Robert Buddan
THREE EVENTS in the first week of November are significant for the rebuilding of Haiti. The re-election of President Bush would have been welcomed by the interim administration of Gerard Latortue. But Heads of Government summits by the Rio and CARICOM countries produced new regional positions that might not have been.
The 19-member Rio Group of Latin America and the 15-member group of CARICOM carry the weight to lead the process of rebuilding Haiti on new and improved terms. These countries make up the majority in the OAS. Brazil is the largest contributor to the UN multinational forces in Haiti. It has said that the task of Haitian recovery is the responsibility of all countries in the region and has already
sent a diplomat to the country to survey the situation anew.
TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT
The situation in Haiti suggests what the new terms of engagement might be. CARICOM has correctly said that it will not compromise on fundamental principles of respect for human rights, due process and good governance. Brazil has said the Haitian regime must bring murderers to justice and stop harassing the opposition. It insists on a system of democracy in which judicial integrity will ensure free and fair trials.
Grenada's prime minister has also called for the regime to stop harassing the opposition to return to democratic standards. Until this is done, Latortue's issue of a warrant for Aristide's arrest will appear purely political and recriminatory. Understandably, South Africa has said it will not permit Aristide's extradition. There's no extradition treaty between the two countries anyway.
The US Senate has said Haiti will sink from a failed state to a criminal state if a stable and secure environment is not established in time for the 2005 elections. Brazil's president says the country's troops will remain in Haiti until new elections are held.
Brazil and CARICOM have agreed that Aristide and Lavalas should be consulted on ways to resolve Haiti's crisis and the Canadian prime minister did hold talks with Lavalas on his recent visit. This is important because Lavalas has refused to fill its seat on the Provisional Electoral Council in protest against persecution of its members.
The terms of engagement, therefore, must be to disarm the society and end the violence, end the recriminations against the opposition and subject all human rights violators to fair trial, hold new elections that are free and fair in 2005, include Aristide and Lavalas in discussions to resolve the crisis, and source substantial international aid to rebuild the economy and infrastructure.
LATIN INVOLVEMENT
Brazil wants to oversee Haiti's reconstruction. It hopes to strengthen its role as an international mediator and secure a permanent seat on the UN's Security Council. It is also a country struggling to overcome poverty in the northwest and President Lula's anti-poverty policies would be more realistic than western IMF/World Bank programmes which rest on dubious records. Brazil is also trying to convert from an authoritarian past to a democratic future. It can bring its experience with democratisation to Haiti. It is attempting to transform its army into one that respects democracy. This is important for Haiti.
Lula's left-leaning regime will provide an important balance to America's right-leaning one. This is even more important now that Condoleezza Rice has replaced Colin Powell as Secretary of State. In fact, President Lula has hinted that Brazilian troops in Haiti were there to balance the presence of American troops. Chile also has a left-leaning government with troops in Haiti. These countries will provide an important balance to the conservative, western agenda. Brazil, Chile and CARICOM, will bring a new way of looking at things.
The Rio/CARICOM groups need not oppose a US/Canadian/French role but they should bring these countries into the rebuilding process on terms that they are now strong enough to establish. In July, the international community pledged US$1 billion to rebuild Haiti. Canada's Prime Minister, Paul Martin, has just visited Haiti and pledged US$168 million over two years. President Lula is practical enough to invite the World Bank and Inter American Development Bank to provide supporting aid programmes. The money is critical and the western countries have it.
WESTERN FAILURE
However, the western intervention in Haiti has so far failed. It has brought the country back to its usual cycle of violence. The new regional initiative is different. It goes beyond regime change and vengeance. The region recognises that the solution must be long-term and will require sustained support to security, governance, and the economy.
The US was successful in helping to rebuild Germany and Japan after the Second World War. But the western countries have generally failed to rebuild countries like Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and now Iraq. Iraq and Haiti are the biggest challenges to US rebuilding since it became a superpower, if it is up to the challenge.
Iraq and Haiti are different from Germany and Japan. Germany already had a western culture, both Germany and Japan had achieved some level of economic development, both had homogenous societies, and their people could be mobilised around fear of communism. But, according to one study applicable to Haiti, the real difference is that the US (and the western countries) has not delivered the massive aid, trade, and political reconstruction they delivered for Germany and Japan. (See America's Role in Nation-Building: from Germany to Iraq, James Dobbins et al, 2003).
In fact, the conditions for nation-building are even better today than 60 years ago. There is a stronger international community of states, and inter- and non-governmental organisations with resources and expertise for this.
REBUILDING HAITI
James Dobbins, a veteran US diplomat who was an envoy to Afghanistan for President Bush, provides a recipe for nation-building which applies to Haiti:
Time, money and people over a sustained period of time.
Great numbers of troops that can stabilise the situation.
Multilateral nation-building which is less expensive and can draw on a greater range of expertise.
Regional support since neighbouring countries have a greater stake and familiarity with the problems.
Accountability for past injustices although this can be the most challenging aspect.
Sustainable development of a minimum of five years, but in the case of Haiti, could be as long as 20 years. I would add one more. The Haitian regime must want stability, democracy and justice. I don't believe Latortue wants that. He only wants western money to shore up the rule of the Haitian business class. The Rio, CARICOM and western countries must ease him out. He was not elected to begin with.
In June, 2004, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (US) declared Haiti to be another case of failed US-led regime change but said, "At the same time, it seemed that no representative of the international community, save the CARICOM nations (led by Jamaica), and several African nations led by South Africa, dared to suggest that the transfer of power to a prime minister essentially hand-picked by the US embassy and the State Department is a demonstrably less than democratic process."
It is the CARICOM countries that have kept the crisis in Haiti in focus and now Latin America is ready to play an expanded role. Some CARICOM countries can join the US, Canada and France to work through the Latortue regime if they wish. CARICOM is right not to recognise the regime and some members can play their part in helping the Haitian people.
Some 24 per cent of Haiti's GDP comes from remittances which are direct people-to-people transactions. Our financial
community could play a role here. Our electoral and disaster reconstruction administrations could help to register Haitian voters and advise communities on post-disaster reconstruction. Our businesses can go after
supply contracts to service the materials that international aid will provide billions of dollars for. We can rebuild Haiti for the sake of its people, or at least for profit.
Robert Buddan lectures
in the Department of Government, Mona,
UWI. Send your comments to Robert.Buddan@uwimona.edu.jm or infocus@gleanerjm.com.
