Haiti's Black Jacobins

POLITICS OF OUR TIME with Robert Buddan

Earthquake and tsunami in Japan; uprising and intervention in Libya; oil-price rises and energy crisis around the world; Manatt enquiry and rise in poverty in Jamaica; we are all consumed with these concerns close to home and far away. But local and Caribbean news have had little to say about Haiti, the presidential elections and the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide two Fridays ago to his homeland. Haiti might not be part of our consciousness, but it is part of our reality. Our consciousness might be shaped by CNN, but our reality is shaped by geography, history and culture. Together, these tie Haiti to us in CARICOM. We had better pay attention and play a role.

CARICOM has played both positive and indifferent roles in Haiti in the past few years. It insisted on new elections in Haiti after Aristide was removed from power against the people's will. It suspended Haiti operating under an interim government from CARICOM until an elected government was in place. It did not restore Haiti's functional membership until after a new government was appointed. All of this was demanded by CARICOM's Charter of Civil Society. The charter does not accept change of regimes by force and, therefore, CARICOM did not accept the removal of Aristide against his will. Jamaica went further. It received Aristide and escorted him to safety in South Africa.

There is an African and Caribbean link behind this. The Trinidadian, C.L.R. James, wrote of the struggles of the Haitian people for freedom and independence in his book, The Black Jacobins. Thabo Mbeki, the immediate past president of South Africa, said reading this book had confirmed to him that the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa would succeed. Selma James, the widow of C.L.R., waited for Aristide and his family at their house as they arrived from South Africa back to Haiti, the land of the Black Jacobins about which her Trinidadian husband had so brilliantly written.

CARICOM leaders and people must know the geography, history and culture behind the tragic, but also heroic links between Africa and the Caribbean. It is this that makes it imperative for us to know what is happening in Haiti, even if CNN does not care much. It is this link that brought Nelson Mandela to visit Cuba and Jamaica right after his release from prison. We must make sure that we, in CARICOM, do not take the wrong side of history and that the struggles of the Black Jacobins today; struggles of men like Mandela, Mbeki and Aristide, are not lost on us.

Modern-day slavery

Indeed, upon his recent arrival in Haiti, Aristide said, "Modern-day slavery will have to end today." He was talking about the "humiliation of the people under tents", that is, the 850,000 Haitians still living in makeshift camps with poor human security and sanitation; the cholera epidemic that is out of control and is now predicted will infect 800,000 persons before it is contained; and the fact that only 20 per cent of the rubble from the earthquake of more than a year ago has been cleared.

C.L.R. James focused part of his history of the Haitian Revolution on its revolutionary leader, Toussaint L'Ouverture. He believed that L'Ouverture had special ability and skills which made the revolution a success. Few would doubt that Mandela, Fidel Castro and Thabo Mbeki have special ability and skill to have succeeded too. But can Aristide demonstrate special ability and skill? We don't know what role he will play now. He has only said that he will play a role in education and reconstruction. But many Haitians won't settle for that alone. Some think of him as 'father'. Others say he is the 'doctor' who will heal the country. Still, others say they will do what he tells them to do. They will vote for whoever he tells them to vote for. One supporter says he could be the king of Haiti.

One thing that the international press agrees on is that Aristide's return has been 'triumphant'. Adoring crowds have flocked to see him. They have also been peaceful without using the occasion for violence or vengeance. These supporters did not attempt to disrupt and sabotage the presidential elections. International observers admit that except in some parts where there was violence, election day was relatively peaceful and certainly more peaceful than election day last November 28.

Aristide has called for peace and inclusion. He has not attacked anyone or used any language to incite violence or vengeance. He wants inclusion for his party in elections, the party, he says, which represents the true link with the people.

The original Jacobins were a political club formed during the time of the French Revolution. It adopted radical ideas for republican government, voting rights for men, popular education and the separation of church and state. It inspired the leaders of the Haitian Revolution. Its members in and outside the French national assembly were advocates of radical change. Haiti's Jacobins today must develop a relevant agenda for change in Haiti today.

Aristide's return has already changed the discourse in Haiti. There is talk again about the Haitian Revolution; about slavery and slave-like conditions; about the old plantation economy and the new sweatshop economy; about the Haitian elite; about the Duvalierists; and about the associations alleged between some of Haiti's leading politicians, the Duvalierists and the elite. There is talk about Aristide representing hope for Haiti; about his compassion; about his movement, Lavalas, and about its political exclusion and the social exclusion of the people of Haiti from reconstruction. There is talk that Aristide might represent the best hope for democracy in Haiti.

CARICOM's Reputation

CARICOM must decide which side of history it is on and what role it will play in Haiti's development. It had complained in January about the potentially divisive impact that Duvalier's return to Haiti can have. It has not joined in the United States' (US) claim that Aristide's return would have the same impact. But before this, it had joined the Organisation of American States, the United Nations and the US in giving its blessings to the November elections last year when the conditions for free, fair and just elections were impossible, and when the greater urgency was to help the people suffering from cholera and from homeless, hunger and insecurity. It accepted the exclusion of Aristide's party on very spurious grounds, despite the fact that it was the most popular party in Haiti. Then the OAS-CARICOM joint electoral observation team accepted those flawed results, even when 12 of the presidential candidates withdrew and charged that there was 'massive fraud'. It validated an election in which only 23 per cent voted, the lowest in the Western Hemisphere in more than 60 years. The people of Haiti had largely abstained from voting, and denied those elections any popular legitimacy. The team insisted that the elections stand and the results be accepted, forcing thousands of Haitians to demonstrate against the results, causing its embarrassment when a recount required a change in the results. CARICOM must now rebuild its reputation in Haiti and act on the right side of history.

Robert Buddan lectures in the Department of Government, UWI, Mona. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm.