February 7, 1986, and the world’s press has descended on Haiti to witness the collapse of the murderous 28-year Duvalier dictatorship.
Trouble was, some of us nearly missed the historic moment because we were watching a man bite the head off a live chook.
I had arrived in the tiny troubled Caribbean nation days earlier with the rest of the international media throng to witness the death throes of the notorious regime made infamous by Graham Greene in his novel The Comedians.
But despite weeks of rioting and increased pressure from the Reagan administration, the revolution seemed to have stalled.
The inaptly titled “Baby Doc” Duvalier — so named because he succeeded his father “Papa Doc” Duvalier to the presidency when he was only 19 — was still sporadically driving through the filthy streets throwing coins to the peasants from his limousine window.
Some of the journalists finally succumbed to the lure of a local voodoo ceremony on the night of the 7th where, as promised, a “mambo” priest performed the infamous chicken-biting ritual.
On the way home we noticed crowds of people heading to the airport, where we found the presidential motorcade now delivering dozens of pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage to the huge US military plane sitting on the tarmac.
We watched behind the cyclone fence as the plane finally took off to France where the Americans had negotiated for Baby Doc and his even more loathed wife Michele to gain asylum.
(It was one of the few good deeds of the same Reagan administration, which was then backing other totalitarian regimes throughout Latin America.)
A few hours later, as dawn broke over the capital of Port-au-Prince, we could hear the beginnings of a slow roar as the people began to learn that they were finally free.
Many of us were hearing it from the balcony of the famed Hotel Oloffson, which had been the setting for the Greene novel. We were even joined by colourful local celebrity Aubelin Jolicoeur, who had been the inspiration for the character of Petit Pierre in the book.
As the day wore on there was dancing on the street and joy on the people’s faces, in stark contrast to the misery and fear we had seen only days before in a country officially designated the most impoverished in the western hemisphere.
Suddenly none of us felt the menacing presence of the Tonton Macoute, Duvalier’s dreaded secret police.
But the euphoria of the crowds quickly descended into revenge as they dragged journalists to see the mansions being looted and the graves of Duvalier loyalists dug up, their bones scattered.
Days later a new president, Henri Namphy, was installed in the beautiful white wedding cake-style presidential palace amid hope of free elections and a new era of peace and prosperity.
Instead, as one expert noted yesterday, it has been “30 years of calamity after calamity” — including the natural disaster of the 2010 earthquake which killed a quarter of a million people.
It also destroyed that magnificent presidential palace, which was an apt metaphor for the collapse of the nation’s political system.
Haiti’s first revolution was by the slaves in 1804, which led it to become the world’s first free Black republic. In 1915 the US Marines invaded the nation and occupied it for 20 years. They did so again in 1994 after the post-Duvalier leaders foundered.
Since then, there have been plenty of coups and murders but this week’s shooting of President Jovenel Moise was, incredibly, the first actual assassination of a leader.
And once again the US is dragged into the turmoil with reports this morning that two of the assassins were Haitian-Americans. The only thing certain at the moment is that this obscure Caribbean island will continue to captivate the world’s attention with the next chapter in its tragic turbulent political history.
Janine Perrett was the US correspondent for The Australian in the mid-1980s.
In large part Haiti’s mysery can be attributed to the huge ransom demanded by France, Haiti’s former colonial master, to back its claim to independance. Haiti has never been able to recover from the financial cost.
The US dumping of rice in Haiti sending local producers broke didn’t help either.
Very remiss of the author to omit this crucial factor to the centuries of continuing penury.
The Yanks haven’t been ‘once again dragged into the turmoil’ – they’ve been maintaining the turmoil for eons, and particularly since ’04, when they orchestrated the overthrow of Aristide.
To mention the recent history of Haiti, without mentioning the roles played by the ‘political’ Clintons, and the ‘Clinton Foundation’, for more than 2 decades in total, as well as the Canadian chaired ‘Organisation of American States’, renders the article pretty much worthless.
Try Raoul Peck or Yves Engler,
For instance, Engler on June 4th, at Counterpunchdotorg, headed “Trudeau and Haiti”;
“….At the end of last month Harvard Law School’s International Human Rights Clinic co-published a report with L’Observatoire Haïtien des crimes contre l’humanité detailing significant state-sanctioned violence. “Killing with Impunity: State-Sanctioned Massacres in Haiti” documents three “brutal attacks” that left 240 dead, in neighborhoods known for resistance to Moïse. “This state policy”, suggests the report, “can be gleaned from the consistent targeting of opposition neighborhoods and the repeated involvement of government officials, police officers, and police resources in the attacks. Moreover, state actors allowed the attacks to be carried out without police intervention and have since failed to punish those responsible.” The report also points out that the “Haitian National Police (PNH) has repeatedly used excessive force—including shooting live rounds and teargas—to shut down peaceful sit-ins and other demonstrations.”
The Harvard report elicited no comment from Canadian officials or mention in the media……”
Cheers David, you always have alternative, credible sources of information.
Always, Dog’s – it’s what I do. I’m the ultimate skeptic, particularly when I’m presented with ignorant garbage by the Strayan ‘press corp’.
Just like how they all, bar ol’ Johnny Menadue’s ‘Pearls and Irritations’ refuse to mention the revelations of the Icelandic “Stundin” publication, on June 26th, of how the Yank prosecution of Julian Assange is entirely dependent on an Icelander who just fessed up to spinning bs to the FBI, about Assange’s ‘crimes’, in exchange for immunity for crimes ranging from paedophilia, to embezzlement, incl future crimes – which he admitted to Stundin he went on committing after he had the immunity deal from the FBI.
No mongrel media outfit in Straya will report it – incl Crikey. I told ’em, early last week, they acknowledged receipt of the info, and have said NOTHING!
To quote Ed Snowden – which I did to the luminaries here at Crikey: ‘This is the end of the case against Julian Assange’.
And, they can’t be bothered mentioning it? At all? F*** them!
I refuse to be rendered stupid by ‘following’ Strayan media – they are filth.
Haiti has no chance with Washington interference.
The USA cant keep its nose out of other countries affairs.The USA was not ‘dragged in’. The USA invaded Haiti in 1915. Like all countries they invade, it was not to foster democracy. Like all countries they invade, democracy has gone downhill since.
The US invaded because US banks told them to.
There are bewildering and unanswered questions on the assassination of the Haitian president. What is the motive? Who funded the very sophisticated and no doubt hugely expensive military style operation with at least 26 to 50 hired foreign mercenaries? There are reports they have been in the country for several months. And now we hear that US forces have been ‘asked’ to enter the country to provide security. This not surprising. Highly suspicious.
Agree. The US have a habit of installing who they want.
Almost as if they need a new ”black site” in case Gitmo proves to be too close for comfort.
Also very useful for transshipment of … all kinds of everything – of which Dana could never have dreamed.