…the sloth on Haiti?
Haiti’s been in crisis for over two hundred years – from the moment the slaves under Toussaint drove out the French rulers in 1804. This included the French army sent by Napoleon under the command of his brother-in-law!! It had become personal, and the French – who fancied themselves the most civilized nation on earth – were determined to teach the enslaved Africans a lesson. That they would never be allowed to enjoy “liberty”, equality, fraternity”! That would’ve been a standing indictment of their “mission civilisatrice” – civilizing mission – which they’d convinced themselves was their God-given duty towards non-whites!!
It was part of their “white man’s burden” that they had to take away the non-whites’ land, use their labour for free, and rape their women to create a new coloured group – who’d be a buffer against rebellions!! The French were thus quite miffed to lose their most valuable colony, which was the largest supplier of sugar to Europe – bringing in huge profits that paid for their “civilized” court life!! They weren’t about to let bygones be bygones!! No sire Bob!!
France insisted in 1825 – backed up by warships – that it had to be compensated for all it had “lost”, including slaves!! They demanded and received what would be US$32billion – that wasn’t repaid until 1947!! It was ironic that the other revolutionary icon of liberty – the USA – took over receipt of the debt from 1922, and landed Marines several times to prop up various dictators when repayment was threatened!! So, when we hear about Haiti’s poverty, it ain’t so straightforward!!
But it’s rather pathetic that when there’s finally the beginning of a plan to sort out the latest collapse of the Haitian state – following the assassination of Pres Moise in 2021 – the interim but unelected PM, Henry – just resigned, and Caricom announced that an interim Presidential Commission would govern the country after a UN-backed force brings order to the present gang-inflicted chaos!! The US has committed to $300 million, while France and Canada have committed to US$11M!! Can you believe this – especially when France has given almost US$4B to Ukraine?? The US reported that Guyana would also be contributing – but we haven’t heard how much!! Experts figure it’ll take about 5000 troops and some US$250M annually – for at least a decade.
On the troops, the US is pretty sensitive about its past pacifications, and has been encouraging African countries to step up. Benin has committed 1500, and Kenya, 1000 policemen. So, all in all, while there is a light at the end of this tunnel, it’s still rather faint.
Your Eyewitness wonders why there isn’t international pressure on France to send the 4000 troops they withdrew from the Sahel, who were “keeping the peace”?
…squeeze comrades?
No one was surprised that Mad Maduro has locked out the most popular opposition leader – Machado – out of the presidential elections scheduled for July 28. Not only was she from the despised “old oligarchic upper class”, but he could claim with a straight face that she was barred by the “constitutional bodies” because of “anti-national activities”!! Never mind that the said bodies are all his “creatures”!! But a funny thing is happening as the clock ticks towards July 28: suddenly, a wide spectrum of groups – including leftist allies – are also being squeezed off the ballot, or from participating in the elections in any way!!
Last month, he arrested well-known activist Rocío San Miguel – with contacts in the military – and then kicked out the UNHCR, giving its staff 72 hours to leave!! But most interesting was the implicit challenge from his erstwhile leftist ally – the powerful PSUV VP Diosdado Cabello – whose criticism of Mad Maduro’s “rapprochement” with the US might have forced his radical moves!!
…reparations expanding?
After focusing on reparations for the crime against humanity that was chattel slavery, there’s a belated recognition that the extraction of non-slave labour from other non-white groups across the world was also exploitative – and needs reparations.
