Cry for Haiti, not Aristide
UNITED NATIONS Ñ ItÕs dŽjˆ vu all over again. HaitiÕs periodic political convulsions seem to have settled; the U.S Marines are back (yet again) and the UN Security Council has voted to dispatch another peacekeeping force to the tragically troubled Caribbean island. Non-withstanding, the political hand ringing of many Congressional Democrats as to whether the Americans should have intervened sooner and how, the tragedy for the Haitians remains the legacy not only of their recently deposed ruler Jean Bertrand Aristide, but the humanitarian shambles in which this impoverished land finds itself. Plus ca change, plus cÕest la meme chose.
Haiti is rightly described as the poorest country in the hemisphere. It has been for decades despite massive infusions of foreign aid. But the problem goes deeper than poverty to pervasive corruption, a near-cult of political violence, and massive ecological degradation.
While the new rebel-rulers in the capital appear to be the latest in a bad lot, the defrocked Catholic priest Father Aristide was no better. Despite being democratically elected through his hard-left populism, the undertow of corruption, state violence, and electoral manipulation brought Aristide disdain even from most of his past supporters. That Haiti is a failed state, remains a sad given. Political and social institutions are lacking. Happily there are genuine democratic parties and civic movements which can enter this new political vacuum.
Importantly both the USA and France coordinated political action and response; this is good as a step back to harmony between Washington and Paris. France was fed up with AristideÕs misrule and thus along with the U.S. did not want to dispatch a multinational military force into Haiti to essentially prop-up his regime. Also too Security Council action was lagging since the Chinese held the CouncilÕs rotating presidency during February Ñ Beijing harbored a special dislike for Aristide due to HaitiÕs longtime diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China on Taiwan. France assumed the CouncilÕs Presidency for March and hence the decisive action.
So in the bicentennial of Haitian independence from France, we see the double-irony of French troops returning to restore order from anarchy. Once called the Pearl of the Antilles, Haiti has collapsed into Joseph ConradÕs proverbial Heart of Darkness.
Now the 5,000 member multinational UN peacekeeping force are deploying Ñ USA, Canada, France, Brazil, Chile ø the situation will briefly subside ø then what?
Recall that ten years ago, the Clinton Administration brought the deposed Father Aristide back to power on the wings of the 82nd Airborne Division and 20,000 American troops. ClintonÕs famous sound bite-threat to the Haitian military junta in Port-au-Prince, ÒYour Time is Up,Ó preceded AristideÕs restoration to rule.
But as was so characteristic of Bill Clinton, the Administration forgot about Haiti, and went on to the next crusade. The democratically elected Aristide regime denigrated into chaos, corruption, and incompetent misrule. Rebellion was in the air.
The latest round of conspiracy theories see a hidden American hand in whatÕs being called the coup to depose Aristide. Putting it very bluntly Ñ rebels were knocking at the gates of the capital Port-au- Prince and AristideÕs followers were melting like a spring snow. One does not have to be too imaginative to know what was about to happen to the hapless President if the rebels entered the city Ñ more violence, killing, and a quite unpleasant personal fate for Jean Bertrand Aristide.
Aristide took the hint ø and an American aircraft, out of Haiti only then to quickly spin the saga that he was kidnapped by les Americans. This is for consumption of his followers who were assured he would fight to the last. And perhaps grist for a new Oliver Stone pseudo-history?
From an American viewpoint having a failed state such as Haiti so close to our shores is an open invitation not only for a massive refugee crisis but proximity to the type of percolating political violence one finds in Sierra Leone or Liberia where paramilitary thugs of all political stripes turn the country into a living hell. So beyond the humanitarian aspect, thereÕs good cause and reason to stop this dangerous spiral.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense
issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.  |
