the Haitian Supreme Court, Joseph Nérette, as acting
If the corporations lag behind this it is president and promised the holding of new elections.
largely due to the absence of autonomy and the lack of
Meanwhile, on October 15, Aristide's call for a one day for the managements worker participation. The corporations are general strike in support of his return was widely hamstrung by a plethora of bureaucrats, observed. The following interview with Arthur Mahon, who red tape and rigidities.
was in Port-au-Prince from the beginning of the coup, took
This also accounts for the low productivity — 1,025 kilos per hectare compared place in early October. It first appeared in Rouge, the to 2,009 kilos per hectare in India and newspaper of the Ligue Communiste Révolutionnaire (LCR
2,135 kilos per hectare in Kenya.
-French section of the Fourth International).
Promise of poverty alleviation
During his 1988 presidential election campaign, Premadasa held out the promise of a Poverty Alleviation Act, envisaging a payment of 2,500 rupees per month to every deserving family. However in reality a so-called Janasaviya (People's
Strength) programme was introduced so as to wipe out the benefit of the limited free rations enjoyed by seven million people — nearly a half of the population — under the food stamp subsidy scheme.
The failure of the UNP government to meet the aspirations of the youth or arrive at any semblance of a solution to the national question led to the 1988/89 rebellion in southern Sri Lanka and the interminable war in the north and east.
This is the political and economic landwhich Premadasa presides, scape over having concentrated all power in his hands through the Executive Presidency system, which was introduced by former
President J. R. Jayawardene, who had become averse to being "dictated to by the whims and fancies of an elected parlia ment". The time is riper than ever for an offensive to overthrow the Premadasa
* regime.
26
H ow does this coup fit into
the course of events since Father Aristide's coming to power? On December 16, 1991, at the time of the elections, the alternative was the following; either a pseudodemocratic transition on the basis of a pact concluded with certain Duvalierist sectors and with imperialism, or a democratic rupture based on a popular mobilization. The choice effectively made then translates itself thus today. Either imperialism will succeed in damming up the tidal wave from the favelas, in wiping out the memory of the vigilante brigades, the day of mobilization on December 16, the barricades on the night of January 6-7 when Lafontant tried to seize power. Or the democratic rupture with the old order will progressively deepen through a series of crises, encroaching upon the power of those who hold the reins of the economy.
One could say that Aristide and his prime minister opened a breach in the edifice bequeathed by the dictatorship. They have been faced with a consistent choice; whether to enlarge this breach through basing themselves on popular mobilization, or to respect the bourgeois institutions, in part inherited from the dictatorship, the army for example.
It has not been possible in six months to profoundly change the judicial apparatus, which has led to popular discontent. On the question of necklacing which has aroused a lot of comment in the press; during the attempted coup d'état, several dozen tontons macoutes or their associates suffered this treatment. Aristide declared then, with some courage, that he wished he existed in a state of laws, with real justice, where people could be judged with all the necessary guarantees.
But since this justice does not exist, he could understand why the people use such means. • What about the "personal guard" which Aristide was setting up prior to the coup?
At the time of Lafontant's attempted coup, a few dozen people were able to seize the national palace without striking a blow. It was clear from then on that the army was not going to assure the security of Aristide when he became President. In power, Aristide tried to organize a personal security service constituted from reliable people. About 50 people were, it seems, being trained, with instructors provided by the French and Swiss states. In fact, it did not amount to a popular workers' militia. • What are the charges that have been made against Aristide by the coup organizers?
He has been accused of having terrorized the parliament. Some weeks ago, the deputies discussed a vote of censure against the government. There was a popular reaction; some thousands of people rallied around the parliament to bring pressure on the deputies.
Beyond this, some small groups tried to go further, physically threatening some deputies and burning a trade union office. It is impossible to say if they were supporters of Aristide who had gone too far or provocateurs. One thing is certain; they were commanded neither by Aristide nor his prime minister. • This coup was organized by people chosen by Aristide himself to renew the army leadership. Obviously his confidence was badly placed.
It's necessary to look at what this coup is about and look at its leader, Cedras. He
DEMO RASY
has very close links with the Americans. Aristide knew this. But he had a certain confidence in him, to the extent that the army had permitted the holding of peaceful and free elections. His policy in relation to the army was to win the confidence of the rank and file and of certain officers and also to replace little by little the high
Thus General Abraham was forced to resign a few weeks ago. Then Aristide attempted to bring in new blood, to promote certain people, which led to a certain irritation in army. Nonetheless, it seems that Aristide thought that a first stage had been crossed concerning the unit heads, and that these were partisans of democracy. There, he was wrong.
Aristide is above all opposed to the Macoutes and he without doubt believed that it was possible to rely, at least for the moment, on those people who were partisans of democratic elections, of an electoral process, even if they were linked to the
There is no doubt that the CIA is behind this coup. Some people say that Cedras did not wish to take power, that his objective was only a demonstration, designed to modify the relation of forces established at the time of the semi-insurrectional popular mobilization to defeat the Lafontant coup attempt. This new relationship of forces had allowed Aristide to impose a prime
In my opinion, Cedras and the Americans wanted to modify the relationship of forces to make Aristide change his policy, something the deputies had not been able to do some weeks before because of popular pressure. That said, they were obliged to ally with the Macoutes sectors at the base of the army who, since Aristide is president, have no longer been able to indulge in the drug trafficking and pillage of every kind they are accustomed to. It seems these sectors wanted to go further, to physically eliminate Aristide.
In the course of the coup d'état, it seems that Cedras went further than he wanted to. According to Aristide, it was Cedras who prevented him from being executed.
This coup is a combination of several things but, basically, it corresponds to a desire on the part of the Americans to put
Aristide back on the path of a classic bourgeois democracy, of respect for the institutions. But they have been outflanked on the Can you give some details of unfolding of the coup d'état? It seems to have bloody, and it is hard to understand how Aristide escaped with his life.
the relationship of forces was the principal objective of the Americans. That did not mean the liquidation of Aristide, which would have had bad con-
Their goal was to impose a defeat on the popular movement, notably in the popular neighbourhoods which had played the prime role in defeating the Lafontant coup attempt. Thus, the target was the imposition of terror in these neighbourhoods. During the first hours of the coup, several dozen people were killed among those who opposed the incursion of the army into their neighbourhoods.
Since, then, terror has been organized systematically. The army takes a popular neighbourhood as is target, invades it and systematically mac.iine guns it. At first, there was some resistance neighbourhoods, from the youth and the popular organizations, who were able, in
These areas, at the forefront of the repressed. For example, in a neighbourhood called Carrefour, 44 youth were executed and the army made the population dig their graves. In another area, the big shantytown of the city of Soleil, 200 people have been killed. The number of people killed by the army can be estimated at • How is everyday life continuing in
Haiti has been paralyzed for a week. Nearly all the shops have been shut. The wandering merchants are the only source of food. Contact between Port-au-Prince and the provinces is practically nonexistent. The people are not working, in response to an appeal for a general strike launched by former government mem-
Life is then at a standstill, because of the strike, and also because of the risks involved in going out. There is a curfew from 11 p.m to 5 a.m.. People stay at home; often they turn out their lights and await the dawn, hoping nothing serious will happen in the night. *