Haitian masses faced with challenge of responding to pre-revolutionary situation

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Slum dwellers registered to vote by the Washington is not happy with the thousands. Three million of the population prospect of Aristide as President, but they were put on the voters' rolls. Aristide and his fear even more an uncontrolled mobilization Unemployment runs at 70 percent. The majority of Haitians have only one meal a day. The once abundant forests have all been cut down. Even wood for stoves is almost unobtainable.' 12 SOCIALIST ACTION FEBRUARY 1991 For the first time in 186 years, the people of Haiti have held an honest, democratic election and voted for a candidate who inspires the poorest and most oppressed in that poverty-stricken nation. The Rev. JeanBertrand Aristide, 44, a priest who has preached unceasingly against the Duvaliers, the military, and the American government that has supported them, is now the president.

Many observers are surprised that any election was held at all. Even a rigged plebiscite seemed unlikely after the bloody slaughter that aborted the last election Nov. 29, 1987. On that occasion, Tonton Macoute thugs hacked to death 34 voters and poll workers while soldiers stood by and watched.

The euphoria and revolutionary optimism that stirred millions of Haitians when JeanClaude Duvalier fled, evaporated as they waited in vain for the social progress that the revolution promised. There was to be a "dechoukaj," an uprooting of all traces of Duvalierism and the dreaded Tontons Macoutes.

Instead, a military junta, headed by Gen. Henri Namphy, applied heavy brakes on the masses' drive for revolutionary change. In less than two years, Namphy reasserted the power and privilege of the Haitian elite. The Tontons Macoutes, the dreaded death squads numbering 50,000, were formally outlawed. But few Tontons were brought to trial. Many of the most notorious leaders were allowed to escape, while others were recruited by the army.

Corruption continued—as rampant as in the days of the Duvaliers-while absolutely nothing was done about unemployment, health care, education, or the desperate poverty of 70 percent of the people. For the masses the new regime represented Duvalierism without the Duvaliers.

Masses pin hopes on a populist The oppressed poor fought back with strikes, demonstrations, and by beating up and killing recognized Macoutes. They also listened to the fiery sermons of Father JeanBertrand Aristide, who denounced the military, the wealthy, and the pupeteers in Washington, D.C.

Aristide is the most vocal of the younger Haitian Catholic priests who practice the doctrine of liberation theology-serving Christianity by espousing the cause of the poor and oppressed.

The church hierarchy viewed with alarm this movement that threatens the social order. In December 1988, they expelled Aristide from the Salesian order because his sermons "exalted violence and class struggle." However, they could not remove him from his church in the slums of Port-auRico. Mass pressure from followers was too great.

The military and the Macoutes tackled the problem their own way. In September 1988, they stormed Aristide's church, killed 13 parishioners, and burned down the building. Aristide, surrounded by his supporters, was able to escape.

This atrocity backfired as a group of non-commissioned officers ousted Namphy and replaced him with Gen. Prosper Avril. The sergeants hoped to institute reforms, end corruption, and smash the Macoutes. But the sergeants were isolated within the Army, and the generals ruled as before. Avril was finally ousted in March 1990 when he massacred demonstrators and strikers in a particularly bloody confrontation.

Then, Gen. Herard Abraham stepped forward. By this time the U.S. government, which had supported the Duvaliers for over 30 years, became disenchanted withn this parade of generals. Throughout Latin America, generals of one stripe or another had been great at repressing dissent, but utter failures at running bankrupt economies.

In Haiti, the U.S. rulers decided, there must be at least the appearance of a civilian government. Ertha Pascal-Trouillot, a woman and a Supreme Court Justice, was installed as President. A civilian Council of State was appointed to advise her. Their first task was to organize an election.

This "democratic" facade proved to be an illusion. Pascal-Trouillot became a puppet of the military, ignoring the Council of State. Repression and corruption continued as before. Elections were scheduled, but no one had faith that any of the numerous candidates would change anything. Worse yet, the hated Tontons Macoutes were, themselves, emboldened enough to run for office.

Roger Lafontane, once the most feared leader of the Macoutes, returned from exile although there was a warrant for his arrest. He walked the streets freely, accompanied by army officers. No attempt was made to arrest him. Brazenly, he demanded a place on the ballot, although former Duvalierists were barred.

Under these circumstances it was difficult to arouse enthusiasm for the election set for Dec. 16. Then Fr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide declared he would run for President and the situation changed dramatically.

The poor utilize elections "The level of poverty party, the National Front for Democratic Alliance, campaigned openly despite intimidation from the Duvalierists. Five days before the election, a grenade exploded at an Aristide rally, killing 7 and wounding 54.

This was actually an act of desperation by the Duvalierists. Washington was determined to carry out this election with at least an appearance of honesty.

The army was instructed to expedite the election—no Macoute atrocities. Hundreds of foreign observers, including former President Jimmy Carter, descended on Haiti to observe the balloting.

Aristide was not Washington's favorite candidate. They supported Marc Bazin, a former economist for the World Bank. Attempts were made to cut down Aristide's vote. Supplies did not arrive at some polling places in poor neighborhoods. But Aristide's supporters were determined to elect their candidate, sometimes waiting eight hours in the hot sun to get into the voting booth.

Over 70 percent of the voters cast a ballot. Over 65 percent of them voted for Aristidea landslide unprecedented in Haitian history. Washington's choice was a very poor second.

Despite this, the Duvalierists were not ready to throw in the towel. On January 7 Roger Lafontane and a band of Macoutes stormed the presidential palace, forced Pascal-Trouillot to resign, and decreed Lafontane to be president. "Aristide," he declared, "was a nobody."

However, Lafontanne's timing was off. Neither the American embassy nor the Haitian elite were prepared to back him. They feared the poor Haitians massed outside the palace, who were prepared to storm the gates. Quickly elements of the army moved in, arrested Lafontane, and restored PascalTrouillot to office. So Aristide is now the President.

Haiti...is inconceivable. of the poor in Haiti's towns and countryside. Now they can only hope that Aristide will modify the radical program he preached from the pulpit. If not, they hope he will find himself a captive of the army and right wing bureaucracy. This has been the fate of many liberal politicians in Haiti's past.

Void in revolutionary leadership Aristide has already compromised his program of sweeping reform by making reassuring promises to the business interests of Port-au-Prince, the country's capital. The very weak capitalist class of Haiti resent the corruption of the Duvaliers who took over most of the profitable enterprises. But they fear the desperately poor masses who surround them even more! To placate them, Aristide must promise to control the masses who are clamoring for change. they have little faith in politicians or government officials. This was proved when only 25 percent of the voters returned to the polls to elect deputies to the National Assembly.

Bitter experience justifies this attitude. The class struggle has always been fought in the streets and in the villages. The politicians now seeking office are mostly middle-class Haitians who have recently returned from long periods of exile. They have settled in Port-au-Prince and make only brief forays into the countryside, where 70 percent of the Haitians live in utter destitution.

For their part, the peasants do not look to the central government for help, but try to settle scores with their oppressors themselves. Since the election, landless peasants have seized the estates of scores of landlords who rob them.

The landlords have recruited Macoute thugs to kill the peasants and burn their houses. In turn, the peasants and urban poor have formed vigilante committees of defense and Popular Assemblies to control their own communities.

Aristide is not taking office with any prospect of easy reform through progressive legislation. The new president-elect will be threatened from all sides. The World Bank will demand that Haiti honor its horrendous debt, American business will demand new concessions, all the corrupt bureaucrats will Jerry Berndt sabotage his reforms, the Army and Macoutes will threaten his overthrow, if not his assassination.

The problems facing Aristide are so horrendous no simple program of reform will make any impression. The level of poverty in Haiti is almost inconceivable. Unemployment runs at 70 percent. The majority of Haitians have only one meal a day. The once abundant forests have all been cut down. The hillsides are barren and eroded. Even wood for stoves is almost unobtainable. Overcultivation is destroying the remaining arable land.

The people of Haiti are being physically destroyed much as the land they live on. There is no health service. Voodoo priests substitute for medical science.

To get the domestic and foreign bloodsuckers off the necks of the Haitian people, Aristide will have to go far beyond the confines of the National Palace. He cannot limit his program to the few timid reforms the bourgeois politicians in the National Assembly may support.

Aristide will have to reach into the slums and villages, find organizing bases in the Committees of Defense and Popular Assemblies, and follow the masses as they uproot the old order and complete the unfinished revolution.