|
 Haiti
has long seemed an abandoned outpost of the Dark Continent encrusted
on the bucolic blue Caribbean. From our studies we know it to be, together
with indigenous Bolivia, the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere,
with all of the attendant ills that accompany extreme poverty; disease,
malnutrition, retardation, chronic mismanagement…the list goes depressingly
on and on.
On the brighter side Haiti has always had a special place in the
heart of Anthropologists and Ethnobotanists for its role at the heart
of one of the great emergent religions, Voudou, and its unique tradition
of Shamanism mind control (Zombieism). Some landmark ethnographic
works have some out of that mysterious isle.
Be that as it may, currently a bloody new chapter is being written
to the Haitian tragedy In a completely uninformed but intuitive
way, we are getting the feeling that the major media coverage of what
is going on leaves MUCH to be desired. Like, who are really the
good guys? Which side to the remains of the Duvalier gang support?
What do ordinary people like us, teachers, writers, flower shop owners,
think of what is going on? What do the Haitian Bloggers have
to say? Are there any Haitian bloggers? Anyone knowing of an authentic
voice from INSIDE Haiti please post a comment, and we will pass it
on.
We have not been able to find any , so far. What we DID come
across, which the major media had not mentioned so far as we know,
was a number of accusations that the US, in the form of the CIA, was
supporting, training and arming the rebels aiming to bring down President
Aristide.
Wait a minute! Didn’t we INVADE Haiti specifically to
put Aristide INTO power. Yes, well, it wouldn’t be the first
time we have turned on one of our pawns or puppets, as the situation
changes and our priorities switch. After all, that was a different
government altogether – the Clinton regime. And it wouldn’t be the
first time we participated in a coup d’etad in Haiti, either. More
like the eighth, at least. As far as we know. Up until now.
Meanwhile,
in some sort of perverse game of life-or-death tag, we keep retuning
desperate boat people to a fate worse than death on that Devil’s
Island, while friendly freedom fighters from nearby Cuba are free to
stay,
as long as they can get one foot inbounds, on dry land, before they
get flagged by the Coast Guard. Is it any wonder most Cuban Americans are Republicans. What a great country!
One independent news source covering this story from outside the lines
is called Democracy
Now. We haven’t had time yet to evaluate their track
record on the issues and the truth, so take the following with at least
as much skepticism as you reserve for Dan Rather.
The US lawyer representing the government of Haiti charged today that
the US government is directly involved in a military coup attempt against
the country’s democratically elected President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Ira Kurzban, the Miami-based attorney who has served as General Counsel
to the Haitian government since 1991, said that the paramilitaries fighting
to overthrow Aristide are being backed by Washington.
from DemocracyNow
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John Engle is weblogging from Haiti:
http://johnengle.blogspot.com/
“Wait a minute!
To answer a comment made earlier, yes, Haiti has its problems, but life goes normally in Haiti: people take their kids to school in the mornings, people party, they hang out with their friends, they chill at the beach etc. Just because its a poor country, that does NOT mean that the souls of the people there are poor. There is more to Haiti than the CRAP you see on CNN. I am a proud card-carrying Haitian and i go to Haiti every chance I get – at least two timesa year. Whenever I come back here to the US, I’m usually planning my next trip back to Haiti and most Haitians feel the same. My country has problems but I LOVE it. Before a person can talk about Haiti, they need to first go there and experience the people, the music, the food and then and ONLY THEN can they give a report. I don’t want to hear from who head straight to the slums and want to tell the world about it. When people come to visit NY do they head first to the ghetto in Harlem and use it as an example to represnt the US? NOT!!!
Haiti currently is nothing more than a gigantic slum, a cesspool of misery and disease. I am Haitian and I recognize it, no need to hide it or pretend anything else, we are only fooling ourself by pretending otherwise. Images don’t lie. Others may choose to pretend and overlook the facts, let me be extremely clear with all, I have lived in haiti, I have lived in other countries and I have travelled the world, Haiti is truly in bad shape. It is everything you see on TV and more: endless and object poverty, misery and ignorance.We, as Haitians have to realize that our so called leaders have failed us. Latortue, Aristide, Preval, Avril, Cedras, Duvalier…etc they have all failed.why? because of a winner takes all mentality that is still permeating every aspect of Haitian society. Let us not blame others for what is truly our own shortcomings. Haitian society is based on extreme raw survival at the expense of your fellow men. Decency, honesty and respect are not found in Haiti instead raw individualism, aggressivity, ignorance and selfisness abound.
Is there any solution? time and time again, when faced with great dangers,human resiliency usually prevails. It will take a new breed of Haitian leaders to turn Haiti around. Haiti needs right now a Martin Luther King, a JFK and a Churchill mixed into one. Haiti needs a leader with vision who truly loves his country, a leader who will put the welfare of the island above any other agenda. We do not need a messianic figure or a strong man, Haiti needs a leader with vision and with a plan. But only when we as Haitians shock ourself silly then such leader will emerge. It takes sometimes catastrophic event for good people to emerge and I’m positive it is where we are headed but for now on, please let us not pretend to overlook the obvious: Haiti is a socioeconomic basket case. It is up to us to change this situation. The ball has been in our court for quite some time now…almost 200 yrs.
R
good page http://www.g888.com
I realize it’s now three years since this was originally posted, but i might as well add this to the thread:
http://kiskeyacity.blogspot.com/2007/01/haitian-blogs-in-2006.html
PBS FRONTLINE/World just put up a short video that you can watch online about an optimistic Haitian singer called Belo and a music festival in Jacmel. The video nicely captures both the hope and the setbacks that Haitians experience. Check out the story here:
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/rough/2007/12/haiti_belos_son.html
Post comments and let us know what you think! Thanks.
Even If there were many Haitians to blog politically, doesn’t mean they’ll
have an audience. At least not in Haiti, we’re behind technically, thats another blog, anyways great post.
More and more Haitians are getting on the internet too, that’ll help the situation some. The more info, the better Haitians will get
TheHaitianTube.com