identite haitienne

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There is no time to write a book but there is enough time to revisit the unwritten and unpublished book about Haiti.

Great many countries have invaded the Haitian territory on or before 1/12, some with inconspicuous and tacit intentions, some with clearly manifested ones.

Seven days into this natural disaster, the invaders hardly rescued, barely treated and minutely assisted my brothers and sisters with the medical and humane recovery-Reconstruction is the priority, they silently underscore!

Myanmar dealt them a different hand because the citizens of that country have striven to preclude their identity, dignity and sovereignty from succumbing to an instinctive desire to exclusively relying on foreign aid and on visitor visas.

The invaders will not be stomping on us forever.

For these reasons, I will refrain from dwelling too much on their options and on their fate. Nonetheless, I thank God very much for every genuine effort he's made them deploy in order to materialize their will to help.

It is safe to assert that my brothers and sisters did not become parasite overnight.

The process has been slow but deliberate.

First, the Haitian identity! A few countries have astutely capitalized on the Haitian society that emerged in the aftermath of January 1st, 1804- Independance d'Haiti.

The light skin citizens of the newly freed Haitians praised themselves for their ability to speak French and used this knack as a sign of superiority-they are the minority.

On the other hand, the darker skin Haitians who form the majority of the citizenry were left with their tribal dialect and, with some inputs from here and there, coined what we all referred to as Creole today-the only language almost all Haitians speak.

Haitians, by definition, love to be in charge.

We love to be superior, to one another that is, hence the adoption by both light and dark skin Haitians of the French language, most of the time botched, as the official language of the country! Speaking French is an outlet for intellectual and social superiority.

From this aberrant affinity for a particular language that supposedly defines one's social status surfaces a detrimental saga of international relations between Haiti and other countries.

We have all watched CNN journalists asking questions to some Haitian victims in the French language, but I have been noticing that most of those victims have no clue what the journalists are saying.

I can not blame the journalists and I certainly can't label their actions as gaucheries because they, most likely, obtained information that led to their actions from the CIA world facts book.

It's however safe to assert that the blame could be placed on the individuals who put the facts together in complete disregard for reality.

I must point out that they had not innocently presented skewed and perhaps misleading information to the world.

There is an intimate relationship between their sources of information and the nature of information compiled.

For most Americans involved in US Federal work in Haiti, the network of friends and contacts consist of Haitians who speak the modified French, a symbol of social distinctions, prestige and identification to a superior class.

Members of that group of Haitians are highly regarded and trusted by Americans, but the word must know that they are not representative of the Haitian reality.

Haitians do not speak French.

Why is the French language in the Haitian society relevant?

The unconditional preference of the international community for that type of " intellectual" and commercial Haitian elite has spilled over to other areas of daily life. The most recent ramifications went unnoticed.

Most of the French speaking Haitians live in Port-au-prince, the only center of life and opportunity.

An adaptation of Colbert's doctrine would read: all by and for Port-au-Prince.

To them, Port-au-Prince is Haiti.

All other cities remain in a medieval/feudal state.

Ironically perhaps, that's why the casualties count amount to so many.

But the international community is emulating that same state of mind- Port-au-prince is Haiti.

All media outlets reports indicate that Haiti has been destroyed.

A massive outpouring of funds worldwide will undoubtedly bring billions for Haiti's rebuilding.

However should the influential voice of the French speaking Haitians prevail, Haiti (meaning Port-au-Prince) will be rebuilt, but the overall status quo will persist.

Some countries, currently present on the grounds, who never buried the hatchet, support the perpetuity of the status quo. Haiti's insolence with regard to its independence has severely damaged their supremacy in the world order.

France has punished the former pearl of the Caribbean with an inhumane indemnity that bankrupted the country and brought it to its knees.

When a Haitian citizen, a sitting president named Jean Bertrand Aristide, notwithstanding his political backgrounds, rose up to demand restitution of such indemnity, the lack of homogeneity in identity prevented the Haitian people as a whole from adopting the big picture mentality, and all efforts falter.

Some justifiable precedents can explain their refusal to support a national demand to restitute the indemnity.

Aristide had constantly attacked the commercial elite described above during his two truncated terms in the name of social justice.

The cause remains alive but his methods were wrong.

The fact that education, health care, housing and electricity do not reach the larger trunk of the Haitian people does not mean that the commercial elite is behind a plot to keep them in dire living conditions.

It behooves a competent government to help enact law and create agencies capable of streamlining resources, time and budget to achieve those goals.

Second, the political enslavement! Others have repeatedly and physically occupied Haiti Thomas delivering no added benefits.

When they leave us with a virtual state of sovereignty, they mentally and economically occupied us with chronic aid and international organizations known as NGO that parallel or duplicate the function of every Haitian government office; and with exuberantly pricy immigrants visa-over US $100 per application in a country whose average daily income per capita rotates around US $1.

The life of most Haitians residing in Haiti narrows down to staying in good standing with major foreign consulates so they do not consciously or inadvertently loose the privilege of obtaining or renewing a visitor visa.

Small wonder, Haitian presidents not abiding by that tacit rule of the game get trapped, labeled, destroyed, exiled and even killed by either forces of darkness or forces of whiteness.

Rene Preval is however doing awesome.

He is highly regarded in the international community.

He has successfully maintained a United Nations' mission in Haiti for four years into his entire term in complete contravention with the Haitian constitution.

But it does not matter now because 1/12 is the exact event for which Haitian constitutional provisions allow for foreign military assistance.

In light of these constitutional provisions perhaps, upon the Haitian president's request, the US deployed the 82nd airborne division to Haiti, not the 3rd Medcom.

But paradoxical decisions such as this one translates the veracity of what some called a modified foreign policy for Haiti.

But nothing is new under the Haitian sky. Beside the massive loss of lives and the tribulation that follows the disaster, Haitians are accustomed to this life style-no electricity, no housing, no income, no health care, no food, no water, no security, no competent and qualified government officials and the list goes on.

But the international community, the UN and the US have collectively presented a report card with flying colors to Rene Preval for the aforementioned accomplishments.

His response to the actual crisis management is so commendable that the US has announced that the Haitian government is in charge of the relief and reconstruction coordination.

Is this a joke or a below the belt attempt to undermine intelligent minds?

For those not aware of the Haitian government response to the 1/12 disaster, please allow me to fill you in. The President and its entire government had shined by their absence for the first few days following the earthquake.

The president then showed up to the only international airport of the country, the Toussaint Louverture airport, after the US announced the arrival of international aid to Haiti via that airport.

This behavior might make more sense for those familiar with the importance of international aid to Haitian officials.

He then made some unprofessional and ignorant comments to CNN, at times, with a smile on his face.

The bottom line is that the Haitian government is non existent and the rule of law is not in vigor.

But that's irrelevant to this article.

The main purpose here is to tell the world that the world has failed us.
From the removal of Jean Bertrand Aristide from power to this day, the world, through Minustha, the UN mission in Haiti has manifested an uninterrupted presence in Haiti.

The unbecoming and condescending audacity of that mission, his chief and his special envoy led them to persist on patronizing logical minds.

It does not make any sense that The United Nation already present on the scene for over six years did nothing to initiate the search and rescue efforts-they had no equipment and no plan to manage any type of major crisis.

How logical it is to entrust a group of Haitian officials with this miserable level of efficiency with the future of Haiti- the US informed us that it will follow the lead of the Haitian government in the planning, implementing and control of this crisis management process.

In reality, we all know that, Haitian officials are at the mercy of the international community, and especially that of the US.

Some say the US could have done much more and faster.

I am inclined to cautiously concur.

A deployment to Iraq with the U.S Army as a respiratory Sergeant offered me a vibrant testimony.

I witnessed firsthand how expeditiously the combat support hospital to which I was assigned built and operated a state of the art hospital in the middle of the desert.

I am not insinuating that the US should replicate that stunt in Haiti, a foreign country, because they have no obligation to do so, but I am suggesting that there might be some elements of truth behind some apprehensions.

Civil service is one area of involvement championed by President Obama during his first year in power.

While I am cognizant of the fact that the context in which he spoke of civil service is completely remote from the Haitian situation, I do believe that because he pledged unfettered assistance to the Haitian people, maybe he could consider using volunteerism of Haitians living in the US in long term rebuilding projects.

I would like to take the time to warn the world from repeating the Haitian officials' perennial and vicious circularity of mistakes- Haiti has not been destroyed, Port-au-Prince and its immediate vicinity has. But the reconstruction of Haiti sounds just right.

Haiti is made of nine geographic entities called departments, and Port-au-Prince is embedded in the department of the West. Many other departments such as the department of Grand' Anse, and I am not from there by the way, offer some very interesting layout for economic developments through maritime activities for instance.

But throughout the last several decades, Haitian governments have been treating Port-au-Prince as the sole territorial responsibility and as the center of life and opportunity for Haitians, provoking thus an out of control internal migration, hence the overcrowded and saturated state of affairs there.

Therefore, I expect any serious rebuilding projects to encompass all nine departments based on their demographic, natural and geographic opportunities.

That spirit could be initiated by moving the president's office to this historical and strategically situated monument called "The Citadelle" in the department of North.

We could follow up with the political reconciliation of Haiti by allowing both Jean Claude Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide to return home as peaceful citizens and end the everlasting political polarization.

The last step would consist of expanding the position power of the departmental delegate and allow them some monetary and fiscal autonomy.

Gera Bougui, January 25 2010, 10:54 AM

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