CARIBBEAN US tries to put the lid on revolution in the Caribbean islands
Barbados, where exports of electronic components fell from $150 million in 1984 to $0.5 million in 1987. In 1984, this country was undoubtedly the leading Caribbean exporter to the United States in this sector. In three years, it lost its competitive edge, in large part owing to the devaluations in Mexico, Jamaica, and in the Dominican One of the most indebted regions of the world
Finally, the free-enterprise policies imposed by Washington have further depressed the — often already dreadful -living standards of popular layers in almost all of these countries, and further deepened
In most of the Caribbean countries, with the striking exception of Haiti, the per capita foreign debt is more than $1,000. This region is one of the most indebted in the world. In 1986, Jamaica earmarked 40% of its national budget to paying the debt.
The region is a mosaic of islands, most of them differing greatly in their histories, their culture, geography and economy. It is therefore not surprising that they all have very specific political situations. However, at least one common feature unites the Caribbean nations: the fact that they are all, to a greater and greater extent, dominated by the United States. This economic domination brings with it authoritarian regimes (with, in general, "democratic" intermediaries), worse poverty in almost every case, and growing inequalities that go hand in hand with the "respect for the laws of the market." Such a situation is, evidently, favorable for the development of mass struggles. In the region itself, Cuba and Nicaragua bear witness to the possibility of
At the same time, another example, that of Grenada, is just as much in the minds of those who want to lead their own country to true independence and democracy. One of the big lessons of Grenada is the weakness of each country on its own against the United States' capacity for economic and political and, if need be, military aggression. In most Caribbean countries, threat of imperialist intervention is one of the most serious obstacles to the development of a revolutionary process, especially since North American imperialism is not the only one militarily active in the region. The United States has already included the armed forces of other great powers such as Great Britain, France and Holland in its large scale training maneuvers in the
The case of the three most populous independent countries in the Mediterranean," that is, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica, testifies to the potential for struggle, but also the handicap imposed by the very unfavorable relationship of forces vis à vis imperialism.
The sharpest turn to free-enterprise has come in Jamaica since Edward Seaga became the head of state in 1980. Announcing from the outset that he was going to "liberate" the captive market forces and replace the "import substitution" model with an export model, the new Jamaican prime minister has enthusiastically led the way with a "neo-liberal" program — devaluation, cuts in public spending, privatizations, dismantling of protective tariffs, lures for foreign investments, and an exchange of Jamaican assets against foreign-
Apart from the new start for tourism, the most spectacular effect registered in the economic field was the development of a large industrial assembly sector. The garment export industry also, to be sure the largest, employs around 25,000 people.
The Jamaican people are paying very dearly for this sort of "development," with a deterioration of public services, and a drop in purchasing power. In these conditions, Michael Manley's Popular National Party (PNP) out of power since 1980 has regained much of the ground it had lost to its adversary over eight years of social-democratic shilly-shallying.
### Crisis of Jamaican parties
According to all of the polls, the PNP has majority support. However, the destruction in the wake of Hurricane Gilbert may enable Seaga to win the elections that are to be held in early 1989. He is considered best able to get major subsidies.
In 1980, the CIA intervened on Seaga's side using every possible means, in a campaign marked by violence and murders. This time Manley is preparing in advance...by retreating ahead of time: he promised a month ago "to increase deregulation of the economy in order to encourage
Manley fought hard against the left in the PNP, which finds itself today in a very weak state. As for the Stalinist Workers Party of Jamaica (WPJ), which played a pernicious role around the time of the Grenadan crisis, it went into a crisis after its failure in the municipal elections. Recently, it has been impelled to question its subordination to the "socialist states," its anti-democratic functioning, and its manipulative practices. An echo of glasnost?
Between 1978 and 1986, the Dominican PRD, a bourgeois populist party affiliated to the Socialist International, withered popular illusions about a "social-democratic" road to development. Its management was marked by massive corruption, submission to Washington, selective repression and the April 1984 massacres. The policies of President Balaguer - a former lieutenant of the dictator Trujillo and today head of the Conservative Party (the PRS) - elected in 1986, have been distinguished from those of the preceding regime primarily by an acceleration of the social crisis: a drop in real
CARIBBEAN wages, deterioration of public services, and a rising spiral of crime. In February 1988, riots broke out in several cities.
Along with this, the continuing devaluation of the national currency is favoring foreign investments, especially in agribusiness, tourism and assembly for export. Investors, including from Asia, are flooding in even faster than in Jamaica to mount an assault on the United States market from the Dominican Republic, where labor costs are $0.50 an hour, all charges included. A dozen industrial free-trade zones already employ about 90,000 people.
Despite the traditions of struggle inherited from the fight against the Trujillo dictatorship and the 1965 war, the Dominican left is also in a difficult position, even if it is different from that of the Jamaican left. An attempt at regroupment called the Dominican Left Front (FID) broke up before the 1986 elections. Today, the left in the Dominican Republic, though dispersed, plays a very large role in social struggle and within union structures. But it is very weak in the electoral arena, while the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD, a populist formation) is occuping more and more space.
This complicated situation has precipitated a crisis in most of the organizations on the left, and many have suffered splits. The difficulty of sustaining a revolutionary project is in part the result of the victorious 1965 uprising against the local army, which was then drowned in blood by the intervention of 40,000 US marines. Long before Grenada could serve as a reminder, the people of the Dominican Republic became conscious of the size of the obstacle to their national and social liberation.
In these conditions, it is not surprising that the hope of an electoral solution, even after the disillusionment with the PRD, has been reborn around another populist party, the PLD led by the professor and expresident Juan Bosch, despite the latter's advanced age and authoritarianism. There is no doubt that today this party has attained a majority of public support and has become the focus of hope for a radical change in the 1990 elections.
Army has held real power in Haiti
In order to assure himself of the good will of the United States and the local bourgeoisie, who have already kept him out of power through a military coup in 1963, Juan Bosch frequently proclaims his determination to maintain capitalist order and is working to demobilize struggles so that there will be no social explosions before 1990 that might threaten bourgeois institutions or the electoral timetable.
The Haitian Army, which inherited its role following the American occupation (1915 - 1934), when it was organized as a auxiliary force, has since then taken on the tasks of repression. Since Duvalier's fall, it :13 has been the army that has held real power.
International Viewpoint #154 • December 26, 1988
CARIBBEAN After the the interim period of Leslie Manigat's presidency, General Namphy's dictatorship exercised its power without restraint. Deprived for the most part of international aid, it lurched senselessly on with its terror policies. It became necessary therefore, for the United States to put an end to this unstable and uncontrollable regime and once again ensure its mastery over the army.
In the beginning of September, contacts were established between Western embassies, the Papal Nuncio and General Prosper Avril's entourage. At the same time, other plots were brewing in the army. The September 17 coup d'état in which the Presidential Guard rose up against Namphy and replaced him with Prosper Avril was the result of several operations, by both the army chiefs and the rank-and-file. But at the end of the day, Avril and the American embassy were the big winners. The officers retired under pressure from the rank-and-file were frequently replaced by men who were linked more closely to the United States. And the soldiers who got out of Avril's control for a few days and wanted to completely purge the army were repressed after being betrayed (see following article).
### General strike called by CATH
The United States has thus apparently succeeded in regaining control of the army. But the situation is far from stabilized. The "mad days" which witnessed whole barracks rising up against their commanding officers will have a lingering and profound impact. And the affair of the imprisoned soldiers is far from over. During the successful general strike of November 21 called by the Independent Confederation of Haitian Workers (CATH), one of the major demands put forward was their release.
The very success SUMMERS™E of this highly politicized strike, declared rents whose strategy is based on holding democratic elections has suffered seriously since the election of November 29, 1987, which ended in a bloodbath with the blessings of the CIA. Those currents have concluded that no candidate should be run without the prior agreement of the United States. But as long as the Macoutes maintain their power, holding even minimally free elections remains a dubious proposition. Although still loosely structured, the array of radical people's organizations, anti-electoralists and anti-imperialists is gaining strength. It has proved its capacity to mobilize people on several occasions, even if it is still far from able to offer a political alternative.
### Anti-imperialist coordination
In November 1987, the United Peoples Movement (UPM) hosted a meeting of the representatives of English-speaking Caribbean anti-imperialist organizations on St. Vincent. This was the first meeting organized for a sub-region of the Caribbean by the Assembly of the Anti-Imperialist Organizations of the Caribbean and Central America, a group founded in 1984 in Havana. The Assembly itself held its third session in Panama June 20 - 22, 1988.
Representatives of 41 political parties and movements from 23 countries came together and a new Coordinating Committee was designated. Cheddi Jagan (of the Progressive People's Party in Guyana) was elected president, Olga Sanabri (of the Puerto Rican Socialist Party) executive secretary, Don Rojas (of the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement of Grenada) information secretary, and Eugene Gotfried (of the Socialist Movement of Curação) treasurer. Also elected to the committee were Michel Bangou (of the Guadeloupe Communist Party) Oscar Allen (from the United Peoples Movement of St. Vincent) and Antonio Martinez (from the Salvadoran FMLN). The outgoing president was Rafael "Fafa" Taveras (from the Socialist Bloc of the Dominican Republic).
"Now we must organize some joint campaigns"
The Fifth Union Conference for Workers Unity in the Caribbean was held from June 22 to 24. It was organized by the Council of Progressive Unions of Trinidad and Tobago. The delegates came from 17 countries in the region. The fact that these conferences are being held shows the growing links being forged between the organizations in the Caribbean basin.
Don Rojas of the Maurice Bishop Patriotic Movement said last February in the Militant that the climate of cooperation, understanding and mutual respect among Caribbean revolutionaries, progressives and democrats has qualitatively improved. It should therefore be possible for these conferences to be extended to embrace all of the revolutionary forces in the region and to become active solidarity groups. Rojas also pointed out:
"It is imperative right now for the anti-imperialist parties in the region to begin to increase our regular joint activity. We have to work together to help the people of the Caribbean clarify the political stakes and to mobilize them in action to assert our interests against those of the
"The St. Vincent meeting of the Anti-Imperialist Organizations of the Caribbean and Central America was a step in that direction. Now we have to find ways to take the positions adopted there and put them in action around some joint campaigns."* illegal by the government, shows the radicalization of a population whose living standards are BALLOTS getting worse from day to day, and who needed only two months to shed all illusions in Prosper Avril. The average level of consciousness has risen considerably in the last two years. Another sign is the clear crisis in the Haitian Catholic Church, perhaps more serious than in any other country of Latin America. 14 The credibility of * those political cur-
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