[Peace-discuss] p.s. re Haiti

[Ricky Baldwin]

Hey folks-

Really, really sorry to talk so long tonight and not
leave enough time for discussion.  I really didn’t
mean to.    Haiti’s been a kind of minor obsession of
mine for about 15 years and I can’t stop blabbing
about it (apparently).

Now for the “I’m sorry BUT
” part.

Just a few points I think folks might be interested in
that we didn’t get to tonight:

Over 1000 people have been killed in the streets in
Haiti in the last year.  An average of 6 people a day
are kidnapped in the capital Port-au-Prince.

A few of the leaders of the 2004 coup were Guy
Philippe and Gilbert Dragon, who had been trained by
the CIA in Ecuador, and Louis-Jodel Chamblain and
Jean-Pierre Baptiste had been leaders in the vicious
CIA-organized Front for Haitian Advancement and
Progress (FRAPH), which we mentioned tonight.

In a nation of approx. 8 million people, there are
only an estimated 100,000 full-time year-round jobs. 
The World Bank puts the poverty rate at 75 percent. 
The CIA says 80 percent live in “abject poverty”.  The
Haitian minimum wage in 1994 (when Aristide returned)
was 36 gourdes a day, or about US$2.40.  But by the
time Aristide raised it to 70 gourdes in 2003 -- over
the strident objections of the US Agency for
International Development -- the higher amount was
equivalent to around US$1.70 and estimated at
one-third of the cost of living in Haiti.

Among the products of Haitian sweatshop maquiladoras
are uniforms for Cintas, t-shirts and pajamas for
Disney, Walmart, Kmart, GAP, Sears, Target, Cherokee
and others.

US forces intervened in Haiti in 1849, 1851, 1857,
1858, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1868, 1869, 1876, 1888, 1891,
1892, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1909,
1911, 1912, 1913 and 1914 before continuously
occupying the country from 1915-1934, as we talked
about tonight.

The US only finally recognized Haitian independence
during the American Civil War, when the government
realized they needed (a) an ally in the Caribbean from
which to launch attacks against the Southern states,
and (b) a dumping ground for freed slaves for after
the war (The US recognized Liberia at the same time
for the same purpose.)

One more indication of what Haiti has represented to
the US, in addition to declaring itself a safe haven
for escaped slaves in 1804, is the name itself. 
Columbus had named the island Hispaniola.  When France
took over the western part of the island, they had
called their colony Saint Domingue.  “Ayiti” (“high
country”) had been the name given the island by the
original inhabitants, Arawaks, who were killed off
soon after Columbus arrived by a combination of
disease, military violence and intense exploitation. 
When the “rebel slaves” who beat France decided to
name their new republic Haiti, they were making a
powerful statement about their ideals, sense of
history and mission in the world.  It did not go
unnoticed.  This is part of why many Haitians still
call their country "the birthplace of freedom." 

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