Bon Voyage, Aristide

Haiti's embattled president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has left his country, reportedly for South Africa. Panama, a popular choice for outsted tyrants, including Aristide's predecessor in Haiti, is apparently booked up).

One of the frustrating elements of the coverage is that the politics of the opposition is never made clear (maybe they don't have any?). Aristide is a legendary thug, but it seems as if those seeking to replace him are simply more of the same. This Reuters article is typical of the vague coverage:

Rebel soldiers in Cap Haitien, the rebel stronghold in the north overrun last weekend, began celebrating in the streets even before Aristide's departure was confirmed. The armed rebels, led by a former police chief and a former death squad leader, had said they were advancing on the capital.

For more on Haiti, go here.

Comments

[Stumax]

It's not just the media. I'm part of a Haiti-related email list that has distributed almost 1900 emails since the beginning of the year. Most of them were news articles from the mainstream and alternative presses. Many emails were the personal opinions or reflections of Haitians or Haitian Americans, of scholars and ordinary citizens. In all my reading, I'm not sure I've seen yet where the opposition HAS an agenda other than getting Aristide out. Now that he's gone, it's anyone's guess what will happen.

Aristide wasn't perfect, but he also wasn't a tyrant. He was democratically elected to head a country with few resources, almost nothing in the way of infrastructure, and little democratic precedent. Add to that a belligerant international community withholding aid and assistance, and he was in a no-win position from the get-go.

God help the Haitians if the rebels have nothing better to offer.

[Slippery Pete]

No, you guys have it wrong. At long last, Haiti is now on the brink of libertarian utopia. Remember "competing governments" and all that wonder anarchistic literature from you sophomore year in college?

Where's Rick Barton? This is Somalia, only better and closer! At any minute - now that the government is no longer thieving and regulating private enterprise to death - any minute now, megacorporations are going to relocate to the low-tax, low-regulation business haven called Haiti.

I'm sure, already, innovative private companies will be competing for the body-removal and necklacing business of enterprising Haitians everywhere.

I know that most intelligent libertarians do not make the kinds of absurd arguments I'm mocking here, but enough do to make this interesting and fun.

So, Rick Barton. Where are you? Let's go to Haiti, my friend, and start a rental car company or something.

(And, no, this isn't to suggest that Aristide's "government" was any good, either. But now we have real anarchy in action, and I'm sure the Haitians are terribly grateful for that.)

[Andy D.]

Slippery Pete, the chaos associated with the fall of a government is nothing like the libertarian-anarchist vision of anarchy. In any case, the goal of the rebels isn't a no-gov't future; they just want to put a different gov't in.

[Andy D.]

For some information on who these rebels are, check out this article:

http://www.economist.com/world/la/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2463235

Well, it's probably only available if you subscribe to The Economist... but don't we all?

It seems that the rebels are a ragtag bunch of people who want Aristide out, and there doesn't seem to be any more of a common political ideology than that. The article falls short to some degree because it was written before Aristide bailed.

[Slippery Pete]

Andy D -

Ahhh, yes. And that's exactly the problem with anarchism, isn't it?

Pete

[Kevin Carson]

Slippery Pete,

You're being grossly unjust to Rick Barton. I don't know of anything he's ever written that would indicate he is friendly toward banana republics governed by landlords and generals; or that he views as "progressive" the arming of death squads by the U.S. government to impose such a regime on another country.

Most Rothbardians, I suspect, would sympathize with the local peasantry against the feudal, statist landowning classes put in power by the U.S. government. Not to mention agreeing with Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler's assessment of most of the regimes the U.S. put in power in this hemisphere. If you want to attack right-wing "libertarians" who pin their hopes on Allende and his ilk, you should go after the Chicago Boys instead.

[Kevin Carson]

Shannon Love,

You're right about the contextless reporting. In most cases, the mainstream press reports on Third World civil wars entirely in terms of the ethnicity of the contending parties, which is (given the irrational tribalism of those "coloreds") is sufficient explanation. No reference whatever is made to their ideologies, or the history of their dealings with Western powers or colonial economic elites.

A good example is the Congo, when Mobutu's loss of power was imminent a few years ago. The contending parties there reflected a fairly stable set of enmities and alliances that go back to Lumumba and the Katangese secessionists; U.S. sympathies reflected political and economic interests that had been stable and continuous for forty years. But in the AP wire accounts, it was nothing but tribes, tribes, tribes.

Even when ideology and politics enter into the picture presented by the American press, it is a stereotyped template of "hardliners" vs. "reformers," or some such pablum.

[Gadfly]

Now watch Venezuela. We've spent so much time and energy halfway around the world, our back (front?) yard is going to hell.

[Slippery Pete]

Kevin -

That's not correct. Rick Barton has, in total seriousness, held Somalia up as a model way of organizing society (I bet you hate that phrase). Ask him about it sometime.

Pete

[Ruthless]

For years I've been waiting for Dan Rather to tell me which candidate for Prime Minister in Israel believes in "trickle-down economics."

Also, I'm getting to be of the age when I doubt myself, but wasn't it just a few days ago when Dubya said he had no plans to do squat about Haiti?

Talk amongst yourself about this while I head to the bed, but doesn't bible-thumpin' manifestation of "faith" in government leaders translate into faith that god will allow them to "lead" the world into peace, prosperity, etc.?

Excuse me, but god is full of shit. She isn't the queen of heaven, and her earthly minions merely masterbate.

Anarchy is the only thing that works: We're here, we're anarchists. Get jiggy wit it.

[garym]

It's interesting when the media use the term "death squad." The term is technically applicable to any small military or paramilitary unit, but is applied selectively to whomever the writer doesn't like.

[Shannon Love]

Nick,

Based on the geographical origins of the rebellion and the Creole appearance of the rebel spokesman, I would guess that the core people in the rebel groups are members of the former upper class who where allied with the Duvalier regimes.

Unfortunately your right, the media is doing it's usual context-less, press release driven reporting.

*Sigh*

[Gadfly]

Duly elected Aristide is reportedly saying he was kidnapped by the US and taken from the country by force.

Stay tuned.

[Kevin Carson]

Slippery Pete,

I don't see anything about Somalia in my post above, nor do I see its relevance to the issue of Haiti. And I'm aware of Rick's stated position on that country.

But regardless of the merits of Rick's views on Somalia (on which I'm undecided), the situation in that country has nothing whatsoever to do with that in Haiti. The Haiti coup, like that against Chavez in Venezuela two years ago, has Otto Reich's filthy fingerprints all over it. This isn't about whether some Third World society is better or worse off after the collapse of its central government. It's about whether the bloody-handed swine in Washington, Langley, and Ft. Benning should be installing a NEW government to serve the U.S. sugar companies.

[Dictator for Hire]

Bill Clinton sent Raul Cedras off on permanent vacation in Panama and put Aristide in power in Haiti.

That worked out poorly.

Is Raul "tan, rested, and ready", to borrow a Democratic slogan?

Any way it goes in Panama, Aristide now joins the ranks of living ex-dictators currently looking for work.

1. Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier
2. Raul Cedras
3. Mengistu Haile Mariam
4. Valentine Strasser
5. Hussein Farrah Aydiid
6. Milton Obote
7. Gen. Augusto Pinochet Ugarte
8. Hiss?ne Habr?

[karl kraus]

Haiti has been getting rather unfair coverage on the televised, german-language press. The german evening news program "tagesschau" presented the current troubles in Haiti as "a (another) failed US attempt at nation-building", and in doing so, hinted strongly that this is what one could expect in Iraq. The Austrian ZiB used this angle as well. "Count to three. Criticize America just to criticize America!"

Considering that the Clinton-style nation building projects are much more of what I feel the EU would want, the characterization is even more unfair. The short memory syndrome affects those of us on both sides of the great pond, it seems.

Karl

[Ruthless]

Karl Kraus,

It seems to me that by Dubya intervening he's buying the US into Clinton nation-building.

[rst]

Now that he's gone, it's anyone's guess what will happen.

Maybe someone will show them how to use condoms...?

[karl kraus]

Ruthless,

indeed

karl

[Fred]

Good one, rst. But here's yet another observation: anyone investing in an impovrished country or any impovrished locale can only expect to be robbed. As soon as you start building some sort of infrastructure it will just be stolen and sold for scrap.

It's hell to be uneducated, poor and without hope. Let's all just turn our backs and walk away. No, really. What can we do? Worry about their plight?

When I hear of how many millions are poor, I fully expect to see a map of Haiti with little stick-figure people falling into the ocean. How could a paradise be so thoroughly and utterly trashed?

Are the responsible citizens of the world supposed to offer them welfare payments each month?

[Pelle]

We very definitely have an opportunity for a libertarian state there now. As a matter of fact you average Haitian has spent several years living in the ever libertarian strong hold of the informal economy.

I've written more about that and why Aristide was the same as all the others in this blog essay: The real cause behind the pain in Haiti

[Jean Bart]

How can reporters have any context to report when they know little about the societies they are reporting from?

Dictator for Hire,

Pinochet has work - he is still a "Senator for Life" as I recall.

krall kraus,

Haiti has been occupied/invaded by the U.S. three times over the past one hundred years; someone has a long history of failure - either the Haitians, the U.S. or some combination thereof.

The first of an initial deployment of 300 French soldiers arrived today; along with two frigates.

[karl kraus]

Jean Bart,

whatever the recent history of the US in Haiti may be, i still feel that characterization (in those press reports) is unfairly biased against the us. we do not read or hear, whenever there are troubles in the former colonies (of the europeans), long after the colonial powers have left, that the europeans failed. even in central africa ten years ago. we may hear other criticisms from back then, but the very anti us bias in the press was clear.

Those reports were obviously painted with a broad brush in response to the anti-iraq war sentiment here. And every story about us FP is considered in that light. (it's amazing to hear how many of my collegues consider "the european press to be 'objective'")

the US moved in to build the nation during the clinton administration. aristide was head. the us left. that's fine.

and aristide was not capable of doing that. but to say that the us is doing something wrong seems to indicate that the us should still be in haiti, influencing policy, making sure that aristide does not make poor decisions. No. that would not be tolerable, especially from the european POV. the suggestion to hand out condoms (i can imagine the reaction to that in the Department of State and in Congress) or to leave both make sense.

to answer your rhetorical question, the haitians are doing something wrong. maybe getting involved was a us mistake, but the current screwup is a haitian problem. and you know that the european press and populace has a very strong "anti america, whatever she does" voice right now.

karl

[Jean Bart]

Karl

"we do not read or hear, whenever there are troubles in the former colonies (of the europeans), long after the colonial powers have left, that the europeans failed."

I would say that the French press does an excellent job of dealing with former French African colonies and there is blame heaped on the French government for troubles there (at least in the likes of say Le Monde).

"(it's amazing to hear how many of my collegues consider "the european press to be 'objective'")"

No press is objective; but then again, some Americans claim that Fox News is "objective," so I would hardly characterize this delusion as European only.

"and you know that the european press and populace has a very strong "anti america, whatever she does" voice right now."

Actually, I don't know that; that's not the attitude of Le Figaro for example.

[rst]

that characterization (in those press reports) is unfairly biased against the us

Most press characterizations are unfairly biased against the U.S. Emnity towards America is like the Sun page 3 girl, it makes the rag an easier sell, and the as the readership is primed for it anyway, nobody makes a big stink about it. The praise on said news outlets (Fox, LM, Guardian)comes from its fans. Many fans of the Bengals think there's a championship calibre team in Cinci. That's what fans do.

Duly elected Aristide is reportedly saying he was kidnapped by the US and taken from the country by force.

I'd like to see how far this story goes. Any story that accuses the United States of wrongdoing has automatic credence in the int'l community.

[rst]

Or maybe it's the page 2 girl. Whichever.