zentronix: dubwise & hiphopcentric

Friday, February 27, 2004

ON HAITI, ARISTIDE, AND ELECTIONS

The best coverage on Haiti over the last 48 hours has far and away been on Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now and Davey D and Weyland Southon's Hard Knock Radio.

I don't share the same love for Aristide that the good folks at Democracy Now and Hard Knock do. This is not the same leftist hero swept into office by the people in 1990 and was toppled by a rightist military coup. There are many Haitian pro-democracy activists not repped on either show who have become disillusioned with Aristide over his suppression of free speech and his lack of commitment to improving human rights.

Aristide has continuously squelched student protest and his Lavalas thugs are believed responsible for the death of pioneering journalist Jean Dominique. These are facts that don't fit a conception of Aristide as a Haitian black Moses, an image that most Haitians long ago rejected.

But progressives are absolutely correct to point out what we all conveniently forget: the U.S.'s active neo-colonial role in fostering destabilization in Haiti.

Haiti would not be now standing on the verge of another military coup without a devastating 11-year embargo and an explicit position on Haiti that it's OK to overturn democratic elections (even contested ones) if the winner is not a rightist. Anyone remember Florida?

Bottom line is that Aristide needs to go, not by violent coup, but by democratic elections.

If the U.S. was serious about maintaining democracy in Haiti--which it manifestly is not--it would not be starving one of the poorest countries in the world while tsk-tsking it on human rights and slamming the doors to the country's refugees. It would not be arming the paramilitary opposition, it would be encouraging the development of peaceful, democratic opposition.

As long as the U.S. maintains a hypocritical stance towards Haiti, the first black independent republic in our hemisphere, we will continue to see starvation, poverty, and unrest there.

posted by Zentronix @ 7:55 AM 0 comments

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Previous posts
BACK TO MY ROOTS Thanks to the playlists in the g...
Reports from AP now have the Haitian rebels poised...
Ernest Hardy on two recent, very worthy, but overl...
PLUGOLA AGAIN + WEDGING THE GAYS Come check us Fr...
FILL YOUR HEAD WITH CULTURE, SKIP THE ULCER For B...
Re: the empty logic of rhetorical devices such as ...
Fun for hours: D U B S E L E C T O R! Thanks to Ol...
Today, and for the next three days at the very lea...
WHOA!!! Ralph Nader Announces Run for Presidency....
The Blogship Connection is here. Where hip-hop blo...

select * from pages where handle = "BlogLinks" #content#

Archives
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
October 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
February 2009