DANGEROUS CROSSROADS
Not so long ago, most everyone on the Left agreed that U.S. military intervention in the internal affairs of another country should a priori be opposed. The case of Haiti has shattered that...
...factories seeking a docile, economically desperate labor force...
...Suspicions of U.S...
...Many in the popular movement and some sectors of the U.S...
...Haitian-and Latin American-history teaches us not to expect the United States to ride in on a white horse and altruistically save the day for democracy...
...policymakers seem at war with themselves...
...government has systematically subverted Aristide from the very beginning...
...and OAS human rights monitors...
...At one end of the spectrum are those who oppose intervention in Haiti in any form, whether by U.S...
...A related debate concerns whether the answer to Haiti's crisis lies in the diplomatic suites of Washington or in the Haitian streets and mountains...
...Yet, on the other, the U.S...
...Clinton seems U S. policyrnakers are driven by conflicting, often irreconcilable interests...
...policymakers are driven by conflicting, often irreconcilable interests...
...involvement in the coup range from the deliberate turning of a blind eye, to the active encouragement and abetting of Aristide's ouster...
...If it had its druthers, the United States would like Haiti to become a stable light-assembly industry enclave for U.S...
...support for Haiti's corrupt military rulers over the years...
...Even the New York Times has reported on U.S...
...The Administration's most pressing concern clearly is "stability," not social justice...
...The Adminislargely motivated by the fear that if he fails to act, the United States will once again be flooded by a deluge of boat people fleeing economic misery and political repression...
...Others place their faith in U.S.-brokered negotiations...
...The case of Haiti has shattered that consensus...
...In the end, Haitian democracy has been grievously betrayed...
...Throughout the negotiating process, the U.S...
...Easy answers are elusive...
...troops or U.N...
...But regardless of the problems with that particular accord, the reasons why a "quick-fix" solution is not in the offing lie in Haiti's centuries-old "semi-feudal" class structure, and the militarization of a divided society...
...The popular movement likens the revolutionary process in Haiti to Dechoukaj and rache manybk-both phrases that refer to the uprooting of plants...
...Indeed, the United States has rarely aided a government with a progressive agenda at odds with U.S...
...As of this writing in mid-December, U.S...
...As Michel-Rolph Trouillot elucidates, the roots of the Haitian crisis run deep, and are not so easily wrested from the soil...
...Much blame, however, rests squarely on the shoulders of the United States...
...displeasure with Aristide's "intransigence" has become so overt that some speculate the United States might simply opt to "dump" him, lift the embargo, and accept the status quo...
...The issue has divided the Lavalas alliance which voted Aristide into office, and it has divided the U.S...
...response to the coup---the inhumane refugee policy, a leaky embargo, ineffectual weak-kneed diplomacy, and a sustained CIA campaign to paint Aristide as demagogic and mentally instable-lays bare the United States' contempt for democratic and legal processes...
...The U.S...
...Confusing matters further, U.S...
...business interests...
...On the one hand, the United States says it supports Aristide's return, and has been a driving force in negotiations to end military rule...
...On the other end are those who think only the United States has the clout-not to mention a moral responsibility-to restore Aristide to office...
...Further, Charles Kernaghan and Barbara Briggs' article makes clear that the United States' underlying agenda in Haiti, as elsewhere in the Americas, is economic...
...Left believe that only armed struggle or other forms of popular mobilization within Haiti can oust the putschists from office...
...The decision to lift the embargo before the return of the president presaged the breakdown of the Governors Island accord...
...government has forced Aristide into deeper and deeper compromises-essentially eviscerating his power-while demanding little of of the military...
...This report, "Haiti: Dangerous Crossroads," explains why the recent attempts to "restore democracy" in Haiti may have been doomed to failure...
Vol. 27 • January 1994 • No. 4
