Haiti’s Right Wing  Uses Violence To Push Their Political Agenda

By: Jacques Dady Jean

The UN Peacekeeping Forces in Haiti revealed Friday that they have gathered intelligence about potential attacks planned by armed fractions close to rightist groups aimed at destabilizing the country and causing the downfall of Prime Minister Latortue’s government.

Juan Gabriel Valdes, the UN special envoy in Haiti, stated that these politicians have the right to formulate their suggestions, but the international community will continue to support the transition government. Although Juan Gabriel Valdes, for the first time since his mission began, sent a strong warning to the political leaders, and even threatened to bring them to justice.  Many observers believe that Valdes has taken too lightly the call for a regime change made by Haiti’s wealthiest clan with support of several political allies including rebel chief Guy Phillippe and gang leaders such as former Haitian Army Officer Dany Toussaint. 

“These guys don’t act alone, there is a powerful hand behind them,” said a diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Valdes mentioned the support of the transitional government by the international community, what international community?  China, one of the most influential members of the UN Security Council, opposed the extension of the Peacekeeping Forces in Haiti, the Pentagon rejected the request to send more marines in Haiti twice and more recently the State Department has removed 80% of its diplomatic mission from Haiti.

Actually, the UN has been transformed into a customary organization that cannot do anything without receiving a green light from the United States. It is known that the UN does not have any power since this moribund body has embarrassed the White House by its stand on Iraq. The UN support will not be enough to save Latortue’s disliked leadership. We don’t want to see another catastrophe on the Island, let’s wish that Valdes doesn’t try to stand in the Marines way when they come to ride Latortue out.

Recently, there is a tense relationship between Haiti’s wealthy clan and the UN backed Prime Minister Latortue.  The call for a regime change comes at a time where kidnapping and other forms of violence targeting affluent Haitian families have escalated. The Haitian entrepreneurs, who financed the rebellion movement that forced Jean Bertrand Aristide (Haiti’s latest democratically elected president to resign), feel rejected by Prime Minister Latortue.

The light-skinned Haitians hoped to take control over the political power as a mean of securing their traditional economic advantages after the departure of the Lavalas Regime, however, their hope soon vanished and instead they have become the target of an angry population.

The Haitian business community is historically autocratic and plays their money power to influence all major political decisions behind the scene.

Prime Minister Latortue, a mature scholar and a former executive at the UN, is not impressed by the dominating class and seems to be very reluctant to share his power with the boorish Petion-Ville rich mountain boys with light skin. Intellectual arrogance is now competing with the egotism and snobbism of the wealthy Haitians. Latortue announced the end of his honeymoon with the upper class, when he declared in France that the ignorance of the Haitian business elite is one of the major problems in Haiti.

Business leaders such as Andre Apaid and Baker would like to see the transition fail so they can place a more submissive gentleman within their circle of influence in power to seclude the selfish interests of the 5% of the population that they represent, regardless the will of the nation.

Although a few folks from the middle class have developed a cautious strategic relationship with the Haitian wealthy clan, still there is no trust between them. This wealthy class has not given the middle class the basic opportunities necessary to succeed economically and socially.  In Haiti, there is no space for social mobility. The best job a college graduate can obtain from the Haitian private sector is a clerical, a teller or a floor supervisor position in a factory. Mulattoes hold 98% of all profitable positions in the job market, including management and engineering. On several occasions, Haitian business leaders preferred to hire Canadians, Americans or Dominicans instead of young Haitian professionals. As a result, most Haitian professionals flee their country to the United States, France and Canada where they do extremely well in engineering as well as in medical science.

The only gainful avenue left to the young educated Haitian is politics, drug dealing and other types of corruption, the most fortunate obtain a tourist visa as a gateway to exit the hopeless future offered by their society. The conditions created by wealthy Haitians make it easy for them to use their money to manipulate the population into violent crime to accomplish their deceitful political agenda.

Today, this traditional dominant class is facing the consequence of their selfishness, they have to deal with the antagonism of the newly self invented economical and political power called Haitian Diaspora that has not yielded their desire to play a decisive role in bringing about change in their homeland and to compete in the market place. The Haitian Diaspora has the money, the skills and political connections necessary to compete with the Haitian traditional wealthy clans. The Haitian Diaspora has initiated an active participation of the Haitian Americans on the Haitian political stage, a momentum that will not stop, although the international community and the Haitian leaders have under estimated it. Believe it or not, we are on the ground… 

Something strange!! Mr. Valdes also said this week that the armed groups would not be successful in their efforts to prevent the elections from happening in Haiti, while the incident of kidnapping has increased by 35% in less than a week and there is no significant effort made by the UN Peacekeeping Forces and the ill-trained Haitian National Police to decrease the violence.

The UN Leaders have not used their good sense pertaining to the situation in Haiti. The organization of elections is the least event that would do anything than bring a new team to power with a greater chance of being deposed later by the Haitian elite and their gang.

Haiti lost an important realization in its democratic process, which is the one that President Bill Clinton helped to achieve in the political history of Haiti.  Bill Clinton sent a very important message to warn the political and economic elite that the United States will not tolerate anyone to disfranchise the rights of the Haitian people to freely elect their leader, when the United States brought President Aristide back to power in 1994, after nearly three years in exile.

By allowing the removal of democratically elected president Aristide from power by force on February 2004, the majority of Haitian people do not have trust in elections anymore. Democracy has failed; the rules of law have not prevailed in the conflict between the wild insurgents and the legitimate government of Jean Bertrand Aristide.

What the world has to know, it is now obvious that the wealthy Haitians will not tolerate democracy in Haiti and will do anything to stop the electoral process, just a few months before the October elections, the clan members met and requested the resignation of the current Prime Minister Gérard Latortue.  Only Juan Gabriel Valdes did not get it right; the decision to depose Prime Minister Latortue is very serious and the call for regime change was made by men and woman who have long time experience in planning coup d’Etat. Their request certainly will follow by political turmoil and violence necessary to force Latortue out.

Is it about the time to engage the nation into a significant negotiation to pave the way for the return of democratically elected president Aristide and regain the confidence of the Haitian people in democracy and free election?

Jacques Dady Jean is a US trained engineer and President of the Haitian American Political Action Committee.

Jacques@towncomputer.com