Haiti is a failed State and a weak and vulnerable society which must be resolved by Haitians

Bringing peace to Haiti demands an absolutely critical step: there must be justice for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse 

Democracy and Security in Haiti

Statement of the OAS General Secretariat on Haiti

  August 8, 2022

Democracy and Security

The institutional crisis that Haiti is experiencing right now is a direct result of the actions taken by the country's endogenous forces and by the international community.

The last 20 years of the international community's presence in Haiti has amounted to one of the worst and clearest failures implemented and executed within the framework of any international cooperation.

This is not to blame the individuals who, with a vocation for service and altruism, worked as cooperators and made their best efforts—in some cases giving their lives—for Haiti.  These persons deserve our greatest respect and remembrance.

Instead, this failure has to do with 20 years of erratic political strategy by an international community that was not capable of facilitating the construction of a single institution with the capacity to address the problems facing Haitians.  After 20 years, not a single institution is stronger than it was before.

It was under this umbrella provided by the international community that the criminal gangs that today lay siege to the country fermented and germinated, even as the process of deinstitutionalization and political crisis that we see today grew and took shape.

Then, seeing its failure, the international community left Haiti, leaving chaos, destruction, and violence behind.

Right now, it is absurd to think that in this context of destruction, the Haitians—left completely alone, polarized, and with very few resources—would be able to rebuild or build the kind of security, deinstitutionalization, and development project that could enable its 12 million inhabitants to once again live in peaceful coexistence: Without resources, in a climate of violence, without technological capabilities, without financial accumulation, without any of that today, they want us to believe a completely endogenous Haitian solution could prosper.  This is not so.

Without the basic conditions of democracy and security, the country today is suffering from the international community’s lack of ideas and real capacity, as well as from its own structural problems.  This is the international community that never knew if it should leave the MINUSTAH in place or remove it, an international community that thought that contributing money was the same as having ideas, an international community that thought that paying its own consultants would solve Haitians’ problems.  Obviously none of that was possible and none of this is possible.

Democracy

Building democracy requires citizens, strong institutions that must be constantly strengthened, and a political system with the capacity for dialogue, as well as honesty.  Essentially, it requires the branches of State government to be in place and with the independent capacity to act.  It requires the exercise of and full respect for liberties and fundamental guarantees (and for the State to ensure it) in the framework of the fullest possible exercise of economic and social rights, along with an electoral process that is trustworthy, fair, and transparent.

The exercise of power in keeping with the rule of law and administrative and institutional efficiency in providing solutions to Haitians’ problems are basic conditions for the functioning of the State that were never guaranteed by the international community in Haiti, that were never built by the international community in Haiti, and that Haiti fundamentally does not have.  We should be clear that what we are facing is, more or less, a failed State and a weak and vulnerable society.  The worst of all worlds: a weak State and a weak civil society.

This must be resolved by Haitians, there is no question about that.  But the international community has a role to play.

Haitian society is very vulnerable and polarized.  Its institutions are weak, its organizations are weak, and the path must be struck toward building them from zero, or even less than zero.

Without reducing polarization, without building capacities and bridges between Haitians, this will not be possible.  Without dialogue, it is impossible.

Building Haitian democracy means encouraging capacity for dialogue, which includes building mutual trust among the various social and political actors in Haiti.  Today, there is no system of checks and balances, neither politically nor socially.  On the contrary, violence is prevalent, as is the abuse of force internally, actions with criminal intent, failed institutions, and a lack of civil society capacity.

Bringing peace to the country demands an absolutely critical step: there must be justice for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.  Without shedding light on the truth and without justice, no progress can ever be made towards reconciliation and harmony.

To begin to address these issues, the following processes must be built up:

• An institutionalized and inclusive process of dialogue that includes all the political forces that can possibly be brought together for it.  Within that process, the international community can contribute resources and build bridges between the stakeholders to strengthen all of them and place them on a path towards building organizational and institutional capacities.
• A trustworthy, fair, transparent electoral process.
• An institutional security process for the country.

These processes require the cooperation of the international community, obviously in everything with regard to the necessary resources, whether financial, human, or material.

We would be fooling ourselves to think that any of this could be built without the support of the international community, that none of these processes are needed to ensure the country can find its way out of the crisis facing it and that still impacts the country’s political and socioeconomic outlook. This will not be possible without the international community paying the bill.  Not many members of the international community have the capacity to do so.  Therefore, the responsibility for paying this bill falls to only a few who must not and cannot delay in taking up their responsibility, as time is running out for Haiti, with everything that is happening simply worsening the situation.

Obviously, we should expect internal Haitian forces to oppose these three processes, to oppose the institutionalized dialogue because that process can have the advantage of bringing political stability to the country, which would seriously impact a number of interests that today prevail in Haiti.  Obviously, those forces will also oppose a trustworthy, fair, and transparent electoral process because the current ways and means of taking power have been completely different.  There will also certainly be opposition to developing an institutional security process for the country with a strong commitment of the international community because doing so would dismantle the current situation in which violence perpetrated by armed gangs and organized crime predominates.

When we look at Haiti’s current situation, we understand why there were internal forces—with external complicity—that wanted MINUSTAH withdrawn.  Doing so simply paved the way for a situation like the one we have today.

It is absolutely necessary to reverse the process of violence by implementing other institutional conditions and securing a different international commitment to bring the violence under control and disarm the armed gangs.  It is crucial to reign in the territorial operations of organized criminal groups.  But more of the human, financial, and material resources for this must come from the international community.  Haiti does not have the prepared and trained human resources.  It does not have the financial capacity, nor does it have the technical capacity to address the current security situation.  Taking another path would therefore be a complete distortion of reality.

Similar capacities must be developed to implement a process of dialogue leading to a free and fair electoral process.  We believe that the entire international community has a role to play, but it is crucial to concentrate all of the resources for these processes into a single institutionalized and centralized mechanism, not overlapping and ineffective volunteer efforts.

These processes are absolutely necessary, and it is crucial to launch them as soon as possible, with the dialogue process being the first one.  It should be assumed that the other two processes will be based on the first, not on completely external extemporaneous decisions not aligned with what the country’s social and political culture are capable of receiving and doing.  However, it is obvious that Haiti does not have the resources and that the resources have to be provided to Haiti through an institutionalized process by the international community with a strong monitoring component and capacity to combat corruption to prevent the resources from being diverted and misused.

Bringing peace to the country demands an absolutely critical step: there must be justice for the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse.  Without the truth being brought to light and without justice, no progress can ever be made towards reconciliation and harmony.

Based on the work done under these three processes, a new Constitution will have to be drafted that fixes the grave deficiencies and problems of the current Constitution.

• An autonomous, strong, and responsible Central Bank
• A strong, efficient, and independent justice system
• An educational system capable of providing real solutions to the needs of Haitian youth and children
• An incremental investment process toward providing work and jobs to Haitian men and women

Ignoring this need would mean completely ignoring reality.  Taking the approach of waiting for Haiti to develop its own capacities without international assistance would take years.  The country does not today, nor will it in the near future, have the conditions for accomplishing this alone.

Attempting to resolve the crisis and Haiti's serious problems without any of these elements would mean we are in the final phase of self-deception, which would not be so bad except for the fact that we are also deceiving the Haitian people into believing that we have a real solution for them.

As we continue to wait for the situation in Haiti to improve, the problems worsen.  According to UNICEF, many schools have been closed for three years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Attempts to reopen them have been frustrated by the criminal violence affecting communities throughout the country and the extortion to which school authorities are subjected.

The international community, international financial institutions, the multilateral system, and the international financial community of donor countries must make a decision: whether they want to industrialize Haiti sufficiently to ensure work for nine million Haitians, or whether it is economically more profitable to continue absorbing Haitian migrants and let host countries accommodate them as and how they can and in such economic conditions as they can offer.  This is a critical decision because on it depends whether the Haitian situation continues in a state of permanent crisis with increasingly tragic dimensions, or whether we can move toward a process of transformation in which we ensure sufficient investments on sustainable terms and, therefore, the social stability of the country.  It is necessary to ensure a strategy that includes the “what comes after?” aspect.  That includes the importance of the educational model and job security conditions.

Furthermore, Haiti's future prosperity depends on the development of its youth. Chronic malnutrition in children is irreversible, reducing their cognitive capacity by 40%. To build a sustainable future in Haiti, its human capital must be highly trained and able to compete in local and international job markets.  The current deficiencies in food security, caused by the low investment in agriculture and the difficulties of transporting food due to blockades imposed by criminal groups and poor infrastructure will only move the country further from its goal of eliminating extreme poverty.

In order to stop the academic backsliding and the malnutrition suffered by Haiti’s children as quickly as possible, the internal war must be ended.  We publicly reiterate our request for an end to armed violence in the country.

It is urgent to continue working to increase security and begin the democratization process.

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The dignity and the resilience of Haitian women

By Jean H Charles



Life has been so wrathful in Haiti during the last sixty years that the very act of survival is a human achievement. Yet during school days, Haiti is filled with school children smiling and laughing, produced by these Haitian women who believe in the miracle of life in spite of the odds against the celebration of the abundant life as described in the Bible.

I am known to be partial towards Jamaican women for their fierce determination of womanhood exhibited at home, in church and in the public service. As a keen and patient observer of Haitian women in Haiti, recently, I have come to admire, revere and celebrate their dignity and their resilience in face of all types of difficulty and discrimination.

Haiti, the beacon of freedom’s ring in the past, is also today the mother of discrimination. It is practiced against the people who live in the country side, those of the Diaspora as well as those with a light skin. It is also practiced against the women, in songs, jokes and in attitudes.

Yet the Haitian woman proudly exhibits her dignity and her resilience and goes about conducting her business as if she was living in a perfect world. This trait is found in all strata of Haitian society. From the madam Sara, as called pejoratively -- they are those women who travel from Panama to Curacao and back to Haiti, buying and selling goods for profit while being almost illiterate -- to the elite aristocrat Haitian woman, who can make any society lady of New York City or Paris feel like a peasant in style and in hospitality. This was the observation of a socialite from New Orleans. Haiti is a land of magic contrast that keeps the traveler and the keen observer on his toes.

As a vagabond traveler to the Caribbean, I have written earlier, see (Making the cut!) that the beautiful women are in Trinidad, the hot and sexy ones are in Guyana, the strong and the determined are in Jamaica, the tall and lean ones are in Dominica and the excellent mothers are in Haiti.

I am revising my canvass to state that Haiti has also its lot of strong and determined women. Where else would you find thousands and thousands of strong-willed ladies early from bed, preparing food for the children, bringing them to school and going about selling fruits, toothpaste and soap while chanting their wares on the street to bring the only income in the house for a family where the man has not been able to find a job in the last fifteen years?

Where else also will you find in the Caribbean such display of artistic prowess made by the men and especially the women of Haiti whether in embroidery, in basket making, necklaces, etc? This weekend (the 22nd and the 23rd of October) Haiti is celebrating the chef d’oeuvre of those artists with a giant sale extravaganza that all the art connoisseurs of the entire Caribbean should make a rendezvous to attend, every year.

Hosted by the Nouvelliste, the oldest newspaper in the country, the event is called: “Artisanat en fete”.

Donna Karan, the celebrated women’s designer will be at the party. She told Ina Paiva Cordle of the Miami Herald that “working with the Haitian artisans, the women in particular, has been one of the most inspiring experiences of my life. Coming to Haiti and make a difference in the life of ordinary people has been an enriching addition to my life.”

In the midst of that glorification everything is not all rosy. A young lady shared with me the confidence that some cities in Haiti have their larger share of Jezebels. In Cap Haitian and in Jacmel, two cities where the drug culture were rampant, the drug lords, nicknamed the amateurs, have converted the women into objects of pure material sometimes sadistic pleasure, where the name of the game was only money and more money. The DEA, with the support of the Haitian police, has recently disrupted that drug culture. There is in these towns a malingering transition that you can buy everything with money, including love and devotion.

In previous writings (I am voting again for Michel Martelly!) I have made the observation that the Haitian women who have achieved leadership positions in politics did not serve their gender well. They are accused of using the platform to travel, enjoy the perks and provide few outcomes for the masses of women. We might need a critical mass of women leaders, especially at the city and town level as mayors to adjust this observation to its right angle.

Haiti, after the earthquake that shook the nation and devastated its capital, is slowly rebounding with a new government in life and in spirit. Will it be the more things change, the more things remain the same?

I am keeping my eyes and my ears open, watching the trend where squalor could remain queen or where the spring could burst into a stream, bringing with it abundant life for the men and women of a dignified nation that have endured so much with such resilience!

October 22, 2011

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Haiti has lost a nation-builder in Guito Toussaint

By Jean H Charles



On June 12, 2011, in the evening, with the moon shining on the elite of Haitian society, brought together on the plaza of the Police Academy to celebrate the 16th anniversary of the creation of the Haitian police department, the atmosphere was festive and congenial. It was the Haiti of old time, the innocent Haiti in its golden age under President Paul E Magloire. President Martelly, sharp and dapper as Magloire, was singing with Jacques Sauveur Jean, a famous artist for the pleasure of the assistance.

The director of the police department, Mario Andresol, gave with brio a rendition of Charles Aznouvour. The speeches and the artistic part of the evening were at their end. As the buffet style banquet was beginning, two police inspectors seated at my table received a call: the president of Haiti’s National Bank of Credit was either kidnapped or killed at this very moment. They immediately left the festive party to be at the scene of the crime.

The party went on as scheduled but the mood was different. The dancing did not take place. A giant cake prepared for the occasion remained uncut and later mobbed by the service worker attendants.

I did not know Guito Toussaint but I knew something unusual was happening at the Haitian National Bank of Credit. It was transmuted into one of the most efficient banks in the nation. Guito Toussaint had succeeded in turning around a corrupt and decadent institution into the pride of the nation.

My personal encounter with the Haiti National Bank of Credit was not a pleasant one in the past. I had brought into Haiti an American investor ready and willing (a check on hand) to buy a bankrupt sugar mill in the north of Haiti called the Welsh Co., owned by the bank. As we were visiting the plant, a mob allegedly sent by associates of some of the directors of the bank was destroying the very same plant. Producing sugar in Haiti was against the interest of those who were using the bank’s money to import sugar from abroad.

When I visited the bank to urge the directors to save what could be saved from the pilfering of the economic assets of the plant, I was looked at as an intruder.

Guito Toussaint, recruited to lead the bank from its certain death, succeeded in bringing and keeping the confidence of a team dedicated to creating a national jewel for the benefit of the country.

Guito Toussaint hailed from the north of Haiti (the border town of Ouanaminthe) where it is still possible to find men of character not abused by the fifty plus years of ill governance, where corruption, greed and avarice have became the staple of the Haitian ethos.

He studied at the INAGUE – the Institute for International Affairs – the corresponding French ENA for Haiti where generations of young men and women are trained to become excellent public servants.

Along with a group of ten classmates who shared friendship, collegiality and the love for the motherland, Guito Toussaint was engaged in the business of nation building.

His last passion was Kay Pam (my own house) a product of the National Bank of Credit whose inauguration was planned on the very day of the funeral of the director of the Bank. In a land ravaged by the earthquake where housing is at a premium, Guito Toussaint has devised an instrument to provide a mortgage at a low rate of 8% to qualified subscribers.

He belongs in the class of those men and women who defy the interest groups that drag a country down, to create a nation that will become hospitable to all.

The outpouring of love and grief following Guito Toussaint’s assassination was an indication that Haiti is ready to get rid of its demons. Finding the criminal hands (wherever it may fall) who ordered and executed this death will be the signal that Haiti is entering in the domain of the rule of law, the precursor of growth and prosperity.

June 27, 2011

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The Culture of United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)

Brazil, Haiti and the MINUSTAH

By Jean H Charles:




I visited Brazil twenty years ago, as a globe trotter who cherished the joy of travelling, despite my trip to Brazil. I told my travel companion Eddy Harper at the end of our journey, one should not visit a country just because a plane can bring you there. I was warned before my departure that one should be very careful of your belongings, including your own ears or eyes.

They could be taken for sale as fresh organs. My bracelet that I held tightly in my hand to prevent its theft, was stolen anyway. The carnival in Rio, with a public relations machine well oiled all over the world, was for me a deception. It was a fine orchestrated exercise for the tourists (contrary to Trinidad and Tobago) with no personal participation.

I flew to Salvador de Bahia to taste the remnants of the black culture; I was not deceived. Yet my conclusion that one should not travel to a country just because a scheduled airline made the journey there was confirmed in Salvador. In the middle of the night walking around the colonial streets of the city, I was surprised to found the bustling business of the hour was the sale of coffins. An epidemic in the area was killing the citizens by the thousand.

Back in Rio, amidst the splendor of the beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, the squalor of the hills surrounding the city was threatening and menacing. The hypocrisy of the slogan: one nation, one people was mining the ethos of the society. A part of Pele, known all over the world for his skills in the sport of football/soccer, amidst the large black population one cannot find a single emerging black star in politics, the arts, science and education in Brazil.

The larger society was not in better shape, I remember my conversation with a young white teacher on the beach of Ipanema, doubling her life as a school teacher with one of a part time prostitute because her salary was not sufficient to provide a decent living.

Things have improved since in Brazil, with the advent of Ignacio Lula, who recognized social integration and upward mobility as a government policy.

Brazil was in an enviable position to help usher into Haiti a climate of hospitality for all, with the big brother holding the hands of the junior one. Passionate about soccer, the Haitian people have adopted Brazil as their idol nation. There were deaths of passion in Haiti following a football match between Argentina and Brazil. (That passion has been transmuted today onto Messi of Barcelona in Spain, revered as a demi-god.)

Brazil, with its size and its limitless resources, had hemispheric hegemonic ambition. Lula planned to use its leadership of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) in Haiti, to help his country obtain a seat on the Security Council. That goal has been a complete failure and disappointment. After the questioning suicide of the Brazilian general in Haiti, Brazil could not find another national to succeed at the helm of the mission. The Guatemalan, Edmund Mulet, whose arrogance equals only his excellent command of French, is decried on the walls of Port au Prince with the same intensity as Rene Preval, the despised Haitian president.

The MINUSTAH culture is one of make believe in most of the operations concerning its mission of stabilization of the country. A mammoth military operation in a nation at peace with itself is as out of place as an elephant moving around in a small living room.

Small countries like Nepal are competing and bidding against big ones like China to get the prime risk funding just for parading on the street of Port au Prince, forcing children to wake up at 5.00 am to reach their school destination on time amongst the crowded streets of Port au Prince.

The police as well as the military unit operates a vast cottage industry designed to provide employment to expatriates from forty nations, while providing absolutely no service or at least limited service that impacts the Haitian population in security, police, training and education and development.

The talk around the water cooler at the headquarters in Geneva or in New York is that a tour of duty in Haiti is a plum placement. You will find sun, sand, docile and attractive women, tasty food, strong and exotic culture during combat and prime risk duty while feigning to stabilize the country with words instead of action. An astute anthropologist or sociologist would have a field day studying Haiti at the age of its colonization by the United Nations.

As a detached or interested observer, I am watching the complete disintegration of Haitian society under the watch of the UN Mission of Stabilization. Starting with the women and the young people that represent the fragile segment of the nation, they exhibit coping mechanisms with pathological manifestations that will compromise the foreseeable future of the nation.

The aftermath of the earthquake and the cholera epidemic (brought by the UN into Haiti) should have been an incentive to rebuild a new Haiti hospitable to all, where the security of the environment, public health and public security would be the hallmark of the government.

Haiti is being instead quickly Africanized at its worst, with refugee camps in public places as well as on the golf courses. The indecency in public policy is being plotted, implemented, and applauded by most international institutions.

One hundred fifty years ago (1864) the Vatican stood up as the only entity to support a nation ostracized by the entire world for daring to stand up against the world order of slavery. Haiti needs today one friendly country in the world that would stand up to support with strategies, finance and technical assistance its growing opposition, thirsty for a complete break with the culture of squalor imposed upon the country during the last sixty years.

I have not seen nor heard one nation in the whole world that raises a finger to say that I am ready for the challenge!

February 19, 2011

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The Tonton Macoutes: The central nervous system of Haiti's reign of terror

By David Aponte, COHA Research Associate


A Malediction on Haitian Society

Few countries in the hemisphere have suffered through such an extensive run of unqualified repressive regimes and military dictatorships as Haiti. The nearly thirty years of harsh rule under François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, and his son, Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier that ended in 1986, are likely the most infamous epoch in the painful history of this small French-Creole nation that occupies the western third of the Caribbean island of La Hispaniola. Certainly, the main tool for the maintenance of the regime’s grasp on the population through much of this period was the “Tonton Macoutes,” renamed in 1971 as the Milice de Voluntaires de la Sécurité Nationale —MVSN (Volunteers for National Security). Although this organization no longer formally exists, its legacy of paramilitary violence and sheer brutality still contorts Haitian modern political and economic cultures.

The Birth of Terror

In 1959, only two years after becoming president, “Papa Doc” created a paramilitary force that would report only to him and would be fully empowered to use unremitting violence to maintain the new administration’s authority to summarily dispose of its enemies. This marked the birth of one of the most brutal paramilitary organizations in the hemisphere and was justified by the leader’s profound paranoia towards the threat posed by the regular armed forces. Haiti’s military began to steadily lose a great deal of authority with the consolidation of the François Duvalier regime, which it would not recover until 1986, when the pressure coming from senior military officers played a major role in the fall of Jean-Claude. A spate of coups followed, with military figures occupying the vacancy left by “Baby Doc.”

The Haitians nicknamed this warlord-led goon squad the “Tonton Macoutes,” after the Creole translation of a common myth, about an “uncle” (Tonton) who kidnaps and punishes obstreperous kids by snaring them in a gunnysack (Macoute) and carrying them off to be consumed at breakfast. Consequently, these torturers, kidnapers and extortionists were feared not only by children, but also by the country’s general population, as well as by opposition members and business men not willing to make enforced pay-offs to the authorities. The militia consisted mostly of illiterate fanatics that were converted into ruthless zombie-like gunmen. Their straw hats, blue denim shirts, dark glasses and machetes remain indelibly etched in the minds of millions of Haitians.

Ever since its establishment, this brutal organization had free rein to act unreservedly, disregarding any ethical or civil rights of the citizenry that might interfere with its indiscriminate violence. They were not accountable to any state branch, court or elected body, but rather only to their leader, “Papa Doc.”

The Second Most Feared Man in Haiti

The dictator’s hold on power was guaranteed by the secret police’s terror campaign, and usually, the head of the “Macoutes,” was considered to be extremely close to the dictator. This was especially true under President François Duvalier. Luckner Cambronne was a particularly fierce head of the “Tonton Macoutes” throughout the 1960’s and the beginning of the 1970’s, for two reasons: first, because he was considered perhaps the most powerful and influential man in Haiti during the transition from “Papa” to “Baby Doc,” and second, because of his unique brand of cruelty that enabled him to become very rich and earned him the nickname “Vampire of the Caribbean.”

As a result of his close relationship with “Papa Doc,” Luckner climbed rapidly up Haiti’s power structure and he became the chief plotter of the extortions carried out by his henchmen. Later, he profited by supplying corpses and blood to universities and hospitals in the United States. His brutality was manifest whenever there was a shortage of what he considered raw material (corpses). In that case, he did not hesitate to kill innocent people to facilitate the growth of his “industry.”

In 1971, following an altercation with the Duvalier family regarding his role in post-“Papa Doc” Haiti, Luckner fled to Miami. Nevertheless, he remained an ardent supporter of the Haitian regime until his death in October of 2006. He stated once in the British newspaper The Independent that a “good Duvalierist is prepared to kill his children (for Duvalier) and expects his children to kill their parents for him.” This sentiment displays the rationale of the “Tonton Macoutes,” a goon squad, which was fiercely loyal to but one family and not in any way in the service of the nation or its people. Even though there are some MSVN leaders that were never formally identified in the recent history of Haiti, such as Roger Lafontant, they all are clear examples of the power that the organization and its leaders had and continue to possess to one degree or another, in contemporary Haiti.

Mysticism and Reality

A key characteristic of the structure of the MSVN was that some of the most important members of the “Tonton Macoutes” were vodou leaders, with this belief system currently practiced by roughly half of the country’s population. This religious affiliation gave the “Macoutes” a sense of unearthly authority in the eyes of the public, which allowed them to perform horrific acts without any form of retribution from the Haitian population at large. What this means is that “the ‘Tontons Macoutes’ were part of a conscious strategy to identify spiritual forces and nationalism with loyalty to Duvalier, and to instill fear in [his] opponents.” From their methods to their choice of clothes, vodou always played an important role in their actions.

However, despite the religious nature of vodou, the facts as well as the numbers speak for themselves. These merciless killers murdered over 60,000 Haitians and many more were forced to flee their homes. Consequently, Haiti suffered an unparalleled and crippling brain drain that robbed the small country of many of its most educated citizens.

The militia created a sense of fear through continuous threats against the public as well as frequent random executions. The “Tonton Macoutes” often stoned and burned people alive, regularly following such rites by hanging bodies of their victims in the street as a warning to the population at large. The diversity of the victims was also a measure of the “Macoutes’” cruelty. They could range from a woman in the poorest of neighborhoods who had the temerity to support an opposing politician, all the way to an accommodating foreign diplomat or even a business man who refused to “donate” money for public works (the public works being the pockets of corrupt officials and even the dictator himself).

The Role of the US

For decades, the situation in Haiti kept deteriorating without any calls for international intervention. Although the United States was a preeminently active and interested participant in the development of Haiti’s political culture, it failed to speak out against such atrocities—not even during human rights-focused administrations such as Jimmy Carter’s—as a result of Cold War logic. Washington was certainly far more interested in supporting a pro-American tyrant whose purported task was to stop the spread of communism in the region, rather than protecting the Haitian people by supporting a healthy democracy and a responsible authority in Port-au-Prince. Butch Ashton, a business man who made his fortune during the Duvalier dictatorship by establishing corporations such as Citrus (a fruit exporter) and the Toyota dealership in the country’s capital, vehemently claims that the Tonton Macoute militia was trained by the U.S. Marine Corps and that the highest levels of the American government were complicit in this arrangement.

The US has been an active supporter, albeit from the shadows, even years after the “Tonton Macoute” reign of violence officially was over. The Human Rights Watch reported on Haiti in 2004 and stated, “The United States, notably, showed little enthusiasm for the prosecution of past abuses. Indeed, it even impeded accountability by removing to the US thousands of documents from military and paramilitary headquarters, allowing notorious abusers to flee Haiti, and repeatedly giving safe haven to paramilitary leaders.”

The “Tonton Macoutes”: Legacy and Transformation

The darkness of the “Tonton Macoutes” era may have seemed to subside upon the official dismemberment of the organization, which occurred after “Baby Doc” fled Haiti for France in 1986. However, massacres led by paramilitary groups spawned by the Macoutes continued during the following decade. After 1991, when Aristide was illegally forced to leave the presidency, the vestiges of the MVSN became known as “attachés,” or savage groups of vigilantes attached to government security forces, or crooked political organizations which had the ability to use force against its foes. Consequently, a number of small paramilitary bodies were organized to work with these mafias as “stability” keepers. A good number of these new bodies were being formed by former “Macoutes.” Many of these militias remained nostalgic for the good old days of Duvalierism, with some even attempting to ignite their own reign of terror.

The most feared paramilitary group during the 1990’s emerged as a political presence just as sadistic as the MVSN: the “Revolutionary Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti—FRAPH,” which Toronto Star’s crack journalist Linda Diebel described as modern-Macoutes and not as the political party they claimed to be. The reporter declared that the FRAPH, under goon figure Emmanuel Constant, was even worse than the Duvalierist militia because it was no longer subordinate to one absolute authority. The FRAPH also cooperated with the regular army to persecute Aristide’s followers; this made them even more dangerous than the “Tonton Macoutes”, because in the old days the militia and the legal armed forces were more rivals than allies. This paramilitary group also extended its influence far outside La Hispaniola to diasporas throughout the world, “Fraph also had a presence abroad, with offices in New York, Miami, Montreal and other cities with large Haitian exile communities.”

These ghosts from the past still torment Haitian and U.S. policy: last year a group of civic activists accused the Obama administration of turning a blind-eye to the criminal activity being practiced against Aristide backers and supporters of his Fanmi Lavalas party. The group that was trying to prevent the participation of Haiti’s most popular party in the 2010 elections through the use of indiscriminate violence and political pressure was led by a former paramilitary leader convicted in the U.S. for drug trafficking and money laundering, Guy Philippe.

There a long history of paramilitary violence in Haiti that seems all but unstoppable, regardless of whatever government may be in charge. As Professor Robert Maguire observed in 2002, “the unabated power struggle among the country’s politicians has been joined by a renewal of the kind of paramilitary violence that the vast majority of Haitians hoped had ended with the disbandment of the Haitian Armed Forces in 1995.” But there are some other issues that feed the existence of the paramilitary phenomenon: these factors include drug trafficking, rampant poverty, demoralized police forces, and the primacy of the interests of the elite. All of these factors explain why the remnants of the “Tonton Macoutes” are still a very important part of Haiti’s political and social heritage, even as they and their descendents continue to fragment into small groups with different interests, maintaining their penchant for violence and chaos.

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs, founded in 1975, is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, tax-exempt research and information organization. It has been described on the Senate floor as being "one of the nation's most respected bodies of scholars and policy makers." For more information, visit www.coha.org

March 15, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Haiti looks to Caricom to rebuild shattered education system

Written by CMC:



PARAMARIBO, Suriname – Haiti has used the inaugural Caribbean Community (Caricom) Summit on Youth Development to make an impassioned plea for assistance in rebuilding its shattered education system following the destruction caused by the powerful earthquake on 12 Jan.

Haiti’s Caricom Youth Ambassador (CYA), Leticia Cadet, said rebuilding the education system is a matter of priority for her country still reeling from the effects of the earthquake that left an estimated 200,000 people dead and more than one million homeless.

She presented a petition to a special meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), one of several conferences leading to the two-day summit that ended last Saturday.

In the petition, Haiti is calling for a "recovery relief effort to support youth development through tertiary education and business development in Haiti …in partnership with Caricom.

"The 12 Jan., earthquake left thousands of students without schools, universities, and teachers in Port-au-Prince and around Haiti.

"Current efforts are focussing on providing food, water, and shelter; but in the coming months and years, the most pressing issue will become the lack of qualified human resources to rebuild Haitian society, which will result from the generations of displaced students unable to access quality education during and following the crisis.

The demand for quality education is, and will continue to be, very critical," according to the petition.

Cadet said while the education system in her country collapsed following the earthquake, prior to 12 Jan., Haiti had little capacity and only a few facilities to offer higher education.

She said Haiti therefore needs the support so as to "avoid (the) creation of a potentially detrimental gap in qualified human resources."

She said with the collapse of the buildings housing the School of Nursing and the School of Human Sciences, students who survived the earthquake stand the possibility of missing the rest of the academic year.

She called for Caricom to provide a minimum of 20 scholarships annually for the next five years, allowing Haitian students to attend the University of the West Indies (UWI).

The youth ambassador also expressed hope that the UWI would be more "flexible" to enrol Haitian students.

Suriname Education Minister Edwin Wolf said at every level, suitable measures and actions should be taken to put appropriate conditions in place to help young people to develop their potential.

"The clichéd phrase that "youth of today is the future of tomorrow,’’ should be discarded. The future of young people is now…today we must listen to them.

"Today we must help them so they can develop their potential and become responsible citizens who can make a contribution to the country and the region," he said.

Barbados Youth Ambassador Christaneisha Soleyn challenged the ministers of youth to find the time to dialogue with young people, provide guidance to them and solicit their advice on how best to address various situations.

01 February 2010 12:00

sunstkittsonline

Bahamas Blog International

Careful planning is needed for Haiti's re-development

By Youri Kemp:


The earthquake that hit Haiti earlier this year was a dreadful catastrophe that shook the conscience of every human being with a heart that beats in their body.

The comments made by certain quarters of the American political community and the religious community at large, are unwarranted. They are unwarranted because the facts, as seen in the eyes of the persons who made them, are largely irrelevant to the issues at hand. Gratuitously cruel to some extent.

The major, current issues are in finding ways for aid to reach Haitians in Haiti on the ground as well as what Haiti needs, in the form of development, to ensure that a catastrophe like this is not repeated.

We can surmise that no one can predict an earthquake with any certainty, even though scientists are becoming more accurate with their information. However, Haiti won't miraculously move off of the plateau of the tectonic plates that caused the earthquake. Also, Haiti would still need strong infrastructure and strong human services, to be able to better handle a catastrophe, like an earthquake, if a natural disaster happens again.

In a nutshell, considering the earthquake as well as the fact that Haiti is prone to hurricanes, Haiti needs to not only rebuild, but rebuild stronger, given the unnecessary loss of life that occurred.

Stronger building codes and a disaster management plan, is an obvious must.

Resetting the government agenda is also vitally important, but also an obvious must.

In addition, another issue that has arisen, more strongly post quake, is debt relief for Haiti. This, in conjunction with the almost bound to happen cry for reparations from France, are issues that have their merit grounded in historical and redistributive fact and need.

However, the question one must ask is: would spending money, via debt relief and reparations to and through the government of Haiti be worth its effort? A government, which had its parliament collapse along with other government agencies, on top of the other issues as they relate to its fragile state before the quake (2008 mini-coup/riot that was quashed)? Would this really work towards a better long term solution to the social, economic and political situation in Haiti?

I have my doubts on the viability of those options at this time. Perhaps it may be something to consider in the future of Haiti.

However, what about the underlying issues that has prevented Haiti moving, in the past, towards building a stronger, more progressive society? A stronger, more progressive society, which would help to strengthen the people and the institutions of Haiti, in order for Haiti to sustain such a disaster -- God forbid, but more than likely, would happen again in light of the obvious realities.

Without going into a historical diatribe about the merits of any particular organisation, whether it was political or religious, the fact of the matter is that the distraction as it relates to the disruptions that were caused by political instability -- even if we speak to the heart and the socio-economic fibre of Haiti when we mention the name Duvalier, and the Voodoo belief system, which was seen to have propped up the dictator, is something that needs to sorted out, if Haiti is to become progressive.

Conventional wisdom, which in this case I will indulge because many indicators have shown that belief in this particular, even if one considers it axiomatic, position, is relevant; is the issue of the Haitian civil society and their private sector and the fact that they have been virtually non-existent in the past, if not, moribund, to say the most about it.

Civil society organisations have been proven to anchor communities and, by effect, stabilise communities through their organised nature and their ability to negotiate with business and political directorates and lobby for sensitive, effective and meaningful socio-economic solutions to critical issues.

Fostering a sense of common values, commitment and investment interests in the Haitian society, must never be repressed, ignored or uncultivated in the new Haitian society.

Where people have interests and investments’, coalescing around shared values on where the country is headed and what is needed to maintain sustained, positive development- issues as they relate to human and structural development, will be a synergistic, progressive positive.

The private sector must be engaged most vigorously. For the fact that the minimum wage in Haiti is, roughly, US$5 -- and we can imagine that most employers don't adhere to it -- is one that cannot be ignored and issues as they relate to (1) Curbing oligopolistic and monopolistic activity; (2) Providing for sustainable local markets; (3) Ensuring fair value in and access to external markets; and (4) Trade and development assistance from all the relevant partners and stakeholders in the global community, is a large task but must be essential for a new Haitian, country-wide progressive model.

Creating wealth in Haiti is an obvious task that must be addressed and attacked with full commitment from the Haitian government and their international partners.

The concerns as they relate to officials taking a mechanistic approach to the matter, is something that the Haitian government, non-governmental organisations and technical expertise from the development community -- bearing in mind the daunting task of country-wide buy in and creating economic synergies that are self sustaining -- must take in hand from a prejudiced standpoint of the status quo and assist their weaker partners, in that the civil society organisations.

Certainly, there are enough 'what to do's' to go about. This author is not void of any. However, what Haiti and its partners in assistance needs now is to identify which 'what to do' to target and work at it. The second hardest part is 'how to do' as well as measuring the success of the 'what to do' as it would be and is impacted by the 'how did'? This is obviously after immediate reconstruction and investment for that reconstruction.

Partners from around the globe must converge on Haiti and assist the society at large with whatever decisions are made. This includes not just assistance with debt relief -- if that be the case -- or development through trade or just supporting NGOs stationed in Haiti.

But, assist Haiti with the technical expertise to build a better nation, from the inside out.

January 26, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog Internaional