Haitian Divorce

As you already know, Haiti is in a state of total chaos. Here's a dirty little secret, though; it's been in a state of chaos for practically its entire independence. Now the country has divorced itself from their leader. The Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was democratically elected and should have been allowed to at least serve out his full term, but the rebels wouldn't support the peace plan that allowed Aristide to remain in power. The U.S. government reports that Aristide resigned and went into exile on his own free will, but many angry black American lawmakers and activists have been informed by Aristide himself that he was forced to resign by American soldiers in full combat gear, kidnapped, and flown to Africa with the complicity of the French. Me, I'll believe angry black people over the government any day. The Americans and the French wanted Aristide out, and they kicked him out. Hey, the U.S. has done this elsewhere in Latin America, and France has a history of meddling in its former African colonies.

Still, many Haitians seem to be relieved to be rid of their president. Many of us Americans would be relieved to be rid of ours, too, but we'll wait for November and try to vote him out of office. In Haiti, revolution seems to be the only way to get rid of an unpopular leader; Haiti has had more than its share of military coups and armed rebellions. Imagine a country where the 29-year reign of one family relying on terror and voodoo - the Duvalier dynasty - is considered a period of stability!

Haiti has suffered with lawlessness and chaos since winning its independence from France two hundred years ago. The Haitian slaves had the ability to drive Napoleon's army out of Haiti, but they were completely unprepared for self-government, and they still haven't gotten it right, even after a nineteen-year "nation building" exercise by U.S. Marines who occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934. It's a shame, really. Haiti is the oldest independent country in the Western Hemisphere after the United States, and the oldest independent black-majority nation, yet despite its capacity for producing sugar and cocoa, it's also the poorest nation in this hemisphere, where poverty and corruption are a way of life for the country's eight million people.

Haiti has nowhere to go but up. The Haitian people should get it right this time, with help from the United Nations. They can't afford not to.