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The recent earthquake and subsequent catastrophe in Haiti has raised its prominence on the international stage. With over 230,000 people dead and a country in ruin and turmoil, the international community has stepped up efforts to raise aid for this nation.

We begin with some extracts from a journal produced by the “Muslim Hands” charity organization who were one of the first on the scene.

“It is difficult to comprehend the scale of this catastrophe: all that remains is the overwhelming stench of rotting corpses.  Makeshift camps have people sitting around in appalling conditions - 3 toilets for a camp of thousands with no water.  I don't know how they will survive because if lack of water does not kill them soon then disease will.”

“I am struggling to get images of dead people lying around everywhere out of my head - some I see are stuffed in suitcases or wrapped in rugs or even dumped in plastic bins where they are gotten to by pigs.  When I enter the ghettos the desperation is heartbreaking - few are getting any help and I fear many will die.  There is madness everywhere.”

“The scarcity of water has been one of the biggest problems for Haiti: most water supply links are damaged so hospitals - both permanent and field-based, as well as temporary camps, are severely affected. My teams have distributed water-tankers to camp sites across Delmas and Canapevert as well as to hospitals.”

“Thousands of children are left without parents and are living amongst the rubble.  Are injured with little chance of accessing medical attention; it's a truly heart-wrenching situation.   Through MH, hundreds of injured children have accessed urgent medical attention, and more artificial limbs and wheelchairs are being made available.”

“The MH team is working flat out around the clock coordinating aid in a number of different areas.  The wheels are turning but there is so much that needs to be done.  Consistent and ongoing support from our donors is absolutely essential.”

Even before such sombre words were written, many experienced international observers and aid workers called Haiti “the unluckiest country in the World.” This observation is based on the fact that historically, Haiti has been regarded as the poorest nation in the Hemisphere. Yet it pays to look into the history of this unfortunate country. Why did an earthquake cause so much devastation so as to destroy a nation in all but name? How could a nation neighboring the most affluent in the World be so poor and meagre in resources? Lets explore.

A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF TIME (1804-1985)

For time immemorial, the Island has been a plaything among the competing imperial powers. The Republic of Haiti was established on January 1, 1804 in a rebellion against three centuries of Spanish, French, and British rule based on slave labor and mass exploitation of natural resources. The rebellion however had broad consequences. For one, it came at tremendous cost. Much of the agricultural wealth of the country was destroyed, along with perhaps a third of the population.

Most significantly with regards to the current situation in Haiti however, we go to 1915 and the onset of so called “Wilsonian Idealism” under President of America Woodrow Wilson. He was the first American President of the 20th century who had a “progressive” policy towards international relations; command and conquer in layman’s terms. Under Wilson, the United States occupied Haiti, restored slavery, overthrew the parliamentary system and basically turned it into a US plantation.

MURKY WATERS – THE THREAT OF DEMOCRACY (1985-1991)

Yet against all odds, the sapling of liberty broke out in 1985, as the population revolted against the murderous Duvalier dictatorship. After many bitter struggles, the popular revolution led to the overwhelming victory of Haiti's first freely elected president in a landslide victory, the populist priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, against a US backed candidate.

In typical fashion, the US moved in immediately to undermine the regime: it cut off aid, supported anti-Aristide elements like military and commercial elite who had ruled for 200 years and would not tolerate loss of their traditional rights of terror and exploitation, and in due time we saw the formation of a despotic military coup. One of the truisms of international affairs is that "the fear of democracy exists, by definitional necessity, in elite groups who monopolize economic and political power," as Bellegarde-Smith observes in his perceptive history of Haiti ; whether in Haiti or the US or anywhere else. It is nascent to note that truisms have a way of staying true.

ARISTIDE – MILITARY JUNTA ET AL (1991-1994)

In response to the coup, the Organization of American States declared an embargo of Haiti; the US joined it, but with reluctance. The Bush I administration focused attention on Aristide's alleged atrocities and undemocratic activities, downplaying the major atrocities which took place right after the coup. So while people were getting slaughtered in the streets of Port-au-Prince (Haiti's capital), the media concentrated on alleged human rights abuses under the Aristide government. In addition the Bush I announced that the US would violate the embargo by exempting US firms. Clinton authorized even more extreme violations of the embargo.

Refugees fleeing to the US from the terror of the US-backed dictatorships were forcefully returned, in gross violation of international humanitarian law. State terrorist atrocities rose to new heights. Among the perpetrators was Emmanuel Constant, who lives happily in Queens; Clinton and Bush II having dismissed extradition requests - Constant's contributions to state terror were after all meager; merely prime responsibility for the murder of 4000-5000 poor blacks.

THE STORY SO FAR

So lets take a step back and see what has happened so far. We have centuries of colonial rule and then US imposed tyranny on Haiti that destroyed all notions of governmental structures and economic progress. Then, out of nothing, a ray of hope under Aristide. He starts to develop structures, improve living standards, start economic progress, and bring some notions of social security into the society. Had this gone on – it’s an open question – would as many people have died in the earthquake? Would it have led to the almost total collapse of a country? Logic leads us to think not. But as this was a “threat” to the hegemony of the powers that be, the government was removed in favor of a despotic and tyrannical regime that killed the hopes of its people; socioeconomic progress being the last things on their agenda.

ARISTIDE – THE RETURN (1994-1996) – CURRENT

Finally, in 1994, Clinton decided that the population had been tortured enough and Aristide was permitted to return. In the press this was described as a magnificent act of humanitarian intervention, pure altruism entering the noble phase of foreign policy as the USA restored the democratically elected president in 1994.

Continuing with what isn’t reported, the president was indeed allowed to return, but on the condition that he accept the program of the defeated U.S. candidate in the 1990 election who had gotten 14% of the vote; a very harsh neo-liberal program, which opened Haiti up to complete takeover by foreign corporations (read US corporations). It was bound to be an economic disaster for what shreds of the economy remained, and that’s exactly how it turned out.

Indeed the US continues to suppress Haiti, both under Bush II and Obama. This includes supporting France's insistence that Haiti pay a huge indemnity for the crime of liberating itself in 1804, a burden it has never escaped - and France, of course, dismisses with elegant disdain Haiti's request that it at least repay the indemnity. This is particularly important because it is a huge burden on the Haitian economy and is a major factor, coupled with the US imposed neo-liberal economic agenda, in its lack of progress in the 20th Century, a major factor in its lack of investment in Social and Governmental structures.

THE FINAL ANALYSIS

An earthquake, no matter how devastating, should not completely break and render useless governmental institutions – yet that’s exactly what happened here. And the record is pretty clear as to why - we have briefly discussed some of it above. International observers may describe Haiti as “the unluckiest country in the World” but lets always give due to how we got there. It is certainly not by chance nor by fiction. That Bush II and Clinton are “leading” efforts to raise aid for Haiti should be the cause for international uproar and not congratulatory platitudes about the nobility of these men.

Yet this should not be a reason for loss of hope for us. We are the Muslims and our responsibility is to justice, not only for ourselves, but for all. Haiti, whilst a typical example of domination by the powers that be, is but a small example. Its time for us to increase in scholarship and organize in offering an intellectual argument against prevailing thoughts if they are wrong and misleading.

by

HwR

(I would like to thank Prof. Chomsky for his extensive research in this area – I borrowed heavily from his work).

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Comments (18)

2  Written by wow,, on Monday, 01 March 2010 19:32 really good analysis mA. I feel my IQ has increased just by reading it       ws Report

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