- Yves Engler: Outsiders Impose Leader in Haiti Yet Again
Posted by sashimi
on August 5, 2021, 9:04 am
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4 August 2021 Lede: U.S., Canada, France, Spain, Germany and Brazil Disregard Wishes of the Haitian People and Select Ariel Henry - who sold out to the Western powers following the country's 2004 coup - As Successor to Slain Haitian President Jovenel Moïse (quote) It is déjà vu all over again. On July 17th, the Core Group (U.S., Canada, France, Spain, Germany, Brazil, UN and OAS) published a note saying Ariel Henry was the prime minister of Haiti. Within 48 hours the other individual claiming the position fell into line behind Henry, who was a member of the U.S./France/Canada created "Council of the Wise" that appointed the prime minister after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in 2004. The Core Group's bid to unify the PHTK (right-wing 'Bald-Headed' Party) regime was designed to undercut an effort by a broad group of Haitian political actors to form a consensus government. The Commission pour la recherche d'une solution à la crise is seeking to form a government that would remain in place for a year or two in a bid to stabilize the country and revitalize moribund state institutions. Then it would oversee elections. But the Core Group wants the PHTK regime to oversee quick elections, which will be easy to manipulate, something that has happened numerous times in the recent past. As a result, many Haitian civil society and political actors have criticized the Core Group's "selection of Haiti's leader by statement." To understand their concerns, imagine the Jamaican, Congolese, Guatemalan and Filipino ambassadors releasing a collective statement on who should be prime minister of Canada. The assassination of President Jovenel Moïse reflects the disintegration of Haitian politics after a decade of foreign intervention that empowered the neo-Duvalierist PHTK since an earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince and surrounding regions in January 2010. Instead of dispatching Heavy Urban Search and Rescue Teams to help with relief and medical support after the quake, Ottawa sent 2,000 troops to join more than 10,000 U.S. troops deployed to Haiti. As internal Canadian government documents show, they were deployed out of concern over a "popular uprising" amidst the political vacuum and the return of Haiti's most popular politician, Aristide, from forced exile. While their massive capacities offered certain logistical benefits, the foreign troops trampled on Haitian sovereignty by seizing control of the airport and port. Simultaneously, the government was sidelined from international reconstruction. In the months after the quake the U.S. and Canada demanded the Haitian parliament pass an 18-month state of emergency law that effectively gave up government control over the reconstruction. ... Washington and Ottawa backed Martelly as he failed to hold constitutionally mandated elections and became ever more violent. As president, Martelly surrounded himself with former Duvalierists and death-squad leaders who'd been arrested for rape, murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking. When brutal dictator Jean-Claude ("Baby Doc") Duvalier returned to Haiti after 25 years, Martelly told The New York Times no one wanted him prosecuted except for "certain institutions and governments" abroad. During repeated visits Canadian Foreign Minister John Baird praised Martelly for "going in the right direction" and operating "a really functioning government." In 2013 Baird and Minister for the Americas Diane Ablonczy met Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe in Port-au-Prince saying, "we share with Haitian leaders the goal of seeing a self-sustaining economy with opportunity for all Haitians and a greater role for private-sector actors, including Canadian companies." Ottawa backed Martelly until protests forced him to leave office at the end of his five-year mandate. They also helped Martelly make the little-known Jovenel Moïse his successor. The U.S. and Canada pushed to move forward with the second round of voting after mass protests broke out over election irregularities. When the second round was finally canceled Global Affairs Canada put out a statement headlined "Ministers Dion and Bibeau concerned by postponement of Haiti's presidential elections." A subsequent audit of the election results found that 92% of polling place tally sheets had significant irregularities and a stunning 900,000 of the 1.5 million votes cast were from 'accredited poll observers' who could vote at any voting station. In a new election a year later barely one in five eligible voters participated. According to official figures, Moïse received fewer than 600,000 votes - just 9.6% of registered voters. Voter suppression was widespread. Jean-Bertrand Aristide [Source: wikipedia.org] Beyond direct efforts to dampen turnout, elections had largely lost their legitimacy. Many Haitians believed then and believe today that no matter who receives the most votes the tallies will be "arranged" to suit the ruling candidate. And if a pro-poor candidate wins, their agenda will be stifled or they will be overthrown. This belief is based upon experience. In the most credible election in Haitian history, Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas won more than 70% of the votes for 7,000 positions. In the May 2000 legislative and municipal elections they took an unprecedented 89 of 115 mayoral positions, 72 of 83 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 18 of 19 Senate seats. Knowing they had no chance of gaining power via the ballot box in the foreseeable future, the foreign-backed opposition parties cried foul. After initially describing the elections as "a great success for the Haitian population," the OAS subsequently criticized the counting method in a handful of Senate seats (as had been done in previous elections, the electoral council determined the 50 percent plus one vote required for a first-round victory by calculating the percentages of the top four candidates). The opposition boycotted the subsequent presidential election, which they had no chance of winning. A USAID poll of 1,002 Haitians conducted on the eve of the November 2000 presidential election showed that Aristide was far and away the most popular politician and Fanmi Lavalas was the preferred party by an incredible 13 to one. In one of the most impressive feats of 21st-century imperial propaganda, supposed "irregularities" in the May legislative and municipal election became the justification for destabilizing and ultimately overthrowing Aristide. In other words, the 2004 coup against President Aristide began with an effort to discredit elections he neither participated in nor oversaw. The U.S.- and Canada-sponsored destabilization campaign included an aid embargo, funding for opposition groups, diplomatic isolation and paramilitary attacks. It culminated with U.S., French and Canadian troops invading the country to physically remove the president. Incredibly this was all planned, in broad outline, in advance in Canada. (/quote) -- Cont'd at https://covertactionmagazine.com/2021/08/04/outsiders-impose-leader-in-haiti-yet-again/ |
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