Got a report earlier in the week from the Haiti Information Project about an ‘incursion into the pro-Aristide slum’ of Cite Soleil by ‘Brazilian and Jordanian troops by the hundreds’.
The report continues:
Got a report earlier in the week from the Haiti Information Project about an ‘incursion into the pro-Aristide slum’ of Cite Soleil by ‘Brazilian and Jordanian troops by the hundreds’.
The report continues:
“One foreign witness stated, “I have never heard this level of gunfire since I have been here. It was heavy gunfire that lasted about three hours.” Residents accused a gang they referred to as Baz Labanye of having committed a massacre early this morning against supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Lavalas party to justify the armed incursion of United Nation’s forces. One angry man exclaimed, “Baz Labanye, controlled by Andre Apaid and Reginald Boulos [of the former opposition], began a heavy attack against us and many people were killed. The United Nations then used this as a pretext to invade our neighborhood and end our calls for Aristide’s return. It is clear they are working together to exterminate us.”
Let us review yet again the story we are supposed to believe about Haiti.
The poor black people just couldn’t get it together. The state failed. Luckily the Americans were on the scene (and the Canadians and French) to help at the crucial time. They helped ensure a transitional government out of the chaos. Now the UN is there. And it’s important that the world, unlike last time, really stay in Haiti for the long haul, instead of just forgetting and leaving those poor black people to themselves for a while – because everyone knows the second you do that they go straight back to killing each other.
This story doesn’t really hold up. The state didn’t ‘fail’, it was destroyed – by a sustained blockade from the outside followed by an outright coup to install paramilitary killers. There is no risk of the ‘international community’ abandoning Haiti, because the ‘international community’ is making money from the fact that Haitians are the poorest people in the hemisphere (see previous entries on Haiti for some info on companies like Gildan Activewear that are cashing in). And the United Nations, like the original Canada-US-France invasion force, is there to make sure that the popular political movement that could actually make self-determination in Haiti a reality never gets the chance. And it is making sure of that by physically destroying the people, or guarding those paramilitaries while they kill.
The Lavalas grassroots is not going to give up without a fight. Haitians never, ever have. The question is will they have any meaningful political support from the rest of the world. Again, Haitians never, ever have (well, some from Cubans at times)- although they have given such support to others, historically.
Another report from the same Haiti Information Project (which I don’t know too much about – maybe readers know more) notes that Lavalas marched yesterday in large numbers, despite all the repression:
“Cap Haitien, Haiti (HIP) – On the anniversary of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s first electoral landslide in 1990, more than 10,000 Haitians took to the streets of Haiti’s second largest city to demand his return and an end to repression against his Lavalas political party.”
