People's Democracy

Haiti: Sad Anniversary

Yohannan Chemerapally

AS the citizens of Haiti marked the first anniversary of the deadly earthquake that devastated their country in January, there are very few signs of either economic or political stability returning to their country. More than 250,000 people had perished in earthquake. The country’s infrastructure, including the water supply and drainage systems, were almost totally destroyed. In the latter half of 2010, to add to their woes, the country was wracked by a cholera epidemic of deadly proportions. The 1.3 million people displaced from their homes in the capital city, Port au Prince continue to live in rudimentary camps, surrounded by unsanitary conditions. The majority of them remain food insecure and are dependant on charity from relatives for survival. UNICEF has said 380,000 children are living in displacement camps and that the “recovery process was just beginning” for the beleaguered people of Haiti. Most of the promised international aid for reconstruction has failed to materialise.

To further complicate matters, the country’s political class has been bickering endlessly. The absence of a fully functioning government has been used as an excuse by many foreign governments to stop channelling much needed humanitarian aid and funding. A general election held in the last week of November 2010, has been widely viewed as flawed. It was only in the last week of January that the ruling “Unity” party announced that its candidate, Jude Celestin, will not be contesting in the presidential run-off vote. Haiti’s Election Commission had declared him as the runner-up in the November elections. A former first lady, Mirlande Marligat, will now be facing a popular musician, Michel Martely in the final round. In the official count released after the November elections, Martely had come third, narrowly trailing Celestin.

UNUSUAL

CHANGES

There were serious incidents of mob violence in the capital by supporters of Martely after the election results were announced, resulting in the deaths of five people. The Organisation of American States (OAS) has forced the Haitian government to ease out Celestin, the handpicked candidate of the current president, Andre Preval, from the fray. Officials of the ruling party have said that their candidate withdrew from the fray because of pressure from international donors. “Because Unity does not want the people to suffer even more, we chose not to provoke the international community over the election”, the party said in a statement. Observers have said that it is highly unusual and unprecedented for an electoral authority to change the results without a full recount. The final round to elect a new president was supposed to be held on January 16. It has now been postponed to the second week of March.

 And to make the political situation even more farcical, the former dictator, Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, returned to Haiti in the beginning of the year, saying that he wants to serve his people again. During the long years under the Duvaliers, more than 50,000 people were killed. The Duvalier dictatorship had used the notorious secret service, known as the “Tonton Macoute” to terrorise and subdue the populace. Meanwhile, Haiti’s most popular leader, the former president, Bertand Aristide, remains in forced exile in South Africa. He has been wanting to come back to his homeland to be with his people in their time of need. But the United States along with vested interests in Haiti don’t want him back. Aristide was overthrown in an US backed coup in 2004. The US state department spokesman, P J Crawley, said that the Obama administration does not doubt Aristide’s desire “to help the people of Haiti”. But he went on to add that Haiti needed “to look to the future not to the past”. He suggested that Aristide was a divisive figure whose presence in the country would “distract from the task of forming a new government”.   Aristide’s Party, Fanmi Lavalas was not allowed to contest in the presidential elections in November. This led to large scale popular abstention. It is estimated that only 10 per cent of the eligible voters participated in the elections.

The international community had reacted with urgency when the earthquake struck Haiti on January last. Huge amounts of aid were pledged from all parts of the world. The UN secretary general Ban Ki Moon had appointed the former American president, Bill Clinton, as his special envoy, to Haiti. But despite Clinton’s apparently hands-on approach, little tangible progress has been made on the ground. The international community had promised almost $10 billion in aid in January last year, soon after the earthquake struck. Much of it has not yet materialised. Last year, 35 counties along with multilateral agencies, had pledged $3.8 billion specifically for re-construction. As the New Year began, it has become clear that many countries have now backed away from their commitments. 20 countries still remain committed to honour their commitments but the amount earmarked for much needed reconstruction has now diminished to $1.5 billion.

According to reports compiled by international agencies, less than a tenth of the total international aid promised to Haiti has arrived. And to make matters worse, much of the aid has not been disbursed. Even before the earthquake struck, Haiti was among the poorest nations in the world. It was known as the “Republic of NGO’s”. The US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton had warned in January last, after the quake had struck Haiti, that there would be dire consequences “if the efforts to rebuild were slow or insufficient, if it is marked by conflict, lack of coordination, or lack of transparency”. On secretary Clinton’s watch, Haiti has witnessed all the three ---conflict along with extreme lack of coordination and transparency. Haiti is situated virtually on the doorsteps of the US—one of the world’s wealthiest countries.  

The UN Stabilisation Mission to Haiti’s (Minustah) mandate has been extended but many of the countries that have provided a large number of peacekeepers like Brazil have indicated that they want to opt out. UN peace keepers are anyway not a popular lot in Haiti these days. They have been targets of increasing mob violence, especially after the outbreak of cholera last year. The cholera virus was of a South Asian strain. Many experts agree with the theory that it originated from Nepal. There is a sizeable Nepali peace keeping force in Minustah and the first reported cases of cholera were reported from a small town where they were posted. The cholera epidemic claimed more than 2500 lives since it started in October last year and is spreading all over the country.

EXEMPLARY ROLE

PLAYED BY CUBA

The UN was unable to raise $184 million needed to combat the cholera epidemic. The World Health Organisation (WHO) had issued a warning in the second week of January that the epidemic has not yet “peaked”. The UN had issued an emergency appeal to the international community. The former prime minister of Jamaica, P J Patterson, who is the Caribbean Community’s special representative to Haiti, was shocked by the appalling conditions he witnessed during a visit in January. “The mountains of rubble still exist, the plight of the victims without any sign of acceptable temporary shelter is worsening the conditions for the spread of cholera, and the threats of  new epidemics becomes more frightening with each passing day”, Patterson told the media. Meanwhile, the US and Canada, who are among the biggest aid providers to Haiti, seem keen to scale down their involvement. The US had pledged $1.5 billion to Haiti but has disbursed only $120 million so far. Canada which had promised $375 million has come up with only $55.3 million by December 2010.

Neighbouring Cuba on the other hand, facing mounting economic problems of its own, however has continued playing a low profile but important role. Cuba has deployed 1,295 of its doctors and health workers in all corners of the country, providing yeomen service to the most needy. The priority of the US on the other hand seems to be focussed on its security concerns. US military forces have virtually taken over charge of the country from the UN. American troops are in control of the ports and the airports. According to the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), most of the 200 flights that land and take off every day from the Haitian capital’s only air port belong to the US air force. “Their priorities are to secure the country, ours is to feed”, said a WFP spokesman. Planeloads of humanitarian supplies have been turned back on several occasions to accommodate US military aircraft.