Airport Road, Economic Embargo, USAID
By Lance Durban
Anyone who has traveled the new Airport Road would have to concede that it provides an impressive first impression on arrival in Haiti... even more so when one recalls the pot-holed disaster which preceded it. President Aristide's December 26th speech formally inaugurating it exudes an appropriate level of pride in a significant development project. So why does this writer think President Aristide needs a better speechwriter? In short, because of a disturbing tendency to inadvertently upset the very people he should least want to upset.
Let's Eliminate the Term "Economic Embargo"
"Economic embargo" may be a catchy phrase, but to my mind it ought to be banished from the Lavalas vocabulary. As used, it comes across as "Se pa faut moin" (it's not my fault) as regards the disasterous state of the Haitian economy. This dodging of responsibility is standard political response and no doubt accounts for its inclusion in the speech. It may even be a perfectly accurate statement, but coming from the Head of State it is simply Not Wise. It grates on important ears, and makes further efforts at reconciliation with his chief protagonist (the U.S.) all the more difficult.
Why? Because the United States has the idea that it is giving some 75 million dollars a year in foreign aid to Haiti. U.S. Ambassador Brian Dean Curran said as much in a Peace Corps event last year in which he expressly denied the existence of an "economic embargo" against Haiti. Aristide's use of the term only draws attention to this semantic difference of opinion, something he should be avoiding at all costs.
Both Sides Laboring Under False Assumptions
The Haitian administration has come to believe that the blocked loan package is the main stumbling block for the Haitian economy. Not so! Haiti's problems are home grown and its solutions must also be. A $500 million dollar injection from outside would provide a temporary band-aid, but would do little for Haiti's long term development. How many poor countries have escaped poverty through World Bank largesse? None, that I can think of.
The U.S. cites its $75 million dollar per year aid program in Haiti as evidence that it is already providing substantial assistance to Haiti. Ask the average Haitian what U.S. foreign aid has done for Haiti in recent years, and I'll bet few will have any idea at all. That's because the USAID program in Haiti is almost totally invisible. Many would argue that the principal beneficiaries are American farmers, USAID employees, and a collection of consultants known colloquially in Washington as the Beltway Bandits. Cutting off existing aid programs would harm these American beneficiaries more than anyone in Haiti, which is why the strongest supporters of U.S. aid to Haiti come from right around Washington DC!
Remedying Misconceptions
Given that the United States is Haiti's largest trading partner, President Aristide should make warming relations with Washington a new priority in 2003. Seriously. Get together with Ambassador Curran outside of the National Palace. Travel to Washington to make some friends outside of the Black Congressional Caucus. Make good on that list of promises made in the waning days of the Clinton Presidency... not for the purpose of gaining access to international loans, but because those action points to which President Aristide committed were sound recommendations, good for Haiti.
For its part, USAID should try for a higher profile presence in Haiti. More bricks and mortar. Less wishy-washy institution-building endeavors that are impossible to evaluate.
How is it that Taiwan is seen to be furnishing more aid to Haiti than Washington? No kidding, even Haitian police cars are frequently marked, "Gift of Taiwan". Aristide's December 26th speech claimed the Airport Road project cost $32 million (at today's exchange rate) and although plastered with Mesi Prezidan Aristid banners, most Haitians assume that all of the funds came from Taiwan. The U.S. claims to spend more than twice that each year, yet where are the results? It's time for the U.S. to work on this visibility problem.
January 2, 2003
