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Haiti
The Republic of Haiti is a country situated on the western third of the
island of Hispaniola and the smaller islands of La Gonâve, La Tortue
(Tortuga), Les Cayemites, and Ile a Vache in the
Caribbean Sea, east of
Cuba; Haiti shares Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. The total
land area of Haiti is 10,714 square miles (27,750 square km) and its
capital is Port-au-Prince on the main island of Hispaniola.
A former French colony, it was the second country in the Americas, after
the United States, to declare its independence. In spite of its
longevity, it is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti is
currently in a state of transition following a rebellion (see 2004 Haiti
Rebellion) which deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February
29, 2004; he had been re-elected in 2000 in an election which several
opposition parties boycotted due to disputes with the vote counting of
the parlimentary elections.
History
1804: Independence
Freed blacks and mulattos joined with slaves under the leadership of
Jean Jacques Dessalines against Napoleonic France in 1801 to achieve the
Caribbean's first successful revolution for independence. The largely
black nation remained isolated politically throughout the 19th century,
though penetrated economically by international capitalism.
1915-1934: U.S. Occupation
From July 28, 1915 until mid-August 1934, Haiti was under the occupation
of the U.S. Marine Corps, effectively making Haiti a colony in all but
name. Efforts were made to improve Haiti's infrastructure and education
systems in particular, but because of the imposed nature of these
reforms, with little regard for Haitian customs or traditions, these
generally were not well-received nor especially effective.
The Rise of Duvalier
A medical doctor, François Duvalier was not allowed to establish his own
practice due to racist customs in Haiti. After securing employment with
an American medical project that was fighting widespread tuberculosis,
Duvalier had the opportunity to see the poverty that existed in the
countryside.
This fueled his interest in politics, and despite the fact that the
Haitian government was predominantly mulatto, Duvalier was able to gain
a following and joined forces with powerful union leader Daniel Fignole.
Together they formed the popular Mouvement Ouvriers Paysans (MOP) party.
They continued to gain public support and waited for their moment to
seize power.
Both men wanted to take the top job of President, therefore the party
was split and in 1957 Fignole became president of Haiti. His position
lasted only 18 days, however, because Duvalier was able to overthrow him
and began what was to become a 29-year dynasty.
1957-1986: Duvaliers and Aborted freeport
Duvalier, also known as "Papa Doc," became president in 1957 and
dictator in 1964. He was known for his army of sunglasses-clad
volunteers, the Tonton Macoute. In 1967 proposals were made to construct
a free port on the Haitian island of Tortuga by a consortium formed in
the United States by Don Pierson of Eastland, Texas.
These plans reached maturity in 1971 when a 99-year contract was entered
into by François Duvalier on behalf of the Haitian government. Although
construction of infastructure and a new international airport was
commenced, two other events brought about the sudden demise of the whole
venture. When François Duvalier suddenly died in 1971 his son
Jean-Claude Duvalier ("Baby Doc") took over at the age of 19. The
advisers soon concluded that Haiti needed a new image to attract
economic assistance, tourism, and investment. In 1974 it became known
that the freeport had entered into a multimillion dollar contract with
the Gulf Oil corporation to advance development on the island. This news
prompted "Baby Doc" to expropriate the venture for himself, under
prompting from his advisors including his mother, Simone Ovide Duvalier;
Defense and Gen. Claude Raymond, commander of the army, and his brother,
Foreign Minister Adrien Raymond; and Minister of Coordination and
Information Fritz Cinéas. This move by the regency caused the collapse
of the freeport venture.
Under the Baby Doc regime some political prisoners were released, press
censorship eased, and a policy of "gradual democratization of
institutions" was professed. But in fact no sharp changes from previous
policies occurred. No political opposition was tolerated, and all
important political officials and judges were still appointed by the
president. Haiti continued a semi-isolationist approach to foreign
relations, although the government actively solicited foreign aid. In
1980 Duvalier married a divorcee Michèle Bennett, who later supplanted
his hard-line mother in Haitian politics. In the face of increasing
social unrest, however, Duvalier and his wife left the country early in
1986, leaving the entire country in poverty and lacking international
commercial development. A six-member council replaced Duvalier when he
fled to southern France, where he lived in luxury in Cannes until his
wife left him and took his children and most of their cash. He now lives
in modest circumstances in Paris.
1986: After Duvalier Regime
After Duvalier fled, the U.S. installed a military regime, The National
Council of Government (CNG), headed by General Henri Namphy. It was
supposed to design a new Constitution and arrange for democratic
elections within two years, but didn't step down until 1990, when
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president. Most of his term was
usurped by a military coup d'etat, but he was returned to office in 1994
by a U.S. military intervention with a mandate from the United Nations.
He served the remainder of the five year term to which he was elected
and oversaw the installation of Rene Preval, his Prime Minister, to the
presidency in 1996.
In the late 1970s, a time of increasing militancy against the brutal
regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier, Aristide urged change and often found
himself at odds with his superiors in the Roman Catholic Church. In
1986, the year Duvalier was driven from power, Aristide survived the
first of many assassination attempts. In 1990, when a notorious
Duvalierist announced his candidacy for president, progressive-centre
forces united to urge Aristide to run for the office. He was elected in
Haiti's first free democratic election on 16 December 1990, with an
overwhelming 67% of the vote. Aristide's campaign motto, "Lavalas"
(Creole for "flood"), became the name for a diverse coalition of parties
that symbolized hope for the Haitian people (80% of whom earned less
than $150 a year). In his seven months as president in 1991, Aristide
proposed raising the minimum wage, initiated a literacy campaign,
dismantled the repressive system of rural section chiefs, and oversaw a
drastic reduction in human rights violations. A coup on 30 September
1991, led by the military and financed by members of Haiti's elite,
declared that such reforms would not be tolerated. The coup's leaders:
General Raoul Cedras, Colonel Michel Francois, and general Philippe
Biamby, were all graduates of the US Army School of the Americas in Fort
Benning, Georgia. After three years of exile, a U.S. invasion allowed
Aristide to return and resume his presidency on 15 October 1994. The
economy was in shambles, infrastructure almost nonexistent, and more
than 4,000 people had been killed. Barred constitutionally from
immediate reelection, he stepped down in 1996. The old Lavalas coalition
fractured, and in November 1996 he launched a new political party, Fanmi
Lavalas (Lavalas Family).
2000-2004: Second Aristide Term and Ensuing Crises
In May 2000, Haiti held legislative and local government elections. The
Family Lavalas Party won over 50% of the vote in nearly all the contests
but a dispute arose about the method used to tabulate the percentages
for the Senate elections. The Organization of American States (OAS) and
the international community condemned the results for the Senate
elections as fraudulent. The Haitian government refused to re-calculate
the percentages. In response, most of the opposition parties refused to
acknowledge the results or take part in second-round run-offs. In the
months leading up to the Presidential election at the end of the year,
numerous negotiations failed to produce a settlement. Therefore, most
opposition groups boycotted the Presidential election. Aristide won this
election by 90% of the popular vote, but due to the earlier dispute, the
opposition parties never accepted his victory as legitimate.
Aristide took office on February 7, 2001, but his presidency was mired
in controversy, and his government was undermined by the political
impasse and the use of armed gangs, called 'chimeres', to enforce his
rule. The International Republican Institute was involved in either a
pro-democracy or a de-stabilization project, depending on viewpoint,
funded by USAID from 2002-2004. By 2003, the country was deeply divided
between pro-and anti-Aristide camps. This finally led to an armed
conflict, the 2004 Haiti Rebellion, which increased in intensity on
February 5, 2004, 200 years after the Haitian Revolution, when an armed
rebel group which formerly called itself the Cannibal Army and worked
for President Aristide transformed itself into the Revolutionary
Artibonite Resistance Front and took control of the Gonaïves police
station. This rebellion then spread throughout the central Artibonite
province by February 17 and was joined by opponents of the government
who had been in exile in the Dominican Republic.
On February 29, 2004 the United States flew Aristide out of the country.
Aristide was forced to sign a resignation of the Presidency and was
taken to the Central African Republic. The circumstances surrounding
this flight are a matter of controversy. Many media sources reported
that Aristide had resigned and been refused asylum by South Africa. On
March 1, 2004, US Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), along with Randall
Robinson, a family friend of the Aristides, each reported that Aristide
had told them using a smuggled cellular telephone that he had been
forced to resign against his will by United States diplomats and
Marines, and that he was abducted against his will, and continued to be
held hostage by an undisclosed armed military guard. [6], [7] When asked
whether Aristide was guarded in the Central African Republic by French
officers, the French Defense Minister answered that Aristide was
protected, not imprisoned, and that he would leave when he could; and
that France had many officers present in the Central African Republic
following the recent events in that country, but that they did not
control Aristide's comings and goings
Culture
A distinction should be made between Haitian Vodou and American (New
Orleans) Voodoo. They are similar in some respects, but very different
in most. Haitian Vodou mostly involves communication with spiritual
deities (Lwa or Loa) whereas New Orleans Voodoo usually relies heavily
on charms and other talismans, resembling another African-Caribbean
influenced religion: Hoodoo.
Wikipedia.org
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