WASHINGTON - A mock invasion of Haiti by 44,000 troops on May 11 intensified fears that a U.S. military takeover of the tiny Caribbean nation is only days away.
The exercise, which included a token
multinational force, was dubbed Operation Agile Provider.
As the exercise was concluding, U.S.
diplomatic sources
told the Los Angeles
Times that the U.S. would send troops to
purge the military government. According
to the report, the only question remaining
was the timing and number of
troops involved in the assault. President
Clinton has said repeatedly that he would
not rule out the use of troops.
The president has come under fire from Congress, particularly the Congressional Black Caucus, for his Haiti policy, including the forcible return of refugees to their homeland, where they face torture and cetain imprisonment Also at issue is the administration's lukewarm support for the return of elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Nine members of Congress have been aerested protesting U.S. policy, and human rights activist Randall Robinson went on a month-long hunger strike.
The popular organizations in Haiti
oppose intervention of any kind - whether
by the U.S. direcfly, or under the
auspices of any other organization,
said
Marx Aristide, a spokesperson for the solidarity
organization, Haiti Reborn.
Aristide is shocked
by the support
some U.S. progressives have given to military
intervention. The U.S. is the problem,
he explained. The current military
government was created by the U.S.
He criticized the U.S. for putting
pressure on President Aristide to make
concessions to the military instead of pressuring
the military to step down.
As an
example of the pressure, he pointed out
that the U.S. wanted President Aristide to
accept military leaders in his cabinet.
Marx Aristide said, The history of
my country should tell you why we are opposed
to any further military intervention.
Vicki Linton, spokesperson for the
Washington Peace Center, said, 'We are
opposed to U.S. military intervention in
Haiti. We don't see it as a viable alternative.
It doesn't reflect the position of the
Haitian people or the popular movement
in Haiti. The U.S. isn't concerned with
the demands of the Haitian people. If
Aristide were installed by military intervention
as president he would only be a
figurehead.
While Rep. Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) has supported a military invasion, other Congressional Black Caucus members and organized labor have called for a tightening of economic sanctions.
Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FIa.), who
was arrested May 5 at the White House
along with Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.)
and Nydia Velasquez (D-N.Y.),
called present sanctions cosmetic reminders
of the 'wait-and-see' attitude of
U.S. officials towards Haitian democracy
and President Aristide.
None of the representatives arrested May 5 called for a military assault on Haiti, according to statements obtained by the World.
In a press conference May 3, Jack
Sheikkman, president of the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers Union
(ACTWU), said, Before we raise the
possibility of military intervention in
Haiti, let us first apply the diplomatic
tools we possess but have not exercised.
Sanctions haven't failed; they haven't
even been tried yet.
Sheinkman noted that since the imposition of sanctions by the Organization of American States (OAS), 87 U.S. companies continue to import from Haiti, and imports have actually increased by 44 percent.
Along with their adamant opposition
to U.S., U.N. or OAS intervention,
Haiti's popular forces and trade unions
have also criticized President Aristide for
signing the Governor's Island Accord
in July 1993 with the junta chief, General
Raoul Cedras. The accord, negotiated un-
der U.N. auspices, provided amnesty for Cedras
and other coup plotters, protection for
their assets as well as a transition
government
that supposedly would
prepare the way for Aristide's return. Under the
agreement, Cedras would remain in power
until the legitimate government was restored.
Foreign intervention in Haiti dates
back to 1697 when the French gained
sovereignty
over present-day Haiti. A
successful slave revoft led by Toussaint
L'Ouverure led to eventual independence
in 1804, though Haiti was forced
into economic dependence by its former
colonial rulers, By the end of the century,
80 percent of Haiti's national revenue
was devoted to debt repayment.
The United States, citing political instatllity,
invaded Haiti in 1915. Local
peasant militias, or cacos, led by Charlemagne
Peralte, fought back. The revolt was
defeated. Peralte was murdered by U.S.
troops in 1918 U.S. military control of the
island lasted until 1935. U.S. investment in Haiti
tripled between 1915 and 1930.
During the period of military occupation,
the U.S. set up a military-administrative
system of control that is still in effect today.
A succession of weak governments
ousted by military coups lasted
until 1957, when François Duvalier, Papa
Doc,
won a convincing election.
To guard against the possibility of a
military coup, Duvalier reorganized the
army, and placed elite units under his direct
command. Duvalier crushed all political
opposition and dissolved the trade
unions. Upon his death in 1971, Duvalier
was succeeded by his son, Jean-Claude,
or Baby Doc.
U.S. policy towards Haiti during this period was characterized by mild criticism of human rights violations while ignoring the worsening plight of the people.
Haiti is the poorest country in the
Western Hemisphere. According to the
World Bank, the percentage of people living
in extreme poverty
rose from 48
percent in 1976 to 81 percent in 1985.
The report by the Bank described the
plight of Haiti's poor as a condition of
life so characterized by malnutrition, illiteracy,
disease, squalid surroundings, high
infant mortality and low life expectancy
as to be beneath any reasonable definition
of human decency.
State expenditures on public education, health and welfare are tile lowest in the hemisphere. One Haitian child dies every five minutes from malnutrition, dehydration and diarrhea.
At the same time, the number of assembly-line
factories, primarily U.S. in
origin, grew to 200, employing nearly
40,000 workers. The U.S. Agency for International
Development (AID) has
poured over $100 million dollars into
Haiti to enhance industrial development.
These industries produce baseballs
and softballs, sporting goods, handicraits
and children's and women's apparel.
A delegation from the National Labor
Committee, co-chaired by ACTWU
President Jack Sheinkman, United Auto
Workers President Owen Beiber and Machinists
Union President George
Kourpias, visited Haiti in 1993. They
found that the first thing U.S. companies
did
when they set up shop in Haiti
was to fire the union members at their
plants. Wages were then slashed to 14
U.S. cents per hour.
The committee found that U.S. companies continue to import goods from Haiti despite a second OAS embargo imposed on Oct. 18, 1993. One example given was that of Leslie Maximillien, a garment manufacturer. Maximillien is being permitted to export to the U.S., though he was imprisoned during the Aristide administration for organizing a coup attempt against the government.
U.S. companies imported over 2.5 million pounds of baseballs from Haiti between October 1993 and February 1994, long after a military coup overthrew President Aristide. Many of these baseballs are purchased directly by the U.S. government.
A leading producer of baseballs and
softballs, Home of Champions, has repeatedly
met attempts to organize a
union at their plants with illegal firings,
according to the labor committee.
Workers at Home of Champions are
paid $1.07 for a 10.5 hour day. In a letter
to President Clinton signed by 24
union presidents, the National Committee
called for a total commercial embargo
of Haiti, ending the loophole for
the assembly industry, closing the border
with the Dominican Republic and
blocking all air traffic. . .
Despite official support in Washington for sanctions, two new companies - Eddie Haggar of Dallas, Texas and Fisman and Tobin, headquartered in Florida - began exporting from Haiti within the last four months.
Very little of the profit of these export
companies actually stays in Haiti.
According to AID, 85 percent of every
dollar profit from assembly operations goes to the United States.
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