Democracy’s Death

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• Reader Comments (8)

  Page 1 of 1 pages

  This horrid example of Bush’s extinguishment of democracy in Haiti is far more insightful of the true policies of Bush INC. than Iraq. Quietly we let Aristide and his noble followers get hijacked in favor of death squads supported by a narrow Haitian Oligarchy. Kind of like Saigon’s Chistian elites ruling over So. Vietnam back in the 50s when 90 percent of the Vietnamese wanted Ho Chi Minh for president.

  Aristide is still the most popular leader of Haiti and he tried w/o much success to bring economic equity to an Oligarchic ridden impoverished nation. Haiti is much more of the model for America than Iraq is, although Iraq’s now infused with democracy robbing terrorists run out of Washington DC too these days.

  Haiti is really what Bush et al want for America….the majority desperately poor and without a safty net (nor minimum wages) and the rich ever richer and autocratic and supported by “law and order” death squads. If one ignores the very low income of Haiti and compares the distribution of wealth with the USA…one finds the same outlandish skewing of wealth towards the Oligarchs and the very little for the rest of us. Haiti is the Republican dream state….no minimum wage laws, no health care and the impoverished mass of unemployed surplus labor to do service for the rich….no wonder Dick Cheney hated Aristide so much… Aristide wanted to raise the minimum wage from the dirt poorist levels…. where in the USA we also have unlivable wages at the bottom ala Walmart wages.

  Posted by datadave on May 14, 2005 at 9:23 PM

  It looks like Chile all over again.  Any time a leader shows the least sign of helping the people the US government makes sure that their existence and /or ideas become untenable.  In Chile in the ‘70s they used the claim that Allende was a threat to Capitalism.  Is that the same thing they think about Haiti today?  If so it is a huge joke, with the average Haitian citizen not laughing.

  Unfortunately this is not a solely a Bush issue.  Clinton could have done much to help the Aristide government but instead backed policies that lead to it being crippled.

  God forbid in country that the average worker makes less the $500 annually you should try to raise the minimum wage.  What strikes me about this is the fact that with the exception of just a few of the richest at the top all of society fairs better when prosperity is widespread. 

  Notice that Chile’s economy never really improved until some socialistic measures were reinstated in the ‘90s.  Yes you need to have some capitalism for a society’s overall wealth to increase but you need social programs and fare distribution models as well.  As with most everything else in the world approaches from the extremes don’t work.

  Posted by bushburner on May 20, 2005 at 4:02 PM

  Well friends, how many times have we seen it before?
  The installation of a ‘good responsible dictator’ to secure Bush’s and the elite classes interests. Chile, Guatemala, Bolivia, Venzuela, Ecuador, Jamaica. Covert or overt operations to destroy any hope which the majority of Haitians may have had of any progress in their country. We saw it with Allende, with Chavez, with Manley, with Castro. Well, wake the town and tell the people more injustice is on the land. The disenfranchised majority of the world including the Haitians cant stand for much more. I wait in hope for the bubble to burst. The Media is the key. Dont lose faith, your brother Tony.

  Posted by TONY on May 21, 2005 at 9:47 AM

  The article about Haiti is a big lie.  Aristide is a thief, a drug dealer and a murderer. He is popular with the 80% of the uneducated, poor people of Haiti.  This is not democracy.  The Haitian people are living in fear and are attacked every day on the street and at home by Aristide’s thugs.

  I had great hope for Haiti after the departure of Aristide.  Unfortunately, The UN, US and the international communitty once again had let the people of Haiti down.  October or November elections in Haiti is a farce.  There are no serious, dedicated, well educated Haitian candidates with vision and political, economical and social agenda to pull Haiti out of total destruction.

  Haiti is part of the Americas, I would have thought George Bush would start real democratization right there in his backyard.  But,we all know about American leaders’ hypocrisy, and also there is no OIL in Haiti and it doesn’t have any GEOSTRATEGIC value for United States

  Posted by Mireille Leonard on May 21, 2005 at 8:34 PM

  The “Aristide is a thief, a drug dealer and a murderer” mantra is getting a bit tiresome. It is a leftover soundbite from the US funded “opposition” minority pr campaign. It exudes from a blatantly disingenuous and undemocratic elitism that finds no irony in the attempt to ignore “the 80% of the uneducated, poor people of Haiti.”  It is a mantra that served only to provoke sympathy for international backing and justification for the bloody, undemocratic abuses that have now become daily life for Haiti’s poor since the February 29, 2004 ouster.

  While US officials and the appointed prime minister gab about the wonderful democracy they are committed to in Haiti the blood of the majority poor is running in the streets as a result of the real thugs and drug traffickers now set loose to rule Haiti with a wink and a nod and some cash from the interim government and its mystery donor.  Notorious death squad leaders and drug traffickers such as the US affiliated Jodel Chamblain and now Guy Phillipe are celebrated at “freedom fighters.”  The resulting massacre of several thousand since the February 29, 2004 coup is a fact the minority elite and friends ignore or minimize while they whine about being mugged on the street and what the US and UN is not doing for them. They are unelectable malcontents who recognize no irony in their complaints and won’t take responsibility for the mess they have conjured.

  Shame on the progressives who were warned about aligning with thugs and elites with blood on their hands and chose to ignore it. From their comfortable seat in the US they can throw up their hands and say, “whoops.” Worse are the progressives who still defend this coup and its results in the name of democracy and human rights.

  Posted by Johanna Harman on Jun 4, 2005 at 6:13 PM

  Well unfortunately I’m not one who stays on a comfortable seat in the US.  A group of us travel to mountains of Haiti three times a year to do medical and dental service.  We are building a clinic there and also bring school supplies etc.  In fact we are suppose to leave next week and fly into PAP and take a truck up the mountains.  We are bringing, amoung other things vaccines to be administered while we are there.  Any prayers on our behalf would be appreciated.

  Posted by bushburner on Jun 7, 2005 at 12:22 PM

  Prayers to all in Haiti trying to help out. It’s no small task. Haiti has become a very dangerous place to be. Haiti needs and deserves all the help it can get.

  But prayers especially to all those in Haiti who live in daily fear for their lives. They most certainly are not sitting on a comfortable seat and most unfortunately have none to escape to.

  “...Observations and interviews in Bel Air revealed that there are dead bodies in the street almost daily, including innocent bystanders, women and children (p. 9 )...investigators heard that dozens of people were dying from bullet wounds in Cite Soleil…investigators met with and photographed people with severe, infected bullet wounds, dizzy, feverish, and apparently near death, who have no access to medical care (p. 5)
  ...The one hospital in Cite Soleil, St. Catherine’s has been shuttered since September 30, 2004 (p.2)...The General Hospital’s [Port au Prince] emergency room is a scene of bodies dripping blood, groans of pain from men, women and children, and a nauseating odor. Treatment by doctors is rare, as the slightest procedure, even a bandage, requires payment…(p. 39-40)”
  -From the University of Miami Law School Human Rights Report on Haiti, November 11-21 2004
  (http://www.law.miami.edu/cshr/CSHR_Report_02082005_v2.pdf)

  And things have not improved since November of last year.

  Journalists entering the neighborhood [Bel Air] were shown huge pools of blood where victims were reportedly shot without warning and early reports indicate that more than 30 people have been killed during the police raids [Weekend of June 3rd 2005].
  http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/6_6_5.html

  Good to know that Haiti is getting at least some of the medical help that it needs so desperately

  Posted by Johanna on Jun 9, 2005 at 4:05 AM

  We should certainly all pray for the people of Haiti.  I know I do daily.  Your points are well taken.  As an example I am now going in through Santo Domingo in order to avoid PAP.  I feel very bad for the people of Haiti in general and especially PAP residents.  I however can not venture that way at this time.  God help them.  It is clear our government is not willing to.  Nor is the international community much better.

  Posted by bushburner on Jun 13, 2005 at 6:49 PM

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