There is a manmade element to the
catastrophe now confronting the Haitians. The country doesn’t just happen to be
poor; it has been made poor and kept poor. Haiti is the poorest country
in the Western hemisphere, with the worst infrastructure and a people
most vulnerable to disaster and disease, because of the machinations of
imperialism. Although the earthquake could not be avoided, the scale of
death and destruction clearly could have been.
would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the scenes of
horror from Haiti. But we also need take this opportunity to think, and
consider how we can prevent catastrophes having such a disastrous
effect upon the lives of human beings now and in the future.
We are told over and over again that the earthquake was a natural disaster, an ‘act of god’. Of course in one sense it was.
We are told that the ‘international community’ is doing its best.
And we know that good, brave people from many countries are working to
the absolute limit and putting their lives at risk to save lives and
bring solace to the survivors.
We know that the would-be rescuers can’t just rush around Haiti
bringing emergency relief supplies to those that need it. Apart from
the earthquake damage, the infrastructure in Haiti was already
hopelessly inadequate. The airport couldn’t cope. The roads are
impassable.
Countless thousands are already dead. Thousands more face
starvation, thirst and disease. Desperation could cause looting. Isn’t
this all just a terrible natural tragedy?
Haiti is indeed a country stalked by earthquakes and hurricanes. The
infrastructure before the earthquake had already been shredded by a
series of hurricanes. But Cuba next door is prey to the same natural
hazards. As a result of the wave of recent disasters just 4 people have
died there. Cuba is not a hapless victim of world capitalism. The
Cubans make plans to preserve the lives of their citizens against
natural disasters.
There is a manmade element to the catastrophe confronting Haitians.
The country doesn’t just happen to be poor; it has been made poor and
kept poor. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with
the worst infrastructure and a people most vulnerable to disaster and
disease, because of the machinations of imperialism.
Haiti hasn’t always been seen as poor. In the eighteenth century it
was perceived as a source of immense wealth. As a French colony it
produced 60% of all the coffee and 40% of the sugar consumed in Europe.
It produced more wealth than all the British-owned West Indian islands.
It was the ‘Pearl of the Antilles’.
This wealth came from slavery. The black slaves rose up during the
French Revolution. Under the leadership of Toussaint-l’Ouverture they
waged the only successful slave rebellion in the world. They expelled
all the colonial armies and proclaimed independence in 1804.
Cuba more than 150 years later, the Haitians were confronted with a
total embargo. In order to break out of the enforced isolation, the
Haitian government was forced to promise reparations of 150m gold
francs to the French. They were compensating the French for the ‘crime’
of rising up as slaves and thus depriving them of their human property!
Repayment of reparations lasted from 1825 to 1947. By 1900 80% of
government revenue was going straight out of the country as interest
payments. No wonder there was no money left to build up the
infrastructure.
What the Haitian government had done in effect was to replace
slavery with debt bondage imposed on the whole nation. That is the
situation that remains to the present day. A series of compliant rulers
administered the country on behalf of imperialism, and helped
themselves to a portion of the country’s wealth in return. When they
were not subservient enough, imperialism intervened directly. The USA
occupied the whole country from 1915-34.
There have been movements against imperialism. Jean-Bertrand
Aristide was elected on a populist programme in 1990. There was a coup
against him the following year. He was elected again in 2000, and
doubled the minimum wage to $2 a day. In 2004 he was kidnapped in
another coup, backed by the USA and France. This is a remarkably
similar sequence of events to those imposed on the left-wing leader Mel
Zelaya. Honduras has suffered an identikit coup to the one imposed on
Haiti.
Aristide remains in exile. The United Nations Stabilisation Mission
has been in the country ever since. They have a monopoly of effective
armed force. There is no Haitian army. When somebody asks you ‘Why
doesn’t the Haitian government do something?’ remember, the UN, is the
real government.
Everybody knows that Haiti is in an earthquake zone. So when you
ask: why is Haiti in such a mess? Why aren’t the buildings constructed
to earthquake-proof standards? Why has nobody improved the
infrastructure? Why were there no effective emergency plans? These
questions should be referred to the UN as the representative of world
imperialism in Haiti. These are legitimate questions. The answer to
them is that, until the grip of imperialism is relinquished, for the
common people of Haiti suffering will remain a way of life. The people
of Haiti need real aid. They need to be part of a movement to kick out
imperialism and join hands with a socialist federation of the Caribbean
as part of a socialist Americas.
