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.