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October 17, 2011
October 17, 2011
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Courtney Frantz Loading ...Permanent link to this article: http://www.coha.org/leta-restavek-the-suppression-of-democracy-in-haiti/
5 comments
Charles Janssen says:
October 18, 2011 at 3:28 am (UTC -6 )
Minustah has survived its mission and must be reorganized. It is not realistic to assume that the USA will ever give up to protect its interests. An instable nation of 10 mln. inhabitants close to its frontier and next to the Domenican Republic is undesirable. It is a matter defining wisely what those interests really are. Besides, the past has produced an American responsabilty to put Haiti on its feet. This responsability must be supported by France in the first place. Also the other Caribbean nations and Canada should be involved. Unfortunately, foreign assistance remains badly coordinated, mainly due to the lack of a strong and determined government. There is no structure for sound political decision making. Lack of structure is the general Haitian problem. If the country cannot be properly organized it will never stand up. Needed are a strong central government, the rule of law and personal accountability. Intellectuals must put their ideologies aside and no longer lament about slavery and colonialism. A nation gets the goverment it deserves. All Haitians thrive by chaos, the political and business elites in the first place. It is their way of life. This mentality must change. Otherwise Haiti will end up as a UN Protectorate for at least a decade. May be that is the best solution. Meanwhile the international community has moved on. Haiti may wait for another disaster.
Benjamin P. Louis says:
October 18, 2011 at 9:30 am (UTC -6 )
Changing this chaotic situation in Haiti is not an easy task. First, the government must prove to the people there is hope.The greatest lost is always when you lose hope.
Secondly, we have not worked together as children of one country since our independence.
We must be united to change Haiti! We must forgive each other so we can work together. Without a reconciliation, the Haiti will only get worst. It is ok to work with leaders who do not have the same political idealogy.
We have to stop hating each other! Love for another will make us strong as a nation. Instead of negative criticism, positive ideas should be shared among our leaders. Minustah will always find a reason to be in the country if we are not united. It is our choice!
Stanley Lucas says:
October 18, 2011 at 4:53 pm (UTC -6 )
This analysis by the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) is uneven and based on speculation and theory rather than on fact.
First, COHA dismisses the concerns of the Haitian population regarding the UN's presence in-country (MINUSTAH) contending that they are based merely on a few isolated and extreme incidents. Rape see: http://www.tamilguardian.com/article.asp?articlei… , cholera introduction http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2010/11/choler… , firing upon unarmed Haitian protestors http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2010/11/un-fir… , involvement in illegal sex scandals and corrupt business dealings http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/arti… over the past seven years they have been in Haiti adds up to more than merely a few incidents. Rather, these incidents as whole indicate a pattern of mismanagement at the MINUSTAH that have culminated in serious atrocities, including the violent rape of a young man who has been denied any sort of justice for what he suffered. President Martelly rightly points out that these incidents "add fuel to the fire" — to be sure, the fire was already burning.
Second, MINUSTAH has received more than $3.5 billion in funding over the past 7 years. There are limited results to show for that significant investment by the international community. Resources are scarce, and funding must be put to its highest and best use in this economic climate. MINUSTAH's track record does not support the level of funding and continued mandate. All Haitians would welcome the assistance if the MINUSTAH had proven to be an effective, trusted stabilizing force, and it had actually reinforced Haitian institutions. Quite unfortunately, it has not done either of these things. Even Secretary Ban Ki Moon has recognized that the MINUSTAH should be phased out. President Martelly has echoed that call for phasing out the MINUSTAH and requested greater oversight and accountability for the MINUSTAH leadership and troops.
Finally, this analysis veers into completely partisan territory when it alleges that the MINUSTAH has acted as the agent of foreign interests, namely the US, and actively barred former President Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas from participating in politics. This is not based in any fact or evidence — it is merely conspiracy theory for more see: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2009/01/haiti-… . The fact is that the only time the Lavalas was excluded from participating in the political process was when President Aristide, as the head of Lavalas, refused to sign the legal paperwork required to qualify Lavalas candidates to participate in elections. This had nothing to do with the MINUSTAH and everything to do with partisanship between Lavalas and former President Preval's handpicked electoral authority (the CEP) See: http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2010/10/haiti-… There is no evidence whatsoever that MINUSTAH has suppressed Lavalas in any way nor acted as the agent of the United States. Haitians do not see it that way, but it appears as if self-professed "outsiders" in COHA do.
Stanley Lucas http://www.solutionshaiti.blogspot.com
Chantal says:
October 23, 2011 at 2:49 pm (UTC -6 )
@Stanley Lucas
"… the International Republican Institute, and its Haiti operative, Stanley Lucas, fomented a coup in Haiti that deposed its democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide."
Uncovering A US-Planned Coup In Haiti: The Original Version http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-blumenthal/unco…
Chantal says:
October 23, 2011 at 3:44 pm (UTC -6 )
The U.S. and it's proxies have been fomenting crisis after crisis in Haiti, they must stupidly think that this will "protect their interests." How droll! With instability comes thousands of Haitians aiming for their shores! Same goes for the Dominican Republic, which harbored, armed and nurtured the "rebel" who were the "muscle" for the U.S. sponsored coup of Haiti's first democratically elected government.
For the U.S., it must be tiring to keep Haiti's mass of "useless eaters"** at bay by keeping their Coast Guard on the alert 24/7. This must be why they need this MINUSTAH proxy occupation to do their dirty work. Keep Haiti unstable and control the country?
**Useless eaters: a term applied to the infamous Kissinger Report in which he proposed methods to reduce the populations of underdeveloped countries… or genocide by any other name. http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/12888
Haiti has endured over 200 years of abuse at the hands of the United States (http://whitenoiserants.webnode.com/news/the-haiti-fiasco/).
There has never been any intention by the U.S. to uphold democracy or engender stability in Haiti.
A particularly poignant reminder of U.S. intentions in Haiti was the 20 years of a direct, brutal and racists occupation. During the Invasion of Haiti in 1915: The U.S. Marines went straight to the Haitian National Bank and removed its gold reserves to New York City. The U.S. military ruthlessly crushed resistance, murdering leaders, burning villages to the ground and killing 15-30,000 Haitians. Did you know that the resistance was so strong that the U.S. military had to use aerial bombardment to rout the Cacos and their leader Charlemagne Peralte?
Documents of Charlemagne Peralte – http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/4946/
The U.S. Congressional record documents the theft of the gold and the real reason for the 1915 occupation — read it yourself: http://www.archive.org/stream/seizureofhaitiby00n…
The occupation was the means toward changing the Haitian Constitution, primarily to allow multinationals to own property in Haiti and exploit Haiti's resources for foreign benefit and not the interests of the Haitian people, as Mr. Janssen correctly points out.
The $500,000 in gold would be worth 42,000,000+ in today's gold market. The theft fulfilled two purposes, first it made Haiti a U.S. ward; second, Haiti was no longer able to have a gold standard to back its paper currency.
The U.S. must return Haiti's gold! It must pay restitution for all the injustice, inhumanity — crimes against humanity it has committed in Haiti!
Also, the occupation trained and from that point on held control over the renegade Haitian military (responsible for many coups, massacres, rapes and other atrocities in Haiti).
When Aristide dismantled of the dreaded Haitian military, it must have rankled the US State Department and Bill Clinton, since it's current Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the puppet they've "selected" as Haitian president, the right-wing Duvalerist, Martelly, is determined to re-institute the military over the objections of most of the Haitian people.
All Haitian's will start respecting the U.S. and it's proxy the UN MINUSTAH military force when they begin to put a value on Haitian life — http://dissidentvoice.org/2011/09/haiti-rivers-us…