2/14/2004
THE LAST thing that Haiti needs at this time of increasingly violent opposition to its elected government is mixed signals from Washington about the Bush administration's support for democratic rule in the Caribbean nation. For that reason, Secretary of State Colin Powell did the right thing Thursday in stating that, contrary to an earlier State Department suggestion, the United States does not support regime change in Haiti.
Regime change, by force if necessary, is the goal of some elements of the disparate opposition to the administration of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was elected to a five-year term in late 2000 in balloting that was boycotted by much of the opposition. Since then, Aristide has failed to build a strong coalition for the social and economic reforms that the country, the hemisphere's poorest, desperately needs. This is partly his fault and partly the fault of those in the opposition who never accepted his 2000 victory and have forced him into the role of consolidating his power rather than governing constructively.
In any case, Haiti still lacks a well-trained professional and indepedent police force. The 5,000-man force is grossly inadequate for a nation of 8 million residents. Haiti also needs basic electoral processes and institutions that will be recognized as fair by all sides. Monitors accused Aristide's party of tilting the parliamentary elections in early 2000, one reason opposition candidates did not recognize his election. International donors stopped the flow of aid after that election, weakening the economy.
In recent weeks, armed rebels -- some of them former allies of Aristide -- have taken over communities, including the nation's fourth-largest city, Gonaives, in violence that has killed at least 49. A protest demonstration against Aristide in the capital, Port-au-Prince, was suppressed Thursday by militants allied with the president who used flaming tires, stones, and sticks. Another demonstration is planned for tomorrow.
The United States and other nations in the hemisphere are concerned both for humanitarian reasons and because a worsening of the current violence could lead to an exodus, overwhelming other countries' ability to absorb refugees. A first step for the United States, Haiti's neighbors in the Caribbean Community, and the Organization of American States should be to get Aristide and nonviolent members of the opposition to resolve the immediate crisis through negotiation.
It would be a mistake for US policy in Haiti to swing between pro- and anti-Aristide poles. The goal of the United States and Haiti's other neighbors should be the development of internal institutions that involve both Haiti's urban and rural citizens, its educated elites, and its poverty-stricken farmers and workers in that much-maligned project, nation building.
Posted by P6 at February 14, 2004 08:07 PM
Trackback URL: http://www.niggerati.net/mt/mt-tb.cgi/407
Comments
Part of what keeps Haiti unstable and in unconscionable poverty is the debt load it carries. That single issue is a the root of many of the world problems and disproportionally affects Black nations. How can countries be expected to develop when they carry massive debt forced upon them by racist Western nations and exacerbated by home-grown dictators (often backed by the US)? I wait with baited breath for the UN response to this crises. Considering its record regarding Haiti and the clown currently in office, I do not trust my own government to act in a way that is best for the people of Haiti.
Posted by Kamau at February 15, 2004 09:07 AM