SPECIAL SIX-PAGE COUP D'ETAT ANNIVERSARY ISSUE THIS ISSUE HAS OVER A DOZEN PHOTOGRAPHS E-MAIL SUBSCRIBERS: To receive this issue, send a self- addressed envelope with U.S. Postage (we will send it via Florida) or one U.S. Dollar * * * HAITI INFO * * * News direct from the people and organizations of Haiti's democratic and popular movement 5 October 1996, Vol. 4, #23 *** HAITI INFO now has photos in every issue *** Contents: A FEW IMPORTANT MOMENTS Sept. 30, 1996: MARCHES AND DEMAGOGY LACK OF JUSTICE DENOUNCED BAY KOU BLIYE, POTE MAK SONJE: VICTIMS AND THEIR QUEST FOR JUSTICE WHERE ARE THEY TODAY? Close-up: TET KOLE CELEBRATES TEN YEARS Contents: A FEW IMPORTANT MOMENTS A pre-announced coup d'etat * Feb. 7, 1991 - Jean-Bertrand Aristide is sworn in as president. The U.S., who did not approve of him and had groomed another racehorse, was obliged to accept him. However, when Aristide announced his candidacy, U.S. Ambassador Alvin Adams, who would play a key role in the coup, had said presciently: "Apre bal, tanbou lou." (A proverb: "After the dance, the drum is heavy.") * August 13, 1991 - After a period of upheaval in parliament, the Chamber of Deputies convokes Prime Minister Rene Preval, threatening a vote of "no confidence." A massive popular demonstration develops, and the offices of both KID (part of FNCD) and the union CATH (director Jean-Auguste Mesyeux had been threatening the government) are set on fire. The vote never occurs. * Late August, 1991 - The presidents of the executive committees of both chambers, both from the majority FNCD, resign and hand the reins over to two men from the largely minority opposition, Sen. Dejean Belizaire (MNP-28, of the U.S.-encouraged ANDP coalition) and Dep. Duly Brutus (PANPRA, also in ANDP). The coup d'etat * Sept. 27, 1991 - Aristide, arriving in Haiti after a trip to the U.N., and in the midst of rumors of a coup, is greeted by tens of thousands of supporters. He makes his famous speech where he refers to the "beautiful tool," interpreted by many to be the flaming tire necklace. * Sept. 29 and 30, 1991 - Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, who, along with all other members of the High Command, has not only been on the CIA payroll since 1986, but, the U.S. later said, has also been long involved in massive drug-running, tells Aristide there is a rebellion in one of the army corps, buying his troops time to deploy into poor neighborhoods where they gun down hundreds to prevent a popular uprising against the coup. They also attack radio stations. U.S. military intelligence agents are at army headquarters that night, as is Amb. Adams. Certain sectors of the bourgeoisie talk openly of the necessity for the coup and boast that they provided food or money. * Oct. 3, 1991 - Duvalierist and Aristide opponent Jean-Jacques Honorat, of the "rights" organization CHADEL (funded by the Ford Foundation and U.S. government-linked foundations), is sworn in as prime minister, with Judge Joseph Nerette as president. Preparation for Occupation: The Policy of Exhaustion and Systematic Repression * Oct. 5, 1991 - An O.A.S. delegation arrives for "negotiations," the first in a long and exhausting series. The body imposes an embargo two days later, but it is immediately made ineffective by the defiance of the U.S. peon, the Dominican Republic. In February, the U.S. will "fine tune" the embargo to allow U.S. assembly industries to continue operating. * Nov. 22, 1991 - A committee of putschists heads to Venezuela to see Aristide. Although it was supposed to be a Haitian delegation, Amb. Adams boards the plane at the last minute. * February, 1992 - The "in-country" processing for U.S. asylum offices open, an obvious attempt to seduce leaders of popular organizations to leave the country. * Apr. 30, 1992 - The new Apostolic Nuncio to Haiti presents his credentials to the regime, making the Vatican the first and only government in the world to recognize the putschists. * June 4, 1992 - U.S.-favored presidential candidate Bazin sworn in as new de facto prime minister. He will resign a year later. * June 16, 1993 - After months of promises, the U.N. imposes a fuel and arms embargo. It has no effect on the putschists, who get rich from smuggling, and devastating effects on the population. Open defiance of the embargo by the D.R. continues. * July 4, 1993 - Governor's Island Accord signed by Cedras and Aristide, guaranteeing political amnesty to the putschists. * Sept. 11, 1993 - Antoine Izmery, democratic activist and businessman, is gunned down in a well-planned attack. * Sept. 22, 1993 - The CIA-funded and encouraged FRAPH (Front pour l'Avancement et le Progres Haitien) emerges. A terrorist death squad, it will later commit numerous murders, rapes and hold many demonstrations, including one on Oct. 11 blamed for causing the U.S.S. Harlan County to turn around, a dilatory move that effectively jettisoned the Governor's Island Accord and gave FRAPH and the embargo more time to have their effects. At the same time, in the U.S. the CIA, with help from Republican Sens. Jesse Helms and Bob Dole, is carrying on a calumnious character assassination campaign against Aristide. * Dec. 27, 1993 - Over 1,000 homes burn and at least 37 are killed in a massive FRAPH attack on Cite Soleil. * Feb. 15, 1994 - Parliamentarians announce the "Parliamentary Plan" for ending the crisis. It is rejected by Aristide. The U.S. State Dept. later admits it wrote it and organized the parliamentarians who presented it. * Apr. 22 & 25, 1994 - On the 22nd, soldiers and FRAPH members massacre over two dozen Raboteau residents, and on the 25th the army attacks Bassin Caiman in the North, terrorizing peasants and burning hundreds of homes. * May 11, 1994 - Aging ex-Judge Emile Jonassaint is sworn in as "interim president" in a ceremony led by Sen. Bernard Sansaricq and Dep. Fritz Robert Monde. Ten days later, after months of threats, tougher sanctions are imposed by the U.N. * July 31, 1994 - With Aristide's approval, the U.N. Security Council passes Resolution 940, authorizing the intervention of "a multinational force placed under one command," obviously American. * Aug. 28, 1994 - Father Jean Marie Vincent, liberation theologist and democratic militant, is assassinated. * Sept. 19, 1994 - Two days after Jimmy Carter and Jonassaint sign the Port-au-Prince Accord, allowing 20,000 U.S. soldiers to deploy and begin their collaboration with the Haitian army, the occupation begins. * Oct. 5, 1994 - At a press conference patronized by the U.S. embassy, Constant says FRAPH is now a political party and is in favor of "reconciliation." Asked about the U.S. support for FRAPH after calling it "terrorist" in the past, U.S. Spokesman Stanley Schrager said "Life is bizarre, isn't it? Things change all the time..." During this same period U.S. soldiers seize and export to the U.S. some 160,000 FRAPH and army papers. Sept. 30, 1996: MARCHES AND DEMAGOGY Rights groups, popular organizations, church groups, victims of the coup d'etat and ex-refugees marked the fifth anniversary of the coup with demonstrations, burning barricades and many angry denunciations. [See also accompanying story.] In the capital, there were three marches: the largest, organized by a committee of Lavalas-linked groups and individuals, like Father Yvon Massac and "Sister Anne," also held a mass; the second, by repatriated refugees who say they have never received any of the assistance promised to them, and a third, organized by victims groups and human rights monitors. At the mass, led by five priests, speakers denounced the lack of justice, insecurity, the U.N. presence and the neoliberal policies. The main march was attended by over 1,000 people carrying signs demanding justice and denouncing neoliberalism. At almost every intersection, demonstrators ignited barricades of tires, ending at the Ministry of Justice. In Cap-Haitien, flaming barricades were erected and demonstrators denounced insecurity and the lack of justice. Some attacked a food distribution center and were shot and injured by police. Demagogic Dance Steps In the face of angry denunciations over the lack of justice, the government was obliged to take some initiatives whose demagogic character is evident. It announced 50 copies of the Truth and Justice Commission report would be released, although it did not say to whom. It also announced that a law on the reform of the justice system would be considered by parliament, as soon as the budget was passed. (Last year that process took ten months.) President Rene Preval and a group of ministers also laid flowers at the statue commemorating coup victims and then, in front of news crews, received a coup victim at the National Palace to hear his complaints. Preval said that justice "does not only depend on those working for the state. Every sector has its role," and called on victims to form a "foundation" which could sue the coup authors to get reparations money. The government, he explained, cannot go after them for the crime of committing a coup because, at Governor's Island, "to facilitate the return," the Lavalas administration agreed to an amnesty. Preval also announced his government will not tolerate corruption in the justice system, and on Oct. 1 personally oversaw the revocation of four judges on charges ranging from releasing prisoners to stealing drugs. As part of the same campaign, last week he personally, and demagogically, went out to Ciment d'Haiti to investigate rumored corruption, and then, in a televised session, interrogated the director and had him arrested. All of these steps came two days after the government announced it had uncovered a plot for another coup when it arrested the ex- soldiers' spokesman (Sgt. Joseph Jean-Pierre) at the home of Emmanuel Constant. Police said they found arms, taped messages from Constant, a plan and a list of targets. Sept. 30, 1996: LACK OF JUSTICE DENOUNCED Political parties, popular and peasant groups and human rights organizations all issued stern statements on the fifth anniversary of the coup d'etat. Almost universally, they condemned the government's failure to render justice, and the various nefarious actions of the U.S. government to block justice and keep the truth from being told. What follow are some excerpts: "That makes five years of humiliation and shame for the people's struggle," began Assemblee Populaire Nationale (APN). "Sept. 30, 1996, makes exactly five years since the macoute army, under the orders of the Americans and with the complicity of the sordid bourgeoisie, drowned in blood more than 5,000 children of the people. They killed, stole, raped children and adults, emptied state coffers, spread insecurity in the four corners of the country." APN denounced the government's eagerness to please "the American bosses" by enacting neoliberal policies, and said that if people want justice, land reform, education, etc., "they will have to fight for it through their own organizing force, because the Preval government has already shown its true face." The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW), an organization not known for any anti-imperialist sympathies, released a 30-page report, Thirst for Justice - A Decade of Impunity in Haiti, where it reproached the Haitian government for its failure to provide justice, aside from some low-level convictions and a "few show trials." It was critical of both Lavalas administrations for allowing the impunity to build by failing to prosecute the hundreds of cases filed through the now-defunct "Complaint Offices" and by allowing criminals like ex-Col. Michel Francois to escape. HRW chastised the U.S. for "erecting roadblocks to truth and justice" like, among other things, its "hard push for a broad amnesty," for "contribut[ing] to the formation of organizations that were later responsible for severe human rights abuses," for eliminating U.S. citizens' names in the FRAPH documents, "imped[ing] the prosecution of human rights crimes" and finally, for possibly "trying to prevent revelation of its own complicity in violent abuses in Haiti" through agencies like the CIA, DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency), and DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency.) The nine-member Platform of Haitian Human Rights Organizations, a frequent critic of the government on the justice issue, issued a scathing three-page criticism. Recalling its numerous previous declarations, on Sept. 30 the Platform said "our inquietudes are now, unfortunately, certitudes," and denounced many forms of U.S. intervention here, declaring that the failure to disarm the army and paramilitary forces was "dictated by the U.S. because the criminals act according to their orders and follow their interests," criticizing U.S. actions that stall justice, and denouncing the "American tutorship over the principal institutions of the country." The Platform listed 17 points that demand immediate attention, including releasing information on the supposed on-going investigations into well-known cases like the Jean-Claude Museau assassination, a plan and funds for reparations to victims, information about the U.S. firm "Checchi" that is doing "justice reform," revision of the police staff and training, currently "scandalously" under U.S. control, and other steps to make the police and justice system more accountable to Haitian political and citizen structures. But, it noted: "Enacting these kinds of recommendations demand that the government abandon its current logic of submission to the interests and diktats of the U.S." BAY KOU BLIYE, POTE MAK SONJE: VICTIMS AND THEIR QUEST FOR JUSTICE Since the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the Lavalas governments have repeatedly promised justice to victims of the three-year brutal coup period, where between 3,000 and 5,000 people were killed and many thousands beaten, raped, disfigured and robbed. Aristide's government opened "Complaint Offices" all over the country, and, at great personal risk, people stood in line to report the crimes committed against them. Amidst much fanfare, Aristide also inaugurated the "Bureau des Avocats," a team of four foreign lawyers, and the Special Investigative Unit. Nothing has been heard from either of them. The government also promised legal assistance, but that never amounted to much . Next came the Commission of Truth and Justice, which said it took the testimonies of more than 5,000 people and compiled them all in a report handed over to Aristide on Feb. 6, 1995. The Preval government has continued in the same vein, making promises, announcing "reforms." Minister of Justice Max Antoine has repeatedly told people it is their responsibility to make the justice system work. In sum, for two years, while the government practiced its policy of reconciliation, awarding putschist firms fat state contracts and taking care of the bourgeoisie's interests, as well as faithfully complying with all of the demands of its international tutors, the victims of the coup, those who struggled personally against it and paid with their blood, remain ignored or, at best, punished over and over again by waves of shameless demagogy from Lavalas officials. "Pierre" (not his real name): "After the coup d'etat they arrested me, on May 9, 1993. I had just finished washing up and was about to go to church. They arrested me... They told me I was in Lavalas, that I was in MPP [Mouvman Peyizan Papay]... Lt. Emmanuel Lubin came on Wednesday... and the [O.A.S./U.N.] Civilian Mission came. I heard them talking to him outside. A soldier came and got us. The Civilian Mission said 'hello' to us. After they left, Lubin called us and said, 'Oh-hoh, it's you that has been spreading terror around here! Holding Lavalas and MPP meetings!'... We were sent to Hinche. They showed us a club and said, 'MPP - 250, Lavalas - 350.' ... They beat me until everything down there [his genital area] disappeared, and then I got sick down there. I had hemorrhages and was bleeding..." Pierre was released and has been in and out of the hospital ever since. He can no longer urinate and has a tube going directly into his bladder. He and his wife and child have no money for medical care. He is at the state hospital and is scheduled for an operation, but does not know what the doctors will do. He has never filed a legal complaint. He said the Civilian Mission has his report, but he does not know what they did with it. "I don't have any hope," he said. "The ones that are supposed to give you justice, they make you believe they will do something, and then they don't do anything. They only screw you." "Eve": "It was Aug. 29, 1994. We were sleeping and we heard a lot of noise. My cousin and I were in the house... My cousin used to do commerce." Three men dressed in black and with big guns forced their way in and roughed up the women. "They asked where the commerce money was. We said 'We don't have any,' and they said, 'We'll see if you have any.'" Eve's cousin handed over the little money she had. "'Oh, you are saving your money so that when Aristide comes you can celebrate!'" she remembered one of them then said. "Then they beat us and two of them did it to us. My cousin immediately left Port-au-Prince and never came back." Like many rape victims who feel ashamed and humiliated, Eve, a high school student, has never filed a complaint nor told anyone about the incident, except for a women's organization. "I don't know if we will ever get justice, because so much time has passed. We have held demonstrations to demand justice. We have yelled 'Down with rape! Women need justice!'... but during all that time... we have never had justice. Women especially have no rights here, and especially not in court. I don't see how we will get justice, but we will struggle for it." "Jean": "They were all dressed in olive green. It was the same day they took the President hostage... I lifted my two hands in the air, and they just started to beat me," recounted Jean. On the night of the coup, in his Carrefours neighborhood soldiers rounded up and massacred scores of people, dumping the bodies in a pit. Jean was only shot in the shoulder. He could not go immediately to the hospital because friends were afraid he would be killed by soldiers. He eventually made it to Les Cayes, where his wound, which was never properly treated, healed. "I have filed complaints, I have gone to the Complaint Offices, they gave me these little cards, I went up and down, tried all sorts of avenues," he said, holding up two little cards with his case numbers scribbled on them. Jean carries them with him always. "Until today, I have no result..." "Samuel": At mass on Aug. 7, 1994, as they had many times before, parishioners of a Cabaret church expressed their opposition to the coup. A few hours later, two FRAPH members, Jacques Senat and Janot Leonard, came to Samuel's neighborhood, arrested him a gun point and took him to the local army post. He was known for his participation in a local popular organization and also because, as a member of the local Justice et Paix chapter, he used to intervene when people were arrested. After a few questions, "The commandant said, 'Lock him up,' and it was then that they started to beat me. There were FRAPH members there..." He was struck on the head and received 85 blows to his buttocks. In May of 1995, he filed a legal complaint through a government- sponsored legal assistance office headed by Attorney Camille LeBlanc. He also gave his testimony to the Commission of Justice and Truth. "Until today, nothing has been done. Ever since I wrote up my complaint, I have stopped by many times at the lawyer's office, and they tell me the complaints have been filed, but the case is not yet opened... That makes a year," he said. "For me, the authorities do not have good will. Why? Because each authority makes a new promise," he said, exasperated with the paradox of justice in Haiti. "The Minister of Justice asks for justice, the President asks for justice, the Commissaire du gouvernement (state prosecutor) asks for justice, but they are the ones who are there to give justice! It is a cacophony! Who is supposed to give justice? Are the people supposed to render justice themselves?" WHERE ARE THEY TODAY? The officers of the Forces Armes d'Haiti: Ex-Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras and his family are enjoying a "golden exile," thanks to the Port-au-Prince Accord and the U.S. embassy. He, ex-Col. Philippe Biamby and over a dozen family and household members left Haiti on Oct. 13, 1994, on a U.S. military chartered airplane and installed themselves at a luxury Panama City hotel where they occupied an entire floor for many months. Some two- dozen other family members flew in a separate U.S.-military chartered jet to Miami, Florida. Part of the package deal cut with Cedras, Biamby and other putschist soldiers and their supporters was that the U.S. government would also grant them access to their money which had been frozen in U.S. bank accounts: easily more than US$79 million. In addition, the U.S. government agreed to lease Cedras' three homes - two in the capital and a third on the beach - for between US$5,000 and US$12,000 a month and paid at least six months rent in advance. Cedras and Biamby, who also undoubtedly have all the money they stole from the state coffers (including perhaps the missing army pension funds?), have full rights in Panama. They are enjoying the good life while the soldiers who worked for them during the coup demonstrate and destabilize in Haiti. Ex-Col. Michel Francois left the country on Oct. 4 for the Dominican Republic, where, according to the Washington Post, he has "extensive business holdings." Like Cedras and Biamby, he was estimated to be worth millions by the end of the coup due to contraband, embargo-busting, drug dealing, and because the regime closed down money-making state industries like Ciment d'Haiti and Minoterie d'Haiti (flour mill) and then monopolized the import of those basic goods. In April, 1996, after he and ex-Col. Franck Romain, an ex-mayor of the capital credited for being behind the St. Jean Bosco massacre in 1988, were arrested by the Dominican authorities, Francois, accompanied by his wife, and Romain, by his "secretary," were deported to Honduras where they were granted asylum. Haitian authorities did not want them deported to Haiti to stand trial, despite the fact that Francois had already been judged and sentenced in absentia. Honduran rights groups have protested their government's decision to protect the two men. In interviews, Romain has said he is not a "golpista" and that he wants come back "to help President Preval if he permits me." The paramilitary and the army's cheerleaders: Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, CIA "asset" and the head of the CIA- linked paramilitary death squad FRAPH (Front pour l'Avancement et le Progres Haitien) is in New York City, where he has a work permit and is said to be staying with friends. Although arrested by U.S. authorities (five months after he "somehow" got a U.S. visa) and supposedly scheduled to be deported to Haiti to stand trial for brutal and bloody crimes, the U.S. government released him as part of a secret deal, announcing that his presence in Haiti would have a "destabilizing" effect. FRAPH-er and CIA agent Marcel Morrissaint also "slipped" over to the U.S. after being "mistakenly" released from jail. Lynn Garrison, a shady Canadian character and friend of Cedras' who played a crucial role in the CIA-engineered disinformation campaign against Aristide, lives in a Miami suburb. He is said to regularly host meetings with such renowned putschists as Sen. Bernard Sansaricq. His job accomplished, Ambassador Alvin Adams was transferred to Peru. He was so identified with the coup, and thus so discredited, he had ceased to be useful here. Louis Jodel Chamblain, FRAPH's #2 man and who, according to U.N. reports, played a key role in the assassination of Antoine Izmery, is apparently in the Dominican Republic, but has been keeping quiet. Businessman Carl Denis, a frequent spokesperson for the army, was also released from jail, where he was being held for "endangering the security of the state." He received a police escort to the airport. Not surprisingly, he is now in the U.S. Attorney Mireille Durocher Bertin, a vehement coup-supporter, was gunned down in March, 1995. The case remains unsolved. The political "leaders," de facto authorities and parliamentarians: De facto president #1, Judge Joseph Nerette, is quietly in Haiti, as is his prime minister, Jean-Jacques Honorat. Although Honorat's "human rights" organization appears to be shut down, he is seen regularly driving around the streets of the capital. His successor, former U.S. racehorse Marc L. Bazin, who oversaw extensive pillaging of the state coffers, still heads the political party MIDH (Mouvement pour l'Instauration de la Democratie en Haiti), which was part of the now-defunct U.S.- encouraged ANDP (Alliance Nationale pour la Democratie et le Progres), along with PANPRA and MNP-28. Bazin, who is seen on television news programs commenting on the conjuncture, recently attended the Democratic convention in Chicago as the guest of National Democratic Institute, linked to the Democratic party. The second de facto president, Ex-Judge Emile Jonassaint, whom the population immediately nick-named "agaou" (a frightening voodou diety), died. Many other political leaders that supported the coup are still in Port-au-Prince. Serge Gilles is still the head of PANPRA (Parti National Progressiste Revolutionnaire Haitien), which, in the name of "political realism" gave the military putschists full political support and participated in the various de facto governments. His party is still a member of the Socialist International and Gilles is another frequent guest commentator of Haitian journalists. Hubert Deronceray, the head of MDN (Mobilisation pour le Developpement National) and wanted by Haitian authorities, got out of Haiti (U.S. authorities admitted he had a visa, but that his whereabouts is not their responsibility) and has been spotted in New Jersey. Jean-Claude Roy, who for hours, thanks to Radio Metropole's cooperation, broadcast his defense of the coup, denunciations of Aristide and homages to the "heroic" Cedras, no longer seems to be pushing his UCH (Union des Constitutionalistes Haitiens) "particle" (it is too small to be called a party). He can be seen instead managing his Radio Shack on Delmas and playing cards at the private Bellevue club. Reynold Georges, the putschist-turned-democrat and head of the "particle" ALAH (Alliance pour la liberation et l'avancement d'Haiti) is occasionally on the radio reporting his approval or disapproval of this or that policy. Recently, graffiti has accused him of being linked to the attacks on government buildings. The parliamentarians who played key roles are mostly in Haiti, although some have fled to the favored destination of coup criminals. Sen. Bernard Sansaricq, long linked to the CIA and a former member of the FNCD (Front National pour le Changement et la Democratie), which backed Aristide's candidacy, is seen in Miami, where he takes care of his gas station business and meets with right-wingers like Lynn Garrison. Sen. Thomas Eddy Dupiton, also a former FNCD member, is still in the Senate, and can been seen debating or voting at Senate sessions just like any other parliamentarian. His term ends in November. Sen. Dejean Belizaire of MNP-28 (Mouvement National Patriotique 28 Juillet), did not win his re-election bid. He is soon to be tried on charges of graft while he worked at the National Airport Authority during the Prosper Avril regime. His co-worker Sen. Julio Larosiliere of Leslie Manigat's RDNP (Rassemblement des Democrates Nationaux Progressistes) is still around. He lost his bid for president last year. His tenure as Treasurer of the Senate executive committee oversaw significant "misplacing" of funds. During election season last year, Dep. Duly Brutus (PANPRA) claimed his life was in danger after angry voters reportedly burned his father's home. He is now in the U.S. with his family. Dep. Fritz Robert Monde is in Canada now, despite a 1993 Canadian law that says people from "a government... engaged in terrorism, systematic or gross human rights violations..." cannot be granted visas. Close-up: TET KOLE CELEBRATES TEN YEARS After three months of gatherings in isolated hamlets, meetings in villages and finally, assemblies in eight of Haiti's nine departments, last week the peasant association Tet Kole Ti Peyizan Ayisyen held its first national congress. The meeting, which was called "Sele Pa Monte" ("The saddle has not been mounted," meaning the people have not been "saddled" or brought under control), brought together over 300 delegates for four days of reflection, discussions and celebration, and ended with denunciations of government policies and with a declaration to carry on the struggle that began ten years ago when the movement was founded in the Northwest department of Haiti. [See Haiti Info v. 2 #22] Congress in Carrefours The militant tenor of the congress was clear from the way it opened. The walls of the school auditorium were covered with posters: "Women's rights should be respected - Down with all brutality against women," "Tet Kole is against all forms of occupation," "Peasants will not eat the food of forgetting" [meaning, they will not forget past injustices], "Down with the American, IMF, World Bank death plan - Long live a responsible state," and "Long live popular power under the control of the people." The opening ceremony honored peasants who have fallen in the struggle: a number of delegates sat around a large map of the country strewn with bits of red cloth, apparently to signify spilled blood. In the middle was a small stove containing a bundle of pine sticks. Everyone in the room each had a stick in his or her hand, too. The bundle was ignited, and then the delegates around the map each took a lit torch and, one by one, lit all of the sticks in the room as the crowd sang and clapped. [See photo] "Down with death. They kill us with bullets, with machetes, with clubs, but we are still here and we will fight even harder," went one song. Others followed: "Let's gather together to talk about our problems. Little planters, little poor people, let's gather together. They burned Jean Rabel [site of a peasant massacre], they burned St. Jean Bosco, they broke down Danti [site of another massacre], let's get together..." "Tet Kole, we tell you thank you for ten years of resistance! You were there, you did not perish. Let's stay strong!" Tet Kole Denounces Lavalas, NGOs After the ceremony, members of the organizing committee spoke to the assembly about the objectives of the congress: to continue examining the topics discussed at the preparatory meetings and to come up with a comprehensive critique of the past ten years, to look at the national and international situation and to see whether Tet Kole's actions have been well-adapted, and to come up with strategies for carrying on Tet Kole's struggle. In a recent emission on Radio Haiti Inter, members of Tet Kole touched on some of the themes covered at the meetings leading up to the congress. One of the most notable was Tet Kole's analysis of how Haiti ended up under occupation, subject to neoliberal dictates, plagued with endemic impunity and injustice, and with the current insecurity and threats from ex-soldiers and Tonton Macoutes. "It is a political consequence of reconciliation... that is what we are paying for... the deals made with the imperialist forces," said Olry St. Louis, who reminded that the coup d'etat was not against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide only, but against the population, "and, in particular, against the organized forces in the country, against the peoples' organizations." Reconciliation, he continued, is "a policy which does not make any sense for the people, which totally has demobilized the people," but, he added wryly: "Every time [the government] has problems with the macoutes, they call the people again... That is when they talk a lot about popular organizations. That is when they gather together all of the really organized forces in the country to use them again, just like they did in the elections, in the coup... that is one of the characteristics of the Lavalas power: use the popular masses so that they reach their own political objectives." For Tet Kole, the objective is not to struggle in order to give self-serving politicians power. More than many other groups, Tet Kole is angry with Lavalas politicians and is very cynical about Aristide's recent criticisms of neoliberalism. "Aristide is someone who always has a double-face, a double-game at every conjuncture. He looks at the moment to see how to act so he can play it to his advantage and make some political capital from it, and I think that is what is happening today. The first person who signed the thing at the beginning was Aristide. He could have refused, because he had a people that was behind him." On the economy, the congress examined the neoliberal policies that the organization has been denouncing for two years. Ansy Vixama, a member of the executive committee, explained at the opening ceremony: "The prices of everything have gone up... while the prices of peasants' produce go down. Instead of the government standing up to all other nations, it made a choice to follow faithfully the dictates of the imperialist colonists, especially the U.S. imperialists, that are leading the country to the slaughterhouse of a little group of pillagers." Vixama also reminded the assembly of what Tet Kole groups around the country have concluded: "For the imperialists to get into every corner of Haiti, they create what they call 'NGOs' [non-governmental organizations]. They sprout like mushrooms... and provide jobs to supposedly reduce the misery of the people. What is the real result? All of the meetings held around the country agreed: 'This pile of NGOs is a pile of people that are profiting, that are making money on the backs of the people.... Some do spy work on the terrain to see what serious organizations are here. Others create their own 'peasant organizations' in hamlets, in communes, all over, to divide the organizations that are struggling for a real alternative." "In 1996 we are in slavery again," Vixama said in closing. "We must battle to make a Haiti that is free and independent, where we can develop national production so our dignity is respected." Resolutions After four days of work, the delegates gathered in the schoolyard to hear a final declaration, which began with an analysis: "The conjuncture is tied to the application of the neoliberal plan," the speaker began. "National production does not exist any more. All the products that enabled the country to earn money are practically finished, like cacao, tobacco... Foreign products are invading the country... Artibonite rice has been erased from the market." "The Preval and Smarth government do not cease talking about the development of national production while they enter head-first into privatization," he continued angrily. "After a lot of noise to brainwash people, the Chamber voted the neoliberal project that has all kinds of names: modernization, privatization, structural adjustment, democratization, capitalization, etc... In summary, the trademark of this country's economy is the elimination of national production and acceleration of the dependence of the country on foreign countries, especially on the American imperialists." The speaker also denounced the insecurity, and said "the dossier of disarmament has become a dream" and the "destruction of the army remains a masquerade. Almost all ex-soldiers kept their arms." The congress ended with four resolutions: 1. No matter if "opportunist, chameleon or traditional enemy of the people" is pushing neoliberalism, "the same way we fought the imperialist American plan from the beginning, we are continuing. Our position has not changed." 2. "We believe the battle against this plan cannot be a thing of only one sector nor one organization. It is a long-term struggle that concerns all people." 3. Regarding the upcoming elections for sectional councils and assemblies, "Tet Kole declares... that it will not go into elections as long as the people do not have their own means and strong organizations where they can exercise control over its gains." Tet Kole asked all popular organizations "to cease sending chameleons and opportunists to office so they can strip the people clean." 4. On national production, Tet Kole demanded the government end its demagogy and enact a real land reform. In addition, Tet Kole asked for state intervention and assistance in the agricultural domain, and for fixed, subsidized prices for gasoline and basic necessities. Reflections on the Meeting On the last day, after the resolutions were read, Vixama was very satisfied. He said Tet Kole did a strong and complete self- criticism, a profound analysis of the conjuncture, and that unanimously, delegates opposed the neoliberal project. The next step, he said, is to organize information campaigns on the effects of neoliberalism, and then to define "a battle plan, with a calendar so that there is a uniformity across the country." Robert Metayer, from the Northwest, said the torch ceremony on the first day inspired him. The flames symbolized those who have fallen "for the cause of liberty, for the cause of justice," he said, but noted also that fire is "the symbol of life. That flame should be lit in the four corners of the country... We want the death of those people to become life." "This congress and the resolutions are not something that came from above," pointed out Albert Telemaque, a member of the national coordination. "It is the members that have come with a report card of the organization, the history of the organization, criticisms and assessments of the different struggles it carried on during its ten years of existence, of what concrete steps it took that were good, what ones that were not good and where to go now." Vita Telcy, who was elected to the new national coordination, said she hopes "in the days that come the movement will become a watchful and combative movement where everyone in it has the capacity to get together to battle for a better life and for change." "The coup d'etat created a lot of confusion and problems in the popular sectors, and today there is a demobilization," Metayer added. "But for us, we remember that in 1986 and 1987 we chased after [Leslie] Delatour because he had come to apply the economic plan of his 'papa', of Uncle Sam. During that period more than a few died... but today it is that same Delatour that we find in the Central Bank; the same Delatour who, together with the Lavalas government, is in our face applying that plan! "We need to reflect, discuss, plan, to organize a struggle that is better... a struggle where, once we have reached achievements, we can control them. Many times we note that 'the mule works while the horse saunters'. We are not working so the horse can saunter. We are struggling so that when we reach an objective, we can maintain it." ABOUT HAITI INFO: * Haiti Info is published every two weeks in Haiti by the Haitian Information Bureau, an alternative news agency. * All articles Copyright HIB. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED. Please cite Haiti Info and send copies of usage. * Haiti Info is available by mail. 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.