By Max A Joseph Jr
On October 14, three days before the 202nd anniversary of the cowardly assassination of Jean Jacques Dessalines at Pont Rouge, the Security Council unanimously approved the renewal of the Brazilian-led military occupation, which replaced the American and French forces that toppled Haiti’s democratically elected government on February 29 2004. Putting a rationale behind the illegal action, the resolution contends “The Security Council strongly condemns the grave violations against children affected by armed violence, as well as widespread rape and other sexual abuse of girls.” Unless the resolution was referring to unauthorized violence, it was unfortunate that it failed to identify the primary perpetrators of these abominable crimes who incidentally happen to be MINUSTAH soldiers enjoying blanket immunity from prosecutions.
When it comes to violence in Haiti, whether it is directed at women, children or the larger population, the top prize goes to MINUSTAH, which engineered and executed a series of violent reprisals against real or perceived Lavalas supporters under the illegitimate Latortue-Boniface regime (2004-06). Testifying before the Brazilian Congress in early 2005, Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribiero Pereira, the first Brazilian commander of the force, ominously admitted “We are under extreme pressure from the international community to use force”, naming Canada, France and the U.S as the main powers behind the request.
And, on July 6th 2005, MINUSTAH soldiers showered the inhabitants of Sité Solèy with 22.000 high powered bullets in less than 6 hours, resulting in the deaths of dozens of innocent men, women and children, forcing the U.S embassy to acknowledge that excessive force was used. On January 6th 2006, the then overseer of the mission, Juan Gabriel Valdez, nonchalantly stated” We are going to intervene (at Sité Solèy) in the coming days”. Adding “I think there will be collateral damage, but we have to impose our force, there is no other way”. This inconsiderate comment is indicative of the arrogance of the occupiers and their absolute disregard for Haitian lives. Like the colonial era when their forebears were auctioned as properties, the innocent victims were expendable human beings whose deliberate slaughter could be coldheartedly defined as “collateral damage”. The late Emperor Jean Jacques Dessalines, the fearless warrior who bequeathed us this piece of land and became the first victim of what would become a coordinated international conspiracy against Haiti, must be turning in his grave.
Last year, 103 Sri Lankan soldiers were repatriated after being accused of sexually abusing young Haitian girls. This year, two members of Haiti’s National Police were brutally beaten by Brazilian soldiers and no disciplinary actions taken against the offenders. In response to documented daily shoving, beatings and verbal abuses of the population by MINUSTAH soldiers, the mission’s spokesman invariably relies on generic statements promising a thorough investigation. Interestingly enough, while the U.N is decrying kidnapping as the main security problem, rogue members of the Haitian Police, which is under the administrative supervision of MINUSTAH, are randomly making bogus arrests of law-abiding citizens for the purpose of ransoming their families.
Almost two centuries ago, Karl Von Clausewitz (1780-1831), the foremost military strategist of all times, authoritatively wrote: “War is the continuation of policy by other means”. In my humble perspective, the exalted rulers interpret Von Clausewitz’ quote as an affirmation that only constituted states possess the legal authority to engage in organized violence. Hence, the indiscriminate use of derogatory terms such as banditry, gangsterism and terrorism to describe the actions of any group engaging in armed struggles against oppressive states.
This outdated notion that any legitimate grievance constitutes a threat to the civilized world only re-enforces the exalted rulers’ parasitical belief of legally constituted states as the only lawful purveyors of organized violence. Although, the idea was thoroughly discredited by the 20th century’s wars of liberation, which proved to be the perfect antidote to obscurantism and arrogance, this persistent falsehood endures nevertheless. Subjugation of the defenseless sustains the egotistical attitude of the great powers to which Haiti’s domination is the perfect example. No other country in our world has been so thoroughly persecuted during the course of its existence than Haiti and, to make matters worse, the whole enterprise was aided and abetted by impenitent and self-centered collaborators. From Alexandre Pétion’s perfidious assassination of Dessalines to the clique that facilitated the February 29, 2004 invasion of the country, the history of Haiti is replete with treasonous acts that enabled predator nations to decide its destiny.
It is obvious the destructive path of sectarianism, which reduces Haiti into a nation of mendicants can no longer be tolerated. However, some sectors would never share the aspirations of the majority, hence the need for a comprehensive Haitianization of the country, which was founded for that purpose. Recurrent abnormal behavior, an intrinsically human infirmity, causes certain unpleasant events to be repeated, hence the notion of history always repeats itself. Haiti’s situation, which epitomizes the worst case of “man inhumanity to man”, will inevitably engender generalized violence for which the country’s elite, its affiliated Negroes, and the international community would bear the ultimate responsibility. Any Haitian who chooses to ignore the crimes being perpetuated on Haiti and its people is either guilty of gross deficiency of character or inattentive to reality. When the implosion occurs, Vladimir Lenin’s famous phrase, “It is better to execute 100 innocent individuals than let one guilty person escape”, might come into play:
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