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In 2007, the U.S. embassy in Port Au Prince, Haiti sent a cable
scrutinizing President Rene Preval and assessing whether or not he was
adequately subservient. The communication expressed satisfaction with his
economic policies, saying that “we would most accurately describe him as a
neo-liberal, particularly in that he has embraced free markets and foreign
investment” but lamented that “reflexive nationalism … will lead to periodic
frictions as we move forward our bilateral agenda.”
The “bilateral agenda” of U.S. imperialism has always been
domination of Haiti.
On several occasions, U.S.
troops have occupied the country. Support from Washington was critical for the preservation
of the two Duvalier dictatorships. U.S.-engineered coups overthrew the
progressive President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1991 and 2004. Currently,
Haiti
is occupied under the guise of the United Nations.
Preval seems to have proven a more “reliable” leader than the
embassy initially thought. He has facilitated even greater exploitation of Haiti by
western capital, especially since the devastating earthquake one year ago.
Although Preval will soon leave office, the so-called democratic
elections to choose his successor were marred by massive abstention and the
exclusion of Fammi Lavalas, the largest political party in the country. Right
now, Haiti
is still in ruins. Less than five percent of the rubble from the massive
earthquake has been cleared and over one million people remain homeless. The
conditions in Haiti
are an indictment of the capitalist system and its rulers and protectors.
The people of Haiti
deserve the solidarity of all people as they struggle to survive in the face of
extreme privation and exploitation.
