By Bob Corbett

ROOT CAUSES: B. HAITIAN ELITE

The international community has done and continues to do its share in causing Haitian misery. But the contribution of the Haitian elite and Haitian governments has been and continues to be a root cause of suffering.

SLAVE-LIKE LABOR SYSTEMS IN THE EARLY REPUBLIC.
After the French left there was a scramble for power and control in Haiti. The elite emerged as the dominant power. Given their superior educations, and experience in running businesses and other affairs, their control was not at all surprising. But, a pattern arose because the only model they knew for successful agriculture was the slave system. It was impossible to return the masses to slavery, but Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the first president, tried to enforce a system of labor on the peasants which resembled medieval serfdom, i.e., tying the peasants to particular plantations owned by the elite. This system failed miserably and in the process created a labor system which has been instrumental in the developing misery of Haiti.

What happened in the 1804-1820 period set the tone for Haiti's future and is directly responsible for much of her misery. The former slaves ran away from the lowlands, the plantations, away from the cruel rulers who would have effectively enslaved them again. They ran to the mountains where they would be safe from the soldiers and police of the realm. And here they have in large measure remained. This pattern of relocation has defined several aspects of Haitian life which undermine the development of a healthy economy.

The price the Haitian masses have paid for their freedom has been to live at or below subsistence, remaining in their tiny huts and non-fertile mountain regions in order to have peace and freedom from oppression.
For nearly two centuries they have sub-divided their small plots among their generations of descendants until the plots of land are very tiny and relatively unproductive.
A widespread attitude has developed holding that no government could ever be good government. Folk wisdom seems to demand that one retreat ever further from government and eke out an existence outside the mainstream of society.
All of these factors contribute greatly to the misery the Haitian people suffer, and they are a direct legacy of Haitian politics and government. These evils are brought to the Haitian people by the greed of the elite.

THE ELITE'S PROTECTION OF ITS WEALTH.
For the most part the 3% of the people who constitute the Haitian elite are descendants of those same families who were free prior to the independence of 1804. There is an elite which is mainly black and an elite which is mainly mulatto. These two groups have their own fights and battles, but in the few cases when the masses have attempted to rise up and assert the rights and needs of the people as a whole, the elite has rallied together using its wealth and power to crush the masses.

The Duvalier family's rise to power was just another in a series of such moves. The present government of General Namphy continues the pattern even today. There has been no revolution in Haiti, just a change of government.

HAITIAN CORRUPTION.
Corruption is common in all governments, especially prominent in highly authoritarian regimes, and practiced beyond measure in Haiti. The elite have used their positions in government ever since 1804 to gather the wealth and power of Haiti for themselves. What little wealth the country had has been manipulated into the hands of this elite. Foreign governments and humanitarian and religious organizations have often attempted to aid the suffering people of Haiti. Time and again, over and over in the 182 years of so-called freedom, the Haitian elite and government officials have sidetracked much of this wealth for their own purposes. Haiti faces the incredibly difficult task of dealing with corruption that is so established, so all-persuasive as to be an accepted social practice.

HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AS A TOOL OF OPPRESSION.
One would never expect that the Haitian masses would have sat placidly by and allowed such a tiny elite to inflict the conditions of misery on them. Indeed, the people did not sit willingly by. The history of Haiti from early colonial days until the present is one of constant resistance, constant rebellion. But the elite have been equal to the challenge. For 182 years the Haitian rulers have used terror, killings, beatings, illegal arrests and detentions, forced exile and other such measures to keep the masses in line.

Even recently when it seemed that the overthrow of the Duvalier dynasty would end the dreaded Tonton Macoute and ease the pressure against resisters, we are reading of the activities of the Leopards. This is a crack military organization which has been implicated by Amnesty International in recent attacks on literacy workers and others aiding the masses in attempting to non-violently break out of two centuries of oppression of the Haitian elite.

SUMMARY OF THE ROOTS CAUSES
The poverty and misery in Haiti are human created. The root causes are the political and economic systems which have dominated Haiti for the whole of her 182 years. These oppressive factors have come from the international community, especially France and the United States. However, the Haitian elite, comprising only 3% of the Haitian people has also been a major factor in creating and continuing these oppressive conditions.

The causal roots are generally not very visible. Rather, they are the basis of the more visible and immediate factors which I will explain in the next section. Even the overt human rights abuses are not mainly visible on a daily basis. However, the Duvalier years were especially bad. Tens of thousands of people died or disappeared. Hundreds of thousands more felt forced to flee their homeland and seek a safer life elsewhere. Nearly everyone in the country felt the terror of the Duvaliers and their Tonton Macoute.



Why is Haiti so Poor?
http://webster.edu/~corbetre/haiti/misctopic/leftover/whypoor.htm

A government is there to make choices. They can take action. Of course, if the government is hellbent into robbing the people, can you expect a better result? Blaming an outside source will change nothing at the end.

and why should they not continue to rape and pillage, if they have a safety pop-off valve next door?

I am sure that if in a black nation where people are starving and suffering from their TNB, the few rich black ones usually have at least something to do with slavery.

Dread,

As crazy as it sounds. Haitians in the Dominican Republic have more rights and earn more than most Haitians living in Haiti. I could never understand why the frustrated angry Haitians have more anger for the average Dominican working stiff then they do for the Haitian elites.... let's face it most Haitian posters are clueless as to who to blame for their problems.

How come a country who was self reliant all the way till the mid 1980s be in such dire need for food now.When Haiti went to get a loan from the IMF and world bank who are directed by the U.S, they attached a string to it.

They said "you can only get loan if you open your market to outsiders" so they did, not knowing the they would flood the haitian market with their rice and putting thousands of farmer out of work.

Also the big countries must understand that its a bad policy to go in a small country in flood their market with their extremely cheap products because that would put local farmers out of business and those now Unemployed people will migrate to the big cities which will increase crime and create political instability.

Yumnuk3-Thank-you very for giving us LIGHT !!!

You have given us a mural, a very clear, precise, unbiased conclusion, a true case reality of the Haitian dilemma. This is the best piece of information on the subject that I have ever read. It is totally to the point, with true historical facts to suport the thesis. It is unfortunate, to see how the real perpretrators of this tragedy have not been apprehended and condemned for the atrocities against the Haitian people.

But you know the actual culprits those that are to blame, have and will never take responsibility for their actions, but rather they turn things around and accuse the DR as a racist nation. They cloud the the issues by introducing "apartheid" or "modern day slavery" to throw everyone off, when the real issue is not a racial one at all, eventhough it may have racial undertones.

What we need is to have the international community refocus their agenda and place enfasis on getting rid of the root causes of the Haitian tragedy, once and for all. The question we must ask, is there a will strong enough to achieve it ? Are powerful self-interest groups willing to take the challenge?

The worse thing about it all is that, for the Congressional Black Caucus and even for the GOPs, those dirty SOBs of the haitian elite are the only authorized enctity to deal with when something about that country is about to crop up on the halls of DC.

Lautaro, those dirty SOBs of the Haitian elite have their names in a lot of the major educational sites in this world (United States, Canada, France, United Kingdom, Switzerland,…) and they have a lot of money too. They are active supporters of the Congressional Black Caucus and that makes more difficult everything for every person with a real interest in a better Haiti.

I agree the Haitian blood sucking elite have a lot of responsibility in the who is to blame for Haiti's suffering, but it is not the only factor where to place the blame.
Haiti was just elected by Transparency International as the most corrupt country on earth. That is not something to be proud of if you can not trust the caretakers that are presently running things in Haiti to care for the welfare of their countrymen and women.
Haitians historically have always been an irresponsible, cruel and inefficient country managers.
Recently the Venezuelan government of Commander Chavez sent a few containers of fertilizers and other goods to Haiti as a gesture of friendship, and no one knows where they are, they disappeared.
Yet Preval is courting with Fidel Castro and can not stop praising the old comandante, even been in Cuba along with Daniel Ortega and Bolivia's ruler Evo Morales recently as the only nations present in Cuba's 50 th anniversary.
The international community has GIVEN UP on Haiti.
Get this, I repeat.
The international community has GIVEN UP on Haiti.
They are talking "assimilation" with the Dominican Republic and that is the plan.
Myself amongst many other Dominicans that can read between the lines, have witnessed this alarming trend, and are raising our voices to be heard.
We are being accused of racists, intolerant, no compassion, xenophobic, and every other name you can think of and some new ones for resisting the macabre plans.
Just like you put a fence in your property or house for protection and to deter invaders, Dominicans are now criticized for wanting to do so.
The international community wants the DR to merge with Haiti and then problem solved. No more worries about mass immigration, and the Haitians will share our wealth and resources.
Well, the same way you have worked all your life to earn a few material things and you don't feel like sharing them with unwanted strangers, Dominicans don't feel very generous with Haitians that will bring nothing to the table with the exception of disease, illiteracy, ignorance, superstition, a foreign language that keeps them uneducated, and on top of that a bad "give me" attitude. No sir. No way in hell is this going to happen. Not now, not 100 years from now.
Good fences make good neighbors.
Arriba con el muro por la vida!