* * * HAITI INFO * * * News direct from the people and organizations of Haiti's democratic and popular movement 5 April 1996, Vol. 4, #11 *** HAITI INFO now has photos in every issue *** Contents: PRIVATIZATION AGAIN AND AGAIN WOMEN: COMMEMORATIONS & DEMANDS ON ANNIVERSARY TI MACHANN PAY THE PRICE Report from Jeremie: PEASANTS: "NO PRIVATIZATION" Popular Culture & Struggle: Konstitisyon se papye, bayonet se fe. Close-Up: THE PLATFORM OF HAITIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS Stories: PRIVATIZATION AGAIN AND AGAIN PORT-AU-PRINCE, Apr. 5 - President Rene Preval's solemn pledges in Washington to privatize Haiti's state enterprises [see last issue], have unleashed a wave of contestation and relaunched the struggle against privatization and neoliberal policies. Added to his vigorous promises were avowals from his entourage, like from special advisor Leslie Voltaire, who was in Washington reassuring officials Preval was serious. Speaking to Inter Press Service there, he showed he clearly understands structural adjustment: "We know it's a very painful program. It's like surgery without anesthesia," but recited: "We don't have a choice; now everybody is insisting.'' Protests Mount - Preval Reacts Those kinds of statements provoked the indignation of the population and caused many popular and democratic organizations to denounce privatization and adjustment and attack the Preval government. Although the many groups which immediately reacted to Preval's unilateral decision did not agree on all points, groups as diverse as Solidarite Fanm Ayisyen (SOFA), Assemblee Populaire Nationale (APN), Mouvman Peyizan Papay (MPP), Kolektif Mobilizasyon Kont FMI ak Bank Mondyal and Platform Haitienne de Plaidoyer pour un Developpement Alternatif (PAPDA) all denounced the government's demagogic promotion of privatization, its categorical decision and reminded that neoliberalism equals more poverty and hardship for the masses. Political parties and lawmakers also took to the airwaves to denounce the "economic coup d'etat." In reaction to Preval's claims that the government cannot manage enterprises, Sen. Irvelt Chery (OPL) said, "Yes, the Macoute state is a bad manager, but the Lavalas state has not even proved itself yet!" After declaring in Washington that privatization would occur "immediately," last week Preval stepped back when he began to feel the heat, announcing "consultations" and holding well-publicized meetings with union leaders. He also declared he had spent three hours with PAPDA, as if to say he was considering "alternatives." Voltaire tried to make amends for his well-publicized "surgery" statement, saying "the majority of the Haitian people will not feel the effects... since the state does not have the habit of subsidizing," completely misleading the public. Minister Foreign Affairs Fritz Longchamps announced "a big campaign" to tell the population about privatization and to collect "opinions so the government can make a decision." Moving Forward Anyway But Preval's and Longchamps' call for "dialogue" and "opinions" was just a maneuver to cool down the game and defuse people's anger, since plans continued to move forward. A hefty delegation from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank (WB), Inter-American Bank (IDB), U.S. government and other instances is due here Monday, and bids have already been received for the 78 percent of the cement company the government is selling (despite Preval's promise last month that it would "retain control" over enterprises.) Despite its rhetoric, the government is showing every sign of complying with the very determined agenda of the international players who, every other day, take to the airwaves to warn that closing fiscal years and other deadlines approach, meaning Haiti should move fast or risk losing millions. The latest carrots dangled: WB: US$25 million, IMF: $20 million, IDB: $300 million. Family Disagreement The rush to privatization is starting to expose contradictions within the Lavalas family. Last weekend the Aristide Foundation for Democracy held a three-day meeting with, it said, "90 popular organizations" which vehemently rejected privatization. This week, two close associates of Aristide's, one a former minister (Dr. Gerard Blot), announced a new "mass organization," The Assembly of Legitimate Children of the Table, whose main demand is that the Lavalas platform ("The Table") make space for the masses. Although its founders claim it is "complementary" and not "opposition," they harshly criticized the government: "Decisions are taken, privatization is discussed, but the legitimate children are not involved!" And Wednesday, Lavalas deputies defected and voted against a controversial IDB education loan that Lavalas senators supported, noting that although it had money for scholarships, it provided nothing "durable." Senators were tangibly upset. But the defection is not surprising, offering only one illustration of the contradictions at the heart of Lavalas bound to grow and increasingly come to the fore as the government continues down the neoliberal path it has chosen and the people show their determination and capacity to resist and to fight against this anti-national and anti-popular policy. WOMEN: COMMEMORATIONS & DEMANDS ON ANNIVERSARY PORT-AU-PRINCE, Apr. 3 - To mark the tenth anniversary of marches of some 25,000 women around the country on Apr. 3, 1986, this week women took center-stage to demand more political participation, economic justice and justice for crimes committed during the coup d'etat, and to attack privatization and neoliberalism. Demonstration at Parliament Today's events were the culmination of a week where women's organizations, individual feminists and government officials have been in the media, talking about the past ten years of struggle and problems women face today. President Rene Preval even got in the action, paying a surprise visit to the Ministry of Women's Affairs where he demagogically repeated his pledge to support the women's struggle, even though he is currently in the process of applying an economic program which undeniably hurts women. But Preval's visit did not distract the women from popular organizations gathered outside of parliament today. About 50 to 75 held signs with slogans like "Down with the sellers of the country" and "Parliament is useless to the people - We would rather have a flour company" and sang slogans denouncing privatization, clearly linking the struggle against neoliberalism with the struggle for women's emancipation. One spokeswoman directly and personally attacked Preval and Leslie Voltaire, a member of his and Jean-Bertrand Aristide's cabinet, for applying neoliberal policies while claiming to be in "the people's camp:" "We know structural adjustment means misery... We don't under stand Leslie Voltaire who has said he was in the people's camp. We don't understand Rene Preval who has said he was in the people's camp... We don't understand how they can be so audacious as to keep up this discourse! We need a mechanism to control these vagabonds!" Declaration from Organizations At the same time, inside parliament, another group of women from non-governmental organizations and female government officials and former ministers met with a delegation from the Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Yolette Jeanty, of Kay Fanm, read a declaration signed by a dozen women's groups. The five-page statement acknowledged progress over the past ten years, including women in high government posts and the new Ministry of Women's Affairs, but they also noted the ministry can be used to "put us on the side... as if women don't have anything to do with the economy, law, agriculture, health or commerce." The organizations demanded more participation for women, numerically the majority of the population, especially concerning economic decisions like privatization and structural adjustment, and pointed out that by imposing such policies, the government is violating the "Plan of Action" of the Fourth International Women's Conference where governments pledged to work against policies that impoverish women. The groups also demanded justice, asked parliament to press for the publication of the Truth Commission report, to write laws to protect women, to ratify international conventions pertaining to women, and to establish a special court to try political rapists. "That makes ten years since we took to the streets... We salute the courage of all women who opened the route of change... and we decree Apr. 3 National Day of Haitian Women's Movement," the declaration ended. The parliamentarians applauded, although one noted that peasant women were not represented. Dep. Yvon Toussaint, of the Women's Commission, promised parliament would soon sit down with women's groups to discuss the ministry's future and laws that should be modified or written. TI MACHANN PAY THE PRICE PORT-AU-PRINCE, Apr. 1 - Over the past few weeks, hundreds of ti machann ("little merchants") or street vendors have been brutally forced by city officials to abandon their curb-side stands or "shops." Victims of the economic crisis, they are now paying for it by losing their livelihoods. A response to the very real problem of congested streets, the actions have led to complaints and altercations. On March 18, during an argument between the Petion-ville city officials, truck drivers and street vendors, Assistant Mayor Dany Victor Emmanuel or his security guards shot and injured three vendors. In the capital, armed security men have been forcing vendors, mostly women, off of many downtown streets and also out of Marche Hippolyte and its annex. Hippolyte is one of about a dozen covered markets around the capital. Since he took office a year ago, Mayor Joseph Emmanuel "Manno" Charlemagne has been talking about constructing a "national market" for the growing numbers of vendors, but so far nothing has been done. Street vendors and Market ladies According to Action Catholique Ouvriere (ACO), a group working with laborers, there are an estimated 700,000 people in the "informal sector" in the capital, and some three-quarters are women. Their numbers grow each day. Another important statistic: in the capital at least, about three-quarters of all households are headed by women or depend on the woman as the income-earner. The sector has ballooned since the late 1980s and early 1990s due to a number of factors linked with the liberalization of the economy, the closing of assembly factories, elimination of the Creole pig and continuing agricultural crisis. To get by, vendors live on credit and borrow money from each other (in traditional borrowing clubs like the "sol") or from usurers, with up to 100% interest. In Marche Hippolyte, some 3,000 to 4,000 people buy and sell all day. When Haiti Info visited last week, women refused to have their pictures taken or be tape-recorded, fearing violent reactions from City Hall. One woman used to be a teacher in Cabaret. She worked for 13 years in education but could never earn enough to send her children to school. Her husband, a teacher, brings home about US$121 dollars a month, but she is the main breadwinner now. The market is full of former nurses, ex-medical students and teachers. Others were maids who saved up to start in business. "There are so many market ladies because there is no other work," explained one. "After you work in a factory for a month or two you get laid off and you have to 'take up the basket' [broad basket used for carrying items] because the economy is so bad." Condemnations of Mayors After the first "cleaning" of Petion-ville streets, Gwoupman Tet Ansanm Machann Petyonvil issued a press release on March 7, protesting and saying "the domination women are subjected to is connected with the peze-souse ('squeeze-and-suck'), big eat little situation that exists in this country" giving men, as well as women (like Mayor Lydie Parent) the "right to brutalize poor people." The following week, Commission Justice et Paix protested: "It is true that the mayor has the right and authority to displace little merchants... but is it just? When we see the practices of the city hall inspectors who break things, seize merchandise... we ask ourselves if we are not in the de facto era again!" A priest long involved with workers and vendors said: "The real cause of the multiplication of the merchants is the capitalist system. The U.S. destroys the country's economy, peasants cannot sell their products, they become indebted, sell off their land for nothing and the only possibility is for the women to go sell. The system has to change, because misery begets misery." Even if Charlemagne and Parent succeed in removing ti machann from main thoroughfares and stuffing them into side-streets it will be only temporary. As long as the economy offers nothing else, they will sell. Report from Jeremie: PEASANTS: "NO PRIVATIZATION" JEREMIE, March 28 - If President Rene Preval convinced a few peasants to call out "Privatize!" and "Sell!" in the South earlier this month, he did not convince the peasant movement Mouvman Peyizan Abriko-Bonbon, based in the lush, mountainous coastal zone around Abricots and Bonbon. The farmers there used to grow cacao and coffee, but today concentrate on subsistence crops like yams and potatoes. Transportation is difficult, so most crops are consumed locally. In a lengthy interview yesterday, spokesman Reynold Neptune made his organization's position, and its anger, clear. "As a grassroots organization, our position is clear. We will not go for privatization. We are an organization that has existed for six years, battling on the ground. We finally got to a point where we were participating, having a say [through the elections]... but then we heard over the radio that they are talking about privatization, without even consulting the base organizations! "We have always been against privatization and the IMF," he said, "Now, where are we? A coup d'etat where they dismantled all the popular organizations and gave political asylum to all consequent militants and sent them away because they were the ones fighting against privatization... They thought we would swallow it... but we say, we will keep fighting!" Asked about his organization's support of Preval's candidacy, despite the clear indications he gave that his government would be going along with the neoliberal reforms initiated by his predecessor, Neptune admitted that "Yes, we did support him," because the movement is associated with Komite Rezistans Grandans (KOREGA), which is part of the Lavalas platform. He defended the decision because, he said Preval "came out of the popular sector" but also showed the beginnings of deception: "Since before the discovery there have been a series of leaders of all kinds and colors, with beautiful words, beautiful speeches... The executive had better explain clearly how he decided to impose privatization on us... because the people are not 'zombis' anymore. "'Privatization' is a big word for people who speak French and sit behind their desks and in their living rooms, but the people, the peasants do not really know what privatization is," he continued, "the market ladies in the streets, people looking for jobs who never ever hear the radio." Mouvman Peyizan Abriko-Bonbon is worried not only about privatization but about liberalization in general and its effects on the democratic and popular movement. "We in Haiti are importers. What do we produce here today? We see that coffee does not give us anything. Cacao does not either. How are we going to import if we can't sell anything? But those people, overseas, they are exporters. They are the ones forcing us to have a 'free market' so they can sell us their things... Under this system, the masses do not have a chance, and the repercussions will fall on the base organizations and they will become dismantled and will not be able to resist any longer... People need to eat and today they cannot eat. They need to drink. They cannot find anything to drink. They need to go find work. They can't find work." Neptune demanded that the president come through with his promise of participation: "Us in the masses, in the base organizations, we have our two cents to add, and we are already clear: No to privatization! It would not be good for us. It will bring more unemployment... In all countries where it has happened, we know that it equals unemployment, high prices, more robberies in the country, more beggars. "Many militants have fallen in the battle," he concluded. "The people's blood has already run too much! And now they want to send us into privatization when they have not even given us justice! We say, before privatization, give us justice." Popular Culture & Struggle: Konstitisyon se papye, bayonet se fe. The passing of March 29 makes people remember how the Haitian people took to the streets with hope-filled faces to vote for the new Constitution. On the ninth anniversary of the ratification of the Constitution, Popular Culture & Struggle looks at the proverb: "Konstitisyon se papye, bayonet se fe," "A constitution is paper - A bayonet is iron." According to Paul Dejean, who translated the 1987 Constitution into Creole (and is now Minister of the Tenth Department), the saying has been around for a long time and its origin is unknown, although one of its more famous citations was by Col. Paul Magloire earlier this century. A direct translation is clear: a constitution is made of paper which can tear, while a bayonet is made of hard metal. Obviously the stronger, in this case an instrument of war, will dominate the weaker. The proverb can be understood in a number of senses, depending on where the interests of the interpreter lie and on what position he occupies in society. Used by a person with political or military power, it can be a threat to those who want to protest or demand that articles of the Constitution be applied. It is a reminder: Even if the Constitution exists, so does another, more efficient force. One only has to remember the murder of lawyer Yves Volel who confronted police with the Constitution a few months after it was ratified and paid for it with his life. Another interpretation is that it is an expression of a people that has lived all of its history under rulers who have trampled on laws and ruled by force. One proof of this is offered by the history of Haiti: over 20 constitutions and over 50 governments. Magloire, whose nickname was "Kanson Fe" ("Iron Pants"), himself seized power twice (1946 and 1950) and was then "elected" president (1950-1956). All levels of people use the proverb: rich and poor, intellectual and illiterate. The proverb is not only used by people when speaking about the Constitution, but also on many other occasions, referring to other laws or even to rules or statutes of an organization. In all aspects, this proverb illustrates a profound political truth: that political power is always the result of a struggle based on the relation of forces, where armed force is the determining factor. Close-Up: THE PLATFORM OF HAITIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS The Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations has for some time been taking a series of positions where it criticizes the government and violations of economic, social and political rights. Haiti Info decided to speak to Father Hugo Triest, a Belgian Missionhurst father who has been in the country since 1960 (except for a brief five-year hiatus) and was director of Radio Soleil from 1984 to 1989, and who became Coordinator of the Platform last year. He reflected on the Platform's recent declarations and on the prospects for justice. "The Platform started as a response to the coup d'etat. There were nine organizations who already in a total informal way had some contacts before the coup. I remember, during the days before the coup, and each time that we met, CHADEL was there. [CHADEL is Centre Haitien de Defense des Droits et des Libertes Publiques, run by Jean-Jacques Honorat, first de facto Prime Minister during the coup.] Each time, it ended in a big discussion or CHADEL being angry about something!" Triest began. The Platform came together during the coup and is today comprised of the Bureau de Recherche pour le Developpement (BRD), Centre de Recherche et de Formation Economique et Sociale pour le Developpement (CRESFED), Commission de Reflextion et d'Assistance Legale de la Conference Haitienne des Religieux (CORAL), Commission Justice et Paix, Programme pour une Alternative de Justice (PAJ) and Groupe d'Assistance Juridique (GAJ), Sant Kal Levek, Institut Culturel Karl Levque (ICKL) and the legal assistance branch of HAVA (Haitian Association of Voluntary Agencies). Triest defined it as a "body of consultation" and a "group of action." "I think it's very important to understand that of the nine organizations that are members, there are only three which have as their primary objective the promotion of justice: Justice et Paix, PAJ and GAJ. For all the others, human rights is just part of a larger objective," he said. "The organization wants to become more active than it was during the coup, where it was only doing coordination of information from the members and also some assistance," he continued. "To become more active means that we need to get involved in other activities and means that we need people, because I can be a representative of the Haitian Conference of Religious at the Platform, and even take up a particular function in the Platform, but it is absolutely not full-time. I have other activities, and therefore cannot perform on a regular basis and produce for the Platform. "We have been lingering and thinking about it... The Platform up to now is nine members, a Coordination Committee composed of the General Secretary, the Coordinator and the Treasurer, and then a Permanent Secretary who does the work, but that's not enough to get things done. The Coordination is to think things and to ask questions but not to do things. Therefore, we have been reorganizing ourselves and trying to form three commissions: one for Research and Documentation into violations or on particular issues; a second commission, Justice and Assistance, that would deal with issues like legal assistance, justice reform and, in a limited way, help for victims, and third, Formation and Information, but mostly and more important, information, which would mean that we come out again with a regular bulletin again on issues. [For almost three years, the Platform produced Resistance et Democratie, sometimes as frequently as twice a week, which listed violations and gave news updates. It was sent via fax around the world.] We are looking for the people to do this now. At the same time, each commission will make a proposal for a permanent representative to work at the Secretariat. Then things will be able to be done." During the last year of the coup and the first year of the U.S. occupation, the Platform was not frequently heard from. The O.A.S./U.N. International Civilian Mission issued frequent press releases, held press conferences and carried out investigations, especially prior to Sept. 19, 1994, but the Platform rarely made statements. Since last fall, however, the Platform began to speak out. On Sept. 30, 1995, it issued a communique in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the coup, abhorring the fact that it had never been contacted by the Jean-Bertrand Aristide government regarding the new police force or reform of the justice system, where the U.S. has a great deal of control, and expressing its grave preoccupations at the lack of justice, the economic reforms and general lack of transparency. In October and November, it protested the U.S. refusal to return the documents seized from headquarters of the U.S.-linked death squad FRAPH (Front pour l'Avancement et le Progres Haitien), and against the government's irresponsibility regarding the lack of disarmament, arms contraband and insecurity. On Dec. 9, 1995, it issued a two-page statement on the 47th anniversary of the U.N.'s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which deplored that, more than a year after the "relaunch of the democratic process, access to justice is not guaranteed." The Platform called the government's "complaint bureaus" and other initiatives "smoke screens." It also again protested U.S. control of judicial reform. "They decide the content, the modalities and the limits of this reform, always looking for ways to co-opt the numerous sectors involved," the Platform said. At the time it also expressed its nervousness over the lack of transparence regarding the Commission of Truth and of Justice. More recently, after a meeting with Rene Preval, the Platform issued a four-page letter with a list of recommendations. [See last issue.] Once again, the Platform expressed its outrage at the level of U.S. control. It also deplored government corruption and the continued lack of justice. "There really is no justice yet, right now," Triest explained this week. "One can say, somehow it's 'in the make,' because the ones who are trying to bring it about are not being brutally oppressed. But for it to have a future, a lot will depend on the confidence being instilled between the national, government institutions and private institutions. What we have seen is that there has been complete separation between the two up to now, except for recently, where the new Secretary of State for Public Security came to the Platform and asked to sit down on a regular basis. If that indeed can happen, then some things can be passed on. "During the Aristide term, there was absolutely no contact. The only thing that we can say is that we had consultation with the Truth Commission in terms of the Platform handing over all its information, but that's about the end. No, there was no contact. And even now, we have not received an answer to the letter [to Preval]." In the letter, the Platform demanded that the Truth Commission report, which was supposed to be released by Aristide before he left office, be published "without delay." "One of our concerns is the publication of the Truth Commission report," he said. "One has to point out, according to me, that it sounds kind of strange that the U.S. would insist on knowing exactly what happened around the assassination of Durocher-Bertin, but never ask any questions about the 3,000 to 5,000 people who were killed during the coup!" Triest continued. "Something, what do you call that? Something strange must be going on, because there is no logic in it at all... The Truth Commission report is so, so important. And the Platform should use the little muscle we have to organize a campaign to demand that the results be published." (Preval recently promised the U.S. government an investigation into the Durocher-Bertin killing, but has said nothing about the Truth Commission report to date.) The Platform was eventually contacted on the police issue. "When everything was done, we were asked to come and talk about human rights and the police," Triest remembered. "They did not want to sit down with us while they were setting everything up, but they wanted some 'dressing' so they could say that they were in contact with us, but the Platform said 'No.' It never happened." The Platform has continued to demand that the government get control of the selection of cadets and training, and also that there is civilian control of the force. "Four months of training is obviously very, very little and what are the possibilities to keep the training going? The police are sent immediately into the countryside. It is almost an impossible task. The police are afraid in many conditions and the more afraid one is, the more violent one is... The Platform wants to fight for a more transparent approach to these problems and for the participation of the organizations that are interested in this issue... "As far as fighting against the interests of the U.S., it's useless to fight because they have the money and they do whatever they want," Triest said. "What I am afraid of," he continued, "is that all of this is part of an effort to keep the poor people in control. Simply that and nothing else. If you can't control them, you dispose of them, and that's it. Because, honestly, what kind of justice can you expect today if the only case was the judgement of only one collaborator." Triest was referring to the trial and conviction of a Gerald Gustave or "Zimbabwe," involved in the murder of Antoine Izmery, who died in Triest's arms in front of Sacre Coeur church on Sept. 11, 1993. [See Haiti Info v.3 #23 & v.2 #2] "I feel it is unjust that a simple collaborator gets a life sentence while the real actors are still free. I don't think that's the kind of justice we're looking for. And if we cannot find justice for all of the victims... I do not want to even speculate on the future. That is why I'd rather work for today," he said ominously. In the past months, the Platform has started to take a stand on economic justice also. Following Preval's announcement privatization would begin immediately, the Platform reacted strongly. [See last issue.] "The very first right for a human being is the right to live. If you say you have the right to live, the basic means have to be created... That is the opening to economic and social issues," Triest explained. "My point is always, what good does it do to tell a person you have this right and that right if the person does not have any means to exercise those rights? I feel that it's a game that we play. We tell them they have all these rights but we don't give them the means. We say: 'No.' We disappear." Has there been progress for human rights? "I do think generally there is an opening towards progress, but I don't know how long it will take. In a country where for generations there have never been any rights, if you open that up before these rights become generalized, it takes time... One thing is clear, the things we are saying and doing today, we could not do during the coup d'etat." Triest remains convinced there is still a possibility for justice for the Haitian people, but remains very cautious about fighting the enemies of the Haitian people's struggle. "I hope that more and more organizations will be able to collaborate on particular programs to be able to promote real justice with the people," he said. "It is crucial that we be able to come closer to real dialogue and collaboration with the Haitian government. The question of justice is a question of being allowed to live with dignity, but sometimes I am afraid that some foreign forces - unknown forces, forces difficult to identify - do not want that for a certain category of people." For many, including the Platform in its official positions, those forces are not difficult to identify, yet throughout his interview, one noted Triest's reserved tone and marked retreat from the Platform's firm positions on neoliberalism and imperialism. ABOUT HAITI INFO: * Haiti Info is published every two weeks in Haiti by the Haitian Information Bureau, an alternative news agency, and is edited by a group of committed individuals from democratic and popular sectors. * All articles Copyright HIB. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED. Please cite Haiti Info and send copies of usage. * Haiti Info is available by mail, by fax, and also electronically via computer. Subscription rates range from U.S. $20 to $100, depending on location and method of reception. For subscriptions, other correspondence and help for journalists: Haitian Information Bureau, c/o Lynx Air, Box 407139, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 33340, USA. For electronic mail: hib@igc.apc.org.