Letter from former student

 

The Social Creation of a racially failed State -the Case of Haiti   

 Walter Rodney's 1972 seminal text How Europe Underdeveloped Africa explores how European colonial powers' deliberate policies, strategies, and practices undermined, exploited, and underdeveloped Africa. The poor African states that resulted were intentional and served to justify and condemn the Africans for conditions created by their adversaries. Oddly enough, while many have criticized the book and its author, the conditions he articulated were part of the duplicitous ways the imperial state penalizes racialized others for being different and then shifts the blame unto the victims. Let us consider how these policies, strategies, and practices served to under-develop Haiti while simultaneously developing Santo Domingo. 

  Source: Two countries, one island, life-and-death differences | CNN

Before 1960, the Dominican Republic and Haiti were almost equal in terms of GDP and capital incomes.  But now, the Dominican Republic is nearly 800% higher.  And so today, Haiti, once the jewel of the Caribbean, is now the pariah as the U.S. and other world powers orchestrated the demise of this Black-led Nation.  As we have seen, over the last two centuries, continuing up to this day, Haiti has been targeted, occupied, marginalized, ostracized, and exploited to this present day.  As a result, Haiti is the poorest nation in our hemisphere.  Moreover, the same policies, practices, and intentional strategies that created such a nation, would be duplicated, refined, and reinvented as our Nation discovered Jim Crow, redlining, the cradle-to-prison pipeline, and the resulting ghettos.  The next chapter will continue this discussion but let us continue our exploration of Haiti. 

The Twisted Tale of a failed State

 Above, it was noted that the U.S. official policy toward Haiti was not indifferent but duplicitous. So, while the U.S. refused to recognize the newly independent Nation diplomatically, it continued to import Haitian agricultural products and its goods to Haiti. This commerce was decidedly one-sided trade agreement that benefited the countries of the north at the expense of Haiti. (Farmer 2006) Much of the blame for the poverty in our modern era is attributed to what has been termed Haiti's Vodou dynasty – François Duvalier, aka Papa Doc, and Jean-Claude Duvalier, aka Baby Doc. The dynasty, consisting of the Duvalier family, controlled the country between 1957 and 1986 through a reign of terror, totalitarianism, and barbarism that can only be called "cruel and inhumane." But, and there is always a but, their rule would not have been possible except through major political ripples generated by the U.S. occupation from 1915 to 1934. It was as a direct consequence that the Duvaliers first gained power. The earliest member of this family, Duval Duvalier, an immigrant from the French Caribbean colony of Martinique, was a direct recipient of the professional and political opportunities the occupation provided. 

The United States closed the Haitian medical school because its professors opposed the occupation. They then established their own, in which François Duvalier would be trained. He later spent a year at the University of Michigan. During these times, he was deeply struck by the exploitation of U.S. occupation and the teachings of Haitian philosopher Jean Price-Mars.  Price-Mars, a major Haitian figure during the initial years of the U.S. occupation of Haiti, challenged collective Bovarysme, which celebrated European culture, often at the expense of Africans. As one of the leading proponents of Nigritude, Price-Mars articulated Haiti's African traditions and roots. He, therefore, joined other leading black intellectuals and writers of the movement, such as W.E.B. Dubois and the Harlem Renaissance. 

François Duvalier, thus influenced, became elected President of Haiti in 1957. No one doubts, even from the start, the Duvalier was both cynical and aimed to produce a despotic African nation. But even knowing this, our State Department in 1967 determined that "while Duvalier "was psychotic, he was an appropriate president for the Haitians, who were generally perceived as being a "paranoid" group, often harboring a generalized belief in "animism." (Cited by Dubois, 2014) Duvalier presented himself as a man of the people (the masses and black middle class) who reflected the popular sentiment the country had suffered because of the Roman Catholic hierarchy and the U.S. Duvalier took advantage of the growing resentment in Haiti and other parts of the Caribbean, to these colonial powers.   And then there was our fear of the spread of communism.   (Nicholls 1986)

Two years into Duvalier's presidency, Communist guerilla Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Bautista. (Dollar 2008) Policymakers ignored Haiti and Duvalier because of increasing fears over communist uprisings in the Caribbean and Central America. The focus of this was the armed uprising of Castro against Fulgencio Batista. Oddly enough, the U.S. backed Bautista, even knowing he was corrupt. The situation shifted when Bautista fled, and Castro entered Havana on January 1, 1959. Castro, seeking help from the Soviet Union, was greeted by hostility in Washington. The colossal failure of the CIA during the Bay of Pigs, as the plot to assassinate Castro only made him stronger and an American President weaker. The installation of Soviet missiles brought us dangerously close to a nuclear disaster. Khrushchev backed down, and U.S. intervention in Cuba became primarily economic, as an almost total trade ban was instituted. And then, John F. Kennedy was assassinated. (Smith 1995)

From this point onward, President after President supported Duvalier, even as the humanitarian crises escalated, as waves of immigrants fled poverty and oppression came to our borders. The United States became a haven for U.S. foreign policy, even to the extent that after the death of Papa Doc in 1971, he continued the insanity. Jean-Claude, bolstered by U.S. support, bragged that "the United States will always find Haiti on its side against Communism." So, U.S. monies were funneled into the country that Duvalier embezzled into offshore accounts. Poverty, climate and environmental disasters, and disease were endemic. All who opposed Baby Doc disappeared, were imprisoned, tortured, or forced to leave the country. 

Corruption continued unabated, and Haitians began questioning the public disclosures of the millions embezzled by Jean-Claude Duvalier. Duvalier and his allies sought temporary asylum in France, staying at the luxury hotel on Lake Annecy. In the late 1970s, the U.S. had had enough, and President Carter pressed the government to democratize its political system, allow opposition groups to organize, and publicly criticize the leaders. By the election of Ronald Reagan, no U.S. support was forthcoming as Baby Doc arrested and tortured ferociously those who opposed him and refused to leave the country.    (Nicholls 1986)  

But in 1981, Reagan blinked and signed into law what has been labeled a repatriation policy with Jean-Claude Duvalier. This law, creating so-called boat people, requires the Coast Guard to "screen" refugees and return those considered worthy of asylum. In the first eight years of the law, between 1981 to 1989, 21,369 Haitians were intercepted, and only six were deemed worthy of asylum. Duvalier followed up with a Haitian law declaring any "irregular voyage destined for abroad" be punished with up to three years of jail time. These laws continue to this day. (Doyle 1994)     Even amidst public tortures and the killing of opponents, by 1985, the U.S. government had begun distributing $34 million in annual aid to Haiti. (Dollar 2008)

In 1987, a U.S.-supported coalition of Haitian military leaders adopted a new constitution. Accordingly, a Provisional Electoral Council would consist of one member from various sectors of Haitian civil society. One of the chief objectors of this Constitution and particularly this clause was the Catholic Priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who stated that it was "a trap that would lead [Haiti] into sham elections directed by the U.S. government and the Haitian army, and into a continuation of the downward political spiral begun when the United States supported François Duvalier's rise to power." (Dollar 2008) Three years later, Aristide would become the first democratically elected President in the history of Haiti with a two-thirds majority vote. (Jones 1993) Aristide began almost immediately with a program to improve and protect human rights and improve fundamental freedoms for all. Aristide appointed Lt. General Joseph Raoul Cédras as Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. Cédras' was educated in the United States and became a U.S.-trained Leopard Corps member. The U.S. and France chose him to oversee security during 1990-91 Haitian. He "was one important source for the CIA, providing reports critical of President Aristide." (Whitney 1996) In 1991, Cédras initiated a military coup that removed Aristide from power. Further U.S. involvement was detailed in declassified reports from the Central Intelligence Agency. Defense Intelligence Agency demonstrated they helped fund and create a paramilitary group called "The Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH)." In the first few days of the coup, an estimated 250 to 600 Haitians were killed.    (Dollar 2008)

 With the 1991 military coup against Aristide, the U.S. had another chance to effect change in Haiti. The Organization of American States almost immediately called for an economic embargo until the duly elected President was restored. President George Bush agreed. The then Secretary of State James Baker declared that the "junta" would be treated as a pariah throughout the hemisphere. But such strong words lasted less than a year, as U.S. companies began to lobby the State Department to allow it to resume their operations. Bush agreed, and the sanctions were lifted. Without U.S. support, the embargo failed. The U.S. formally embraced the Military Coup. A year later, now President Clinton attempted to reinstate Aristide. Another failure only underscored the increasing inability of the U.S. to negotiate or impose its will on the Nation of Haiti or its leaders. (Doyle 1994) Aristide would not return till 1994, as the U.S. military again occupied Haiti, this time till 1997 to "establish peace" and restore democracy." (Ballard 1998) In an unprecedented move, the Clinton administration provided amnesty for the coup leaders and transportation and support for Cedras and over twenty-three staff members. U.S. bank accounts under the name of hundreds of Haitian Army members, totaling $79 million, were unfrozen. (Dollar 2008)

In 2000, Aristide was elected yet again to the presidency. The election was marred from the outset, ad all of the opposition parties withdrew their candidates, handing over an overwhelming victory to the Fanmi Lavalas party led by Aristide. The Organization of America States, which monitored the election, refused to ratify the election and declined to oversee the presidential race.   Again, opposition from the very beginning came from the U.S. government, which challenged the election result. By 2000 having lost much of its external support, Haiti's economic system was plunged into chaos as widespread poverty became commonplace. And on December 17, 2001, armed commandos stormed the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince in an attempted coup d'état. Although the attempt failed, the problems only escalated again in Feb. 2004. Rebels taking control of many of the towns were moving toward the capital. Aristide, with limited alternatives, resigned his presidency and was escorted out of the country by Haitian and American militaries and flown to South Africa. (Farmer 2006) In an interview just 13 days after his departure, Aristide charged the United States with orchestrating the coup and "duped him into leaving Haiti and his presidency." (cited by Wines 2004)

In 2004, the U.N. dispatched the United Nations Stabilization Mission to Haiti (MINUSTAH). From 2004-2006, MINUSTAH, in coordination with the Haiti military coup, launched "search and destroy operations to root out Lavalas "rebel basis Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, causing over 8,000 deaths and 35,000 rapes (many by security forces) occurred.    (Roth 2011) The 2006 election of Rene Préval also demonstrated U.S. intervention as millions of votes for the opposing candidate were declared null and void. And the 2010 election was ultimately determined by U.S. intervention and openly acknowledged as defective. (Palsson 2021)  

On January 12, 2010, Haiti was battered by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake, lasting just 35 seconds and several aftershocks, leaving over 300,000 dead, 1.5 million injured, and another 1.5 million homeless. More than 100,00 buildings in metropolitan Port-au Prince, Jacmel, and Léogâne were leveled. The U.N. post-assessment estimated that the destruction was at $7.9 billion. Although an estimated $10.7 billion was pledged by donors, less than $5 billion has been realized. Most of this has gone to economic and physical damage recovery. Virtually none has gone to the tens of thousands living in makeshift settlements where tens of thousands remain with no running water, restrooms, electricity, or security.    (Charles andIglesias, 2020)

Over 100 years ago, James Weldon Johnson concluded that "…the forcible intervention on the part of the United States ..(was an attempt) to compel Haiti to submit…". (Johnson, 1920) But still, they rise.