Another disaster in Haiti: we name the guilty parties

[guysanto*]

<b>
Another disaster in Haiti: we name the guilty parties
- Haiti Support Group press release, 21 September 2004

<b><p>So far the total number of fatalities caused by the recent heavy rains and flash-floods in north-west Haiti stands at around 600, but the final tally is sure to be far higher.

This is the second major disaster this year, in addition to numerous other deadly but less well-reported floods. The news is terrible, but it is not enough to wring our hands and say 'poor Haiti'. Nor is it sufficient to call on the international community to provide more and better humanitarian relief. We must look at the reasons why Haiti is prone to these catastrophes.

Both the flash-floods in the south-east in May, and now these in the north-west, are a direct consequence of the over-farming and deforestation of the country's hills and mountainsides. When heavy rain falls, the water cannot be absorbed, and instead cascades down valleys and ravines, sweeping away anything and anybody it its path.

The problems of soil-erosion and deforestation are well-known, and so is the only possible remedy - land reform. Yet over the course of almost three decades, the country's economic policy has been dictated by international finance institutions, such as the World Bank, the IMF and the Inter-American Development Bank, and not only has land reform never appeared on their agenda, but no national government that has proposed it has received any encouragement to carry it out.

Instead, successive governments have been obliged to carry out neo-liberal economic policies which give no priority to the countryside whatsoever, even though some two-thirds of the population live there.

Billions and billions in international aid has been lent to Haitian governments,
but the focus has remained on governance, security, elections and support for the private sector. Next to nothing has been done to support the agricultural sector - no land reform, no subsidies for fertilisers or storage facilities, no reforestation campaign, no irrigation projects, no protection from cheaper imports, etc. etc.

Is it any wonder that Haiti's peasant farmers overwork their small plots, and cut down trees to raise cash from charcoal production?

Even now, after neo-liberal economic policies in Haiti have been shown to have failed over and over again, the current government - with the support of the international finance institutions and the European Commission - is continuing to ignore the needs of the rural population. At the international donors' conference in Washington DC. in July, yet again the focus was on support for the urban private sector.

The attitude of the current interim government was summed up when, shortly after the May 2004 flood disaster, Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said perhaps the solution would be to employ former soldiers to shoot peasants found cutting down trees.

By, once more, doing everything to preserve the dominance of the country's immensely rich elite, and nothing to support the peasantry, the international community is complicit in the loss of life and misery caused by this, and future, natural disasters in Haiti.

Contact:: Charles Arthur - haitisupport@gn.apc.org

______________________________________________

This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.

See the Haiti Support Group web site:
www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for justice, participatory democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
____________________________________________

[jafrikayiti*]

I applaud Charles Arthur's analysis which is very consistent with what many Haitians have been saying for a long time now. LET HAITI LIVE ! We cannot afford to be guinea pigs for all the outrageous socio-political experiments that the "International Community" (white supremacy international) want to conduct.

We, Haitians, need to start believing in ourselves and learn from our experiences. And it is not true that Haitians have never tried to deal with the root causes of all these disasters. I know for a fact that during Preval's term in office the government tried hard to focus on reforestation and land reform....but then as now, our dear self-appointed friends kept stirring us towards political drama and a bunch of stupid foreign-centric followers in Port-au-Prince refused to follow the lead of Haitian visionnaries like Jean Dominique and others who understood that [b:4f
1f196906]our energies should be focused not on 'Port-au-Prince' bullshit being called 'politics' but on the PEOPLE, the people, the people in the countryside [/b]who have been begging for our attention all these decades.

Since, many refuse to listen to Haitian voices, here is another non-Haitian, depicting exactly why Haiti keeps turning around in circles with the help of its self-appointed "friends".
---------------------------

Anthony Fenton writes:

September 14, 2004
Foreshadowing Haiti Coup - The 'If at First you don't succeed' M.O.

Look at this 1993 LA Times article that shows the modus operandi of the "political opposition" in Haiti. At the time they were openly in bed with the U.S. supported death squad FRAPH, and the military regime that overthrew Aristide, led by Raoul Cedras. These tactics re-emerged in February of 2004. The difference this time around has largely to do largely with public opinion.
r

9/11 gave the "opposition" the "diplomatic" support they needed for reinstituting authoritarian rule to Haiti. Where in 1991 the OAS, the UN, followed by the U.S., Canada, etc. condemned the coup and acknowledged Aristide's Presidency, everyone was on board this time around thanks to a significant 'Orwellian shift' by way of the invocation of imperial doctrines such as the "Responsibility to Protect" and the emerging Failed State Doctrine.

Where Western governments actually brought about the "failure" of democracy in Haiti, they simultaneously managed public opinion through their control of the mainstream [corporate] media. The *real* propaganda war of the "low intensity" variety, manufactured the perception that Aristide was "failing," brought about the "justification" for intervention, "legalised" through the new post-9/11 'war on Terror' framework, which effectively re-legalises imperialism [or, at least the "option" of imperiali
sm], by suspending the parts of the UN Charter pertaining to state sovereignty and the right to self-determination. They can do this when the "international community" [see: "rich white people"] deems a country to have failed to maintain their conception of "good governance."

posted by anthony_fenton
From "Haiti's Day of Hope Gives Way to Fear", October 31, 1993:

"The civilian groups [Apaids, Bigios, Mevs, Brandts, Acras, Madsens, etc...] that act politically for the [Cedras, Chamblain, Constant] military continued making plans to take over the government from pro-Aristide Prime Minister Robert Malval, either by arresting him or forcing his resignation.

On Friday, those organizations, led by the hard-line Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti [FRAPH], demanded Aristide's resignation. Faced with his refusal, they said Saturday that they would simply declare the office vacant and name a provisional government.

"On Sunday morning," said Reynold Georges, a tough-talkin
g anti-Aristide leader, "we're going to install our government in the National Palace."

Malval said Saturday night, "We have no means to prevent this, but it won't take them very far in actually forming a government."

The anti-Aristide forces said they would install a government under Article 149 of the Haitian constitution, which provides for filling a vacant presidency with the chief justice of the Supreme Court [such as, Boniface Alexandre?], the naming of a provisional prime minister [a "technocrat" such as Latortue?] and the setting of elections within 90 days.

And the full article...

Haiti's Day of Hope Gives Way to Fear
Kenneth Freed
Los Angeles Times
31 October 1993

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti Saturday was to have been a day of promise for Haiti, of restoration, of celebration. It turned out to be a day of gloom, resignation and fear.

Instead of the return of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Saturday saw streets mostly emptied by fear. Ins
tead of the restoration of democracy, there were threats of yet another military-backed coup. Instead of action, it was a day of talk.

Under an agreement signed by Haiti's military commander, Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, last July 3 at Governors Island in New York harbor, Saturday was the date for Aristide's return after two years of forced exile.

But as they have almost constantly since the agreement was signed, army leaders and their civilian allies continued to defy all efforts and threats by the United Nations and the United States to force the return to power of Haiti's first democratically elected president.

The civilian groups that act politically for the military continued making plans to take over the government from pro-Aristide Prime Minister Robert Malval, either by arresting him or forcing his resignation.

On Friday, those organizations, led by the hard-line Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, demanded Aristide's resignation. Faced with his refusal, they
said Saturday that they would simply declare the office vacant and name a provisional government.

"On Sunday morning," said Reynold Georges, a tough-talking anti-Aristide leader, "we're going to install our government in the National Palace."

Malval said Saturday night, "We have no means to prevent this, but it won't take them very far in actually forming a government."

The anti-Aristide forces said they would install a government under Article 149 of the Haitian constitution, which provides for filling a vacant presidency with the chief justice of the Supreme Court, the naming of a provisional prime minister and the setting of elections within 90 days.

Also Saturday: The United Nations Security Council warned Aristide's opponents that it insists on "full and unconditional" compliance with peace accords calling for his return to office.

The Council also threatened to strengthen sanctions if the opposition continued to disrupt the transition back to democratic rule.


France already has drawn up a resolution to this effect, but the United States has hesitated and is waiting to see if UN envoy Dante Caputo has any success in mediating between the parties.

Caputo plans a meeting in Haiti next week, perhaps as early as Monday, to discuss the crisis. The commander of the UN embargo said any smuggling of fuel and other supplies to Haiti would not ease the pressure on its military rulers to step down.

Adm. Hal Gehman conceded that smuggling may still be going on. But in a briefing aboard his ship on patrol about 30 miles off Haiti's coast, he said any fuel supplies still trickling in would not be sufficient to keep Haiti's ravaged economy alive.

Gehman was asked specifically about suspected smuggling across Haiti's border with the Dominican Republic, with which it shares the Island of Hispaniola.

He did not rule it out, given endemic corruption on both sides of the border, but said it was "their (the Dominicans') responsibility to prot
ect their borders."

The Navy has boarded 33 ships, diverting 10 of them and clearing the other 23 to enter Haiti with cargos not listed in the embargo.

The Navy says the embargo appears to have persuaded shipping companies to avoid problems with U.S. warships. Two U.S. immigration centers in Haiti that were forced to close when the political crisis turned dangerous will reopen next week, a U.S. official said.

The centers, set up to hear political asylum requests, are in the northern town of Cap Haitien and Les Cayes in the south.

They were closed after UN human rights monitors, in Haiti as part of a mission to restore democratic rule, left Oct. 15 and 16 after their lives were threatened.

A third immigration center, in Port-au-Prince, remained open.

Contributing: Reuters, Associated Press, Newsday, Agence France-Presse.

A Haitian military police officer walks past a sign that says "Aristide=Criminal" in Port-au-Prince on Saturday.; Credit: Associated Pre
ss

So, without any serious investment in infrastructure in the past several decades - spent managing makeshift political crises...thousands of brains are being wasted in Haiti.

Meanwhile the U.S. just announced releasing a whooping 60 thousand dollars in "Emergency Aid" to deal with the flooding. So, Haitians should feel safer already.

I know, just like in January 2003 when the Vatican offered 5000 Euros to the OAS Mission in Haiti to support Demokkkracy, no Haitian official will come up to tell these hypocrites to shove their crumbs up where they belong. I, as a son of Haiti will do it for them.

There are many lessons to take away from the various tragedies affecting Haiti in 2004. One of them is that WE HAITIANS MUST ONCE AND FOR ALL stop playing games with these hypocrites and start focussing our energies on OUR OWN BUSINESS. We can't afford the time we've been wasting.


Jafrikayiti

[Frantz*]

What is next? Who will be the next victims? Enough! We had enough! Charle Arthur is correct, the economic policies have failed badly in Haiti. The end results are there for everyone to see. No need to elaborate......Gonaives is under the mud, victims are everywhere.

What's exactly the famous PM defacto is planning to do? Wait for another disaster , or create another TCS [technocrat corruption scheme] commission ?

Hello! hello! We all need to do something with the environment. We can't let erosion take over whatever is left of our country. Let's think of something. What should we do? Anyone?

Padel

[HenriD]

Patrice Backer has asked me to post this here for him.

From: Patrice Backer [mailto:pbacker2001@myacc.net]
Sent: Wednesday, September 22, 2004 11:20 PM
To: 'haitisupport@gn.apc.org'
Subject: Response to: Another disaster in Haiti: we name the guilty parties - Haiti Support Group press release

<b><p>Dear Mr. Arthur,

For a number of years now, I have been reading emails from the Haiti Support Group regardig events of major importance in Haiti. I have agreed with some of your positions and disagreed with others. Most of the time, even in cases where I did not share your point of view, I respected the fact that you presented coherent arguments that placed the welfare of the Haitian people at their core. That is why, for the first time, I am taking the time to write to you to express my disappointment at the article published by the Haiti Support Group entitled "Another Disaster in Haiti:"We Name the Guilty Parties."

Apart from major and misleading inaccuracies, the continuous mantra that everything that happens in Haiti (almost always bad) can always be linked to the country's "immensely rich elite" is starting to ring hollow. This reduced view of Haiti as a pure binary world (rich vs poor, light skinned vs dark skinned, urban vs rural) may have had some validity in the past, but the reality is much more complex nowadays. How about the responsibility of all of us, rich and poor, in the United States or Canada? How about the influence (and responsibility) of the middle class living abroad? Is every event the result of occult maneuvers by the "elite"? How do you define this elite?

Let's look at your text a little closer:

1. "Both the flash-floods in the south-east in May, and now these in the north-west, are a direct consequence of the over-farming and deforestation of the country's hills and mountainsides. When heavy rain falls, the water cannot be absorbed, and instead cascades down valleys and ravines, sweeping away anything and anybody it its path."

Agreed.

2. "The problems of soil-erosion and deforestation are well-known, and so is the only possible remedy - land reform. Yet over the course of almost three decades, during which the country's economic policy has been dictated by international financal institutions, such as the World Bank, the IMF and the Inter-American Development Bank, not only has land reform never appeared on their agenda, but no national government that has proposed it has received any encouragement to carry it out. "

You are surely referring to the land reform program (INARA) undertaken under the Preval regime. Who was supposed to carry it out? Who should have provided the encouragement? Have you actively looked into the reasons why INARA was a spectacular failure? Can you claim that the "elites' are behind these events? If yes, which "elites" this time? Have you spoken to Bernard Etheart about the reasons for the failure of that land reform program?

You mention land reform. It is all well and good to talk about it in the abstract, but what type of land reform do you advocate? It is time for precise suggestions, not the usual criticism. We don't need anymore fingerpointing after this horrific disaster.

3. "Billions and billions of dollars in international aid has been lent to Haitian governments, but the focus has remained on governance, security, elections and support for the private sector. Next to nothing has been done to support the agricultural sector - no land reform, no subsidies for fertilisers or storage facilities, no subsidised credit, no reforestation campaign, no irrigation projects, no protection from cheaper imports, etc. etc."

Last I checked, our foreign debt did not exceed $2 billion. So I am not sure about the "billions and billions ... lent to Haitian governments" part. Compared to the Dominican Republic and many of our neighbors (even Cuba), that is peanuts. I expect more than hysterical hyperbolae from an outfit such as yours.

As for support for the private sector, I challenge you to provide proof of what you claim. Judging by the statement above, we should have had quite a private sector by now. Yet, from 1988 to today, we have witnessed a continuous pauperization of the private sector. The latter suffered a severe blow with the 1993 embargo, which basically decimated the assembly industry and drove many into bankruptcy. Haiti's growth rate never recovered, neither did our economy. So where did these billions of dollars go that were supposed to prop up the private sector? Can you provide us with precise accounting?

Let's talk about subsidies and support to the agricultural sector. It is quite interesting that you mention it. I had several discussions with growers from the Bas-Artibonite and the Plateau Central who were tired of being shafted by all the so-called experts and institutions that were there to assist them. For the longest time, ODVA was supposed to help them, but nothing happened. The BCA went bankrupt many years ago because of mismanagement and fraud. BNDAI went under during the Duvalier era because of mismanagement and fraud. Were these doings of the elite? So Are the elites running ODVA?

Let's talk about the latest scam concerning fertilizers. Japan gave to Haiti numerous grants of fertilizers that were supposed to be sold to growers by ODVA at a subsidized rate of H$75. Instead the growers now have to buy these fertilizers in the OPEN market at a cost of H$160 a bag. Are the elites the ones running the scam? Or is it political appointees, holdovers from the Lavalas era (since they controlled ODVA for about 14 years), who have transformed that institution into their personal piggy bank?

Protection from cheaper imports, you say? I guess the question is why any government abdicated its responsibilities and agreed to set the lowest tariffs in the Caribbean unilaterally, even below those of other CARICOM countries. The losers were not only, inter alia, the rice growers of the Artibonite Valley, but also the entrepreneurs who had set up food processing facilities in the country. They just could not compete against goods that were subsidized overseas. To claim that only the agriculture sector suffered is to ignore the segment of "production nationale" private sector that went under as well. No one talks about them, but they lost out just as well, and along with their businesses, gone were the jobs and the impact on local communities. So the elites did that too?

As for reforestation, you might be surprised to know that a cadre of idealist Haitians (should I say dreamers?) with foreign funding worked hard to preserve many "protected" sites in our country, like the Forêt des Pins and the Macaya Park. Yet these projects were given no support under the Lavalas government, surprisingly enough, despite funding. Worse yet, an acquaintance of mine who served as a volunteer warden at the Macaya Forest was kicked out by locals who claimed that that area was to be protected only by FL supporters. What can I say? Is this the shadowy hand of the elite?

4. "Even now, after neo-liberal economic policies in Haiti have been shown to have failed over and over again, the current government - with the support of the international finance institutions and the European Commission - is continuing to ignore the needs of the rural population. At the international donors' conference in Washington DC. in July, yet again the focus was on support for the urban private sector. Local industrialists - the government's main source of domestic support - are pushing ahead with their plans to build more and more sweatshop assembly plants. "

This is probably the most egregious part of your piece. It is inaccurate and misleading. I have many issues with the Interim Cooperation Framework (CCI) of the Latortue government, not the least of which is the opacity in which it was developed, but I believe that your knowledge (or interpretation of
it) is woefully lacking. I am enclosing the full budget of the CCI for your review, and I invite you to draw your own conclusions as to whether the focus is really on the urban private sector:

CADRE DE COOPERATION INTERIMAIRE
RESUME DU BUDGET

DISPONIBLE GAP A FINANCER TOTAL CCI
Thème INT. EXT. AF 03-04 AF04-05 AF05-06 TOTAL $ %
AXE 1 - ASSURER UNE MEILLEURE GOUVERNANCE POLITIQUE ET PROMOUVOIR LE DIALOGUE NATIONAL
1.1 Sécurité, Police et DDR 16.0 - 12.0 47.4 33.3 92.7 108.7 8.0%
1.2 Justice, Institutions Pénitentiaires et Droits Humains - 1.8 1.4 10.9 10.2 22.5 24.3 1.8%
1.3 Processus Electoral et Dialogue National 2.9 - 1.7 24.5 10.9 37.1
40.0 2.9%
18.9 1.8 15.1 82.8 54.4 152.3 173.0 12.7%

AXE 2 - RENFORCER LA GOUVERNANCE ECONOMIQUE ET CONTRIBUER AU DEVELOPPEMENT INSTITUTIONNEL
2.1 Gouvernance Economique - 2.6 3.5 9.9 6.4 19.8 22.4 1.6%
2.2 Renforcement des Capacités Institutionnelles 95.1 - 0.7 2.3 3.5 6.5 101.6 7.4%
2.3 Développement Local, Aménagement du Territoire et Décentralisation - 7.2 4.4 17.2 11.9 33.5 40.7 3.0%
95.1 9.8 8.6 29.4 21.8 59.8 164.7 12.1%

AXE
3 - FAVORISER LA RELANCE ECONOMIQUE
3.1 Stabilité Macroéconomique - - - - - - -
3.2 Électricité - - 9.7 35.7 47.0 92.4 92.4 6.8%
3.3 Création Rapide d'Emplois et Micro-Finance - 65.0 2.2 19.1 14.4 35.7 100.7 7.4%
3.4 Développement du Secteur Privé, PMEs/PMIs - 5.5 0.5 14.0 9.1 23.6 29.1 2.1%
3.5 Agriculture 3.2 28.9 2.8 46.6 36.4 85.8 117.9 8.6%
3.6 Routes et Transports 3.0 77.0 - 34.6 46.
5 81.1 161.1 11.8%
3.7 Protection et Réhabiliation de l'Environnement - 2.7 0.8 13.7 9.1 23.6 26.3 1.9%
6.2 179.1 16.0 163.7 162.5 342.2 527.5 38.6%

AXE 4 - AMELIORER L'ACCES AUX SERVICES DE BASE
4.1 Aide Humanitaire d'Urgence (inclue dans différents thèmes)
4.2 Eau et Assainissement - 32.3 - 18.4 29.5 47.9 80.2 5.9%
4.3 Santé et Nutrition 5.5 47.2 25.1 27.5 29.6 82.2 134.9 9.9%
4.4 Education, Jeunesse et Sport - 42.9 23.2 51.5 7.5 82.2
125.1 9.2%
4.5 Culture, Médias, et Communication - - - 6.1 6.3 12.4 12.4 0.9%
4.6 Sécurité Alimentaire 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.5 1.3 1.8 0.1%
4.7 Déchets Solides - - 7.7 14.8 12.8 35.3 35.3 2.6%
4.8 Amélioration des Bidonvilles - - 1.3 12.4 14.8 28.5 28.5 2.1%
4.9 Filet de Sécurité et Protection Sociale 1.4 1.8 1.0 11.8 13.0 25.8 29.0 2.1%
7.0 124.6 58.4 143.2 114.0 315.6 447.2 32.7%


AUTRE - EPUREMENT DES ARRIÉRÉS (1) 53.9 - - - - - 53.9 3.9%

TOTAL 181.10 315.30 98.10 419.10 352.70 869.90 1,366.30 100.0%
En % 13.3% 23.1% 7.2% 30.7% 25.8% 63.7% 100.0%

(1) APUREMENT DES ARRIÉRÉS BILATÉRAUX D'ICI SEPTEMBRE 2004 ET TRAITEMENT DES ARRIÉRÉS BILATÉRAUX EN TERMES DU CLUB DE PARIS EN AF 04-05


The private sector (highlighted in green) gets 2.1% of the total budget; the Agricultural sector (highlighted in yellow) gets 8.6%. The agriculture world gets 4 times what the Private sector get. The overwhelming majority of this plan is not a private sector gravy train, nor is it a gift to the elites. The beneficiaries are more likely to be at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder than at the top. But why let the facts get in the way?

In fact, at the World Bank meetings in Washington, the private sector got short shrift as it was not even discussed during the OFFICIAL meetings. To accommodate the private sector members who made the trip to Washington, the US Chamber of Commerce organized a meeting for the private sector (the only one devoted to the Private sector) on the Wednesday following the OFFICIAL meetings at the World Bank. I know: I WAS THERE! So it seems that I must have missed quite a few meetings that your representative attended.

Your silence on the losses suffered by the private sector, both formal and informal, is eloquent. The damage wrought, the bankruptcies, the lost jobs were not apparent to outsiders who know little about the economy. But we all saw what happened with the start of school in September. To pretend that the private sector is a leech that does nothing but suck the blood of all the others - as you imply - is to ignore that you cannot have a well-functioning economy without that private sector. The illusion that the Haitian private sector is doing well and getting wealthier all the time is just that, an illusion.

5. "By, once more, doing everything to preserve the dominance of the country's immensely rich elite, and nothing to support the poverty-stricken peasantry, the international community is complicit in the loss of life and misery caused by this, and the inevitable future, natural disasters in Haiti."

As we say in French, "la boucle est bouclée." You throw out a few statements about the issues of agriculture; you have some peripheral comments about the government's efforts to funnel everything to the private sector when the record shows otherwise; you throw in the traditional accusations against the elite for good measure, and, presto, we come to the conclusion that this whole effort is nothing more than a conspiracy to make the private sector richer. I guess someone forgot to tell them that.

At any rate, Mr. Arthur, I am quite disappointed at the tenor of that article. I did not expect from those who ably defended the Cointreau workers against injustice such an intellectually dishonest piece, replete with misleading statements and below-the-belt innuendos.

I usually do not get personal in such emails, but I will do so this time. I am the proud grandson of a market seller from Saint Michel de l'Attalaye who worked hard to give her children a decent education and a moral upbringing. My father did his studies in Saint-Michel and Gonaives until "troisième" when he had to go to Port-au-Prince to finish secondary school. I am therefore the son of "moun an deyò" and the grandson of a "peyizan". One of the lessons that has been passed down to me is that we need to look at reality in the face and tell things like they are. I do know my history enough to know about the "elites", the history of discrimination throughout our history, and the notion of the Morally Repugnant Elite. But I also do know that "la classe" was given its chances and failed, and that "pèp la" was given a chance and
failed. In sum, we all failed. To blame the floods and the most recent disaster simply on policies that favored the elites is to cast the other social groups as permanent victims and to relieve us from our collective responsibilities in this disaster. This may suit your political and ideological purposes, but it does not represent the reality of Haiti. By transforming the many who died in Mapou, in Gonaives, in the Northwest as pawns in your ideological battle, you have just sullied their memories,

Best regards,
Patrice Backer

[jafrikayiti*]

Maybe afterall this latest crisis will force us to look at our realities straight in the face - for the first time.

The only thing I would add in here is that, in my understanding when people refer to Haiti's "elites", there is more than just the families that control the import-export sector. There certainly is an intellectual elite and a political elite that have failed to meet the collective responsibilities of "elites" in a given country.

I am sure Charles Arthur will respond to Patrice Baker. But, I would hope that more important than what Charles (a foreign friend of Haiti) will have to respond, there is a NEED to hear from these other influential members of our VERY OWN "failed class" (THE HAITIANS). I am calling on people such as Exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and Mrs. Mildred Aristide, former President René Préval, Camille Chalmers, Raoul Peck, Gérard Pierre-Charles, Marc Bazin, former President Leslie Manigat, f
ormer Prime Minister Claudette Werleigh, all the former Ministers (of Commerce, Public Works, Environment etc...)

Konpatriyòt, there is no time to waste anymore. You are the ones who had access to resources and knowledge to lead our people. Klas la pa travay. Se yon konsta!

If today there is a call to stop "voye monte" and speak with facts in hand, YOU ALL MUST step up to the plate and help repair the damage caused.

Yes, the focus is on REPAIRING. Yes, we each can take the time to identify where we have been hurt....but please do keep in mind that in all this the greatest hurt has been suffered by those who had no way out...(the moun andeyò that are still "andeyò"). So, please, try to trancend your individual hurts and take the time and courage required to speak YOUR TRUTH, from your own standpoint....

This dialogue is late....but it may not be too late.

Do talk to us....In the end, Haiti will benefit greatly.

Jafrikayiti
"Let's keep it real and constructive!
"

[Leonel Jean-Baptiste*]

I would like to say, Patrice I am sorry!

Like Henri said, I believed in the ogre's myth. I really thought that you weren't Haitian.

Anyway, I really like to listen to the other side, and you guys are doing it. Even though I blame you a little bit to lay low and not coming out publicly before. Haiti needs you.

Like Jaf said: "It's late, but not too late".

I understood that a lot of people including myself thought that Haiti's problem was "Boujwa". Until recently, listening to people who had to live in exile, as a young boy, for the defiance to Duvalier's regime by their parents.

People heard stories like Duvalier had to kill or expatriate a lot of Mulattoes or people from the Bourgeoisie for their apartheid south african like behavior or attitude. Until recently, someone told me that Francois' paranoia of intellectuals and progressist movement in Haiti was responsible for a lot of "Boujwa progresis" living
in exile... In Cayes, Jeremie, etc., a lot of people lost their lives...

Well, we had never heard of those stories before. We heard of boujwa this and that. Racist, aloufa, tilolit etc... This stays with us for I don't know how long?

If we had more people coming forward, telling their sides. Maybe, we wouldn't be so apart. Perhaps things would have been different positively.

I understand that after being burnt by politicians, the elite just used economic power instead of politics. Ourselves, we were more into "pozisyon chef san lajan", that is why things are so disproportionate. Again, that is my opinion.

I appreciate once again reading or listenning to the other side of the story. Really, not everything is black and white in life. It is easy to blame others for your misfortune. "Ranmase KaraktEn".

Great, Henri, tell Patrice and our Brothers, they are welcome. This is probably the best Marriage, maybe better than 1802-4! We are Family here at WOH.

L'union fait la F
orce!

[jafrikayiti*]

Leonel,

Although I agree with your message of encouragement to people who have been silent thus far to speak their truth, I wish to stress again that whatever dialogue we are having about the current state of our nation, in order to be really constructive, will have to be frank and focused on helping the COLLECTIVE get out of the quagmire. Not to absolve parts of the elite of their guilt.

If you look at what is currently happening in Gonaives, one thing that jumps at the eye, is the complete absence of Haitian voices that can put the victims in a situation of trust - thus helping the relief efforts proceed with less chaos and desperation.

Surely, the attitudes of members of the political, business and intellectual elites in the past decades have contributed to this sentiment of generalised mistrust.

When I had the opportunity to address for instance the issue of
Haitian doctors abandoning patients at General Hospital to lead street demonstrations and strikes....while Cuban doctors where the only ones to be found from Port-de-Paix to Cayes taking care of patients....someone jumped at me and accused me of speaking non-sense. Yet the reaction of the audience there was proof that they recognise the fact that indeed, in this particular area - once again the elite had failed in its role.

Yesterday I read in one of the news dispatches that a "community leader" named Jean Pierre Baptiste (Tatoune) was coordinating the distribution of relief in Gonaives. Now, why be surprised to hear that riots are breaking and gangs have attacked some of the trucks in Gonaives. There again, we are seeing a people suffering the irresponsible behaviour of the political elite and business elite which did not hesitate to use known criminals like Tatoune to arrive at their aims - and, here we are having our very own Charles Mansons and Thimothy McVeys elevated to kings of chaos.

For
years now, we have been saying to these elites that they must stop this nonsense. That in the end we will all be loosers. But it was to no avail. Each group only focused on its own narrow objectives and interests and forgot completely about the lot of the collective.

So, today if we are having a dialogue I don't think it is fair to start by sending flowers to neither of the various subgroups of our elite. What we're (at least I am) asking is that the bravest and more consciencious among them step up to the plate and play their role to suggest, design and implement solutions where they assume the leadership role that they MUST assume. And yes, all of us on this web, by virtue of the access we have are part of this so-called "elite" that has thus far failed to assume its responsibilities.

If people are concerned about what others will say about them....they must remember that others have died without even getting a chance to say their piece. So, I make the call again - whether they choose to d
o so on this forum or as press releases or on their own website - I don't care....but I am calling on the players to SPEAK UP and PROPOSE SOLUTIONS FOR THE COLLECTIVE.

Lagè avèti pa touye kokobe. Kidonk, pou kisa tout moun sa yo mouri nan Gonayiv jodi a? E poukisa tout moun sa yo pral mouri Pòtoprens demen?

jafrikayiti

[Serge Bellegarde*]

Kanmarad,

I would like to make a few comments about the latest posts on this subject. I must say they were quite informative, particularly the response from Patrice Baker to Charles Arthur.

I believe that if anything, for the last several decades, it is obvious that politicians from all sides have messed up pretty badly in the most appalling way. That is why I see the problem as a gigantic, generalized failure of the political and intellectual class and that includes people from all sides and from different political persuasions. Those who have the knowledge, the control of the economy, who disseminate false information, who have the power to influence or manipulate, all of those are included in the failure. And as I said before in other posts, there is nothing more frustrating to me than to see those who know better uttering the kind of nonsense we have been hearing from them.

I have taken good note of the solid argum
entation from Patrice Baker and welcome it. However, I have one issue that, in my mind, should be better addressed: why is it that the plight of this private sector was not better publicized so that people would not be ignorant of so much going on. I believe that is because the private sector did not do a good enough job of explaining, describing all the issues and aspects of problem in general; becaused there is this mistrust that is killing us. In short, there has been and there continues to be a lack of communication and bridges among different sectors of Haitian society. We have to face this reality.

Patrice Baker expressed very well the many facets of a number of important things; however, there is this unfortunate reality in Haiti that the polarization is so extreme that it is urgent that we work to reduce it if we are to go ahead. That is where I joined Jaf when he says that "....in order to be really constructive, we will have to be frank and focused on helping the COLLECTIVE get out of t
he quagmire. Not to absolve parts of the elite of their guilt. .....Surely, the attitudes of members of the political, business and intellectual elites in the past decades have contributed to this sentiment of generalised mistrust......" I have had the opportunity to witness this kind of insensitivity on the part of members of the elite and I am sure many others have too and the challenge is to be able to surmount all these difficulties in serenity, systematically, patiently with the benefit of the "Collective" in mind, without acting like the ostrich.

I am really looking forward to reading more about this subject on the forum.

Serge

[Serge Bellegarde*]

After sending my previous message, there is question which came to my mind and I wonder if Patrice Baker could enlighten us.

We all know how Haiti can never be mentioned in the international community without the standard phrase "poorest country in the Western Hemisphere". My question to M. Baker is the following: Haiti's economic problems are so enormous and since the international community is so ready to help, can you tell us whether, during the latest economic meeting on Haiti in Washington, the possibility, or should I say, the necessity to forgive the major portion of Haiti's external debt was ever discussed? If not, why not? If I am not mistaken, the external debt of Haiti is estimated at around 1.2 billions dollars; the Govt. was promised 1.4 billions. What percentage of this amount constitutes grants? What percentage contitutes loans and for how many years?

I do not know if this informat
ion is confidential and whether you can talk about it, but I believe many of us would like to know what is going on, given, as you rightly said, the "opacity" which surrounded the drafting of this economic program.

We are all looking forward to your answer.

Serge

[guysanto*]

<b><p align=justify>One more thing I would like to ask Patrice: What is the meaning of all those numbers and percentages?

I feel practically as dumb as George W. Bush, who said: "It's clearly a budget. It's got lots of numbers in it."

Forgive my limitations, "those things" require some explaining to me. Obviously the "plain text" format limitations of this forum contribute to my bewilderment. "Un tableau" (Excel spreadsheet or Word table) would likely demystify the presentation. You cannot port such to the forum without my direct involvement. However, if you are willing to send me the spreadsheet, I could rather easily convert it to HTML and post it on your behalf. Conversely, you could create the HTML page yourself, and send it to me so I could simply post it, once again on your behalf and for everyone's benefit.

Of course, I know that all the smart people on the forum have already made sense of those numbers, but per
haps they will not mind slowing down a little to let me catch up a bit.

[jafrikayiti*]

There is a website which contains the documents of the CCI in english and in french:

http://haiticci.undg.org/index.cfm?Modu ... goryID=266

Unfortunately the pdf files cannot be saved. Perhaps revelant sections can be copied and reproduced here for further analysis and discussion.

[Pbacker]

If anyone wants the files I have on CCI, please email me at pbacker2001@myacc.net with your request. I guess the software running this forum could not reproduce the table I included in my response properly. If your email program handles HTML, then you will have a better idea. Alternatively, I can send you the Microsoft Excel file.

I have the files (including the PDF file Jafrikayiti refers to) in French and English.

People have asked questions that I am not sure I can expertly answer, but I will give it a shot in a follow-up post.

Patrice Backer

[Pbacker]

Guy,

I have sent you the Microsoft Excel file as well as 3 other documents in Microsoft Word re: CCI. These documents are:

1. Full July 7 report: "Rapport de Synthèse"
2. Executive summary of the report, for those who don't have the time to read all of it.
3. The results matrix of the CCI, which outlines the objectives and the anticipated results, item by item. More than the table I posted, this is the document that all should consult.

I am quite perturbed by the fact that there was no effort to publicize these documents. The lack of transparency on basic issues such as budgets, government expenditures, etc. going back as far as I can remember is simply mind boggling.

The Microsoft Excel table is my own creation. It is a summary of the Results matrix which I put together for a meeting with a group of friends from the "quartiers populaires" (Cité Soley and Carrefour-Feuilles) and students from local universities of Port-au-Prince. They, like you, wanted to know what this CCI was all about since no one bothered to tell them.

The Microsoft Excel table represents the government's analysis of what needed to be done, what resources it had, and the "gap" that needed to be filled over the next three fiscal years 04, 05, and 06. After the Washington meetings, the gap was "covered" through pledges.

Here is an explanation of the column headings:

Column B: DISPONIBLE - INT - Funds that the government currently has available from tax and customs receipts which are allocated to the CCI

Column C: DISPONIBLE - EXT - Funds that the government can draw on from external assistance, which are already available.

Column E - AF 03-04 - Funds needed to cover the program items for the Fiscal Year ending September 30, 2004 (current Fiscal Year)

Column F - AF 04-05 - Funds needed to cover the program items for the Fiscal Year ending September 30, 2005 (current Fiscal Year)

Column G - AF 05-06 - Funds needed to cover the program items for the Fiscal Year ending September 30, 2006 (current Fiscal Year)

[Pbacker]

Dear Leonel,

You wrote:

... Like Henri said, I believed in the ogre's myth. I really thought that you weren't Haitian.

Anyway, I really like to listen to the other side, and you guys are doing it. Even though I blame you a little bit to lay low and not coming out publicly before. Haiti needs you.

1. What made you think I was not Haitian? Just curious.

2. "Lying low" is subjective, so I do not accept the blame. :-) We "Internet-connected" people sometimes think that, unless people post on the Internet frequently, people are just lying low. In fact, I happen to speak to a lot of people in Haiti about the very same topic we are discussing, but most of them don't own a computer, don't have access to the Internet, heck, they don't even have electricity at home! So what is your definition of "lying low", may I ask?

I also find that spending too much time having these "dialogues?" on Internet fora, email lists, etc. can be quite a sterile endeavor. I tried before and I gave up. Waste of time! Waste of energy! I much prefer to spend my time talking to, and working with, YOUNG people in Haiti and in the US, whenever that is possible. The conversations I have with them, even though we may not always agree on everything, are much, much more rewarding than the academic stuff that gets forwarded to me by well-meaning friends (no offense to the PHD's and professors on this forum.)

As I said in my response to Charles Arthur, many people have a black-and-white view of Haitian issues (no pun intended.) I see Haiti in millions of colors (or shades of gray.) We are focused so much on politics, democracy, etc. Has anyone ever bothered to ask young people what they want? My very unscientific poll is that the individuals I have talked to want 1) a decent education and 2) a good job to support their family, in that order. The hunger for knowledge that the young people (ages 14 to 28) I spoke to, is incredible. Whenever I discuss issues related to economics, finance, management, etc, they are like SPONGES. They absorb and come back with more questions. When I provide them with references, they go get the information if its available or ask me to locate it for them.

The upshot for this forum? Don't expect too many posts from me. I will answer some of the "technical" questions that have been asked and leave it at that.

Patrice

[Pbacker]

These answers are by no means authoritative.

... Haiti's economic problems are so enormous and since the international community is so ready to help, can you tell us whether, during the latest economic meeting on Haiti in Washington, the possibility, or should I say, the necessity to forgive the major portion of Haiti's external debt was ever discussed? If not, why not?

In my opinion, Haiti's economic problems are NOT as enormous as they seem. We have structural problems which are more daunting than economic issues. Remember that, until the early 1970's, Haiti had NO debt. I would also say that, to really reform public administration, all governments (past and present) have neglected a critical part of the administration that has a direct effect on the quality of the services delivered to the population. And I am willing to bet that the next
government (and the next) will probably make the same mistakes.

Aid from the international community is a double-edged sword and may not necessarily be what we want. It is a question of objectives. As for the comment you make that they are ready to help, we must always scrutinize the strings attached to the aid. Unfortunately, we have screwed up so much that we are now painted in a corner.

To answer your question, the possibility of forgiving Haiti's foreign debt was not discussed in Washington. Up to now, Haiti does not meet the definition of a highly-indebted country, which is required to be eligible for some debt forgiveness. Dura "lex" sed "lex." There has been quite a debate on this issue, as you know, with PAPDA and the Jubilee 2000 movement leading the charge FOR debt forgiveness.

I believe that there should be forgiveness of the debt ONLY if there is a parallel effort to institute good governance , otherwise " se lave men siye a te." The additional f
unds that are freed might well end up being wasted, spent on non-essential services or embezzled or ...

... If I am not mistaken, the external debt of Haiti is estimated at around 1.2 billions dollars; the Govt. was promised 1.4 billions. What percentage of this amount constitutes grants? What percentage contitutes loans and for how many years?

I do not have any additional information other than what has been reported in the press. When you consider the $1.4 billion. you need to know that:

1. $660 million will be fresh GRANTS
2. $440 million will be fresh LOANS - I have no additional details.
3. The balance is already covered either by government funds or by loans from the Inter-American Development Bank that were approved under the Aristide government.

... I do not know if this information is confidential and whether you can talk about it, but I believe many of us would like to kno
w what is going on, given, as you rightly said, the "opacity" which surrounded the drafting of this economic program.

I have always asked to my friends in the public sector that they provide more transparency. In fact, dating back to the 1990 elections, the motto of the winning party, which I embraced wholeheartedly, was: Justice, Transparency, Participation.

Alas, transparency has never really been part of the agenda. This is not a peculiarity of the previous administration. It is a chronic disease of Haitian administrations. A couple of years ago, I remember asking a friend of mine in high places for a copy of the itemized government budget, which I thought would be a public document since it was being discussed in Parliament and in the press. To this day, I have yet to receive a copy.

The manner in which I obtained the CCI documents is another case in point. The documents I have (dated July 7) are not posted on the website. Negligence? Oversight? On purpose? Who kno
ws? A friend of mine received them from a friend who received them from a friend ... You get the picture. There is not a central repository of information (a website, for example) where you can go to get what should be public documents: budgets, itemized monthly expenditures of the government, revenues and expenses of the autonomous bodies of the government and of state-owned enterprises, etc.

Information is a precious currency that a small group of government officials jealously hoard as it is their source of power. Until we overcome that mindset, I am afraid a small group of connected people (including a small group within the private sector) will be the only ones who know really what is going on. In that sense, I cannot say that the current administration is any better. There have been promises of greater transparency, but I have yet to see it.

The ONE notable exception is the modernization effort that the late Leslie Delatour undertook at the Central Bank. Whatever the ideological issues p
eople may have had with him, he brought Haiti's banking industry from the dark ages to the twentieth century. In the process, he also reined in some of the abnormal tendencies of these banks and forced them to conform to internationally accepted standards and regulations. People may not know this, but the Haitian banking sector is in full conformity with almost all international regulations and has nothing to be ashamed of. The end result is that the banking sector is the most transparent sector of the Haitian economy: all banks HAVE to report their financial statements to the Central Bank on a monthly basis, and they have to publish their balance sheets on a quarterly basis in local newspapers. Unfortunately, Delatour's successors have been less strict about the publication of this information to the general public and the BRH website is several months behind. But I have the total overview of the banking sector in Excel format as of June 30, 2004 if anyone is interested. That information comes straight fro
m the Central Bank. It is in French.

My small crusade is to make the information I receive available to as many as possible, hence the spreadsheet I created out of the docs I received so that I could provide a one-page summary of the CCI to anyone who asks.

I hope these answers help.

[Serge Bellegarde*]

Thanks very much for your answers. I totally agree with you that foreign assistance can be a double-edged sword, particularly with us. We are particularly at risk.

I take note of your information about the conditions required to benefit from debt forgiveness. However, I think it is unfortunate that we cannot negotiate some kind of swap arrangements (I believe that is the way it is called) whereby part of the debt would be forgiven against a government committment toward, say planting 5 000 trees in different areas of a region to help with the environment. But I may be dreaming, because we are far from having a government concerned with such issues. Anyway, thanks for answering my questions. I will seek to obtain the documents.

Serge

[Pbacker]

However, I think it is unfortunate that we cannot negotiate some kind of swap arrangements (I believe that is the way it is called) whereby part of the debt would be forgiven against a government committment toward, say planting 5 000 trees in different areas of a region to help with the environment.

In theory, this is a great idea, and in fact there was talk of using a similar scheme when the Hispaniola Fund was being discussed. In practice, however:

1. Debt-for-anything swaps only work with bilateral debt (as opposed to multilateral debt), from what I understand.

2. If I am correct above, Haiti's bilateral debt is tiny (I think we owe the US government something like $10 million). Furthermore, any debt-for-nature swap would have to be approved by the Haitian legislature, which doesn't exist at present, but also by the US Treasury ... and these folks are anything but
straightforward.

It is not impossible, and $10 million could make a difference, but I don't know whether anyone will even take up such an effort given all that is happening.

[IsabelleF*]

Patrice:

What is the Hispaniola Fund?

IsabelleF