Amid Food Riots in Haiti, US Claims of "Success" in Haiti Sound Hollow

The New York Times is reporting in an article that the US State Department is claiming Haiti as one of its "successes". This is clearly an Orwellian attempt by the George W. Bush administration to rewrite history.

"The Bush administration considers Mr. Préval’s 2006 election and Haiti’s relative stability in recent years to be one of its success stories, although State Department officials caution that the country remains volatile."

-- After Protests, Haitian Leader Announces Rice Subsidies
by Marc Lacey (NYT | 04/13/2008)

What a joke. First the US government and its agents destabilize Haiti (a resource rich, but monetarily poor country), by instituting a financial aid and arms embargo; their goal -- to force out the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He who had the audacity to attempt to raise the slave wages of the working people, attempt to get restitution for the 21.7 billion dollars owed to Haiti by the French (the "debt" Haiti was forced to pay to France for France's "loss" of slavery by way of the Haitian Revolution) and to address other socio-economic issues.

"The United States Government funds and trains a 600-member paramilitary army of anti-Aristide Haitians in the Dominican Republic with the authorization of the country’s [DR] president, Hipolito Mejia. The funds—totaling $1.2 milllion—are directed through the International Republican Institute (IRI) on the pretext of encouraging democracy in Haiti."

---Cooperative Research History Commons

Many of these "rebels" (as Colin Powell calls them) are former members of the disbanded Haitian army and former members of FRAPH (Le Front pour l'avancement et le progrès d'Haiti). Some of these thugs were sought by the elected government for their criminal activities, like Guy Philippe. The US government then takes a hands-off attitude and allows these "rebels" to intimidate the Haitian population and government.

"US Secretary of State Colin Powell calls former US Congressman Ron Dellums, who is working for Aristide as a Washington lobbyist, and warns him that the United States will not protect Aristide from the rebels."

---Cooperative Research History Commons

After the "coup-knapping" of President Aristide, many thousands were killed, raped or imprisoned as political prisoners.

The US then installed the puppet government of Gerald LaTortue (apt name!) - a toady from Boca Raton, Florida (city name translates to "Big Rat").

The current President, Rene Preval, to be clear, was elected because of what was perceived by the Haitian electorate to be his close ties to President Aristide. Preval has been a bitter disappointment to the people. What is not publicized is that the US government sought him out to run for President as it became crystal clear to them that the Haitian people would not accept leaders chosen by the US government and the rich unscrupulous few who desired and orchestrated President Aristide’s removal.

It has become apparent that Rene Preval is in the service of the rich and powerful, willingly or not. Preval has left the foreign ministry of Gerald LaTortue intact and in charge. He did not, as the Haitian constitution requires, put in his own slate of appointees. So the same people who were representing Haiti overseas under the puppet government of LaTortue and by default the US government are still in power.

It is ironic that in the final analysis, for the Haitian Presidency to have any power at all, the president must have a coalition with the rest of his government, otherwise the presidency is nurtured. This fact exposes the lie behind accusations by Aristide’s detractors who labeled him a “dictator”.

The only “success” that the US government can claim is that it has been able to bring to Haiti with the force of the UN guns a de facto colonialist government (neocolonialism).

What of the suffering of the people in indefinite detention, or the hunger of the poor that is so acute that people are eating dirt and describing their hunger pains as “grangou Clorox”; like having your insides eaten away by Clorox?

Haiti is being occupied right now. The neocolonialist are bringing massive privatization, and more debt, poverty, illiteracy and dependency. The human horror of that is in the abuse of the children. This is exemplified by the expulsion of 108 Sri Lankan UN soldiers who are accused of exploiting and raping Haitian women and children. These occupiers are being paid with money that adds to Haiti’s debt, money that could be used to feed the Haitian people is going to feed, house and train their oppressors.