April 14, 2008 at 05:41:25

Peter Hallward's "Damming the Flood"

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-- Francois (Papa Doc) Duvalier then took power from a rigged 1957 election and during his tenure murdered 50,000 or more Haitians and terrorized the population;

-- when he died in 1971, his son, Jean-Claude (Baby Doc) took over, maintained the family tradition, and did his father one better - he improved the country's investment climate for its foreign patrons with punishing effects on the people;

-- by the mid-1980s, even the international community no longer could tolerate his "undiluted brutality and venality;" protests began, he became a liability, was sent to a comfortable exile and (in 1986) replaced by the military;

-- then came five repressive years under rule of the generals - Namphy (1986 - 88), Avril (1988 - 90) plus a few months under Leslie Manigat in 1988; later it was Cedras after the first Aristide coup; Haiti's only female (provisional) president served for 11 months immediately preceding Aristide's election; Ertha Pascal-Trouillot was the country's chief justice and a wealthy member of its ruling class;

-- the 1986 - 1990 period was so tumultuous that, temporarily, Haitian elites aligned themselves with charismatic priests like Jean-Bertrand Aristide; they didn't crave reform; they wanted stability for a good business climate;

-- Aristide, above others, embodied Haitians' demands for social transformation; he combined "a concrete strategy for acquiring practical political power with the uncompromising inspiration of liberation theology" and was dedicated to the "active self-liberation of the oppressed;" yet he's not a politician; he's a dedicated to the poor organizer, activist and parish priest;

-- in point of fact, liberation theology terrifies the ruling class even more than Marxist-Leninism or organized labor; under Lavalas, it's the greatest threat to Haitian elites and US dominance;

-- for Aristide, the "deadly economic infection called capitalism" represents profound social harm if not "mortal sin;" only social revolution can expunge it, yet Aristide renounces violence and only condones self-defense;

-- repression under military rule was even harsher than earlier; after one year in office, Namphy and the generals "gunned down more civilians than Jean-Claude Duvalier's government had done in 15 years;"

-- by mid-1990, a new strategy was needed, something "less abrasive;" the year became "the single most important date in modern Haitian history;" preserving the status quo was key; Washington chose former World Bank official Marc Bazin to run in the December election; Lavalas candidate Aristide opposed him after intense pressure from fellow priests and supporters convinced him to run;

-- with no organized party or campaign, Aristide won overwhelmingly with 67% of the vote in a heavy turnout of 80%; for the first time in Haiti's history, the people chose the President, not the army or imperial powers; Washington was shocked by the result;

-- Aristide took office in February, 1991 and proceeded cautiously; international lenders promised him aid; he enforced import fee collections and raised taxes on the rich; he minimized conflict with the military but purged its top commanders; political violence and state-sanctioned repression abruptly halted; and he went further but in small steps;

-- he appointed a presidential commission to investigate extra-judicial killings; redistributed some fallow land; began a literacy program; cracked down on drugs trafficking; lowered food prices; and modestly increased the minimum wage;

-- even moderation antagonized vested interests, including the church; it made Aristide "an intolerable challenge to the status quo;" more importantly, what he represented (not so much himself) was threatening;

-- by fall, a coup was inevitable, and by late September his enemies were ready to act; they represented domestic and imperial opposition; on the night of September 30, 1991, Aristide was deposed.

1991 - 1999: The First Coup and its Consequences

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