Reply #74: Excellent at first. Then his hands were tied and not as good as he wanted [View All]

Excellent at first but we weren't having any of that. Aristide actually had the audacity to ask the rich and the US owned factories to pay a few pennies in taxes so he could provide a few work benefits & social services in a country where there is no Workmen's comp, no OSHA. That was the first coup in '90 which was backed by the CIA and carried out by School of the Americas-trained Duvalierist officers who were killing people right and left (that's when we had the first exodus of boat people to the US). This was under Bush Sr (hmmmmmmm). Aristide not only had great intentions but he made good on his word. The ONLY people in the US who backed him were the Congressional Black Caucus. Clinton did not really want to deal with Aristide but the CBC forced him to. Negotiations with the terrorist coup leaders took place- the entire time, the US attitude was basically "Aristide, please go away" but the CBC held firm. There were talks at Governors Island (where the coup leaders were treated with all the honor due legitimate leaders) which led to forced negotiations by Carter, Colin Powell and Sam Nunn. The coup leaders in Haiti kept dragging their feet but were eventually told by Powell "Your time us up" & Powell, Carter & Nunn escorted Aristide back to Haiti.

All seems like a great win for democracy until you look at the conditions under which Aristide was retured. He was shackled with every IMF, USAID, NAFTA shackle possible. Taxes could not be raised. The minimum wage could not be raised (I think it was even reduced), utilities & state enterprises had to be privatized, he had to put members of the opposition in his government, tariffs and other controls on imports had to be eliminated. (Do you recognize the stench of the bi-partisan NAFTA here?

Anyway, Aristide went back with his hands to tied that there were promises he had made to the people that he couldn't easily fulfill as tied as his hands were.

So to make a very long post shorter, the intentions were good but the hands were purposefully tied after the first US-supported coup. Despite having his hands tied, Aristide wouldn't quite play ball (even had the audacity recently to demand that France repay Haiti all the money it had extorted from Haiti after the revolution). He recently, again, fought to increase the minimum wage and that is why you, again, see so many business leaders involved in this coup with the same old Macoutes from FRAPH (groupe 184 and Andre Aipad etc).

He didn't rule with an iron fist. Every single anti-Aristide story you hear is emanating from the elite, the business community & the Duvalieristes. They hate him because he stands in their way of exploiting the poor more than they already do. The poor love him. If you want I will publish photos for you of millions of people out in the streets in early Feb showing their support for him.

Every word I have said to you is true.

I lost relatives in each and every one of the coups since 1959. Two of my cousins was gunned down in the streets by FRAPH. 1 perished at the hands of some of the little thugs supporting Aristide (because yes, he does have some riff-raff supporting him but who doesn't). I have no reason to lie to you & swear to you that every word I've written is the way it is. Aristide strove for an enlightened Democracy but there is no room for an enlightened democracy anywhere in the Western Hemisphere and there is certainly no room for an independent Black Republic/Democracy. Towards the end, the poor were very angry at the power games the elite were playing and Aristide either could not or did not restrain certain hooligans from roaming the streets & expressing their dissatisfaction. That is about the only thing I can say he did wrong. I have had conversations with several Haitians in the US whose wisdom & good intentions I trust & they see things the same way. My people are not of the Haitian poor but we have never disrespected them. When the revolution against the French took place, my family was the ONLY one on the island spared and we have always, always dared speak out for the poor who are not animals to be exploited. I have no reason, no desire to lie or to peddle fairy-tales at DU. What I do want for my people is finally, the rightful independence they earned 2 centuries ago and which they still haven't been allowed to experience.

Sorry. I'm at work now and unable to refine this post but that's it in a nutshell. I also apologize for rambling. This, of all issues, gets me very emotional.

Peace to you


Many of your questions are answered in depth int this booklet:
http://www.haitiaction.net/HidFrame.html

Hidden from the Headlines sums up many of the Haitian government’s worthy accomplishments, which the U.S. corporate press effectively whites-out. “More schools were built in Haiti from 1994-2000 than between 1804 and 1994,” the authors point out, “many in rural areas where no schools existed previously.” They also cite progress made in agriculture, public transportation, infrastructure, health care, AIDS prevention and treatment, and defending children’s rights. “Clearly, these programs represent a progressive agenda, initiated under the most trying conditions,” the booklet says.

Chapters covered in the leaflet are:
The U.S. War Against Haiti

Economic Embargo: Targeting the Haitian People

Undermining the Democratically Elected Government

Violent Paramilitary Attacks
A Contra War Against Haiti>

Human Rights:
A Look at the Record>

In this light, it is worth looking closely at some recent human rights cases:
[br />Haiti Today:
A Progressive Social and Economic Agenda>

Resisting Globalization

Education

Defending Children’s Rights

Health Care


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http://www.coli.uni-sb.de/~pietsch/stop-war/PineSGI4101000224164435010344-100000.html Article I have not had the chance to read but looked good.