Now that Aristide is returning, we can expect to see a massive smear campaign again against him in the major media, with allegations of human rights abuses and "moral equivalence" comparisons with the Duvalier dictatorships. In his book, Damming the Flood, Professor Peter Hallward looks at the best available data for the number of political murders in Haiti: Duvalier dictatorships (1957-1986): 50,000; after the U.S.-sponsored coup of 1991 (with U.S.-funded death squads): 4000; after the U.S.-organized coup of 2004: 3000; Aristide's tenure in office (2001-2004): between 10 and 30.
Aristide got rid of more than 98 percent of the political violence in Haiti by abolishing the army and the murderous "section chief" system, which were the main sources of political violence. For that, Washington will not forgive him. And for that, Orwellian media outlets portray him as a dictator.
Can the U.S. and its allies continue to deny Haiti's national sovereignty, which it won 207 years ago in the world's first successful slave revolt? This is, after all, why they overthrew Aristide twice and seek to prevent his return. He is still a symbol of Haiti's sovereignty, and respect for the poor, for millions of Haitians. For Washington, that is inherently dangerous.
But the Americas have changed since the last time Aristide was overthrown. Washington met strong resistance from South America when it supported the coup government in Honduras in 2009; Honduras has still not been allowed back into the OAS. Governments that Washington did not want – for example in Bolivia, Ecuador, and Venezuela – have been elected and survived despite coup attempts and other destabilization efforts that were sometimes supported by the United States. This would not have happened fifteen years ago. The left governments that now preside over the majority of Latin America have dramatically and permanently changed hemispheric relations.
Last week Washington failed to get support for its change of Haiti's election results in both the OAS and the 23-nation Rio Group. Unfortunately, Brazil has supported Washington in heading up the UN occupying force in Haiti; but this will not go on indefinitely, especially if they are called upon to shoot people who are demanding their basic democratic rights.
These rights can no longer be denied to Haitians, simply because they are poor and black. Nor can Aristide be denied the right to return to his country. Washington will have to adapt to a new reality, as it is discovering in Egypt.
This column was first published by The Guardian Unlimited (UK) on February 10, 2011.
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