulate economic and social policies, and the disbursed funds going to the battalion of NGOs operating in Haiti, ingenuity rather than dependency may be the only way out of this inopportune situation. Forget about the IMF’s blueprint, which is attuned to creating an unregulated market for multinational corporations to unload their surplus or defective goods in Haiti, a policy which fosters the culture of dependency, hinders the country’s development and exacerbates its misery.
Indeed Haiti is experiencing an economic, social and political dysfunction which can only get worse as long as the culture of dependence on foreign assistance, channeled through foreign-administrated NGOs, is not tackled. Since it is inevitable that a sham election will be held this November and a winner will emerge out of the current crop of candidates/collaborators, the next constituted government should try to make the best out of an awkward situation. As a remedy, an economic emergency must be declared; it will enable the incoming government to recover the lost constitutional prerogatives, set the stage for sustained economic development and hasten the occupiers’ eventual departure.
At the Nazi Doctors’ trial at Nuremberg (1946-47), Karl Brandt, who oversaw a program to euthanize mentally ill Germans, callously declared “It may seem to have been inhuman…The underlying motive was the desire to help individuals who could not help themselves…Such considerations cannot be regarded as inhuman. Nor did I ever feel it in any degree unethical or immoral.” Unfortunately, the U.N occupation of Haiti is based on the same principle: a twisted desire to save a helpless nation supposedly from itself. Accordingly, the thousands of deaths since 2004, the raping of young Haitian women by Sri Lankan soldiers who were swiftly repatriated, the random classification of opponents of the New Order as bandits, the marginalization of the vast majority of the population, and now a plague (Cholera), which has been absent in the country for a century, apparently caused by illegal dumping of Nepalese soldiers’ excrements in the Artibonite River are indicative that the end justifies the means. Since we are regarded by others as a diseased specie, (5.6 million Haitians were inoculated under a U.N-sponsored program three years ago), the Cholera epidemic certainly is not helping matters. Could another round of inoculation be in the work and an apology, if one is ever offered, will come decades later?
Extricating Haiti from this untenable situation necessitates a national consensus that rejects the culture of dependency, through belt tightening, and other fiscal measures. To that end, the next government must circumvent the suffocating control of the colonial authority by adopting an economic program uniquely suited to Haiti’s perilous situation. Such initiative will facilitate the recovery of the government’s lost prerogatives and the country’s sovereignty. Most importantly, this consensus offers a unique opportunity for Haitians to make peace with themselves and neutralize the impenitent collaborators and traitors who engineered the occupation of the country in the year of its bi-centennial, for Haiti is a crossroads and nothing less than its survival is at stake.
To that effect, five things must be done. Firstly: slapping a 10% tax on imports of essential goods and a 20% hike on non-essential goods to generate revenues. This will naturally discourage consumption of foreign goods, encourage local production and help build a nest of foreign currencies reserves, because even affluent countries living beyond their means, eventually get in financial trouble. Secondly: imposition of an indirect tax on the Haitian Diaspora that entails a 5% levy on remittances. Such levy could easily raise 80 to 100 millions of dollars annually, and will also be a remainder to the Diaspora that its never-ending albeit legitimate demand for privileges (dual citizenship) comes with obligations to the fatherland. Thirdly: an enforceable ban on the illegal circulation of U.S currencies outside of the banking system and a strict limit of 1000 U.S dollars that an individual can transfer or carry outside of Haiti for any 6 months period. Presently, many commercial establishments and private institutions of learning only accept U.S dollars as payment for goods, tuitions and books, an aberration which must end expeditiously. In 2002, in one week period, Jude Célestin, one of the frontrunners in the November 28 presidential election, purchased two homes in Dade County, FL. Needless to say, strict currency control could have prevented such occurrence. Fifthly: imposition of capital punishment for economic crimes involving corruption, willful tax evasion and hoarding of goods by speculators. This approach works for China, so why not try it in Haiti, one of the most corrupt places in our planet.
We do not need to conform to the “divide and rule” politic of the occupiers, which is genocidal in nature, as the unsavory events taking place under the New Order illustrate. This parcel of land called Haiti belongs to us, the descendants of Dessalines, not foreign mercenaries and their local acolytes. Time is clearly not on our side, since Haiti runs the risk of having generations of thoroughly indoctrinated leaders seeing the country’s problems through the perspectives of the occupiers.

Repression In the Name of Democracy

On October 15, Haitians protesting this year’s automatic renewal of the Security Council mandated-occupation of their country were viciously attacked by U.N troops apparently indignant at their lack of gratitude toward the mission. This incident, more than countless others, epitomizes the real purpose of the occupation: submission through intimidations and coercions. For starters, Haiti is not a country that started a war and lost, something that would warrant the occupation, but a victim of naked military aggression. Moreover, the notion that political instability, incidentally instigated by many western powers, makes Haiti a “threat to international peace and security” only highlights the lack of credibility of the U.N Security Council.
When one thinks of nuclear proliferation; religious and narco-terrorism that have cost thousands of lives in the last five years, and the haphazard rush by emerging powers to secure raw materials for their economies in faraway lands, a development which could easily trigger expansionism and military confrontations with the established powers, it is evident that the U.N Security Council is barking at the wrong tree. As Haitians would say “Konsèy Sékirité-a kité kò-a, lap krié devan sèkèy-la.” Moreover, given the illogical premise of the Security Council mandated-occupation of Haiti (threat to international peace and security), the outcome cannot possibly be one that satisfies both the interests of the Haitian people and those of the international community, which are obviously murky.
In destroying a nascent, albeit imperfect, democracy in Haiti by force on February 29, 2004, the international community, in the eyes of many Haitians, abdicated its role as an impartial arbitrator that can bridge the country’s political-economic divide. The arbitrary imprisonments, the extrajudicial killings, the bombing of Sité Solèy on June 6, 2006, the disappearances of supporters of the exiled president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, and exclusion of his party from the electoral process, which took place under the occupation, cannot conceivably be a winning formula to building democracy. 6 years and counting, indiscriminate use of force against peaceful protesters remain the preferred method by which U.N troops exercise control over the population, as the October 14 incident indicates. By contrast, protests were allowed under the Lavalas government (2001-04) which the international community considered undemocratic and autocratic, a fabricated justification for the February 29, 2004 invasion. In this case, maladi moun-sa yo soufri-a, sé pa li yo di doktè-a, because what else can explain the contradictory course in implementing their stated goal.
Exactly what kind of Democracy do these people have in mind? Is it one in which the notion of human rights pertains to the right hands and feet of the majority of Haitians? From the implementation of the IMF’s onerous privatization directive that practically destroyed Haiti’s peasantry to the expropriation of the government’s prerogatives by the foreign-led Haiti Reconstruction Fund (HRF), everything undertaken by the international mission has been detrimental to the majority of Haitians. Haiti is so dysfunctional under the occupation that one presidential candidate is staking his campaign on restoring the now-defunct Haitian military, which at one point consumed 40% of the country’s budget. Unless the man plans to embark on military adventures to confiscate the riches of neighboring countries, which would make sense, I do not see how he can rationalize his thoughtless idea and persuade a majority of Haitians to go along with it. Perhaps, his foreign handlers, in anticipation of their eventual departure, forced or voluntary, put him up to it.
One of the core principles of Democracy is the right to protest, which provides a voice to the voiceless against perceived or real abuses by those in power. Protests started the French and Russian Revolutions, 1789 and 1917 respectively, and remained a powerful weapon against entrenched power structures that excluded those at the margin of society. In Haiti, where a purported attempt by the U.N at building democracy has been in motion since February 29, 2004, the right to protest is anything but. Instead a reign of terror under the aegis of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has descended upon the Haitian people. Young Haitian women are raped by U.N troops; opponents of the occupation have disappeared or arbitrarily imprisoned, and, with the banishment of Fanmi Lavalas, the country’s largest political party from the political process, the political system has become ever more exclusive.
In democratic countries and those moving steadily toward embracing democratic ideals, the right to protest provides the disaffected or excluded with a powerful voice that sometimes resonates in the corridors of power. For that reason, protests are viewed with suspicions by oppressive entities, notwithstanding the fact that historical precedents validate the correlation between repression and upheavals. Perhaps, the Security Council, supremely confident in its unchallenged authority and might, considers such possibility farfetched. If that assertion was valid, the now-defunct Soviet Union (1917-91) would not have disappeared the way it did.
Aptly, the Security Council’s doctrine of preventive intervention or responsibility to protect civilians clearly was inappropriate in Haiti’s case, which was purely political, thus required a political solution, as there was no genocide or mass killings, which would have warranted the country’s occupation under Chapter VII of the U.N Charter. Despite the generic statements occasionally emanated from the U.N, it is unmistakably clear that building democratic institutions in Haiti is not, never has been nor will ever be, the goal of the occupation. Simply put, the endeavor is a testament of the Security Council’s abuse of its unchallenged authority.

God, Humans and Religions

On the practical side all species are enjoying their earthly purpose to be born, live and die, except humans who are so enthralled with their intelligence that they have raised the ante. Proclaiming themselves plenipotentiary representatives of a Supreme Being on earth, humans invented religion, a destructive concept that evolves into a “raison d’être” surpassing domination and conquest, the main attributes of survival and evolution. So powerful is religion that it has become inconceivable to imagine our world without it. Ironically, the concept creates a host of intractable issues that not only challenge humans’ vaunted intelligence but may well bring their untimely demise.
Because humans are a diverse bunch that could never blindly follow any universal precept, regardless of its allure or potency, religion may never work according to the design of its architects or proponents even in a hypothetically homogenous world. The history of religion from its inception to the present proves it, since religious doctrines are as changeable as the weather and as accommodating to human influences as nature. Because the basic tenets of many of the world’s best known religions are invariably made to tailor human idiosyncrasies and communal evolution, it is incumbent upon theologians (professional religionists) to prove to skeptics that religion was God’s edict and not a human creation. Barring such explanation, time remains religion’s worst enemy despite the occasional outbursts in religious fervor marking the major religious faiths to varying degrees throughout their recorded existence.
It doesn’t take a genius to understand that compassion and indifference, love and hate, virtue and wickedness also exist in the non-human world, hence the notion of God and Satan, which characterizes those traits, could not possibly be the defining proof of the existence of a Supreme Being that forms the essence of Judaism, Christianity, Islam and other lesser known monotheist faiths. Fortunately for the architects of the concept and unfortunately for the devotees, other species have so far been unable to present their own version of the “Creation” upon which rests the notion of an omniscient and omnipresent God. Were that to happen, their perspectives would undoubtedly differ from the accepted theory that confers to humans dominion over all things.
Assuming one stands prepared to give the notion of a Supreme Being the benefit of the doubt, that person cannot in all truthfulness countenance his omniscience because it is testing to imagine an omniscient God leaving humans, apparently his most wicked creation, in charge of their own judgment. Moreover, the notion that God prefers to take a back seat and let humans enjoy their earthly stay on the premise they will ultimately be judged for their actions trivializes his inimitable wisdom and is patently absurd from a theological perspective. This religious-disseminated view makes God an intriguer, possibly a practical joker, not the infallible and omniscient creature who purportedly conceived the universe and its contents.
Take for example the story told in the bible of Jesus having sent by God to teach disobedient humans the way to salvation. It implies that God, far from being omniscient, may have actually lost control of his prized creation. Moreover Jesus did not help matters either, since his teachings were allegories that remain subject to different interpretations, leaving an elite group of priests, pastors and theologians to tell the rest of us what is to be construed literally or figuratively. Adding to the confusion is the sad reality that these modern-day Sanhedrin themselves typically cannot come up with an authoritative reading of Jesus Christ’ message, making theological differences among Christians intense and unforgiving. Accordingly Catholics are derided as followers of the Pope not Christians by other Christian denominations, even though Jesus is the central figure of Catholicism.
What about Judaism’s doctrinal contention of the Jews being the chosen people? It implies that God, by virtue of his preference for a particular group of people, is actually a prejudiced Being and every non-Jew claiming to be His progeny is an impostor. This fundamental tenet of Judaism incidentally contrasts with Christianity’s own, which holds “God so loved the world (those adhering to the Christian faith), that he gave his only Son (Jesus), that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Furthermore Christians could look askance at the Muslims’ claim of God having sent the Prophet Muhammad to spread his words, after Jesus, his begotten son, had failed. These conflicting theological readings of God’s intention may explain the hard to comprehend delay in Jesus’ anticipated return that baffled generations of Christians for the last 2000 years, because God apparently does not want to add to the confusion. Hence any religion claiming to be the only authentic conveyer of God’s wishes is an insult to the Creator himself, because it is indeed presumptuous to accept as true that God would delegate to humans or any religion for that matter the right to fight battles or defend causes on his behalf.
Many Haitians have turned to religions following the January 12th earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, in effect validating the notion of desperation as a potent facilitator of religious beliefs. Since the Reverend Pat Robertson authoritatively claimed that the tragedy was God’s punishment for the pact made by Haitians with the devil (1791) to liberate themselves from the ignominies of slavery, are these Haitians trying to make amends with the Creator? If that is the case, then God himself has lost track of what should be considered good and evil.

The Politic Of Forced Assimilation

It has happened to the Basques in Spain under Francisco Franco (1939-75); the Kurds in modern Turkey, the Crimean Tatars of the former Soviet Union during the reign of Joseph Stalin (1922-53) and the Tibetans under Chinese rule (1959-?): forceful attempts at assimilating these minorities into the larger entities through eradication of their mother tongues, the most potent symbol of their ethnicity. To that end, the use of their language was discouraged, forbidden and, in extreme cases, criminalized. As such, this policy is the most repugnant form of subjugation. Conversely in Haiti, a nation of 12 million souls, including its Diaspora, that speaks a native language, it is the majority that is compelled to adopt that of the dominant minority, namely French.
Moreover, “Haitian”, the etiologically correct appellation for the language, is wrongly, albeit intentionally, called Kréyol, patois or broken French, which means that it derives from the more accepted French language. It is akin to declaring that Portuguese is broken Spanish, and also patently absurd to assume that a Frenchman can understand “Kréyol.” This widely accepted theory of the origins of “Haitian” contradicts the reality, as “Kréyol, patois or broken French” is grammatically, orthographically and phonetically distinct from the French language. Those insisting on the intertwinement of the two languages may be on to something more sinister: a willful intent to debase and confuse a proud little nation that intended, at its inception, to discard all vestiges of colonialism. Contextually, it is by choice that Haiti is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that develops its own language despite centuries of colonialism.
Like the demonizing of Vodou by malevolent foreigners with nefarious intents, this way of thinking is a deliberate attempt at disavowing the notion of a Haitian identity. Aptly, it wasn’t until 1987, the 183rd year of Haiti’s formal independence from France, that the inappropriately-named “Kréyol” was finally recognized as an official language to be used conjointly with French. However, encrypting “Haitian” as an official language into the Constitution is only one step, promoting its acceptance by the population may require many more steps that will involve changing the mentality of a nation that has consistently been steered away from the concept of forging a national identity.
Human interactions through commerce and conquests have fundamentally altered native tongues all over the planet and in many instances created new ones. For example, it is not unusual to find Japanese words in Chinese and vice versa and German words in the English language. And, it was in the context of promoting interaction that Esperanto, an alternative language that would allow people who speak different native languages to communicate while retaining their own languages and cultural identities, was introduced by Dr. L.L. Zamenhof in 1887. Though the idea was well-intentioned, it never caught on and remained Eurocentric and elitist in nature as, according to the latest estimate, only 2 million practitioners speak Esperanto. Moreover, its restricted usage demonstrates that the development of languages runs parallel to that of insular groups or societies and cannot be created artificially regardless of good intents.
As a rule, a common language represents the soul of a nation, something which the pathological French people can attest to. In the 1990’s a debate raged in France over the infiltration of English, the dominant international idiom since the end of WWII, into the French sacred language. The result was the Toubon law (1994) enacted by the French National Assembly forbidding the use of English words in broadcasting. The law may seem preposterous to outsiders but to the French it was about protecting their identity. More to the point, I remember watching a French program titled “Bouillon de culture” (Cultural stew) in which Jean D’Omersson, a famous French writer and member of L’Academie Française was invited. Asked by the host why he loves France? D’Omersson responded with unabashed pride “Parce qu’elle nous a donné la langue”, literally “Because it (France) gave us (the French) the language.” This was a testament of the emotional attachment to the French language which D’Omersson as, do all French men and women, consider central to their identity.
Fittingly, languages form the essence of ethnic identity more so than geography or race and are revered by their native speakers, which is why ethnicity is recognized by the language a person speaks rather than the geographical area in which he lives or the color of his skin. In Africa wherein, as a result of European colonialism, ethnic groups straddle national borders, it is precisely the language that identifies a person as being a member of a particular ethnic group. It is also for that reason that the ethnic Germans who lived for centuries in the Volga region of the former Soviet Union were deemed Germans by Stalin because of the language they spoke.
As languages define ethnicity more so than geography and race, should Haitians be identified as French or Kréyol speakers? In contrast with the other countries of the Western Hemisphere that adopted the idioms of their former colonizers, Haitians speak a distinctive dialect, which should appropriately be called Haitian, in conformity with our ethnicity, not Kréyol, which is a reminder of a past we would rather forget. Our existence as a people is contingent on affirming our identity, which is inextricably linked to our language, and unless we (Haitians) come to terms with that reality, others will always feel empower to decide what is best for us.

Six years on....Haiti is a U.N Problem

If one took care to exclude the impenitent collaborators who are basking in their subservient role in administering the country, the solution to Haiti’s woes have been beyond the control of ordinary Haitians, many of whom are systematically hunted down, murdered, ostracized and humiliated since the start of the occupation (2004-?). Even Mother Nature is cooperating with the occupiers, as Hurricanes Jeanne (2004), Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike (2008) and the January 12, 2010 earthquake that killed 2% of Haiti’s population demonstrate. Sheer coincidence, may be. The ramifications are nonetheless too palpable to ignore as the international community’s self-assigned nation-building role could ultimately endanger Haiti’s very existence. Even the premise of the endeavor, (Haiti being a threat to international peace and security), is ludicrous, if not malicious.
Recently Rwanda’s Paul Kagame elaborating on the western powers’ paternalism in Africa summed it up this way: “They criticize the good things we do (Africans) and try to hold us responsible for the bad things they do.” He further added “Africans are capable of forging their own destiny; we don’t need the lessons that we’re always being given.” In Haiti’s case, the western powers seem no longer content to criticize or give lessons as the unlawful occupation of the country attests, they are bent on imposing their will by any means, using the most preposterous argument and brutal tactics to that end. While the international community is slow in delivering its promised aid for the reconstruction, the United Nations is sending more soldiers and police officers in Haiti to neutralize any upheaval that is likely to occur.
Complicating matters is the fact that the corrupt and servile political class remains silent on the U.N occupation by choice. Taking a principled stand against the occupation means forsaking their personal aspirations, something that members of this particular group will never do. In the process, they are lending credence to the notion put forward by the international community that Haiti needs supervision or protection from them. A presidential candidate, senator Jean Hector Anacacis, looking to endear himself with the occupiers, proposes reconstructing the decommissioned Haitian Armed Forces (FA d’H) and creating a secret service agency that would bolster security and create a safer environment for foreign investors. Another candidate Charles Henry Baker laments on his website “the full range of political rights and civil liberties guarantees by the Haitian Constitution remains precarious as there is a lack of any legitimate security force’ (he is passionate about the restoration of the defunct Haitian Armed Forces). How precisely these absent-minded approaches correlate with solving the problems of the 1.3 million homeless living and dying in inhumane conditions in squalid camps since the January 12 earthquake may baffle economists and historians for years.
With turncoats like Préval, Anacacis and the facilitators of the February 29, 2004 invasion and occupation of Haiti, one needs to ask whether the Haitian revolution was a mirage or a genuine attempt by men of valor to do away with institutionalized injustice. As for Préval’s contemptuous attitude toward the Haitian people, it was evident in the aftermath of the January 12 disaster when he failed to address the traumatized nation for a month, preferring instead to give interviews to foreign media and lamenting about the collapse of his palace, presumably the one he inherited from his father. With a leader like Préval, the Haitian people certainly do not need enemies, hence the prevailing view in the international community that Haitians are responsible for their torments.
At this juncture, the revolutionary spirit that embodied the likes of Mackandal, Boukman, Biassou, Toussaint, Dessalines and Christophe, to name a few, has vanished into thin air. To think that 20% of the Black population of Saint Domingue (present-day Haiti) perished for a righteous cause that many of their descendants consider irrelevant to their existence is an insult to the Negroid race. In sabotaging the commemorations of the bi-centennial of a hard won victory over injustice and arrogance, Haiti’s political class along with the foreign-born or affiliated elite have shown their true colors and ought to be designated “special enemies of the nation.”
Unless the presidential candidates take a stand on the issue, the electorate should boycott the November 28 vote which is a mockery of Democracy. This particular election will legitimize the Security Council mandated-occupation of the country and nullify the principle of auto-determination enumerated in the United Nations Charter. Considering the occupiers’ effective control of Haiti with the explicit support of local collaborators and because the Haitian people are factually prevented from deciding or addressing their own future, participation will amount to voting under duress.
Because a year in politics is an eternity, the redundant assertion that Haitians are responsible for their torments is no longer valid after 6 plus years of occupation of Haiti by MINUSTAH. Whether the international community cares to admit it or not, Haiti’s problems have been its responsibilities since February 29, 2004, and the argument that whatever has been achieved between 2004 and 2010 is now buried under the rubbles is patently disingenuous and totally ridiculous. In that regard, the international community can either admit defeat or claim victory and make an honorable exit. Evangelization, coercion and occupation can never obliterate our national character, which was built on a core principle: rejection of all forms of subjugation. Like its predecessors, the republic of NGOs will inevitably crumble in the most unexpected way.

Nigeria's Terror Bombing...What a Shame

By virtue of its large population and abundant mineral resources, Nigeria was advertised as a giant and upcoming Africa’s Superpower upon getting its independence from Britain on September 29, 1960. Those claims however turned out to be shallow, as the events of the last fifty years demonstrated. Military coups, endemic corruption, ethnic and religious conflicts and increasing poverty certainly nullify this rosy scenario. Thus September 29, 2010 which was to be a milestone for Nigeria turned into a nightmare when the festivities commemorating that country’s 50th year of political independence from Great Britain were interrupted by twin car bombings that left 12 dead and dozens injured. Unless Black people in general have a peculiar way of commemorating special events, (it reminds me of the sabotaging of Haiti’s bi-centennial by impenitent thugs at the behest of foreign entities), this behavior is unquestionably abnormal and hard to comprehend.
Understandably MEND, (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta), the group behind the bombings has legitimate grievances against the central government. It is fighting for a fairer distribution of oil revenue and remedial from sustained environmental degradation of the Niger Delta that endangers the livelihood of thousands of farmers and fishermen. As Nigeria remains mired in corruption and successive administrative failures, the statement released by the group is regrettably true "For 50 years, the people of the Niger Delta have had their land and resources stolen from them." “There is nothing worth celebrating after 50 years of failure." Perhaps the impenitent Haitians who deliberately sabotaged the bi-centennial of their country’s hard fought independence and facilitated its occupation (2004-?) were thinking along those lines.
Regardless of the justness of their cause, the act was self-centered and ill-timed; those responsible should, upon their capture, be hanged high in Abuja’s Eagle Square. Two days after the bombings, Henry Okah, the ex-leader of MEND, who was freed from a Nigerian prison on humanitarian grounds in July 2009 and moved to South Africa, was arrested by that country’s police. He is facing terrorism charges in connection with the bombing. The group’s unjustifiable action clearly shows that ethnic pride supersedes national interests; it validates the viewpoint of many within and outside of Nigeria that the prematurely named Africa’s Superpower, as presently constituted, cannot conceivably survive as a functional and stable country. Even Muhammad Khaddafi, a passionate advocate of a political union grouping all African states, flaunted the idea of a partition of Nigeria as a solution to its intractable religious problems. The statement emanated from the Nigerian Foreign Ministry in response to Khaddafi’s unsolicited advice was swift and unforgiving: "The insensitive and oftentimes irresponsible utterances of Colonel Gaddafi, his theatrics and grandstanding at every auspicious occasion have become too numerous to recount. These have diminished his status and credibility as a leader to be taken seriously." Khaddafi’s comment may be undiplomatic, but it highlights an issue that can no longer be ignored. The 1967-70 Biafra War (the Igbo seceded from Nigeria to form an independent state) is an example of what the country could be facing in the near future.
Actually Nigeria is, like all Sub-Saharan countries, fundamentally dysfunctional and should not exist in its present form. A creation of European colonialism, Nigeria is a mosaic of more than 250 ethnic groups, each with its own language and customs, with the largest being the Hausa in the north, the Yoruba and the Igbo in the South, East and Southeastern parts of the country. Though English, the language of the former colonizer, superficially holds this nation together, it is far from being the required solution because it is spoken mostly by the affluent and educated. These facts notwithstanding, the country has to deal with periodic tribal, regional, sectarian and religious violence which certainly make the case for its dismemberment into separate entities. Barring such ideal solution, Nigeria’s problems will endure for centuries because the ethnic and religious divide can never be bridged.
Therefore, the concept of Nigeria becoming the Superpower of Africa in the year 2000 was utopian, as the country was from its inception fundamentally flawed and could never develop a national identity commensurate with the title. Case in point, 50 years after British rule ended, Nigerian barristers and judges still wear white wigs, the colonial era symbol of the authority of the Court. Although the custom is still in use in many Commonwealth countries, Nigeria, one of the leading African nations thus representative of the Continent and its Diaspora, could have discarded this colonial vestige as it is truly a pathetic sight seeing a Black person wearing that wig. More to the point, South Africa, by virtue of its economic and industrial might, has eclipsed Nigeria as the leading African nation and the most likely to get a permanent seat in the U.N Security Council, if that club of powerful nations ever gets an overhaul.
Today’s Nigeria is known to the rest of world as a nation beset by religious and ethnic violence and inhabited by fraudsters and corrupt politicians. In a report released last year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimated that 400 billion of dollars were stolen from Nigeria’s treasury during that country’s five decades of independence. Considering the rolling black-outs and Nigeria’s decrepit infrastructure, this astronomical sum could certainly have been used to better end. Perhaps, the insurgents of the Niger Delta have decided that is enough is enough, the timing of their actions is unjustifiable nevertheless.

1915-34 Revisited

1915-34 Revisited

Few Haitians have heard of Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler (1881-1940), who served as a major in Haiti during the first U.S occupation of that country (1915-34) and personified its motive. A man of his time, General Butler claimed to have hunted the Cacos, the Haitian rebels who opposed the occupation, like pigs, and did not hide his hatred for the “uncivilized niggers in need to be civilized” who inhabited the island, as his 1922 testimony before a U.S senate inquiry into the occupation indicated. Had generations of Haitians be made aware of his exploits in Haiti, they would not have facilitated or tolerated the current U.N occupation (2004-?) which incidentally bears eerie similarities to that of the U.S which lasted 19 years. The brutality of the U.S occupation was such that thousands of Haitians sought refuge in Cuba where today their descendants numbered more than half-million in that island nation.
According to the transcript of the hearings, in 1914, the U.S notifies the Haitian government that it is disposed to recognize the newly elected Haitian president, Davilmar Theodore, as soon as Haiti signs a “satisfactory protocol” on the model of the U.S-Dominican Convention of 1907. To which the Haitian government replied: “The government of the Republic of Haiti would consider itself lacking in its duty to the U.S and to itself, if it allowed the least doubt to exist of its irrevocable intention not to accept any control of the administration of Haitian affairs by a foreign power.” Nevertheless on July 29, 1915 U.S troops invaded Haiti and curiously the American people were told that the Haitian people invited the United Sates to straighten out its affairs.
On February 39, 2004, 70 years after the U.S occupation ended, Haiti was once more invaded and occupied by U.S and French forces acting under the cover of a U.N. Security Council resolution. Despite this interlude, the rationale remained the same: forestalling political violence and stabilizing the country’s institutions, with an addendum this time that Jean Bertrand Aristide himself, the Haitian president, had asked to be taken out of Haiti. This reasoning is rooted in a paternalism which exposes Haitians as inherently irresponsive to foreign directives and inclined to self-destruct, hence the perpetual disdain for the country, its people, culture and institutions. To make matters worse the strategy is aided and abetted by the country’s intelligentsia, its economic elite and the political class, which explains their unconditional support for the U.N occupation.
Gérard Latortue, Haiti’s prime minister (2004-06) and René Préval, the country’s current president are poster boys of that anti-national movement. Assailed by critics over his signing over jurisdictional control of the Haitian National Police to the MINUSTAH, which nullified Haiti’s sovereignty as a nation in the waning weeks of his premiership, Latortue responded that he did not have his spectacles on. This is a stunning admission by the man that he did not even read the agreement, prior to signing it. Following the January 12 earthquake, René Préval, understandably overwhelmed by the magnitude of the disaster, could have formed a national unity government tasked with rebuilding the country but instead chose to play old-style politics.
Sensing a golden opportunity arising from the absolute incompetence of Préval and his minions, the international community swiftly moves in to fill the void and takes charge of the rebuilding. The end result is the takeover of the government’s constitutional prerogatives by Haiti Interim Reconstruction Commission, a foreign-dominated body whose purpose is to implement the objectives of the occupiers. This incomprehensible act by Préval, a man elected to protect the interests of Haiti and its people, is downright malicious rather than a simple case of dereliction of duty or incompetence.
Based on the aforementioned actions of Latortue and Préval, were they duped by hardened imperialists or willingly collaborated in the subjugation of the Haitian people? I sincerely doubt the former could be the case since the two exhibited classic symptoms of exaggerated self-worth, thus were in full control of their faculties. As for Préval, the man is so proud of his performance that he is protecting his legacy through the machinations of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP). His masters agree with him.
José Miguel Insulza, the Organization of the American States (OEA) General Secretary and Lionel Jospin, former French prime minister and presidential candidate, consider the electoral process credible despite the fact that many candidates and political parties were arbitrarily disqualified. Undoubtedly these statements are indicative of the international community’s support for the politic of exclusion and unaccountability that guarantees its interference in the internal affairs of Haiti. This imposed paternalism, masqueraded as a genuine concern for the welfare of the Haitian people, makes a mockery of the United Nations Charter; negates the principles of auto-determination and fosters a culture of dependency in Haiti.
A cursory analysis of the current occupation of Haiti (the marginalization of the local authorities and imposition of foreign ideals inimical to the country’s traditions) validates the perspectives of General Butler who classified Haitians in two categories: “Those with shoes and those without shoes.” Appropriately, General Butler’s contempt for the former whom he called uppity niggers merits to be put in perspective. Indeed this group (the political class, the intelligentsia and the arrogant economic elite) represents an existential threat to Haiti and its people and needs to be reeducated not civilized, otherwise “the Haitian question” and all the negativity that comes with it will endure.

The Saga of the Romani People

In France, they are called Gitans and to the outside world: Gypsies, Gitanos, Romani or simply Roma, a nomadic ethnic minority dispersed principally in Europe whose true origins baffled historians for centuries. Originally thought to have come from Egypt, the Romani were once called Gyptians, hence the word Gypsies, until linguistic and genetic evidence established they originated from the Indian subcontinent. Widely misunderstood and reviled because of their peculiar way of life, which many Europeans consider anti-social, another preconceived notion of cultural superiority, the Romani are probably the only ethnic minority whose persecution is state-sanctioned in today’s Europe which prides itself as a beacon for human rights and dignity.
What differentiates the Romani people from Europe’s other ethnic groups is understandably their attachment to their ancient way of life that remains at odds with modern European culture. Though a small minority manages to assimilate within larger European societies, the vast majority subsists as itinerant beggars and fortune tellers and, some maintain, petty criminals. In the U.S where they are mostly assimilated, it is not unusual to see Romani women with children in tow begging on street corners. What makes such sights memorable is that they occur in African-American neighborhoods. Not surprisingly, the Romani experienced forced assimilation, sterilization, and extermination attempt during the Nazi’s occupation of much of the European landmass (1939-45), but strangely enough their persecution never elicited sympathies from the outside world.
For the past month, they are the subject of a controversy pitting France, a nation which sees itself as a gift to humanity because of a twisted belief in the superiority of its culture, and the civilized world. The controversy is about France’s ongoing deportation of Romani to Bulgaria and Romania, which paradoxically are members of the European Union. Surprisingly, the French seem outraged over the condemnations emanating from all corners of the globe, including its European partners. The EU justice commissioner Viviane Reding equated France's actions to persecutions in Nazi-occupied France. "This is a situation I had thought Europe would not have to witness again after the Second World War", she was quoted as having said. Nonetheless the French would not budge on the issue, preferring instead to play the quintessential victim of smear, misunderstanding and political malevolence on the part of others. Has Nicolas Sarkozy warped himself around the Jeffersonian mantra “National interests transcend any philosophical consistency” or is France simply morally bankrupt?
Whichever way one sees the policy, France is establishing a dangerous precedent that may reawaken Europe’s deep-rooted fascination with ethnic cleansing which remains dangerously close to the surface despite its attempt at political integration. Based on their experience during their struggle for self-determination (1991-97), the Bosnian Muslims and Kosovo Albanians can attest to that. Next it could be the turn of Germans of Turkish descent, North African Muslims and Sub-Saharan Africans whom many on the Continent consider a serious threat to the preservation or survival of Europe’s cultural heritage. The French government’s view that the shantytowns inhabited by the Roma will not be tolerated in France could also apply to African immigrants who have yet to find their footing in that country.
On November 9-10 of 1938, the nights of Kristallnacht, when the Jews of Germany were systematically persecuted by order of the Nazi regime (1933-45), no one then anticipated that it would lead to something more sinister: a comprehensive attempt at exterminating the entire Jewish population of the Old Continent. This episode shows that whenever a powerful nation, answerable to no one, engages in this unorthodox type of behavior, it can set off a chain of events with dire consequences for humanity as a whole. As a permanent member of the U.N Security Council, the body entrusted with peace and security in the world, France’s behavior is unacceptable and constitutes a danger to peace and security in our world.
Returning from an E.U Summit in Brussels last week, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel, through her spokesman, had to deny Nicolas Sarkozy’s allegation he had discussed the issue with her and that she assured him that Germany intends to follow France’s policy in dismantling Roma camps in her country. The proverbial he said, she said. In times of economic uncertainties, pandering to fear has always been the preferred method of crafty politicians, therefore what transpired between the two leading European leaders remains a mystery for now. This misunderstanding or calculated attempt at manipulating public opinion, depending on one’s perspective, came on the heels of the Thilo Sarrazin’s scandal, the board member of Germany’s Central Bank (Bundersbank) who was forced to resign his post after making disparaging comments about Muslims and Jews. Despite the fact that Germany’s political establishment reacted disapprovingly to Thilo Sarrazin’s unwarranted comments, it would be wrong for the outside world to think that they do not represent the views of the larger German population.
Again, as history never failed to repeat itself, will those in charge learn the lessons of the past and make an honest effort at embracing a higher moral standing rooted in the religious principles they claim to cherish? Or rather will they continue down the path of systematic elimination of those deemed “others’, i.e. Amerindians, Africans, Armenians, Gypsies, Jews, Muslim Bosnians and Kosovo Albanians? Unfortunately, those precedents and France’s ongoing deportation of Romani are indicative that the powers that be remain predisposed to persecute, marginalize, humiliate or eliminate those they perceive as” the others.”

Africa's Travails

This year 16 African countries, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Mali, Madagascar, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Somalia and Togo, celebrate the 50th anniversary of their nominal political freedom; many of them mired in poverty, ethnic and religious strife and political instability. What went wrong usually involves twisted facts and hypotheticals. From a western perspective, the poverty and instability that remain the hallmark of the Continent are the result of bad governance, endemic corruption, systemic repression and personality cult among African leaders. The obvious implication being that Africans would be better off today, had they remained under European rule, even though the main purpose of colonization was to pillage and subjugate the Continent and its people rather than building economically viable states.
It was almost 125 years ago at the Berlin Conference (Nov 1884- Feb 1885) presided by Germany’s Iron Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck (1815-98) that the Continent of Africa, huge and unexplored, was divided up by the European powers, namely Britain, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Consequently, neighboring ethnic groups with nothing in common but the color of their skin were banded together into administrative entities that ultimately became nations-states. In the wake of the geopolitical realignment that followed WWII (1939-45), the keepers of the New World Order, the United States and the Soviet Union, despite their unbridgeable ideological differences had agreed on one issue: the era of European colonialism was over. Thus, grudgingly, the colonial powers complied and granted African countries limited political autonomy, which many of the newly minted African leaders mistakenly equated with outright independence.
Nationalists like Ahmed Sékou Touré (1922-84) of Guinée, Kwame Nkrumah (1909-72) of Ghana and Patrice Lumumba (1925-61) of Congo, presently the Democratic Republic of Congo, took the notion of independence literally and got a rude awakening. Having rejected Charles De Gaulle’s bizarre scheme of a confederation between France and its African colonies, Sékou Touré, was ostracized and vilified by the western media. Guinée, blacklisted by the western powers, sunk into extreme poverty despite its abundant mineral riches. In an extreme act of vindictiveness, the French dismantled the country’s telephone system before granting it its independence on October 2, 1958.
In 1966, Nkrumah was overthrown in a western-backed military coup while visiting China and North Vietnam. He never returned to his native Ghana and died a broken man in 1972. His Pan-African dream, lost in the unforgiving reality of the Cold War, no doubt died with him. In 1961, Lumumba, Congo’s first prime minister, was arrested, tortured and assassinated on direct orders, some say, of Belgium and the U.S for having embarrassed King Baudouin of Belgium during his country’s Independence Day celebrations on June 30th 1960. Lumumba’s crime: He dared denounce the atrocities perpetuated against the Congolese by the Belgians during their colonial rule (1885-1960) during which roughly 20% of Congo’s population perished. The then-United Nations forces in Congo could have saved Lumumba’s life but were specifically told by the New York headquarters not to intervene.
Conversely other African leaders, particularly Jomo Kenyatta (1894-1978) of Kenya, Leopold Sedar Senghor (1906-2001) of Senegal, Félix Houphouet-Boigny (1905-93) of Côte d’Ivoire, Omar Bongo (1935-2009) of Gabon and Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-97) of Zaire, blindly implemented the neo-colonialist designs of their former tormentors by towing the line. Not surprisingly, Gabon, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Zaire were for the most part “oasis of stability” in a Continent marred by military coups, ethnic strife, Apartheid and civil wars. In Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, Moroccan and western troops periodically intervened to quell many rebellions against Mobutu’s tyrannical rule until one led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila (1939-2001) finally overthrew the regime of the long time dictator in 1997.
The attitude of Europeans toward Africans is that of an impenitent bank robber reprimanding his victims for their indolence and deciding his own punishment rather than pleading for mercy or forgiveness. It is all the more disingenuous that Old Europe is casting itself as a paragon of virtues and defender of human rights by castigating Chinese investments in Africa on the premise they help keep corrupt tyrants in power, therefore detrimental to social, political and economic progress on the Continent. Strange logic, isn’t it, considering the systematic pillage of the Continent and enslavement and its people by the Europeans.
It took the Europeans centuries to overcome ethnic hatred and political divisions that turned Old Europe into raging battlefields for most of its existence, yet, they are castigating Africans for not having done so in a generation. May be, it is a tacit admission by the Europeans that Africans are better human beings. It is in that context that Nelson Mandela of South Africa is venerated for his conciliatory approach to past atrocities against Africans by Europeans while Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia) is ostracized for his retributive stance toward his people’s former tormentors.
As Karl Marx correctly wrote in 1852 “Men make their own history, but they don't make it just as they please; they do not make it under circumstances chosen by themselves, but under circumstances directly encountered, given, and transmitted from the past.” Fittingly, Mandela and Mugabe are modern versions of earlier generations of African leaders (Bongo, Senghor, Houphouet-Boigny, Nkrumah, Lumumba, and Touré), all products of historical events that shaped their divergent political philosophies, which ironically facilitate European paternalism and hegemony in Africa.

Another opportunity that should not be lost

What was to be a milestone for Haitians in this country was lost when 4 Haitian-Americans, vying for the vacant 17th Congressional District seat in southern Florida, were defeated in the August 24th Democratic primary. The victory was seized by 68 year-old state senator Frederica S. Wilson who is now virtually assured of a victory next November in the predominantly Democratic district. Some 1400 miles up North, in Brooklyn’s 42nd Assembly District, Michèle Adolphe, is also trying to make history by becoming the first Haitian-American elected to the New York State legislature. Unlike her fellow Haitian-Americans in South Florida, she is facing an uphill battle as her opponent, Rodha Jacobs, a master tactician in the art of using legal challenges against potential opponents also benefits from the power of thirty two years of incumbency and a huge war chest. With this year’s redistricting and the prospect of gerrymandering (deliberate modification of the boundaries of a district for electoral purposes) the opportunity to elect one of its own, if lost, could set back the Haitian community’s prospective representation in the corridors of power in Albany for a decade or more.
With a large percentage of Haitian-Americans, the 42nd A.D, which is 85% non-white and predominantly Caribbean, is an anachronism of the power of incumbency in which the incumbent keeps getting reelected while losing touch with the communities she represents. First elected in 1978, Rhoda Jacobs has no doubt worked hard on behalf of her constituents during her long tenure as assemblywoman, nonetheless she failed to understand the ever changing needs of these communities made up generally of first generation and naturalized Americans whose path to achieving the “American dream” has become narrower in the last decade.
Undoubtedly the 42nd A.D has been adversely, if not disproportionally, affected by the recent economic crisis (2008-?) during which many homeowners have lost or facing the prospect of losing their homes while tuition for their college-bound children continue to rise. These facts notwithstanding, the ever lower quality of education of the District-area’s public High Schools is placing an additional burden on these hardworking folks who are compelled to sending their sons and daughters to private schools and forgo/sacrifice other needs. The division of the venerated Erasmus Hall High School in 1994 into 4 separate schools due to poor academic scores underscores that reality. Indeed these issues need to be addressed expeditiously and complacency is simply not an option for the constituents of the 42nd Assembly District.
Judging the bustling activities along Flatbush, Church and Nostrand Avenues and other commercial arteries within its confines, it is obvious that Brooklyn’s 42nd Assembly District could be to the Caribbean community what Harlem is to African-Americans. What’s needed is a leader that speaks on its behalf in Albany and harnesses its constituencies’ greatest strengths: strong family values and structure, innate sense of entrepreneurship and an infallible belief in the power of education.
Needless to say the 42nd Assembly District needs an infusion of new blood and vision, as its social problems have multiplied since Rhoda Jacobs first got elected in 1978 and her long term incumbency may actually be a handicap to taking a crack at them. On September 14, the Haitian community, one of the District’s largest constituencies, has a unique opportunity to end its unenviable status of a politically impotent ethnic group in New York State by massively supporting Michèle Adolphe, one of its own, in the state Democratic primary.
Numerous Haitian-Americans, namely Jean Vernet, Rubain Durancy and Samuel Nicolas have tried to unseat Rhoda Jacobs and failed. The reasons are too numerous to enumerate in this article. Four years ago, with Michele Adolphe and Zacary LaReche, two Haitian-Americans, running against her, Rhoda Jacobs garnered 60% of the votes. Nonetheless Adolphe’s grassroots campaign, which has gained momentum, could produce an upset this year as Jacobs’ highhanded tactics of using electoral challenges to disqualify potential opponents have alienated many of her own supporters.
Who is Michèle Adolphe? She is a former community organizer and NYC High School schoolteacher, a mother of two daughters and founder and president of Brooklyn Institute for Children (BIC), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of the area’s children. Her academic credentials (she holds a degree in management from the State University of New York (SUNY) and a master in Social Sciences from Long Island University (LIU) do not come close to matching her dedication to the 42nd District where she has resided most of her life ever since she emigrated to the U.S with her parents as a young child from Haiti. Most importantly, Michèle Adolphe’s candidacy is not a purported ethnic-based insurgency, as her detractors are inclined to believe, but a genuine attempt on her part at alleviating or solving the myriad of problems facing the constituents of the 42nd Assembly District.
In helping Michèle Adolphe become an assemblywoman for the 42nd Assembly district, Haitian-Americans will finally emulate the feat of this country’s founding fathers by saying no to “taxation without representation” as a clear choice to end their indolence and impotence in U.S politics is essentially in their hands. Indeed, this election matters to Haitian-Americans as it is vital to their assimilation into mainstream U.S politics. For that reason, the community should come out in droves and seize the opportunity to help elect Michèle Adolphe in her noble quest to becoming the first Haitian-American assemblywoman in New York State.

The Propagande Game

During slavery the slaves were told to believe that the omniscient and merciful God sanctioned their enslavement and those obeying his words would somehow be rewarded. Incredibly many slaves were sold on the insane idea and abandoned their earthly fate to the infallible judgment of the Creator with an unsurpassed zeal that created a barrier to their emancipation. As a result, it was not unusual for these gullible salves to question the wisdom of their fellow slaves that wanted to free themselves from a system they considered abhorrent, inhuman and evil. Unfortunately for the supporting cast of the system: owners, traders, overseers and gullible slaves, the revolts of Maroons of Jamaica and the indomitable revolutionaries of Saint Domingue, presently Haiti, plus the actions of many enlightened whites brought an end to the absurdity.
Incredibly, 122 years after Brazil became the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery (1888), a reincarnated breed of these gullible slaves, (the intellectual and educated Haitians), is following in the footsteps of their ancestors by wholeheartedly embracing economic liberalism, the main tenet of neo-colonialism. The analogy between slavery and economic liberalism may seem inappropriate, if not illogical, to disbelievers, but their underlying principle is too uncanny to ignore. Both systems evolved from the notion of white supremacy, economic exploitation, domination and militarism, hence those pretending not to see or unwilling accept the similarities must, like their gullible ancestors, be supplanted or shunned aside.
Indeed, it is inconceivable that the intellectuals and educated Haitians are casting themselves as ardent defenders of a system that robs their fellow uneducated countrymen of their dignity and condemns millions to abject poverty and misery. In fact these two groups easily surpass their gullible ancestors in their zeal, as they are consumed with hatred against their impoverished brothers in contrast with the old ignorant slaves that only prayed for the well-being of their masters whom God had conveniently chosen to oversee slavery. Relegated to the antechamber of power since the putsch of February 29, 2004, the intellectuals and educated Haitians have since then been trampling over each other to establish their anti-proletarian credentials. In that regard, they vilify and ostracize any Haitian who dares speak against the current state of affairs, and see themselves as a rampart against the dangerous hordes of uncivilized Haitians that came perilously close to destroying “their beloved Haiti” during the truncated presidencies of Jean Bertrand Aristide. Not surprisingly, these two groups consider the unwarranted occupation of Haiti (2004-?) “A benevolent act of mercy” that needs to be rewarded with unquestioned collaboration with the occupiers, since no less than the future of this civilization is at stake.
Most importantly, the virulence to which these two groups responded to Wyclef Jean’s presidential bid was a testament of their elitist and decidedly anti-proletarian attitude that essentially underscored their naiveté. Accordingly they saw Jean’s failed presidential bid as an abomination and an insult to the nation that has its genesis in what they arrogantly believe was the accidental ascension to Haiti’s presidency of the “little priest”, a derogatory term commonly use to depict Jean Bertrand Aristide. Obviously, the putsches of September 30, 1991 and February 29, 2004 were never about Aristide, whom these two groups consider an incorrigible iconoclast, but a well coordinated and unrelenting assault on the aspirations of the Haitian people.
Frederick Douglas correctly wrote in his autobiography “To make a man a slave was to rob him of moral responsibility.” Freedom of choice is the essence of all accountability.” Because the system in place in Haiti is no less inhuman than slavery, it absolves the so-called uncivilized masses, which the country’s educated and intellectuals and the international community consider this civilization’s mortal enemy, of any moral responsibilities. Twice the masses voted for a political leader they saw as their best hope; twice their choice was overturned by the military coup of September of 1991 and the foreign invasion of February 29, 2004, during which thousands of defenseless poor Haitians were systematically hunted down, arbitrarily imprisoned or summarily killed.
It is obvious these groups subscribe to the notion that slavery was a necessary course of action for civilizing uncivilized Africans and neo-colonialism an advanced enlightenment model for their descendants. Perhaps this explains the zero opposition to the occupation by any of the presidential candidates in the upcoming elections whilst combating populism and subduing the masses remain at the forefront of the international effort.
Once again Frederick Douglas was right when he said “ The guilt of the slave was always and everywhere presumed, and the innocence of the slaveholder, or employer, was always asserted.” As the quote relates to Haiti’s situation it is fair to conclude that the guilt of the Haitian masses (the oppressed) is automatically presumed, while the innocence of the Haitian elite and the international community (the oppressors) is always affirmed. Hence, stability (code word for maintaining the status quos) takes precedence over any legitimate aspirations the Haitian people might have had. Historians will agree that the educated and pseudo-intellectual Haitians, by embracing the fallacious notion of altruism put forward by the international community as a justification for the occupation, served as the pillars upon which the subjugation of Haiti stood. For Haiti to survive, we owe it to our ancestors to reclaim the torch of freedom and human dignity that has been callously tossed aside and sullied by these gullible and impenitent collaborators.

Leave the Constitution Alone

Was Haiti’s Provisional Electoral Council (CEP in French) legally correct in disqualifying Wyclef Jean as a presidential candidate? The answer is an absolute yes, since the internationally-acclaimed singer does not meet the requirements of Article 135 paragraphs (d) and (e) of the Constitution. He does not have his habitual residence in the country and has not lived there for 5 consecutive years. However it cannot be said that the CEP acted impartially on the issue of qualification as it relates to other presidential contenders. Article 135 of Constitution paragraph (f) unequivocally states that to be elected president of the Republic of Haiti a candidate must “Have been relieved of this responsibilities (sic) if he has been handling public funds. Jude Célestin, the ruling party’s candidate, should also have been disqualified since he did not have the required clearance of the Superior Court of auditors and Administrative Disputes prior to filing his candidacy papers.
It is absurd for anyone to think that the Constitution means anything to the current regime and, by extension, the international community. Since February 29, 2004, the Haitian Constitution has lost its relevancy, otherwise Gérard Latortue could not have been prime minister when he was parachuted from out of nowhere to lead the country in the aftermath of Aristide’s departure. Latortue’s appointment clearly violated paragraphs 4 & 5 of Article 157 which require a potential prime minister to have his habitual residence in the country and live there for 5 consecutive years. Yet no one came to the defense of the Constitution which many now think should form the basis for law and order in Haiti. It is all the more disingenuous that the requirements that cause the CEP to disqualify Wyclef Jean were not applicable to Gérard Latortue whose disdain for the country and its people became evident when he fled his post in May of 2006 without providing to the newly elected Parliament a detailed account of his rule.
Gérard Latortue is remembered as the politician who famously declared Haiti’s demand for repayment of the Independence debt from France “absurd and illegal” and handed jurisdictional control over the Haitian National Police to the MINUSTAH. His tenure as prime minister incidentally provides the best argument against the Diaspora’s desire to help or rule over the impoverished country for years to come. With or without Wyclef Jean’s candidacy, the upcoming election will be a sad day for Haiti and its people as none of the presidential contenders possesses the stature or political dexterity to soften the blows being inflicted on the beleaguered country by the occupiers.
Haiti is presently a country whose future is being decided in dark rooms of international financial institutions acting upon the recommendations of so-called experts whose studies are financed and tailored to fit the preconceived views of the international community. Since history would not be interesting without retrospections, it is fair to conclude that Lesly F. Manigat, who is not running this year because of advanced age, could have been the man of the hour. As the 2008 U.S presidential election has proven: Hillary Clinton was certainly not Bill Clinton and Myrlande Manigat, despite her vaunted intellect and political skills, is definitely not her husband.
Now the second phase of Wyclef Jean’s dead-on-arrival quest for the presidency is the one most fraught with uncertainties because the best laid plan sometimes ran into conflict with reality. Will the euphoria over Wyclef’s candidacy translate into actual participation of a majority of the electorate that was predisposed to heed a possible call to boycott the elections by the excluded Lavalas Party? Because the man is a pawn in a geopolitical game that is beyond his talented artistic mind, he is likely to follow the script by throwing his support behind one of the chosen candidates although he is appealing the decision. Whatever numbers he entices to cross over will be considered a success by the architects of the devilish plan to institutionalize the status quos and delay the Haitian people’s eternal quest for social and economic justice. Most importantly, it will be one more nail in the coffin of the Lavalas movement and Aristide whose grip on a portion of the electorate does not seem to diminish with his forced exile in faraway South Africa.
By now it should be obvious to the international community that the Haitian people’s struggle against economic injustice and social exclusion will continue with or without Aristide and its failure to address these issues will eventually radicalize the population. Last week, in an article written for Reuters, Joseph Guyler Delva quoting some policy analysts wrote: “Despite widespread popular distrust and resentment of powerful political and business elites in Haiti, the local and international security forces were among factors weighing against political bloodletting or any organized attempts to disrupt the November elections.” That may be true to a certain extent, but the analysts are apparently oblivious of the lessons of history and would be unable to explain how a political system that is not supported by the majority can conceivably last and prosper.
As Friday’s decision relates to the sanctity of the Haitian Constitution, the CEP erred in picking and choosing which Articles or paragraphs are applicable to the politic du jour. Moreover, as this drama plays out, one might ask whether the whole exercise is warranted, since under the occupation whoever is elected will be at the mercy of the occupiers. The Constitution is therefore not worth the paper it is written on.