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Iran: the reform of the conservatives
Haiti: US makes Aristide fail
4/2003 |
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Haiti: US makes Aristide fail
Following the forced resignation of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti is now facing an uncertain future. In contrast to last year’s disturbances which brought Bolivia to the brink of civil war, this time the US government made no effort to prop up a democratically-elected President. To the contrary, the Bush administration made use of the three weeks of unrest to unseat a politician it dislikes.
[ By Norbert Glaser ]
“Liberté, egalité, fraternité” – Toussaint L’Ouverture, who led 465,000 African slaves and 27,000 free coloureds in a 13-year guerilla war against the French colonial lords, certainly had a different picture in his mind of the first black republic’s 200th birthday celebrations. Today, the country resembles a huge pile of shattered remains. The social divide of a small urban upper class of French-influenced mulattos and a large black underclass living in traditional African style, has fed an almost 200-year cycle of civil wars, political violence and dictatorships backed by foreign powers. Hopes were high in 1991 when Jean-Bertrand Aristide attained the highest public office as Haiti’s first democratically elected President. But the man in whom the black lower classes had invested their hopes had been dealt a poor hand from the start.
After only seven months in office, a military coup forced Aristide into exile. The US, the dominant foreign power in Haiti since its 1915-1934 occupation, was faced with a dilemma. George Bush Senior’s administration was afraid of Aristide’s grass roots democratic movement, but did not have an acceptable alternative to offer. It was Bill Clinton who finally managed to take a clear and unambiguous stance. Supported by 20,000 armed GI’s, Aristide returned to Port au Prince in 1994. He bought his return into office with his acceptance of neoliberal political concepts. The structural adjustment programme signed in 1995 halved wages in the public sector, privatised state-owned enterprises and liberalised telecommunications. As if the poor house of Latin America had any fat left to trim off.
The result has been a continuation of the disastrous exploitation which has characterised Haiti since colonial times. To date, it is foreign interests that make the decisions about what is good for the economy. Nobody cares what is good for the Haitian people. Anybody who has a permanent job in Haiti works in a sweat-shop factory for a ludicrous wage which doesn’t even cover the cost of living. But most people struggle along in the “informal sector” and with subsistence farming. In 1994 Haitians did not find the friends theyneeded to accompany them with supportive criticism on their long path to democracy, but only investors interested in cheap labour and lucrative investment opportunities. Later on, taking advantage of some inconsistencies surrounding the parliamentary elections in 2000, the United States under George W. Bush blocked urgently needed loans and stopped the training of a politically-independent police force – only because the opposition, caressed with US cash, boycotted an election which most observers at the time had considered fair. Only seven pro-Aristide seats were in dispute, and their replacement would not have changed the majority in parliament.
Disliked by the USA, possessing democratic legitimacy born of free general elections but too weak to eliminate the militant structures of the old elite, Aristide was virtually doomed to failure. The former Jesuit priest may not be the saviour that his supporters see in him. His increasingly arrogant attitude has made him an easy target for political attack by his enemies. The relevant question, however, is whether he ever had a real chance of success. Aristide himself once said that the island nation had no future without an economic revival. But the economic malaise continues, not least because of the freeze on aid money. Consequently frustration and rage have burgeoned. The marginalised urban population has always been easy to rally for political purposes. Aristide may have failed to bring the country the democracy which he promised, but the “thugs” (US Secretary of State Colin Powell), who are now trying to seize power, have never accepted the idea of democracy.
Norbert Glaser
works as a freelance journalist and D+C editor.
norbert.glaser@fsd.de
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