Mr. Aristide Goes to Washington: The Truth About Lavalas, CARICOM, and the UN/US Invasion of Haiti
[Scroll down for Haitian Kreyòl translation]
We at Clash! worked in good faith to spread a petition against the UN/US Policing Action in Haiti. We were among those who dialogued with those with whom we openly agreed to disagree. We do not shy away from disagreement. As students of Caribbean history and evangelists of popular and direct self-government of Caribbean toilers in the present, we cannot afford to disengage from the ideas and claims of other political formations or tendencies. We gather archival materials and publish commentaries even from those with whom we respectfully dissent.
In spreading this petition, we worked in coalition with those who maintain that Famni Lavalas (the political party of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide) was and is an anti-imperialist force. We do not dispute the popular wave that carried Aristide to power in 1990 as the Presidential candidate for Front National pour le Changement et la Démocratie — a forerunner to Lavalas.
Indeed, many champion Aristide as the last democratically-elected President of Haiti. Bourgeois elections, however, are merely that. They are Carnivals of elite representative government that invite ordinary people to participate (once every several years) in a subordinate governing compact. The democratically-elected charlatans named Holness, Mottley, Ali, Rowley, and Browne, to name a few, should remind us that this is a useless measure. For some reason, after much chatter and social commentary this remains beyond the grasp of many. We must keep these contradictions in mind when we dialogue and have forums with our Caribbean neighbors and friends.
At Clash! we insist on reasoning the content of “democracy,” “socialism,” and “liberation.” Many are willing to proclaim their allegiance to these values. Few are willing to turn their words into deeds. Indeed, how can we reason the content of Lavalas’ participation in the US-backed, CARICOM-sponsored Transitional Presidential Council (TPC) for Haiti? Forged at a hotel ballroom in New Kingston, Jamaica, participation in the TPC remains contingent on support for a multinational military force to occupy Haiti to combat ensekirite and restore “order” in the nation’s capital of Port au Prince.
It should go without saying that anyone who speaks on behalf of the people of Haiti or the Caribbean while collaborating with Empire cannot be trusted as an embodiment of the unfolding liberation struggle. Indeed, while Lavalas enthusiastically joined the TPC, Pitit Desalin (and its party leader, Jean-Charles Moïse) mounted a masquerade. Moïse played the role of the popular champion by pledging to “resist the seizure of power proposed by Haitian actors and endorsed by Caricom” while flirting with a political alliance led by paramilitary leader Guy Philippe. A few short days later the anti-imperialist, Moïse, folded and joined the CARICOM-led TPC.
What are we to make of the retreat of self-proclaimed socialists and anti-imperialists into collaboration with Empire? What are we to believe when Lavalas and Pitit Desalin shout “Haiti for Haitians” one day and invite a multinational military force to invade Haiti the next? Is the local outrage and fiery bitterness of those who are actually conquered and abused more real than any anti-imperialist theory? Why do we hear this most from those who will not delink from imperial collaborators?
Some will decry the fall from grace and call for Lavalas to rediscover its true colors. However, Lavalas has long served as the left-wing of the American Eagle as it circles above Haiti.
Indeed, Aristide worked closely with US President Bill Clinton to broker his return to Haiti after the coup of 1991. In 1994, he returned to Haiti escorted by American warships deployed under the banner of “Operation Uphold Democracy.” Lavalas and the US State Department have been frequent allies in upholding their visions of democracy. Even when this alliance runs sour, as it did when the CIA destabilized Aristide’s regime and he was overthrown in 2004 by US-backed forces, their definitions of democracy remain the same. This should remind us to reject all forms of collaboration with US Empire. After all, what did the last collaboration between Lavalas and Washington achieve? Neither the US State Department nor Aristide deemed the Haitian people capable of governing themselves. Instead, the Haitian people were plied with a modicum of social welfare to ensure the security of the Haitian private sector and multinational corporate interests.
Many will say that life was better for Haitian toilers under Aristide. However, we are long past the moment in which piecemeal reforms and benefits will suffice as a substitute for direct democracy and self-governance. The uninterrupted social motion of Haitian people since 2017 sparked by the theft of PetroCaribe funds has exposed the fraud of the Haitian state as a bureaucracy of clowns content to eat well while tossing scraps to the Haitian people. The difference between the left-wing imperialist collaborators and right-wing counterparts lies merely in the size of the scraps they are willing to concede.
We should prepare for the US and its deputies to fly this left wing in Haiti once again. We must not be fooled by the promise of elections which cannot (and never did) serve as an accurate measure of democracy (majority rule). Whether Lavalas, Pitit Desalin, or a new social democratic band leader is appointed as the vanguard of this masquerade, we must resist all calls to blunt the insurgent movement of Haitian people themselves.
Nothing short of a popular assembly that gathers those obscure who have held power in the streets, or merely have survived, for the past decade will do. This is certainly a tall order. But we do not shy away from the “challenge” posed to intellectuals and charlatans by ordinary people. Ordinary people continue to take to the streets against the calls to order from party leaders and the threats of paramilitary opportunists in Viv Ansanm who adopt the language of “the people” in order to claim power for themselves. If Lavalas and Pitit Desalin proclaimed themselves to be the true mouthpieces of the popular will sparked by the Petrocaribe Challenge, their closing of ranks with CARICOM demonstrates that we must look elsewhere for the kernels of popular and direct democracy in Haiti.
In supporting a petition, we worked in coalition with those who wished to appeal to CARICOM as a representative body of Caribbean unity even though we stated in public and private that CARICOM is openly funded by agents of empire — USAID and the European Community, specifically. We saw how the petition against the UN/US policing action was a basis of militantly protesting outside CARICOM and was then gracefully presented inside CARICOM. We were told by an “activist” representative of CARICOM in a public forum, very arrogantly, that it was a joke that ordinary Caribbean people could govern themselves. No one associated with that person repudiated what was said.
We were told by reliable sources in touch with Lavalas that the party stood against any UN/US policing action. We did not believe what we were told, but we patiently waited and raised concerns. We made clear to friends and neighbors that Madame Mildred Aristide had the opportunity to address a forum in solidarity with Haiti in Oakland and did not acknowledge the petition or the UN/US policing action in Haiti. She did not acknowledge it or speak against it. Madame Aristide did thank the late Paul Farmer, anthropologist and author of The Uses of Haiti.
Farmer was a Professor at Harvard Medical School and Chair of the Department of Global Public Health. Married to Didi Betrand Farmer, they created the international nonprofit, Partners in Health. Public health lends a veil to imperialism today. And the Aristide Foundation during this entire tumultuous period, since the rising against the stealing of the PetroCaribe funds, has maintained a university and built a hospital. Cursory research makes clear their connections to Harvard University among other imperial and military-industrial institutions.
Many in solidarity with Haiti have recognized Bill and Hilary Clinton’s personal economic interests in this Caribbean country. Many associated with Lavalas insist that the Clintons are their enemy. And yet Bill Clinton and Paul Farmer, before Farmer died in 2022, were close associates for 20 years. We can count. That means the key figure in administrating and propping up Aristide Foundation ‘public health’ projects in Haiti has been connected with Clinton since 2002. Are the Clintons friends of Lavalas or enemies? Is Lavalas a collaborator with the US and CARICOM or its fiercest critic?
The point is when Madam Aristide did not denounce the UN policing action, but affirmed Paul Farmer’s legacy, she was affirming how US empire is arranged today. She was affirming a close friend of Bill Clinton. And US imperialism spreads its tentacles not simply by bombing people one day and talking about human rights the next. No, it spreads a cultural and economic apparatus focused on ‘public health,’ ‘food security,’ ‘opposing violence against women’ into the Global South. Empire delights in buying off people who were once advanced in its opposition. Under President Barack Obama, that man of civility and peace who with Hilary Clinton overthrew Libya and assassinated countless people of color from the sky without trial, Paul Farmer was offered the position as head of USAID. He declined, but he was qualified for the position. We should not wish to be friends with people qualified to serve as the empire’s administrators, especially projects that are veils for surveillance and intelligence gathering.
This ‘partnership’ is how the Aristide Foundation has sustained itself economically in the midst of conflict and ensekirite. This is why we were not shocked when Lavalas turned up in New Kingston as one of the members of the CARICOM-backed TPC. We must be alert not simply to what aspiring rulers say — whether it be Aristide, Jean-Charles Moïse, or the chameleon of G9/Viv Ansanm, Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier — we must observe what they do. We must reason the content of it. Konn li pa di lespri pou sa!
We wish what we were saying was a utopian abstraction. We wish what our friends and neighbors had been saying in the name of pragmatism and strategy were right. It would make the world much easier to navigate. But the fact is CARICOM governments and what they call their ‘international partners,’ we call them the drooling fangs of imperialism, and the Haitian coalition of elites from above have cast their lot with them. Until recently, friends of Lavalas representatives were told they had ruptured with this Montana coalition long ago. In truth, Lavalas had been laying low. They are conspicuously part of this CARICOM coalition with a political platform more empty than a dirty plate with two grains of rice.
It is a difficult question whether Lavalas can be both underground liberationists and welcome the UN policing action. They cannot be against US Empire and partner with it. Some very wise and experienced people may wish to contest us, and say how do we know, this cannot be negotiated for the better? Isn’t Haiti a unique mess? It is true that in moments of overlapping imperialist war, civil wars, wars of national liberation, for socialism and self-directed autonomy, what the imperialists do is only partially separate from what sincere forces on the ground must do. Here is a concrete example.
While it is nice to oppose empire, well wishers will not make them go away. The on again, off again, discussion of the proliferation by the US of high powered firearms in Haiti, only to endorse a more powerful armed force led by the UN/US to invade, should clarify that gun control or the source of firearms, who manufactures and distributes them, is not the real issue. Where the weapons come from do not matter. The key is can those with principled politics arm and defend themselves and advance the popular self-directed democratic struggle?
Nevertheless, even in an anti-imperialist war, an anti-fascist fight, those who bring the mass democratic social motion to the brink cannot be strategic partners with hierarchy and domination. In times of war, there are many shifts in circumstances. But Haiti is not in such a mess, that those who wish to see a popular democratic assembly of ordinary people determine their own destiny need the imperialists as partners. The lessons learned from 1801 to 2004 reveal that this can only end in ruin.
Who will be brave enough to call for the popular democratic assembly that the Haitian people have modeled in the streets for the past half decade? Who will insist that everyday people, relatively obscure, lead and the aspiring leaders (who claim to be keepers of ‘national security’ with the imperialists and those who police and brutalize our Caribbean neighbors) do not follow by opportunistically taking power for themselves? We will certainly not hear this from Lavalas, Pitit Desalin, or Viv Ansanm, the coalition of street gangs led by Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherizier.
The people of Haiti stand alone. They have no friends in Lavalas, Pitit Desalin, G9, or Guy Philippe. The outlook is bleak. But this is not a reason for compromise. Dèyè mòn gen mòn. In recognition that they have no friends, some astute young Haitians have insisted that the reconstitution of Haitian democracy must begin from the countryside. This recognizes that the ruse of party politics in Haiti has reached its end.
Haiti’s ‘mess’ is not exceptional. It is a mess found in every insurgent rebellion, social revolution, anti-fascist fight, and national liberation struggle as mass democratic social motion that ever existed. Our way of seeing for strategy is decisive. Historical circumstances do not impose discarding of our best principles; we do that to ourselves.
The Spanish Civil War’s heyday was 1936–1939. Though popular committees of independent socialists fought the communists for capitalism and bourgeois democracy for national reconstruction, a more self-directed freedom failed. Fascists were able to sustain rule over the country until 1975. The African world organized a similar solidarity movement to fight off Mussolini’s Italian invasion of Ethiopia (1935–1941). Many Pan Africanists discarded the mobilization of Black militias and nursing core to fight the Italians in Ethiopia for collaboration with Anglo-American imperialism. Emperor Haile Selassie was restored to power by the imperialists, however hesitant and late, only to be overthrown by his own people in 1974. We hope our Haitian and Caribbean neighbors see a pattern. It is not unheard of that struggles that we see in Haiti can carry on for decades, especially if the popular self-directed democratic forces are not supported and do not win out.
The Congo has seen a civil war for thirty years beginning in 1995–1996. North and South Sudan has known civil war from 1955–1972, 1983–2005, and it is has started up again. Though we see the local people suffering, these are situations where except for obscure individuals and small groups we struggle to find popular democratic minded people below society to identify. Meanwhile the imperialists have stirred the pot all along.
Many look at these historical events and Haiti’s decline since 2004 and suggest a civil war would be an improvement. Perhaps such would have clearly defined sides to take. But it is we who contribute to taking and defining sides — forces of solidarity cannot merely observe and watch the world go by.
Many with a long view (having seen chaos and instability in Anguilla, Martinique, Curacao, Jamaica, Trinidad, Guyana, Grenada, and Antigua & Barbuda before) suggest Haiti represents a sustained tumult with no sense of purpose not seen in the Caribbean in the last 75 years. However, what is minimally at stake in Haiti and the Caribbean is our way of seeing. Why in search of a meaningful purpose that we can identify do we forge again coalitions with decadent, scheming, and hypocritical people for reconstruction of the nation or republic?
Will we fight and collaborate to restore the ‘old politics’ that the archive of our Caribbean radical political tradition has denounced equally for 75 years? This and the retreat from actually teaching radical democratic politics as distinct from maneuvering for petty power is why Haiti and the Caribbean is in the morass that it is today.
In contrast to this debacle, even the well-meaning have contributed, we can help place guidelines forward of how to be more self-directed, and build solidarity with Haitians on the ground independent of the imperialists and forces of national stabilization which are now one in the same.
Any time Haitian, Caribbean, or global people share political perspectives and proposals, it starts reverberations of accountability where politics functions in one world. The outlook that humans live by a hierarchy of suffering and privileges has only enabled political hustlers to consistently make claims in public and private that turn out to be false.
The Haitian Revolution democratized Western and world civilization. Nevertheless, the permanent search for a free black republic is predicated on trying to get the global empire to apologize for its racism and recognize as equal partners Haitian elites. Ordinary Haitians are already separating their shades of blackness from those who collaborate with Empire and wield this noiriste heritage to justify their rule above the masses.
One thing we must stop doing is permitting the real experience of the Haitian sufferers on the ground to be the emotive veil of reason and legitimacy of their aspiring hierarchical rulers. It is the sufferers, the traumatized and wounded, whose self-organization must directly govern instead of just ‘something must be done!’
The resolution to the mess does not lie in reluctant collaboration with Empire or the election of new popular overlords. As it was in 1801, when the peasant vanguard of the Haitian Revolution marched against the plantation system imposed by Governor-General Toussaint Louverture, the future of Haiti must be dictated by workers and peasants themselves who have been for decades descending on Port au Prince after being displaced by corrupt indirect taxes, the pilfering of the state treasury, and the destruction of rural livelihoods by “free markets” and climate disasters.
Who will stand in principled solidarity with everyday people in Haiti? Who will sell them out for the putrid scraps of Washington? The side we must oppose (some will play around, step forward, and fall back in this position) in the Haitian civil war has reared its ugly head. Organizing and giving aid and comfort to the other side, encouraging its popular self-direction, and facilitating or taking part in dialogue about what principles humans should live by, can help Haiti. But the questions around Haiti’s condition far more than we realize is a matter of Caribbean and world politics. They are the property of all except the imperialists and the Haitian and Caribbean aspiring rulers who join hands with them.
Misye Aristide ale Washington: Verite a sou Lavalas, CARICOM, ak envazyon UN/US nan Ayiti
Nou nan Clash! te travay ak bòn fwa pou simaye yon petisyon kont Aksyon Lapolis UN/US la ann Ayiti. Nou te pami moun ki te dyalòg ak moun nou te dakò aklè pou nou pa dakò. Nou pa evite dezakò. Antanke etidyan listwa Karayib yo ak evanjelis oto-gouvènman popilè ak dirèk travayè Karayib yo nan moman sa a, nou pa gen mwayen pou nou dekole ak lide ak reklamasyon lòt fòmasyon oswa tandans politik yo. Nou rasanble materyèl achiv yo epi pibliye kòmantè menm nan men moun nou avèk respè nou diside.
Nan gaye petisyon sa a, nou te travay an kowalisyon ak moun ki fè konnen Famni Lavalas (pati politik ansyen prezidan ayisyen Jean-Bertrand Aristide) se te e se yon fòs anti-enperyalis. Nou pa konteste vag popilè ki te pote Aristide sou pouvwa an 1990 kòm kandida prezidansyèl Front National pour le Changement et la Democratie — a précurseur Lavalas.
Vreman vre, anpil chanpyon Aristide kòm dènye prezidan ann Ayiti demokratikman. Eleksyon boujwa yo, sepandan, se sèlman sa. Yo se Kanaval gouvènman elit reprezantan ki envite moun òdinè yo patisipe (yon fwa chak plizyè ane) nan yon kontra gouvène sibòdone. Chalatan yo te eli demokratikman yo rele Holness, Mottley, Ali, Rowley, ak Browne, pou n site kèk, ta dwe raple nou ke sa a se yon mezi initil. Pou kèk rezon, apre anpil koze ak kòmantè sosyal sa a rete pi lwen pase men anpil moun. Nou dwe kenbe kontradiksyon sa yo nan tèt ou lè nou dyalòg epi gen fowòm ak vwazen Karayib ak zanmi nou yo.
Nan Clash! nou ensiste pou rezone kontni “demokrasi”, “sosyalis,” ak “liberasyon”. Anpil moun vle pwoklame fidelite yo ak valè sa yo. Pa gen anpil moun ki vle fè pawòl yo tounen zèv. Vrèmanvre, ki jan nou ka rezone kontni patisipasyon Lavalas nan Konsèy Prezidansyèl Tranzisyon (KPT) pou Ayiti, ki te sipòte pa Etazini e ki patwone CARICOM? Fòje nan yon sal bal otèl nan New Kingston, Jamayik, patisipasyon nan KPT a rete depann sou sipò pou yon fòs militè miltinasyonal pou okipe Ayiti pou konbat ensekirite ak retabli “lòd” nan kapital peyi a nan Pòtoprens.
Li ta dwe san yo pa di ke nenpòt moun ki pale nan non pèp la Ayiti oswa Karayib la pandan y ap kolabore ak Anpi pa ka fè konfyans kòm yon reyalizasyon nan batay liberasyon an dewoulman. Vrèmanvre, pandan Lavalas te antre nan KPT a avèk antouzyasm, Pitit Desalin (ak lidè pati li a, Jean-Charles Moïse) te monte yon maskarad. Moïse te jwe wòl chanpyon popilè a lè li te pwomèt pou l “reziste ak sezi pouvwa aktè ayisyen yo pwopoze epi ki te andose pa Caricom” pandan li tap fleurit ak yon alyans politik ki te dirije pa lidè paramilitè Guy Philippe. Kèk jou apre, anti-enperyalis la, Moïse, pliye e rantre nan KPT CARICOM te dirije.
Kisa nou dwe fè nan retrè sosyalis yo ak anti-enperyalis yo te pwoklame tèt yo an kolaborasyon ak Anpi? Ki sa nou dwe kwè lè Lavalas ak Pitit Desalin rele “Ayiti pou Ayisyen” yon jou epi envite yon fòs militè miltinasyonal pou anvayi Ayiti yon jou? Èske outraj lokal ak anmè dife nan moun ki aktyèlman konkeri ak abi pi reyèl pase nenpòt teyori anti-enperyalis? Poukisa nou tande sa pi plis nan men moun ki pap delink ak kolaboratè enperyal yo?
Gen moun ki pral denonse tonbe nan favè epi mande pou Lavalas redekouvwi vrè koulè li yo. Sepandan, Lavalas te sèvi depi lontan kòm zèl gòch la nan Eagle Ameriken an kòm li sèk anlè Ayiti.
Vrèmanvre, Aristide te travay kole kole ak Prezidan Ameriken Bill Clinton pou l te fè retou ann Ayiti apre koudeta 1991 la. An 1994, li te retounen ann Ayiti akonpaye pa bato de gè Ameriken ki te deplwaye anba banyè “Operasyon Uphold Democracy”. Lavalas ak Depatman Deta Ameriken an te alye souvan nan defann vizyon yo sou demokrasi. Menm lè alyans sa a vin pi mal, menm jan sa te fè lè CIA te destabilize rejim Aristide a epi yo te ranvèse l an 2004 pa fòs Etazini apiye, definisyon demokrasi yo rete menm. Sa ta dwe raple nou pou nou rejte tout fòm kolaborasyon ak Anpi Ameriken. Dayè, kisa dènye kolaborasyon Lavalas ak Washington te reyalize? Ni Depatman Deta Ameriken an, ni Aristide pa t konsidere pèp ayisyen an kapab dirije tèt li. Olye de sa, pèp ayisyen an te pliye ak yon ti kantite byennèt sosyal pou asire sekirite sektè prive ayisyen an ak enterè antrepriz miltinasyonal yo.
Anpil moun pral di ke lavi te pi bon pou travayè ayisyen anba Aristide. Sepandan, nou sot pase moman sa a kote refòm ak benefis pa grenn yo pral sifi kòm yon ranplasan pou demokrasi dirèk ak oto-gouvènans. Mouvman sosyal pèp ayisyen san enteripsyon depi 2017 te deklannche pa vòl lajan PetroKaribe te devwale magouy Leta ayisyen an kòm yon biwokrasi makakri kontante yo manje byen pandan y ap voye bouyon bay pèp ayisyen an. Diferans ki genyen ant kolaboratè enperyalis goch yo ak tokay dwat yo se sèlman nan gwosè bouyon yo vle konsede.
Nou ta dwe prepare pou Etazini ak depite li yo vole zèl gòch sa a ann Ayiti yon lòt fwa ankò. Nou pa dwe twonpe pa pwomès eleksyon ki pa kapab (e ki pa janm fè) sèvi kòm yon mezi egzat demokrasi (règ majorite). Kit Lavalas, Pitit Desalin, oswa yon nouvo lidè gwoup sosyal demokratik yo nonmen kòm avangad maskarad sa a, nou dwe reziste ak tout apèl pou bouche mouvman ensije pèp ayisyen an tèt li.
Pa gen anyen mwens ke yon asanble popilè ki rasanble moun ki fènwa ki te kenbe pouvwa a nan lari yo, oswa ki senpleman siviv, pou dènye dekad la pral fè. Sa a se sètènman yon lòd wo. Men, nou pa evite “defi” moun òdinè poze entelektyèl ak charlatan yo. Moun òdinè kontinye pran lari kont apèl bay lòd lidè pati yo ak menas opòtinis paramilitè yo nan Viv Ansanm ki adopte lang “pèp la” pou yo revandike pouvwa pou tèt yo. Si Lavalas ak Pitit Desalin te pwoklame tèt yo kòm vrè pòtpawòl volonte popilè ki te pwovoke nan Defi PetroKaribe a, fèmen ran yo ak CARICOM demontre ke nou dwe chèche yon lòt kote pou nwayo demokrasi popilè ak dirèk ann Ayiti.
Nan sipòte yon petisyon, nou te travay an kowalisyon ak moun ki te vle fè apèl bay CARICOM kòm yon kò reprezantatif nan inite Karayib la menmsi nou te deklare an piblik ak prive ke CARICOM se ouvètman finanse pa ajan anpi — USAID ak Kominote Ewopeyen an, espesyalman. Nou te wè kòman petisyon kont aksyon polis UN/US nan se te yon baz militan pwotestasyon andeyò CARICOM epi apre sa yo te prezante avèk grasyes anndan CARICOM. Yon reprezantan “aktivis” CARICOM te di nou nan yon fowòm piblik, ak anpil lògèy, se yon blag ke moun òdinè Karayib yo te ka gouvène tèt yo. Pa gen moun ki asosye ak moun sa a ki repiye sa yo te di.
Sous serye ki an kontak ak Lavalas te di nou ke pati a te kanpe kont nenpòt aksyon lapolis UN/US. Nou pa t kwè sa yo te di nou, men nou te tann avèk pasyans e nou te soulve enkyetid. Nou te fè zanmi ak vwazen klè ke Madame Mildred Aristide te gen posiblite pou l abòde yon fowòm solidarite ak Ayiti nan Oakland e li pa t rekonèt petisyon an oswa aksyon lapolis UN/US ann Ayiti. Li pa t ‘rekonèt li oswa pale kont li. Madame Aristide te remèsye defen Paul Farmer, antwopològ e otè The Uses of Haiti.
Farmer te yon pwofesè nan Harvard Medical School ak Prezidan Depatman Sante Piblik Global. Marye ak Didi Betrand Farmer, yo te kreye entènasyonal san bi likratif, Partners in Health. Sante piblik prete yon vwal nan enperyalis jodi a. Epi Fondasyon Aristide pandan tout peryòd boulvèsan sa a, depi leve kanpe kont vòlò lajan PetroKaribe a, te kenbe yon inivèsite epi bati yon lopital. Rechèch kous montre klè koneksyon yo ak Inivèsite Harvard pami lòt enstitisyon enperyal ak militè-endistriyèl.
Anpil nan solidarite ak Ayiti rekonèt enterè ekonomik pèsonèl Bill ak Hilary Clinton nan peyi Karayib sa a. Anpil asosye ak Lavalas ensiste ke Clinton yo se lènmi yo. Men, Bill Clinton ak Paul Farmer, anvan Farmer te mouri an 2022, te asosye pwòch pou 20 ane. Nou ka konte. Sa vle di figi kle nan administrasyon ak soutni pwojè ‘sante piblik’ Fondasyon Aristide an Ayiti te konekte ak Clinton depi 2002. Èske Clinton yo zanmi Lavalas oswa ènmi? Èske Lavalas se yon kolaboratè ak US ak CARICOM oswa pi gwo kritik li yo?
Pwen an se lè Madam Aristide pa t denonse aksyon lapolis Nasyonzini an, men li te afime eritaj Paul Farmer, li t ap afime kijan anpi ameriken an ranje jodi a. Li te afime yon bon zanmi Bill Clinton. Epi enperyalis ameriken pwopaje bra li yo pa jis nan bonbadman moun yon jou epi pale sou dwa moun yon jou apre. Non, li pwopaje yon aparèy kiltirèl ak ekonomik ki konsantre sou ‘sante piblik,’ ‘sekirite alimantè,’ ‘opoze vyolans sou fanm’ nan Sid Global la. Empire pran plezi nan achte moun ki te yon fwa avanse nan opozisyon li yo. Anba Prezidan Barack Obama, nonm sivilite ak lapè sa a ki ak Hilary Clinton te ranvèse Libi e ki te asasinen yon pakèt moun koulè ki sot nan syèl la san jijman, yo te ofri Paul Farmer pozisyon kòm chèf USAID. Li te refize, men li te kalifye pou pozisyon an. Nou pa ta dwe vle zanmi ak moun ki kalifye pou sèvi kòm administratè anpi a, espesyalman pwojè ki se vwal pou siveyans ak rasanbleman entèlijans.
‘Patenarya’ sa a se fason Fondasyon Aristide la soutni tèt li ekonomikman nan mitan konfli ak ensekirite. Se poutèt sa nou pa t choke lè Lavalas te parèt nan New Kingston kòm youn nan manm TPC CARICOM te apiye. Fòk nou veye pa senpleman sa kap dirije yo di — Keswa se Aristide, Jean-Charles Moïse, kit se aganman G9/Viv Ansanm, Jimmy “Barbeque” Cherizier — nou dwe obsève sa yo fè. Nou dwe rezone kontni an. Konn li pa di lespri pou sa!
Nou swete sa nou t ap di a se yon abstraksyon utopik. Nou swete sa zanmi nou yo ak vwazen nou yo te di nan non pragmatism ak estrateji yo te dwat. Li ta fè mond lan pi fasil pou navige. Men reyalite a se gouvènman CARICOM yo ak sa yo rele ‘patnè entènasyonal yo’, nou rele yo bave enperyalis yo, ak kowalisyon elit ayisyen ki soti anwo yo te jete yo. Jiska dènyèman, zanmi reprezantan Lavalas yo te di yo te kraze ak kowalisyon Montana sa a depi lontan. An verite, Lavalas t ap kouche. Yo fè pati kowalisyon CARICOM sa a ak yon platfòm politik ki pi vid pase yon plat sal ak de grenn diri.
Li se yon kesyon difisil si Lavalas ka tou de liberasyonis anba tè ak akeyi aksyon lapolis Nasyonzini an. Yo pa ka kont Anpi Ameriken ak patnè ak li. Gen kèk moun ki gen anpil bon konprann ak eksperyans ki ka vle konteste nou, epi ki di ki jan nou fè konnen, sa a pa ka negosye pou pi bon an? Eske Ayiti pa yon dezòd inik? Se vre, nan moman sipèpoze lagè enperyalis, lagè sivil, lagè liberasyon nasyonal, pou sosyalis ak otonomi pwòp tèt yo, sa enperyalis yo fè se sèlman yon pati nan separe ak sa fòs sensè sou tè a dwe fè. Isit la se yon egzanp konkrè.
Pandan ke li se bèl opoze anpi, byen volonte pa pral fè yo ale. Diskisyon sou pwopagasyon Etazini an nan zam afe ki gen gwo pouvwa ann Ayiti, sèlman pou yo andose yon fòs ame ki pi pwisan Nasyonzini/US te dirije pou anvayi, ta dwe klarifye ke kontwòl zam oswa sous zam afe a. fabrike ak distribye yo, se pa pwoblèm nan reyèl. Ki kote zam yo soti pa gen pwoblèm. Kle a se èske moun ki gen prensip politik yo kapab ame epi defann tèt yo epi fè avanse batay demokratik oto-dirije popilè a?
Poutan, menm nan yon lagè anti-enperyalis, yon batay anti-fachis, moun ki pote mouvman sosyal demokratik mas la pa kapab patnè estratejik ak yerachi ak dominasyon. Nan tan lagè, gen anpil chanjman nan sikonstans. Men, Ayiti pa nan yon dezòd konsa, ke moun ki vle wè yon asanble popilè demokratik moun òdinè detèmine pwòp desten yo bezwen enperyalis yo kòm patnè. Leson yo aprann soti nan 1801 rive 2004 revele ke sa a ka sèlman fini nan ruine.
Kiyès ki pral gen kouraj pou l mande asanble popilè demokratik ke pèp ayisyen an modele nan lari depi demi dizan ki sot pase a? Ki moun ki pral ensiste pou ke moun chak jou, relativman fènwa, dirije ak lidè aspiran yo (ki pretann yo se gadò “sekirite nasyonal” ak enperyalis yo ak moun ki polisye ak brital vwazen Karayib nou yo) pa swiv nan opòtinis pran pouvwa pou tèt yo? Nou pap tande sa nan men Lavalas, Pitit Desalin, oswa Viv Ansanm, koalisyon gang nan lari ki te dirije pa Jimmy ‘Barbecue’ Cherisier.
Pèp Ayiti kanpe pou kont li. Yo pa gen zanmi nan Lavalas, Pitit Desalin, G9, ni Guy Philippe. Pespektiv a fèb. Men, sa a se pa yon rezon pou konpwomi. Dèyè mòn gen mòn. Nan rekonesans ke yo pa gen zanmi, kèk jèn ayisyen rize ensiste pou rekonstitisyon demokrasi ayisyen an dwe kòmanse nan peyi a. Sa a rekonèt ke riz politik pati ann Ayiti rive nan bout li.
‘Dezòd’ Ayiti a pa eksepsyonèl. Se yon dezòd yo jwenn nan chak rebelyon ensije, revolisyon sosyal, batay anti-fachis, ak lit liberasyon nasyonal kòm mouvman sosyal demokratik mas ki te janm egziste. Fason nou wè pou estrateji se desizif. Sikonstans istorik pa enpoze jete pi bon prensip nou yo; nou fè sa pou tèt nou.
Gwo epòk Lagè Sivil Panyòl la te 1936–1939. Menmsi komite popilè sosyalis endepandan yo te goumen kont kominis yo pou kapitalis ak demokrasi boujwa pou rekonstriksyon nasyonal la, yon libète plis oto-dirije echwe. Fachis yo te kapab kenbe règ sou peyi a jiska 1975. Mond Afriken an te òganize yon mouvman solidarite menm jan an pou konbat envazyon Italyen Mussolini nan peyi Letiopi (1935–1941). Anpil Pan Africanists te abandone mobilizasyon milis Nwa yo ak nwayo enfimyè pou konbat Italyen yo nan peyi Letiopi pou kolaborasyon ak enperyalis Anglo-Ameriken. Anperè Haile Selassie te retabli sou pouvwa a pa enperyalis yo, kèlkeswa ezite ak an reta, sèlman pou yo te ranvèse pa pwòp pèp li a an 1974. Nou espere vwazen ayisyen ak Karayib nou yo wè yon modèl. Li pa etranj ke lit ke nou wè ann Ayiti ka kontinye pandan plizyè dizèn ane, sitou si fòs demokratik oto-dirije popilè yo pa sipòte epi yo pa genyen.
Kongo te wè yon lagè sivil pou trant ane kòmanse nan 1995–1996. Nò ak Sid Soudan te konnen lagè sivil soti nan 1955–1972, 1983–2005, epi li te rekòmanse. Menmsi nou wè moun lokal yo ap soufri, sa yo se sitiyasyon kote eksepte pou moun ki fènwa ak ti gwoup nou lite pou jwenn moun ki gen lespri demokratik popilè anba sosyete a pou idantifye. Pandan se tan enperyalis yo te brase pot la tout tan.
Anpil moun gade evènman istorik sa yo ak bès Ayiti depi 2004 e yo sijere yon gè sivil ta yon amelyorasyon. Petèt sa yo ta gen klèman defini kote yo pran. Men, se nou menm ki kontribye nan pran ak defini pati — fòs solidarite yo pa kapab senpleman obsève ak gade mond lan ap pase.
Anpil moun ki gen yon vizyon long (yo te wè dezòd ak enstabilite nan Anguilla, Matinik, Curacao, Jamayik, Trinidad, Giyàn, Grenada, ak Antigwa & Barbuda anvan) sijere Ayiti reprezante yon dezòd soutni san okenn sans de objektif pa wè nan Karayib la nan la. 75 dènye ane yo. Sepandan, sa ki minim anje ann Ayiti ak Karayib la se fason nou wè. Poukisa pou n chèche yon objektif ki gen sans ke nou ka idantifye nou fòje ankò kowalisyon ak moun ki dekadans, konplo, ak ipokrit pou rekonstriksyon nasyon an oswa repiblik la?
Èske n ap goumen ak kolabore pou retabli ‘ansyen politik’ ke achiv tradisyon politik radikal Karayib nou an te denonse egalman depi 75 an? Sa a ak retrè nan aktyèlman anseye politik demokratik radikal kòm diferan de manevwe pou ti pouvwa se poukisa Ayiti ak Karayib la nan marak ke li ye jodi a.
Kontrèman ak deblozay sa a, menm byen intensyon yo te kontribye, nou ka ede mete direktiv pi devan sou fason yo dwe plis oto-dirije, epi bati solidarite ak Ayisyen sou tè a endepandan de enperyalis yo ak fòs estabilizasyon nasyonal yo ki kounye a se youn. nan menm.
Nenpòt ki lè pèp ayisyen, Karayib oswa mondyal pataje pèspektiv politik ak pwopozisyon, li kòmanse reverberasyon nan responsabilite kote politik fonksyone nan yon sèl mond. Pèspektiv ke lèzòm ap viv pa yon yerachi soufrans ak privilèj te sèlman pèmèt ajitè politik yo toujou fè reklamasyon an piblik ak prive ki vire yo se fo.
Revolisyon ayisyen an te demokratize sivilizasyon oksidantal ak mond lan. Men, rechèch pèmanan pou yon repiblik nwa gratis baze sou eseye fè anpi mondyal la mande eskiz pou rasis li yo epi rekonèt kòm patnè egalite elit ayisyen yo. Ayisyen òdinè deja separe tout koulè nwa yo ak moun ki kolabore ak Anpi epi ki sèvi ak eritaj noiriste sa a pou jistifye dominasyon yo anlè mas yo.
Youn nan bagay nou dwe sispann fè se pèmèt vrè eksperyans ayisyen soufri yo sou tè a vin yon vwal emosyonèl nan rezon ak lejitimite nan aspiran dirijan yerachik yo. Se moun ki soufri yo, moun ki twomatize yo ak moun ki blese yo, ki gen pwòp òganizasyon yo dwe dirije dirèkteman olye pou yo jis ‘yon bagay dwe fèt!’
Rezolisyon an nan dezòd la pa manti nan kolaborasyon ezite ak Anpi oswa eleksyon an nan nouvo chèf popilè. Menm jan an 1801, lè vangad peyizan Revolisyon ayisyen an te mache kont sistèm plantasyon Gouvènè Jeneral Toussaint Louverture te enpoze a, avni peyi Dayiti dwe dikte pa travayè ak peyizan yo menm ki depi plizyè dizèn ane desann Pòtoprens apre. ke yo te deplase pa koripsyon taks endirèk, vòlè nan trezò eta a, ak destriksyon nan mwayen pou viv nan zòn riral yo pa “mache lib” ak dezas klimatik.
Kiyès ki pral kanpe nan solidarite prensip ak moun chak jou ann Ayiti? Kiyès ki pral vann yo pou bouyon poutri nan Washington? Bò kote nou dwe opoze a (gen kèk pral jwe, fè yon etap devan, epi repouse nan pozisyon sa a) nan gè sivil ayisyen an leve tèt li lèd. Òganize epi bay èd ak konsolasyon lòt bò a, ankouraje oto-direksyon popilè li yo, epi fasilite oswa patisipe nan dyalòg sou ki prensip moun ta dwe viv, ka ede Ayiti. Men, kesyon sou kondisyon Ayiti a pi plis pase nou reyalize se yon kesyon de politik Karayib la ak nan mond lan. Yo se byen tout moun eksepte enperyalis yo ak gouvènè ayisyen ak Karayib yo ki vle mete men ansanm ak yo.
