This is the Justice, Not Charity! Haiti book diary. I am writing these book diaries because from my concern about Haiti after the earthquake I became shocked by the truth of Haiti’s history and what really is needed to help the Haitians.
"It's as if Aristide was put in charge of a house that was falling apart and was expected to fix it. But then his enemies start setting fire to the back door, they send people with guns to attack the front door, and when these people finally manage to break in they said 'Look! He didn't wash the dishes in the sink! He never repaired the leak in the roof!' They made him spend all his time trying to put out the fire and to protect the door, and then once they got rid of him they said he was pushed out because he'd failed to repair the house." (Damming The Flood, P131)
I have learned so much reading about its history and the prevailing distortions that I’ve taken on this project to educate myself and share what I’ve been reading with interested people here on Daily Kos. I’ve included a lot of names of people and organizations in this diary because these names come up in the news a lot and I hope it will help us all determine who is credible and who is a propagandist.
Be sure not to miss JDH's Summer Reading list.. Please take a couple of minutes to see/complete (takes 5 minutes) today's action alert directly below today's topic. Join us for today's news discussion and more.
Join us Sunday's for book day : Current book is Damming The Flood: Haiti, Aristide, And The Politics Of Containment, by Peter Hallward: Chapter 6: |
2001-2004: Aristides Second Administration
Piti, piti, zwazo fe nich li
(Little by little the bird builds its nest).
The US, IMF, IC, Elite, Paramilitary, Domestic and International Media vs. Aristide and the People.
In February 2001 when Jean-Bertrand Aristide started his second term, Haiti was on the verge of bankruptcy.
The neo-liberal polices Haiti was forced to enact were already having a disastrous effect. The US, the Elite, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) were ready for Aristide. From the beginning of his second term Aristide was faced with a steady onslaught of paramilitary attacks, a constant stream of negative propaganda and a disinformation campaign. The US had already started a well-funded anti-Aristide disinformation campaign (remember IFES, IRI, HDP, G184, CD). The media was owned and controlled by the ruling class and the US; it was used to promulgate the disinformation campaign. The US cut off US aid, forced international banks to freeze promised aid and loans, and required that the Lavalas government make scheduled repayments for the aid they never got. Adding to Aristide's difficulties, the Lavalas Party had internal issues. The Party still had a considerable amount of purely opportunistic members whose conduct provided the anti-Lavalas groups with ammunition that would be used against Aristide. The barriers Aristide was faced with were enormous. Patrick Elie, head of Aristides Security, explained it perfectly:
"It's as if Aristide was put in charge of a house that was falling apart and was expected to fix it. But then his enemies start setting fire to the back door, they send people with guns to attack the front door, and when these people finally manage to break in they said 'Look! He didn't wash the dishes in the sink! He never repaired the leak in the roof!' They made him spend all his time trying to put out the fire and to protect the door, and then once they got rid of him they said he was pushed out because he'd failed to repair the house." (Damming The Flood, P131)
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Accomplishments
The Lavalas governments are the best governments that Haiti has had to date. Considering all that the Lavalas administrations were up against they accomplished an extraordinary amount. The US and International Community (IC) gave previous regimes (including the coup regime) huge amounts of aid; while they denied the Lavalas governments the promised aid instead the US funneled the aid to Anti-Aristide groups. And, despite it all, the Lavalas administrations managed to make significant improvements. During Aristide's second term new schools and literacy centers were built, irrigation canals were dug and childrens' radio stations were formed. Aristide's accomplishments were small improvements, but improvements nonetheless.
Even with the extreme pressure from the US, IMF and the elite Aristide was able to collect taxes from and raise taxes for the elite. Aristide also succeeded in doubling the minimum wage. With no money Aristide managed to build parks and clean up neighborhoods. He also built a substantial amount of new low cost homes in the poorest areas of Port-au-Prince (1000 new low cost homes were built between 2002 and 2003).
Poor people, for the first time, were hired for government jobs. Perhaps as many as 5000 poor people were hired for jobs at the state owned phone company, port-authority and water companies. Hundreds more were hired for security jobs and the PNH (Haiti's Police department). Critics claimed the jobs were corrupt and some probably were, but probably fewer of the jobs were corrupt than normally had been in Haiti's past governments. The salaries from the jobs helped some of Haiti's poorest areas maintain a minimal standard of living. However they were all fired in March 2004 when the coup regime took over. It immediately fired all government employees and replaced them with the traditionally corrupt suitable employees.
"Although the ongoing effects of the structural adjustment plan imposed on Haiti after 1994 led inexorably to increased hardship for the poor majority, still the Lavalas governments did what they could to soften the blow." (P 135). The Lavalas government provided subsidies for essential consumer goods, pushed through limited land reform and built a major road connecting the formerly isolated south-western country to the Capital. The irrigation system was repaired and they reintroduced the Haitian pig across the country side. The Haitian government joined regular meetings with Cuba, Venezuela and other neighbor countries to limit the power of the US' neoliberal policies.
Paul Farmer tells the story of the Haitian pig.
From one administration to the next, between 1994-2004, improvements were made in the justice system, child welfare, women's rights, education, combatting illiteracy and public health. (Preval in 2010 is not the Preval from 1995.)
The justice system under the Lavalas administrations was far from perfect; years of systematic corruption and neglect take time to reverse. Aristide and Preval began the process of creating a foundation for a legitimate justice system. A new school for magistrates was established, and 100 judges and prosecutors were trained. Prisoners were able to see a judge much quicker than ever before, and they often spoke Kreyol rather than French at the hearings.
During Preval's first administration there were a couple of benchmark trials in Haiti. The people responsible for the Carrefour-Feuilles and Raboteau massacres were held accountable. Sixteen former FRAPH and FAdH members were convicted, and the entire 1991 coup regime was exposed as the illegal, brutal regime it was.
Programs and agencies were formed to protect children. Laws were enacted and enforced to stop child abuse and to end the horrid restavek system. (Rstaveks are children from extremely poor families, mainly from the countryside, that cannot afford to send children to school and in hopes that their children will have a better life, they send them to live with wealthier families. The children are sent to live with people that are supposed to send them to school and take care of them, but instead make them slaves.) Unlike past governments would not tolerate it; Aristide's administration sought to end this shameful system . Meaningful laws and services were established to protect children. A child protection unit was added to the police force, and a court dedicated to handling children's issues was developed. Children were given a radio station, Radio Timoun, at the Lafanmi Selavi center. Aristide started the center in 1980.
For the first time women were given political positions such as police chief, prime minister, and foreign affairs minister among others. A Ministry of Women's Affairs was established in 1995 to create policies to stop violence against women, provide pre-natal care, and education to name just a few.
During the Lavalas governments 195 primary schools and 104 secondary schools were built. This is particularly impressive because they began with only 34 school total. A school lunch program was launched and fed hundreds of thousands of children. Because many families could not afford school uniforms and supplies, Lavalas provided thousands of scholarships and school enrollment slightly increased between 2001 and 2004. A new university was built in Tabarre. Cuba helped design and staff the medical university. Tabarre, unlike other state universities, offered scholarships and room and board. It was one of Haiti's largest universities and Aristide took particular pride in it. After the coup, it was closed and is now occupied by MINUSTAH soldiers.
In 2001 a hugely successful literacy campaign was launched. Hundreds of literacy centers were built where classes were taught mainly at night to accommodate work schedules. There were designated buses to help people get to and from the classes. Perhaps as many as 300,000 people attended and the classes. It is estimated that illiteracy fell from 65% to 45% between 1990 and 2003.
In 1991 when Aristide started his first term health care was basically non-existant in rural areas and limited in urban areas. Aristide's second administration built and renovated a number of health clinics and hospitals "including, in Port-aur-Prince, the substantial Hospital de Delmas 33 and major clinics based in Bel Air and at Lafanmi Selavi. (After February 2004, the Lafanmi complex was gutted, and material from Delmas 33 was stolen and distributed to private health clinics.)" Aristide worked with Zanmi Lasante (Partners In Health) and major improvements were made in numerous government facilities around Haiti.
For a population that had been dehumanized and exploited for centuries, the significance of being treated with respect, and the freedom from political oppression and extortion should not be underestimated. Haitians experienced an unprecedented level of freedom of speech. Political violence virtually ended which within itself is huge considering the years of military oppression and brutality.
Aristide did not lose touch with is base; he stayed close to the people. People love him because he helped them; he gave them a voice and listened to what they said. Before Aristide politicians literally spoke a different language than the vast majority of Haitian people (they spoke in French and the people spoke Creole). Poor people were stigmatized and hated by Haiti's ruling class. But in 1991 they elected a leader that was one of them and remained loyal to his base and dedicated to equality.
Aristide was the only President that worked with Haiti's grass roots Popular Organizations (OPs) (organisations populaires, OPs). Some say that OPs started as far back as the 1915-34 US occupation. In any case they were a major part of the resistance and the eventual overthrow of the Jean-Claude Duvalier government. Because the Haitian government is so weak the OPs play a vital role as instruments to provide basic social services and programs to the people.
The Fanmi Lavalas (FL) is structured much like the OPs and the ti legliz (small liberation theology based church groups, theti legliz,) that came before it. FL is a genuine bottom up movement; the leaders are chosen based on their ability to get results and their proven dedication to the fight for democracy and equality. The majority of poor people remain extremely loyal to Aristide in-spite of the compromises and mistakes made because they never expected to Aristide to change the system by himself. Aristide and FL supporters see them as "vehicles for their own empowerment." (P136).
The FL government was the only one that listened to the people and tried to enact programs that would help them. And that is why it is the only political party or organization that has the support of the national network of militants de base (the baz).
"A US official spoke for a more general Washington consensus when he said that 'Aristide-slum priest, grass-roots activist, exponent of Liberation Theology-represents everything that the CIA, DOD and FBI think they have been trying to protect this country against for the past 50 years'." (pg. 37)
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Aristide is central to the FL movement and the people love him; Aristide central role in the FL movement remains the most controversial issue in Haitian politics.
tout moun se moun
(every human being is a human being)
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Action Alert: |
Action Alert: Election:
The International Community Should Support Prompt and Fair
Elections in Haiti. Fanmi Lavalas has the support of the largest percentage of the Haitian electorate and
elections that forbid their presence is essentially undemocratic and disenfranchising the choice of the vast
majority of Haitians (h/t ny brit expat). The US and International Community should not fund illegitimate elections.
It is like the Democratic Party being excluded from our upcoming midterm elections.
To stand in solidarity with Haiti at this crucial time, please contact US government officials, your local
senators, and representatives and tell them not to fund illegitimate elections that Lavalas must be allowed to
participate in free, democratic elections. The US should withhold aid for the elections unless the ban is lifted.
The ban on Lavalas in the upcoming elections must be revoked.
White House: 202-456-1111
Email at www.whitehouse.gov
US State Department: 202-647-4000
Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121
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Additional Action Alerts:
TransAfrica Forum
Stand up and be counted (Partners in Health)
HAITI ACTION COMMITTEE ACTION ALERT
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
Jubilee USA
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Mantra from Aristide's 1990 campaign:
"Alone we are weak, together we are strong; all together we are Lavalas, the flood [yon se`l nou feb, ansanm nou fo, ansanm nou se Lavalas]."
Aristide Damming The Flood, (pg. xxxiv)
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Sources We Like |
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Top Storiy: See comments for Today's News Update: |
Montreal Gazette article: Women in storms' path:
In 2005, Oxfam reported that up to four times as many women as men died in the 2004 tsunami, and in many cases, it was the yards of material in their saris that anchored the women under the water.
As for the females who make it through alive, their vulnerability is only exacerbated, and survival can indeed often feel like death.
A study conducted post-earthquake by the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti found that of the 69 victims they interviewed, many of whom had been raped, 95.7 per cent were suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome and 53.6 per cent were suffering from depression.
"Several women indicated suicidal tendencies and some had even taken steps toward ending their lives," said the report, which was published in July. "At least one woman said she had contemplated killing herself and her children."
Musicians, Doctors, Activists, Technocrats and Politicians: 34 Candidates Bid for Haiti’s Presidency (PT3, Haiti Liberte)
Only 19 of the original 34 candidates who registered for the Nov. 28, 2010 elections were approved by the nine member Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) on Aug. 20 (see Haïti Liberté, Vol. 4, No. 6, 08/25/2010). Although hip-hop musician Wyclef Jean has declared that he will challenge his disqualification, Haiti’s electoral law establishes the CEP as the “final arbiter” of all electoral matters, apparently dooming his appeal.
Large segments of Haitian society are opposed to any elections held under the aegis of the current CEP because it disqualified exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Lavalas Family party from the elections last November on a concocted technicality (see Haïti Liberté, Vol. 3, No. 20, 12/2/2010). Large demonstrations organized by the Heads Together of Popular Organizations coalition (Tèt Kole) have called for the CEP's overhaul and for President René Préval's removal and replacement by a provisional government. Préval hand-picked the CEP and has rejected calls to change it.
Konstitisyon se papie, bayonet se fe
(The constitution is paper, bayonets are steel)
"IJDH has changed the way Haitian human rights are viewed, and is helping other organizations to improve their understanding of the noxious synergy between poverty, inequality, and injustice; IJDH has also restored historical memory to a notoriously short-memoried arena. IJDH has been a voice of reason and honesty in the midst of an international attack on popular democracy in Haiti."
— Paul Farmer, Co-Founder, Partners in Health
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RELIABLE SOURCE ARTICLES:
Any articles that we missed? Please leave comment. Will revise the list soon. Any recommendations?
ELECTION
History
Aristide,
Agriculture,
Immigration,
Trade Policy,
Vulture Capitalism,
(will add more articles).
Video:
Brian Concannon and Paul Farmer Video, Change Haiti Can Believe In: here;
Haiti Dreaming for More Than $3 a day Watch, here; Life and Debt here;
Edwidge Danticat on US immigration detentions 60 minutes, here: Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now! responds to Clinton being appointed as UN envoy to Haiti, here: Reuters, here;
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AID-CHANGE?
Haitian history didn't begin after the earthquake. Kevin Pina/Latin Waves, here.
IJDH, “We Became Garbage to Them,” here.
Haiti Liberté editorial on political situation, upcoming election, here.
Nicole Lee, "Haiti: An Opportunity For A New Model," here.
Mark Schuller, "Falling through the cracks or unstable foundations?" here
IJDH, “Haitians in IDP Camps are living better now than before the earthquake? Are you kidding me?” here
Kim Ives, "Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction," here.
CIRH, Interim Haiti Recovery Commission here, Clinton & Bellerive co-chairs, 26 members 13 foreigners and 13 of Haiti's elite business people. One of which Reginald Boulos was a backer of both coups. Another memberGarry Lissade, the former lawyer for Cedras during the 1993 Governor's Island post-coup negotiations.
Mark Schuller, "Tectonic Shifts? The upcoming donors' conference for Haiti" here,
CounterPunch, "How NGOs are Profiting Off a Grave Situation: Haiti and the Aid Racket" here,
More Articles, here..
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Join us Sunday's for book day : Current book is Damming The Flood: Haiti, Aristide, And The Politics Of Containment, by Peter Hallward: Chapter 6: |
This is our book list so far:
Isabel Allende (h/t Deoliver47): Island Beneath the Sea, here;
Jean-Bertrand Aristide:: In the Parish of the Poor, here; Eyes of the Heart here;
Beverly Bell: Walking on Fire, here;
Edwidge Danticat: Brother, I'm Dying here; The Farming of Bones here; Krik? Krak! here; Breath, Eyes, Memory here;
Paul Farmer: The Uses of Haiti here; Partner To The Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader here; Getting Haiti Right This Time: The U.S. and the Coup here;
Peter Hallward: Damming The Flood here (2010 updated edition will be out soon. You can pre-order it now) here. h/ty NY brit expat published date is 11/30/10);
C.L.R. James: The Black Jacobins here, (h/t Deoliver47);
Erica James: Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention in Haiti,here;
Tracy Kidder: Mountains Beyond Mountains here;
Maurice Lemoine: Bitter Sugar: Slaves Today in the Caribbean [1985] here;
Paule Marshall: The Chosen Place, The Timeless People here;
Randall Robinson, An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President, here;
Timothy T. Schwartz: Travesty in Haiti here;
Amy Wilentz: The Rainy Season - Haiti after Duvalier here;
IJDH, Summer Reading list: here.
PIH has a new website here; They have a recommended reading list here; a book list, links to websites with action alerts, and articles.
videos:
Aristide and the Endless Revolution here; Life and Debt here; The Agronomist here; Poto Mitan here.
Any suggestions? We are looking for books, articles, websites where we can get accurate information about Haiti. Please share any information.
I found one. The World Traveler - Haiti page.: This website has links to articles about Haiti and it has excerpts from books including The Uses of Haiti and Damming The Flood.
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NGOs: |
The Aristide Foundation for Democracy (AFD) was created in 1996 by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (the first democratically elected president of Haiti) with a simple principle in mind: "The promise of democracy can only be fulfilled if all sectors of Haitian society are able to actively participate in the democratic life of the nation." |
Haiti Emergency Relief Foundation (HERF):
Haiti’s grassroots movement – including labor unions, women’s groups, educators and human rights activists, support committees for political prisoners, and agricultural cooperatives – are funneling needed aid to those most hit by the earthquake. They are doing what they can – with the most limited of funds – to make a difference. Please take this chance to lend them your support. All donations to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund will be forwarded to our partners on the ground to help them rebuild what has been destroyed.
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Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti:
Mission
We strive to work with the people of Haiti in their non-violent struggle for the consolidation of constitutional democracy, jus tice and human rights, by distributing objective and accurate information on human rights conditions in Haiti, pursuing legal cases, and cooperating with human rights and solidarity groups in Haiti and abroad.
IJDH draws on its founders’ internationally-acclaimed success accompanying Haiti’s poor majority in the fields of law, medicine and social justice activism. We seek the restoration of the rule of law and democracy in the short term, and work for the long-term sustainable change necessary to avert Haiti’s next crisis.
"IJDH is simply the most reliable source for information and analysis on human rights in
Haiti." — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) |
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti:
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Social Networking Efforts: |
New Media Advocacy Project
The New Media Advocacy Project combats poverty and human rights violations by using digital video, Internet social networking, and interactive media to strengthen social justice legal advocacy in courts, legislatures, and communities.
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Diaries: |
haitiancolors
The World Traveler - Haiti page.: This website has links to articles about Haiti and it has excerpts from books including The Uses of Haiti and Damming The Flood.
Be sure to also see diaries by Bev Bell for informed ground-level information on Haiti's needs.
FishOutofWater takes a moment to explore the benefits of Partners in Health's commitment to solar powered health centers.
Meteor Blades points the way to a better and more sustainable future for Haitians in Haiti Could Use a New Deal.
As the MSM (in the United States) turns attention away from Haiti, Deoliver47 reminds us that things are not suddenly all better: Raining Disease and More Deaths.
For some good pre-earthquake background on Haiti, see Daisy Cutter's Book Review: "Damming the Flood" by Peter Hallward, pt 1. This diary was published in July 2008 and presents a history of Haiti up to 1999 using Hallward's book as a reference.
Sunday is Haiti diary book day. Here is the Book List
UPCOMING DIARIES
Tuesday: allie123
Thursday: ***open*** weekly news roundup
Sunday: allie123 book day
If you would like to volunteer to contribute a diary to continue this series, please volunteer in the comments below. Norbrook has created a Google documents file with the source code for the first version of the diary with the NGO list. allie123 created a Google doc for the new series Justice, Not Charity. However, because we are cutting back to 2 or 3 diaries a week we will be adding a focus and new information to each diary now.
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The icons and March 13 formatting revision of this diary series are courtesy of the html artist known on Daily Kos as Pluto. The "Help Haiti" image at the top of the diary that has become the "logo" of this series is courtesy of AuntKat. Big thank you to swampus for maintaining the google doc for months.