Damning what he calls Canada’s “selfish and cynical policy” in helping the U.S. and France overthrow an elected Haitian president, former Haitian minister of defence Patrick Elie began a speaking tour of Canada last week to raise public awareness of Haiti’s recent political crises, and our role in them.
“During the first coup against Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 2001, Canada was an ally of the Haitian people in the fight to establish a legitimate government,” said Elie. “The Canadian government stood behind us and defended Aristide in the United Nations.” Elie argues that Canadian support for France and the U.S. in the 2004 overthrow of Aristide was a calculated gesture to improve Canada-U.S. relations.
During the coup, Canadian troops secured the airport in Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince to allow French and American military divisions to enter the country.
Elie served as the national co-ordinator for the fight against drug trafficking from 1991-94, during the first government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide before becoming Secretary of State for National Defence in 1994.
Following the overthrow of the second Aristide administration in 2004, Elie founded Sant Obsevasyon Sitwayen (S.O.S.), a citizen’s awareness group that assists human rights investigations in Haiti. Elie hopes that his lectures in Canada, where he holds citizenship, will improve the public profile of problems in Haiti. He will be speaking at U of T at Sid Smith at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Elie has had a full schedule of appearances in Toronto. He addressed a rally of Haitian supporters at Dundas Square on Saturday, and later that evening appeared on a Q & A panel following a screening at the second annual Prisoners’ Justice Film Festival at U of T’s Innis Town Hall.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide first became president of Haiti in 1991 following a groundswell of support from the country’s poorest citizens. Elie estimates that the four per cent of Haitians who compose the country’s elite control 60 per cent of the nation’s wealth, a disparity that prevents the majority of Haitians from improving their standard of living. Aristide’s government attracted opposition from the United States and France who accused the ruling Lavalas party of corruption.
“No government is perfect,” said Elie about Lavalas. “We never elect perfect governments. It’s true in Haiti and it’s true in Canada.”
Elie argued that the United States government did not oppose Aristide because they believed his government was corrupt but instead feared that the popular leader would oppose American interests in the region.
“The U.S. traditionally is kind of allergic to regimes with a strong popular support because they are less amenable to control,” he said. Elie contends that the United States administration maintained a pragmatic acceptance of the Aristide government until radical right-wing politicians convinced President Bush to prevent the Lavalas party from completing its second term. Canada’s stance on Aristide changed dramatically between his first and second mandates.
“I believe that Canada helped overthrow Aristide for reasons that have nothing to do with Haiti,” said Elie, “Canada and the United States had their differences over Iraq and the situation in Haiti provided an opportunity for reconciliation in foreign affairs. The Canadian government followed a very selfish and cynical policy.”
According to Elie, many Haitians particularly resented the Canadian military actions in Port-au-Prince because they resulted in the presence of French troops throughout the nation during the period of Haiti’s bicentennial.
Haiti attained independence from France in 1804 through a violent slave revolt under the leadership of Toussant d’Overture. The Haitians successfully defeated troops sent by Napoleon Bonaparte to preserve the practice of slavery in France’s Caribbean colonies.
“To have French troops on our sacred grounds was a slap in the face for the Haitian people,” said Elie. Aristide had previously demanded that the French government pay reparations for money that Napoleon forcefully extracted from Haiti’s founding government to reimburse the exiled slave owners.
Successive Haitian administrations spent more than one hundred years paying this imposed debt.
Elie states that the February 7 election of René Préval, who enjoys the support of the Haitian poor, provides an opportunity for stability to return to Haiti.
“If the Haitian elite and the international community are willing to compromise, the future looks bright. The Haitian people can no more be denied access to democracy than their ancestors were denied access to freedom.”
