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Democracy
eroded by Bush Administration
On
September 1st, 2004 the Haiti Support Network,
which represents many Haitians in the United
States, called for support for Haiti’s
movement for justice and sovereignty. The
Haitian Support Network asked that supporters
turn out for the September 2nd demonstration
in New York just outside of Madison Square
Garden where President George W. Bush would
be speaking to his legions of followers.
It
was highly doubtful that Bush would ever
mention his role in the coup of first democratically
elected Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand
Aristide. To see just a microcosm of the
pain and suffering that the Bush Administration
has caused around the world, lets take a
look at the experience of Haiti during the
Bush Administration.
Haiti,
one of the poorest nations in the world,
had nearly 80 percent unemployment and nearly
two-thirds of its population malnourished.
Born in 1953, Aristide won presidency by
a wide margin in two elections. Aristide
promised jobs, but this promise became difficult
to fulfill when the United States blocked
$500 million in aid. Aristide had risen
to popularity as a reformer and a former
priest and became a popular figure in Haiti’s
massive slums.
Andre
Apaid Jr, a Lebanese-American sweatshop
owner and one of the richest men in Haiti,
was a primary financial backer to the coup.
Apaid, along with the other wealthy elite
in Haiti, was part of a clandestine organization,
Group 184, which had helped to rule Haiti
during the dictatorship of Jean Claude Duvalier.
Duvalier, responsible for the deaths of
tens of thousands, told Miami’s WFOR
television just following the coup that,
"I will soon have the opportunity to
go back to my country." With support
from the U.S., the followers of this dictator
were intent on overthrowing democracy and
the will of the people of Haiti.
To
overthrow Aristide, the Bush Administration
and the wealthy elite of Haiti needed an
army to successfully wage this military
coup. To lead this army they decided upon
convicted war criminal Guy Phillipe and
the CIA trained Louis Jodel Chamblain. Many
former FRAPH (Front pour l’Avancement
et le Progres Haitien) death squad members
and members of the dismantled Haitian military
joined the rebel army. The FRAPH death squad
and front group has a long-standing relationship
with the CIA. The U.S. corporate media portrayed
this death squad led rebel army as a rag-tag
group of freedom fighters when in fact they
had been equipped with SUV’s, M-16’s,
and uniforms with money from the wealthy
elite of Haiti and decisive support from
the Bush Administration. Even with massive
popular support across the country, Aristide’s
administration stood no chance against this
heavily armed incursion.
How
has democracy been subjugated and exploited
by wealthy classes? When the former CEO
of Halliburton Vice President Dick Cheney
runs the United States for the profit of
his former company and compatriots how does
that reflect upon democracy? When one of
the wealthiest men of Haiti, Andre Apaid
Jr is able to overthrow through military
means his nations democracy, then what hope
does democracy have?
This
is truly the struggle of the 21st century
— for democracy to triumph over wealth.
Groups protesting at the Republican National
Convention in New York, such as the Haiti
Support Network, know the facts and are
taking them to the streets. What are you
going to do?
Jeb
Sprague is a graduate student in history.
Read his blog at http://www.xanga.com/jebbathehut.
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