Haiti in the New World Order

Alex Dupuy's Haiti in the New World Order: The Limits of the Democratic Revolution is one of those studies we should have read several years ago. Probably should have been done around the same time we read Dupuy's book on Aristide, but this one has the benefit of being written in the 1990s and focusing entirely on the first term of Aristide and how his eventual return to Haiti to complete that term was related to US foreign policy and neoliberal structural adjustments in a post-Cold War world. As Dupuy convincingly outlines in the early chapters, the new world order of neoliberal reforms promoted by the US, IMF, World Bank, and USAID would not have favored development for countries like Haiti and would not have alleviated the misery of the population. 

However, even a liberal capitalist state would have represented progress over the prebendary Haitian state and could have won over a share of the bourgeoisie. Nevertheless, one can see how the very conditions in which Aristide was allowed to return to Haiti after the first coup diminished the left-leaning social democratic agenda of Lavalas while recognizing how it deviated from Cold War-era US interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean (which usually involved intervention against leftist or left-leaning governments and support for military dictatorships). Aristide's first term must be contextualized in the new era in US foreign policy as well as the years of pro-democracy activism and struggles in Haiti since the fall of Duvalier in 1986. 

Reading Dupuy's book and thinking about his later analysis of Aristide as a politician who never relinquished the robe of the prophet for the clothes of the prince, one cannot help but feel Haiti may have been better off with Aristide remaining outside of formal politics. His real charisma and footwork for political, economic, and social changes in the 1980s was perhaps squandered or misdirected by his decision to run for president. Perhaps he really think believe it was a messianic or mystical relationship he enjoyed with the Haitian people and God was calling him to run to create a newer, better Haiti with dignified poverty instead of abject poverty most Haitians survive under. 

But his political and tactical errors of resisting a broad left coalition in government, employing threatening rhetoric against the bourgeoisie (which already hated or opposed him), his failure to thoroughly condemn violence or political mobs, and the "deal with the Devil" he agreed with to be returned to office almost ensured an unpleasant end to his political career. Just imagine if he had remained outside of formal politics but supported a broader left-leaning coalition that, while still facing pressure from the military, the haute bourgeoisie, and the US, was able to build a moderately progressive growth with equity economic policy for Haiti? Just imagine if the institutions and practice of democracy had been given the chance to actually develop and Aristide, as an outsider of the formal political process, could have used his charisma and influence to support this trend?

Perhaps it is naïve on our part to think the Duvalierist old guard and neo-Duvalierists would have ever agreed to this, but the last 36 years in Haiti have been a constant struggle for building democratic institutions and stability. The US role in this failed transition seems quite clear, and the old Duvalierists did not disappear since they played a role in 2004 and Martelly's presidency. We just wish Haiti could get a "do-over" for the last few decades, although it would be difficult to see huge progress made in Haiti becoming a "developed" or industrialized country. Perhaps things didn't have to become this bad, with the breakdown of the state, immiseration of the population, proliferation of gangs (and the Aristide years contributed to this), continued drug trafficking, fraudulent elections, and common human rights violations. When will Haiti's next chance for a democratic transition or something else to escape the current cycle present itself?

Joseph's For Whom the Dogs Spy

Although Raymond Joseph's occasionally oversized ego mars the text, For Whom the Dogs Spy is a breezy read on 50 years of political change and conflict in Haiti. Beginning with his time in Radio Vonvon and the New York-based Haiti Observateur, Joseph chronicles his experience inside and outside of Haitian politics. The underground resistance Radio Vonvon was directed against Duvalier and relied on local informants for radio coverage and criticism of the Duvalier dictatorship. Then, with like-minded Haitians critical of the regime but not Communists, Joseph was part of the group that launched Haiti Observateur, which continued the criticism of the dictatorship that was inherited by Baby Doc. 

Joseph then transitioned to the Wall Street Journal before formally getting involved in Haiti politics as a diplomat. Much of the book is full of anecdotes about his role or contributions to helping Haiti, such as getting HOPE through Congress, making it easier for Préval to meet with Clintons or the appropriate powerful US figures, or his leadership role in defending the image of Haiti after the disastrous 2010 earthquake and securing international aid. Joseph clearly helped to combat Haiti's bad press and tried to combat corruption, inefficiency, and lack of transparency in Haiti's diplomatic staff. There is much to admire here.

Undoubtedly, Raymond Joseph accomplished much in his professional, political and personal lives. Unfortunately, we were sometimes wondering if his braggadocio style might obfuscate more nuanced events or meetings that took place. There was also a surprisingly light critique of Aristide that relied on some extreme language. It was clear that Joseph was not a fan of Lavalas, but to dismiss him as a terrorist because of his past rhetoric displayed a lack of the deeper analysis he exhibited in chapters on the Duvaliers, Préval, and Martelly, whose strongman presidency is covered by the final chapters of the text. We also wonder how Joseph feels today now that his cousin Wyclef's charity has been exposed and the Haiti is arguably in far worse conditions today. 

His several chapters on the ways in which Martelly avoided holding elections, intimidated and threatened the press, gave a pass to kidnappers and drug dealers, and engaged in unbridled public corruption and embezzlement with the tacit approval of the "international community" clearly paved the road to the Hell of Haiti after the assassination of Martelly's successor. Perhaps because of his own political orientation and relationships with powerful US politicians, their role in supporting or cosigning the calamitous, undemocratic elections and transitions have led to the miasma of today. Nonetheless, we hope Joseph writes another book on his experiences in Haiti's troubled democratic transition and the legacy of Duvalierism. Too often one finds young Haitians who believe Duvalier was Haiti at its best, or they have never been taught the darker chapters in their history of repression, state terror, and violence under Papa Doc and Baby Doc. 

Zombie Files: Gangs, Drugs, Politics and Voodoo under the Mandate of the United Nations

Zombie Files: Gangs, Drugs, Politics and Voodoo under the Mandate of the United Nations by Max Kail is one of those books whose title alone will deter some readers. The title and occasional references to disturbing things such as human sacrifice and even cannibalism will raise alarm and cause others to dismiss the author as a racist or liar. That's actually quite a shame. Max Kail, presumably a pseudonym, offers an important insider perspective on how ineffective MINUSTAH was at stabilizing Haiti with occasionally useful insights on the nature of the narco-state cabal that runs Haiti and participates or enables kidnappings, gang violence, political corruption, and drug-trafficking. 

However, Kail's title and some of the repetition of hearsay and negative tropes of Haiti's "Voodoo" religion is unacceptable in some quarters. Of course, the reality is quite different and Haitian people themselves have reported cases of (or suspected cases) of human sacrifice and violence driven by beliefs in sorcery or magic. Indeed, there is undoubtedly a darker side to magico-religious worldviews, one in which Vodou is a part of albeit often maligned as black magic. And Kail is probably correct about the darker side of this worldview being used or exploited by gang leaders, the economic elite, and corrupt politicians to plot their actions or terrorize the population. Whether or not a Cite Soleil gang leader actually eats the hearts of rivals or ritually sacrifices a person on a full moon does not matter so much if it reinforces the reputation of certain people as dangerous, terrifying, and ruthless. We just wish the author could have offered more evidence of some of his assertions, like the role of a manbo in assisting Clifford Brandt's kidnapping ring or Aristide's father as a houngan. 

The true value of the text lies in Kail's perspective on the failure of MINUSTAH. In order to actually make a positive difference in Haiti, Kail had to join an unofficial anti-kidnapping working group that actually gathered data and intel with the support of people like Reginald Delva and reliable HNP to arrest the perpetrators. With like-minded others, he had earlier played a role in the targeting of gangs and making Cite Soleil, the notorious slum, safer than other parts of Port-au-Prince. Unfortunately, the UN's own internal bureaucracy, corruption, incompetence, and desire to work with the local government undermined all their attempts to actually improve Haiti for the vast majority of the population. The aforementioned cabal of politicians and wealthy business interests are heavily involved in the drug trade since the 1980s (with Col. Michel Francois, a friend of Martelly) and then the large, effective cartel of Jacques Ketant which appears to have been close with Aristide. In order for them to maximize their profits and power, Haiti must remain a key transit point for narcotics to enter the US and the profits from the drug trade as well as political corruption and aid must continue. 

Several of the examples examined or mentioned in the text have been documented in Haitian and international journalism, so one knows Kail did not fabricate or exaggerate. It is a long, sordid history of corrupt politicians, drug traffickers, gang-elite partnerships, manufactured crises and riots, and real humanitarian disasters which clearly illustrates how morally repugnant the Haitian elites are as well as the collusion of international forces (like the UN) with this savagely inhumane political economic system that disenfranchises and excludes the majority of the population. Basically, Kail is doing in a less academic form what scholars like Fatton have done, showing how the Haitian prebendary state or the "state against nation" framing of Trouillot has acted in the last 20 years since Aristide's second term. Sadly, Haiti today in 2022 seems to have continued on the path of this inexorable decline and impunity continues to be enjoyed by many of the "usual suspects" (Acra, Boulos, Mevs, Latortue, Martelly, Vorbe, and others in this rogues gallery).