Dessalines, we both cherish our beloved Haiti but we must set the record straigtht for the sake of historical accuracy.
Papa Doc was a noirist like Dumarsais Estime.
I doubt very much he was a qualified president but I believe he was a shrewd politician.
He understood early on that the army was a threat to his presidency although the army paved the way for him to gain the presidency to begin with.
1. The exchange rate of 5 gourdes for 1 US dollar under Duvalier has nothing to do with Duvalier himself; the exchange rate was fixed by the Americans during the occupation in 1919 in order to determine how much money to loan Haiti to pay off french debts, and other claims against the Haitian government.
2. If we had electricity 24/7 in parts of Port-au-Prince ( the province being always ignored by the executive, always), we must thank president Magloire who had the vision for the Peligre Dam to irragate the Artibonite Valley since early 1950's.
3. Ciment d'Haiti, a french investment and Minoterie opened up under Magloire as his administration tried in vain to attract significant foreign investments to Haiti.
4. HASCO (Haitian American Sugar Company) has nothing to do with Duvalier; HASCO is a spinoff of the National Railroad Company that never was - start date/year 1911
5. Certainly, Port-au-Prince is burried under its own garbage nowawadays.
I grew up in the metropolitan area and it was not as bad as it is today but most Haitians never saw all of Port-au-Prince and its surrounding shanty towns: Pelerin, Sans Fil, St. Martin were always as bad under Duvalier as they are today.
Besides, the Port-au-Prince service d'hygiene was instituted by President Sudre Dartiguenave.
You cannot do comparison across historical time and space.
You can only do parallel between different administrations/regimes.
Haiti is in a perpetual decline.
It was declining under Duvalier as well as presently; it's just that the rate of decline nowadays is steeper.
It's in freefall basically.
Haiti was not stable under any government or presidency in the past since all Haitian presidents usurped power from the regime before it except Aristide, Boisrond Canal, and Dessalines.
What we need to do is embrace our own history, face our demons, dissipate the clouds of confusion, forgive and forget, debate Haiti's future and devise a national economy advancement plan that suits the majority of Haitians.
thanks
Reply to: Msg 6947
Posted by Rubens F. Titus on 3/26/08 1:26 AM
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