Analysis of the army proposition
By Hyppolite Pierre (First published in early March 2001)
Last year, on Tuesday, March 6, 2001, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had reported that soldiers demonstrated in the capital to request back pay and the reconstitution of the army in Haiti. Other Haitian news agencies on the web reported the same news. If the BBC did not give an estimate of the number of people, others did. Haitian Television Network (HTN) operating on the web gave a figure of more than two 2,000 former soldiers participating in that march. Metropolehaiti.com gave a similar figure. Agence Haïtienne de Presse on the other hand reported no more than 300 such demonstrators. Those demonstrators handed in their petitions at the French and American embassies.
The Convergence, the French and the American connection
If the Convergence did not send their official representatives at the army demonstration, the possibility for a real, not virtual, connection is still there. On February 7, 2001, the Convergence-nominated president at his inaugural expressed his intention to see that Haiti once again sets up an army. The Convergence is an assembly of fifteen opposition political parties in Haiti with the express intent to get rid of the elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Haiti's army has been dismantled by the previous government of the same Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1995.
The French Government has always been considered by many as the political decision maker of Europe. Haiti also has traditional ties with France that exceeds the realm of politics. They colonized Haiti. Educated Haitians are proud of their French heritage and enjoy speaking the language. Also France over the last few years has been reluctant to support the Haitian government in any ways. The uneasiness between the two governments may have been exacerbated over the last year due to a ballot issue. The Haitian government decided to print the May 2000 electoral ballots through some Haitian printing company established in Haiti. Some other European companies placed their bid at the time for the same contract. Shortly thereafter, the European Union decided not to give the few million dollars the Haitian government was promised to organize those elections. That partially explains why the first round of elections did cost the Haitain government 300 million gourdes (approximately U.S. $15 million at the time). There is also the cultural factor. The Haitian government seems to focus its energy on integrating Haiti's culture into the mainstream through agricultural fares, extensive use of the Haitian language by government officials, etc.
The former soldiers of the old army are therefore using a strategy that they believe might work. The Lavalas government seems convinced that Haiti should no longer have an army due to their past behavior. Since the relationship between the French and the Haitian governments are at least perceived as strained, those former soldiers believe that they might find some sympathetic ears in the French Embassy in Port-au-Prince. From there to believing that the French government might indeed support the proposition of reforming an army in Haiti is a different matter.
The Haitian army has probably been one of the surest allies of the United States in Haiti. That army was created by the Americans while they occupied Haiti (1915-1934). Many believe that coup d'état happened in Haiti with the tacit and sometimes overt approval of American officials. The former soldier's logic is in a sense plausible in that context. They believe that their institution (the army) now defunct, is a guarantee for the United States against governments they do not like. The Haitian army had always been willing and able to deliver the coup d'état that some impatient and ambitious Haitian politicians had wanted. Or even perhaps some elements in the international community. Those soldiers also believe that there might be some more sympathetic ears to their cause in Washington now, since the new administration at the White House is republican.
The reality of an army in Haiti
Almost everyone recognizes that the army has had a difficult history in Haiti and even a negative impact on the country's political process. François Duvalier himself had executed many officers in the army in the early 1960's. He believed that they were potential coup d'état organizers. He then proceeded to create his own rogue army, the Tontons Macoutes.
In 1991, Aristide's political difficulties with the elite had caused him more than three years away from his duties as president, exiled in Washington. The army under Raoul Cédras took over the country in a bloody coup that caused more than 3,000 people to lose their lives.
Even citizen Gérard Gourgue, the Convergence's president, has had his own unfortunate experience with the army. After Baby Doc left Haiti in February 1986, a National Council of Government (CNG) was put in place, with civilian and military authorities. Gérard Gourgue as a former Human Rights activist, felt quite uncomfortable around the men in uniform and left the CNG to launch his presidential campaign. He gained the trust of the Haitian masses in the process and was about to become the first freely elected democratic president on November 29, 1987. That Sunday morning, paramilitaries and soldiers killed voters at a local voting bureau in Port-au-Prince, at Ruelle Vaillant. The elections were "postponed" thereafter.
The economic factor
Haiti's army was also an expensive proposition. The cost for maintaining those soldiers to the Haitian tax payer was as of 1991, approximately 60 percent of the National budget. Keep in mind that Haiti is a very poor country that has many infrastructural needs, from road and school construction to water and electricity. How those former soldiers intend to get paid for their service which had not been beneficial to the country in the past, is an important issue to debate. It is a virtual certainty that Haiti would have been in a much more difficult financial situation, had an army been maintained after 1994 and the International Community held a similar position as the one they have today towards the current Haitian government.
An army's role is to protect the territorial integrity of a country, as well as its economy. It thus make perfect sense that countries like the United States, Great Britain, France and Israel maintain an army. This is essential for both those countries economic power and geographic integrity. In Haiti, the army has never played a positive role in the country's economy, in protecting the population or the country's territorial integrity. Dictator Trujillio in the Dominican Republic had his army invade Haiti and massacre poor and defenseless peasants who could not pronounce the word "perejil" with a Spanish accent. The Haitian army at the time, never cared to lift even one finger against them. They did have guns then. When Sansariq sent his disorganized band to the Môle St.-Nicolas in the Northern part of the country to overthrow Baby Doc Duvalier, many of those solders defected because they were too afraid for their lives. Every time the Haitian army had the opportunity to commit some laudable action in the interest of the country, they failed miserably.
To protect the country
Haiti nevertheless needs to find a sure way to protect itself against potential adversaries. They can in that sense follow the lead of Costa Rica with its well organized defense system that is not an army, per se or per quod. It is difficult to understand how one can propose that Haiti revert to past policies that have failed not a group of people but an entire nation, time and time again. It is important still for Haiti to find ways to, protect its borders being able to respond quickly and effectively against potential enemies. Haiti is such a poor a nation with so many pressing issues to resolve, that it is difficult to understand how that country could be threatened by some foreign nations and still be in a position to respond effectively with or without an army. The primary goal should be to resolve the current political crisis through thoughtful and intelligent compromises on both sides.
Agence Haïtienne de Presse on March 8, 2001, reported that following the former soldier's demonstration, Pierre Lovinsky of Fondation 30 Septembre promised a campaign of awareness that will start on March 14 and end on April 22. There will be pictures of victims from the coup years in 1991 to remind everyone of the army's past actions. Perhaps that will help better shape the debate so everyone can focus on issues that can truly benefit the country.
