Port au Prince, Haiti: Nou Bouke! We are exhausted!

By Jean H Charles:


This graffiti is now covering most of the remaining walls of Port au Prince, Haiti. During election time, candidates commandeered slogans and graffiti on the walls for a price. This slogan Nou Bouke (pronounced key) has nothing to do with politics; it is the cry of exasperation of a people that have endured misery, deception, earthquake, hurricane and ill governance constantly for the past sixty years!

I received last week a challenge from a brother from Jamaica now living in the Turks and Caicos asking me to clarify or expand on the issue of governance and democracy in Haiti, the relevance of the demise from Haiti and the forced exile to South Africa of Jean Bertrand Aristide and last but not least the issue of redemption to Haiti from France. I welcome the challenge hoping neither of us will be a winner but the larger community will benefit in knowledge and understanding from the exchange.

On the issue of redemption for past slavery, one will be surprised to find out I have single-handed initiated the process for putting on the table the issue of redemption for Haiti. It all started during a cursory visit to a bookstore in downtown Port au Prince. I came upon an issue of Paris Match where I read that a legislator from Martinique has succeeded in having the French Parliament pass a resolution condemning slavery as an act of cruel and inhuman treatment inflicted by France upon million of slaves. My legal mind told me that France has opened a hole that will make it liable and vulnerable to demand for compensation from former colonies in general and from Haiti in particular.

In a follow up conversation with my father, a retired chief judge of Haiti Civil Court and past Dean of a law school, I revived the discussion concerning the pros and cons of such an approach. On a strict construction of the law, the doctrine of clean hands and the doctrine of viability of an action in criminal matters are in full force. France cannot continue to benefit from the billion of dollars in retribution paid by Haiti while it has enjoyed the forced labor and the sweat of generations of slaves enriching named French citizens individually and the nation as whole for several centuries. Haiti has conquered its freedom on its own, paying a price in gold to have that freedom recognized by France is unconscionable morally and it is illegal now, considering the resolution passed by the French Parliament. There was a guest in my home at that conversation; he was a personal advisor of Jean Bertrand Aristide. He brought the issue to the President, the rest was history.

President Aristide could have called upon the best legal minds of the world, including those from France to make the legal case for Haiti for retribution in light of this new development. He chose instead to pursue a political and demagogic road poisoning for ever the legal advantage. At the other end of the spectrum France and Belgium owe the rest of their former colonies an obligation to help extract the virus of distrust, dissent and internal fratricide injected into the ethos and the culture of most of the former French and Belgium colonies. From Congo to Madagascar, from Haiti to Gabon and from Senegal to Tunisia, the story is the same with some variances, France meddling and the sequels of French culture is at the heart of the poor governance, the internal fighting and the robbing of the natural resources depriving the citizens of enjoying in peace their God given national endowment.

Should President Aristide have been deposed from power and sent to exile? This debate will continue for generations yet the truth of the matter is Aristide was deposed by a popular movement of the people of Haiti led by students who found his policies of dividing the already disjointed Haitian family too much to endure. As usual, France and the United States have come at the end to claim the paternity of the movement and lead the transition to their own advantage. Sending Aristide to exile was a small price to pay to bring about solace to million of Haitian families.

Under the Duvalier regime, the repression was codified and led by uniformed tonton macoutes, under Arisitide, the repression, the kidnapping and the killings were done by thugs, hired renegade paid by the government with not even a uniform to claim the appearance of a state enterprise. His complete disregard for law and order was putting the nation at its core into the path of disintegration. This axiom enshrined in the Preamble of the, Constitution of the United States is of value to the people of Haiti as well as the people of the world:

“All men are created equal; they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new government. It is the duty of the people to rise and to defend themselves against that tyrant.”

We often tend to follow the politics that the mice are smaller than the rats, as such we can live with the mice. Duvalier’s son was better than Duvalier therefore we can live with him. Arisitide was better than Duvalier fils therefore he is acceptable. Preval is better than Aristide, we should give him a chance.

The principle of democracy is a simple one. I have often called upon Ernest Renan as my preferred prophet for spreading the message. You shall defend your frontiers and your territory with all your might! You shall instill into the souls of your citizen the love and the admiration of the founding fathers! You shall take all the necessary measures to insure that no one is left behind!

In Haiti today the people are crying nou Bouke! nou Bouke! We have enough of this government that is interested in perpetuating itself while playing a scant view of the welfare of its people. Confirmed reports have informed me that before the earthquake some 900 projects vetted by Haiti’s own service of business promotion that would bring jobs for the Haitian people have been blocked by the Haitian government because graft has not been tendered for a final approval. After the earthquake the only reconstruction firms that can obtain a permit to start demolition projects are those introduced by or retained with the first Lady of Haiti.

It might be time for Haiti and for the friends of Haiti to plan regime change in Haiti, if the country should enjoy free and fair elections leading to democracy. The Haitian people did have their Friday of Crucifixion for too long it is time now for them to have their Easter Sunday. It is also the quickest way to bring about a minimum of coordination to the avalanche of help brought about by the international community to the gallant people of Haiti averting as such a second disaster.

It was a brother from Jamaica who sparked the Haitian revolution changing the world for ever and for the better! His name was Bookman. Would you, my dear brother from Jamaica, lend a hand again?

March 20, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Blog International

Help Haiti out of Haiti

Jamaicaobserver Editorial:


Centuries ago, the colonial powers of the western world executed a monstrous plan to transport millions of Africans across the Atlantic in the name of slavery. It was, in every sense of the word, a raw ride -- the Africans were shackled and crammed like sardines below the decks of the cargo ships -- which still makes for horrific reading.

Countless Africans succumbed to the disease and depression that accessorised the trip, jumping overboard to escape the unrelenting wretchedness which was every bit as heart-rending as what is going on in earthquake-devastated Haiti today.

But as long as the slave trade was profitable, no amount of suffering could undermine the objectives of its organisers. They needed free labour and they weren't about to let logistics, regard for human rights, or anything else get in the way of the transatlantic slave trade. On and on it went, for over 300 years, defying rebellion after rebellion, until the economics of it no longer made sense.

Even when slavery was completely abolished in 1838, the hard-fought-for freedom proved elusive for most, as the process of transitioning from a slave society to an emancipated one was far easier said than done.

The devil was in the detail.

Much as it is in Haiti where, according to several reports coming out of that country, people are dying of thirst and hunger within shouting distance of life-saving supplies.

According to one Associated Press (AP) report published in our Friday edition, General Douglas Fraser, head of the US Southern command that is running Haiti's airports, said 1,400 flights are on a waiting list for slots at the Port-au-Prince airport that can handle 120-140 flights per day. Further afield, artistes of international acclaim are releasing songs, more money is being collected and benefits are being staged... all in the name of helping Haiti.

We hate to appear cynical, or worse, ungrateful.

However, the fact is that even as the world comes up with scheme after scheme to help Haiti, the desperate earthquake survivors are running amok among the rubble, literally maddened by the stench of death and devastation.

According to one report, a 15-year-old girl was shot in the head while allegedly making off with two stolen pictures. What was going through her adolescent mind at the time is anyone's guess now.

Was she thinking of selling them for money to buy food?

If so, to whom?

Was she even aware of what she was doing?

Either way, it just doesn't make sense.

What people like this late young girl need more than all the entertainment, all the millions, in the world right now, is to be removed from the trauma that is Haiti. That's why those who can, have flocked to the shores, desperate to get out on the first thing smoking.

The survivors need a clean environment, compassion, food, a warm bed, medical aid and maybe a picture or two to give them a mental break, however brief, from the horrors of the past two weeks.

That just isn't available in Haiti at the moment, but it is in the countries that are tripping over themselves to help.

History tells us that with the will, evacuation would be a cinch.

Reality says otherwise.

January 24, 2010

jamaicaobserver

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Turning Guantanamo Bay into a point of light

By Jean H Charles:


The American base at Guantanamo in Cuba, refitted to receive the enemy combatant prisoners and the terrorists of Iraq, Afghanistan and Yemen, is on the verge of being closed again due to negative publicity surrounding the alleged mistreatment of those prisoners. Guantanamo Bay, with proper leadership and foresight, can reborn brightly as the most suitable place from critical care to recovery and rehabilitation for the Haitians victims of the devastating earthquake in a longer term. It is at only half an hour from the town of Mole St Nicholas, Haiti where Christopher Columbus landed in the country five hundred years ago.

Those Haitians will return home later to a Haiti rebuilt and ready to receive them. Guantanamo, with the leadership of the United States and financial support from the rest of the world, is a potential first response disaster relief and management center for the Western Hemisphere. Fidel and Raul Castro, I am certain, would applaud such a move, causing a melting of the ice between the two governments, Cuba and the United States. Such synergy is already in place in Leogane, Haiti, where Cuban and American doctors are working hand in hand in perfect harmony.

The vista of a young man with broken feet being discharged from the hospital with no one to receive him and no home to go to is disheartening at best. Haiti after 1/12/10 needs a rehabilitation center for the thousand of discharged patients and halfway home for the thousand of orphaned children before adoption. The situation in Haiti is similar to the fate of Europe after the defeat of the Nazis. It took the leadership of a General John Marshall to transform the towns and the cities of France, Germany and England into vibrant entities. It took also the leadership of General MacArthur in Asia to transform Japan into the power house of today.

Haiti, a pearl of the islands before its independence, was destined to become a ever-shining pearl after its gallant victory over slavery. It has not been such. This massive destruction will set Haiti years behind if no proper leadership is exhibited. I share the concern of millions in the world, who wish Haiti well and would like to see its people enter into the kingdom of peace, harmony and welfare.

The state of the state of Haiti today is now one of confusion. The United States has asked Canada and Brazil to join its administration in taking the lead for the reconstruction of Haiti, yet France and the European Community want to be major players in a country where French language and French mores are still queen. Israel, Cuba, Venezuela and Turkey have been so far the most ready helpers. The Dominican Republic is now setting itself to become the trustee of Haiti.

The Haitian government is nowhere to be found. There was no better governance in the best of times. President Barack Obama has promised not to let the Haitians suffer alone in this difficult situation. He will have to appoint a strong leader to lead the recovery, bring the sick, and the ones with broken limbs to Guantanamo, work with Europe and the other countries that want to devise a Marshall plan for Haiti and help instill in the country a sense of urgency, safety and solidarity of one towards the other.

One week after the earthquake, the excuses in the delay in breaking the bottleneck for essential delivery of health care to the people affected by the disaster are not reasonable. The Haitian people once more have demonstrated their resilience, they know not to expect solace from their own government, they expect, though, a better coordination of leadership and logistics from the international community.

The Haitian government has paid the transportation for the refugees to return home to their ancestral towns. It is planning tent cities on the outskirt of Port au Prince, against the grain of Haitian ethos that refuse to be refugees in their own country. They need a hospitality center in each one of the small towns of Haiti to alleviate and organize the arrivals of the new residents. A purse of a minimum of one million dollars in each one of the 150 towns of Haiti will go a long way in setting the stage for the reconstruction of Haiti and easing the pressure on the capital.

The power vacuum in Haiti on the national and international level is potentially as explosive as the recent earthquake:

– the political ballet dance of the United States not wanting to offend the Haitian government in taking charge of essential services,
– the United Nations wounded by the loss of its people and discredited for dismal performance for the last five years in Haiti,
– the rest of the international community already into a mode of a charity fatigue due to unnecessary bottleneck by those three players,
– the posturing of the major nonprofit organizations more interested in putting the spotlight on themselves instead of working together to bring essential services to the ordinary earthquake afflicted person.
– the Haitian government culture of treating its own citizens as pariah entities.

These are all the ingredients that will impede the speedy recovery of Haiti. As the doctors and the nurses in the field who need essential tools and medication to save the sick and the wounded, as the community leaders in the slum documented by BBC, who provide better services for burying the dead, healing the sick, and feeding the hungry than the slow pace of the world armada camped at the airport still discussing logistics and protocol while Haitians are dying from post and non treatment.

I am crying for help, please! The ghost of Katrina is still haunting Haiti.

January 23, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Haiti, past and present, exposes the ugliness of humanity

By Ben Roberts:


We see the devastation in Haiti. We see the broken and lifeless bodies removed from the rubble. We see the walking dead with their bloody wounds, skin whitened by plaster and falling dust, and their hands caked with blood and abrasions from pulling each other from the crushing skin of the earth. We see the hand-wringing of anxious relatives wanting to know about the fate of their loved ones.

We see and hear Pat Robertson expound on his ‘pact with the Devil’ attempt at logical reasoning. We hear of Rush Limbaugh, in all his omniscience, claiming ‘Don’t bother trying to donate to relief efforts. We’ve already donated to Haiti. It’s called the US income tax.’

We see the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, President Barack Obama, in no uncertain terms, directing America’s military, medical, recovery, and whatever else resources, post-haste to assist this stricken country. We see regular genuine human beings from all creeds, colors, and walks of life of trying to be of help in this disaster.

We see all this and cannot help but wonder about our own humanity, about what we are doing in this world, and what we have done in this world. This calamity in Haiti wakes us up to what we are and need to be doing. But Haiti has been a never-ending calamity because of what we have done in this world. Haiti needs us to keep its anemic body and soul together, but we need Haiti just as much to maintain our humanity by reminding us of how ugly the human spirit can be, and how low it can falter at times.

Pat Robertson claims that Haiti made a ‘pact with the Devil,’ and has suffered ever since. For those not well-informed on the history of Haiti, it must be explained that, after Haiti defeated France and got its Independence from the yoke of slavery in 1804, the French demanded one hundred and fifty million francs as compensation for its loss of the wealth it would have realized had slavery remained intact in that former colony. How diabolical! But that is not all.

Think of the world in 1804. In 1804 a hundred and fifty million francs would have amounted to a king’s ransom. Where would a shattered Haiti have gotten this money? A loan from Britain? From America? From Spain? From private entrepreneurs? Not a chance. And who, on moral grounds, would stop France from making this demand? No one, since all these nations were profiting beyond their wildest dreams from slavery.

So this new nation of Haiti, if it wanted to join the club of nations, thought its best bet was to comply with this diabolical demand. Believe it or not Haiti’s way out was to borrow the hundred and fifty million francs from France at extortionist rates. Now that is a pact with the Devil if there ever was one.

In most wars in history the victor demands reparations of the vanquished. In this instance the victor has to compensate the vanquished and has no choice but to get the loan from the vanquished to do so. How low can humanity sink? What a stain on us all who claim to represent a civilized world. No, Haiti did not make a ‘pact with the Devil.’ It made the mistake of not abiding by this long-held saying: ‘When you sup with the Devil be sure to use a long spoon.’ The Devil being all those who had designs on that bountiful nation.

Rush Limbaugh, as stated above, exhorts that we should pass on donating to Haiti since we already do in the income tax we pay. I sometimes wonder who actually listens to this man who pretends to be so informed and all-knowing. Does he even know that his own President James Madison initiated contact with Toussaint L’Overture, imploring him not to send his Haitian agents provocateurs into the US to disseminate word to American slaves that Haiti had defeated their French masters and attained their freedom?

This would have been a disaster to American wealth and profits if American slaves got wind of this and challenged the institution of slavery. Because Haiti wanted to maintain good relations with the United States, Toussaint apparently complied with this request. Now that is a pact.

Honoring such a request from the leader of a country which, a scant twenty nine years earlier, had fought its own war of Independence guaranteeing the rights of man. A war of independence where a number of the prominent Haitians in that nation’s War of Independence had fought valiantly with American soldiers in its War of Independence from the British.

So you see why Rush Limbaugh needs to be informed or read some more before coming out and pretending to be some repository of knowledge about what America has donated to others. If Pat Robertson wants to know about the human capacity for diabolical violence then he should read about the top French military man in Haiti, General Rochambeau, and his mass drowning of Haitians in the harbor of Cap Haitien.

He should read about British military overlord for the region, General Maitland, and his unrivaled wolfish propensity for deception. (Yes. The British were also present in Haiti at this same time, complete with a fort, with designs on Haiti, the bountiful prize sought over by all the major world powers of that time).

If Rush Limbaugh wants to know about outlays to other countries he should read about the aftermath of the Haitian Revolution where his country insisted that the Haitian government change its Constitution to allow outsiders to own property. A decision that affects Haiti to this day. In order to learn about all this these men should find and read: The Black Jacobins by C.L.R. James. In fact anyone who takes the time to read this text will have no choice but to rethink what they thought they knew about Haiti.

Definitely a country with a dual personality. On the one hand it represents the hopes, dreams, indomitable spirit, and ability of a people and segment of humanity to fight and succeed against unimaginable odds to establish their unquestioned legitimacy as members of the human race. On the other hand it represents the fears of another segment of humanity at the prospect of losing their privileges and presumed superiority in the human race.

Simply put, Haiti represents the unlimited potential for the human race to overcome and move into the light. Alternately, it represents the ugliness and darkness of the human race.

But enough of gloom and these bombastic individuals claiming to be authorities on something of which they seem to know very little. They remind one of a quote by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu in his book The Tao Te Ching: ‘Those who know don’t talk, and those who talk don’t know.’

It is heart-warming to see President Obama taking charge and, in no uncertain terms, making it a priority to put resources into Haiti. What a sight to see the potent military assets of America, such as the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, and a Predator drone, being put to use in this calamity. Weapons of war highly capable of raining down death and destruction being utilized to extend hope and life. America never looked so good or so strong. It gives hope for a better world. Too bad it takes a calamity of such earth-shattering proportions for us to get to that point.


Ben Roberts is a Turks & Caicos Islander. He is a newsletter editor, freelance writer, and published author. He is the author of numerous articles that have been carried by a variety of Internet websites and read worldwide. He is often published in Turks & Caicos news media, and in the local newspapers where he resides. His action adventure novel, Jackals of Samarra, can be found at Amazon.com, and most of the major Internet book outlet sites.

January 20, 2010

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International

Haiti, the last battle!

By Jean H Charles:


This past Wednesday on November 18, Haiti celebrated the 206th anniversary of the victory of its troops: 7,000 men in rags and ill nourished, who crushed the 40,000 well trained soldiers sent by Napoleon from France to re-establish slavery in that rebel island that dared to declare itself the land of the free!

We were in 1800; John Adams, who entertained a cozy relationship with Toussaint Louverture, the mighty leader of the whole island of Hispaniola, was crushed in his attempt to win a second mandate as president of the United States. Thomas Jefferson did win the election, and entered instead into a secret pact with Napoleon to allow the French troops to cross the Atlantic and reach Haiti.

The Haitians, who have tasted the sweet smell of liberty, did not conceive the idea of coming back into slavery. Under the leadership of Toussaint, first, Dessalines and Henry Christophe later, they submitted the French troops to defeat after defeat until the last battle that took place near Cape Haitian, at Vertieres on November 18, 1803. There, one of the generals, Capois La Mort, distinguished himself with bravado and gallantry that the French General Rochambeau ordered the battle to stop to pay homage to Capois. His horse and his hat were hit with a bullet; he regained his composure to call his troops to move with the slogan: En Avant! En avant! Move forward, Move forward!

It was the end of the French fantasia to bring Haiti and the Haitians back into slavery. It was also the beginning of the end of the wide world order of black subjugation. This epic story did not have a long life in Haiti. Dessalines was assassinated two years later by his own comrades in arms. His successor, Henry Christophe, lasted fifteen years, but ruled only the northern part of the island. His rival Alexander Petion and his successor Jean Pierre Boyer delivered on a platter what the French could not get on the battle field. Boyer accepted to pay to the French government the equivalent of 2 billion dollars to compensate the settlers for their loss. Petion and Boyer imprinted the Haitian ethos with the culture of exclusion, which is the imprimatur of Haitian society today. The 565 rural counties of Haiti have not received individually or collectively one million dollars for the past two hundred years in structural infrastructure!

Desolated and left to fend for them, the rural world of Haiti is leaving en masse, building a shanty town at the rate of one a month in the capital and in the main cities. They are also trying to reach the Dominican Republic, Turks and Caicos, as well as the Bahamas through clandestine departures. In spite of the international help and concern, Haiti is sinking deeper into extreme poverty. Port au Prince, the capital city has electricity only from 9pm to 6 am. There is no potable water, no night life, no major industry and no tourism.

Yet the forces in power are mounting an armada (with some foreign assistance) to perpetuate themselves into power. Haiti at this juncture must play the same battle that it engaged on November 18, 1803, not with cannon but with its bulletin of vote. In November 2010, the people of Haiti will have a clear choice of remaining in the status quo of misery, arrogance and neglect from its own government or choose a new leader with the vision and the bravura to break down the culture of exclusion against the majority of the population.

It will need, using the words of Professor Kenneth Clark, talking about the black man in American politics, to utilize the election process to change society from an unjust one to a just one. It will also need to transform rhetoric into reality. So far the concept of one man one vote has been prostituted and did not help Haiti. I am observing the Haitian government using the resources of the state and those of the international organizations to organize a so called unity coalition!

The Haitian people have a way of defying the odds. As in 1803; in November 2010, they will survive this attempt to keep them in a de facto bondage. May the spirit of the gallant founding fathers guide them!

caribbeannetnews

Bahamas Caribbean Blog International