Will promises of a new Haiti endure?

Will promises of a new Haiti endure?

High on a mountaintop in the rugged badlands of central Haiti, a starling sight confronts the visitor: an enormous, looming fortress rearing skyward, like a medieval castle whisked from the south of France and dropped in the hills of Hispaniola.

This is the Citadelle Laferriere, the largest fortification in the western hemisphere. It was built between 1805 and 1820 by order of the megalomaniacal Henri Christophe, a leader of the slave revolt of 1791 that ejected the French and made Haiti the first Black republic in world history.

King Christophe, as he styled himself, built the citadel at the cost of thousands of workers' lives. He meant to ensure Haiti would repel an expected French invasion; but Christophe committed suicide (some say with a silver bullet) as mutinous troops closed in.

The citadel remains - the French never came.

Enemies within

But as it turned out, some of Haiti’s worst enemies came not from abroad, but from within. The peasants who slashed and burned the lush forest, turning most of what was a verdant island into arid, rocky scrub. The power- mad, corrupt and oppressive rulers who treated the nation and its people as their personal plaything, from mad king Christophe to the evil Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier and his loathsome son Jean-Claude “Baby Doc”. The corrupt elite that maintains a stranglehold on the country’s wealth, with 2% of the people controlling 90% of assets.

Not all of Haiti’s many tribulations are self-imposed, of course. The United States has meddled in Haitian affairs almost since the country’s founding, and usually for the worse—despite the aid that Haitian volunteers provided as foot soldiers in America’s own Revolutionary War of independence from Britain.

The oppressive hand of the US included a 19-year-long occupation in the 20th century, and support for the Duvaliers as a bulwark against Cuban communism.

Unequal trade treaties have always given the US the upper hand, and in recent years a NAFTA-like abolition of tariffs on American rice has driven thousands of farmers in Haiti’s Artibonite Valley off the land and into the teeming slums of Port-au-Prince. Successive US presidents—Bill Clinton and George W Bush—first installed the popularly elected President Jean Bertrand Aristede back in office after a military coup, and then arranged his ouster and exile.

Now, in the wake of the catastrophic earthquake of January 12th, Haiti faces perhaps the greatest crisis in its history. As international aid pours into the Port-au-Prince airport and trickles out to the people most in need, plans are afoot for a wholesale restructuring.

Partnership promised

Between 100,000 to 400,000 Haitians will be relocated out of the cities into newly built, hopefully earthquake-resistant, buildings. Promises of enduring partnership and help from the international community are flying through the humid Haitian air.

And what of the 15,000 to 20,000 US troops on the ground? Will they be a temporary presence, or a long-term presence? Will the international community insist on transparency, an end to corruption and a fundamental rebalancing of the distribution of wealth? Will the US alter the trade deals to give Haiti a chance to protect its meager remaining industries and agriculture?

Most Haitians are still too raw with shock and agony to consider the long-term questions. But the time will come, and sooner than many would think. Then we shall see if the promises of a clean slate and a New Haiti are as enduring as the Citadelle, or as evanescent as a Caribbean breeze.

There is a Creole proverb that helps explain the difficulties of life and to inspire the will to endure: “Deye morne, gainyan morne” - behind the mountains, are more mountains.