One year after the
International Viewpoint # 236• October 12, 1992 allies in the army were smart enough not to expose their sympathies prematurely.
In a word, the Aristide camp underestimated all its adversaries. On an intercoup
EVEN before being elected president of Haiti, Jean-
Bertrand Aristide called for a "marriage" of the army and the people. For the first seven months of his term the army allowed him to attack the remaining strongholds of
Duvalier's supporters. But one year ago all of his illusions collapsed in a hail of bullets.
ARTHUR MAHON*
BODY really saw the coup d'etat coming. Launched on the night of September 29,
1991, it ended the next day with the capture of Aristide and his forced exile. During the coup, several vehicles full of soldiers and armed civilians patrolled the poor quarters of the capital terrorizing the inhabitants.
During the day of September 30, small groups of soldiers were posted along the streets of the capital, Port-au-
Prince shooting at everything that moved. In a sweep towards the National
Palace they killed many of the thousands of young protesters who were congregated there.
However, throughout the the 30th, the people of Port-au-Prince still thought that the coup was the work of supporters of the former Duvalierist dictatorship and a small section of the army. In fact, during the initial stage of the coup, relatively few soldiers took an active part in the coup - mostly the police
(who are part of the army) and the tank corps. These sectors had been bought off by millions of dollars.
Sympathy for Aristide
The putschists who were highly placed in the army probably feared letting too many soldiers and officers in on their secret for fear that many of them had been sympathetic to Aristide. But the determination of the coup leaders rapidly whipped the army into line.
Throughout that day, the population waited for the army general staff and the loyalist sector of the army (which they believed represented the majority to launch an offensive against the putschists. Prime Minister René Preval cal-
* This article first appeared in the September 24,
26
1992 issue of Rouge, weekly paper of the French
) Revolutionary Communist League (LCR)
led on the people to avoid "provoking" the army. This was because he thought that the presidential guard would remain loyal, which is why when the putschists attacked his house at the end of the afternoon, Aristide headed for the National Palace where instead of being protected, he was arrested. The outcome of the coup could have been different if he had sought refuge in a shantytown or had tried to reach the south of the country. Throughout the south barricades were set up along the highways and army barracks were attacked as soon as news of the coup was announFirst coup attempt thwarted
What accounts for these striking and widespread illusions? Aristide was to a certain extent a victim of his own initial success. Even before he was sworn in, an attempted coup d'etat was easily defeated thanks to an extraordinary popular mass mobilization. But the attempted coup had only aimed at capturing the National Palace which was rapidly encircled by the population. Some military personnel were certainly involved but the army as a whole did not take the side of the putschists. The popular response to the January 6 events gave Aristide and his supporters a false sense of confidence which was matched by an underestimation of the lessons drawn by their enemies.
As was shown by their attitude before and during the coup Aristide and his prime minister thought that they had the army — especially the general staff — under their control.
After all, they had successfully brought about significant reforms of some of the repressive units. But in fact the retired generals and Duvalierists were only awaiting an opportune moment to take their revenge. Their national scale these were drug traffickers, the United States and the Vatican. Within the country they were the bourgeoisie, the army, the Duvalierists and the political class. Leaders of most of the parties, including part of the social democracy and the Communist Party, took part in the plot. Perhaps some of the politicos thought that the coup would be "clean" and would not bring the Duvalierists back to power. They were badly mistaken.
Since the coup d'etat, the army and the Duvalierists have held the reigns of power. The successive governments that have been set up since then have only served as a smokescreen for the army. Ferocious repression continues and several thousand people have been
Thousands flee repression
Hundreds of thousands of city dwellers have sought refuge in the countryside. Then, when the repression turned on the peasantry, an inverse movement took place. Over one hundred thousand peasants have migrated to Port-au-Prince. It is estimated that nearly eighty thousand peasants have been forced to pay caution money to avoid being arrested and beaten.
Over the last year there have been many attempts to negotiate Aristide's return. The deposed president even offered to name a prime minister from the opposition. He figures that even at such a price his return to Haiti would allow the Haitian people, who have not been totally demoralized, to take the offensive. However, his adversaries are totally opposed to his returning. In an interview with Haiti Progrès, a "wealthy supporter" of the coup explained that the putschists have been advised by their American and Dominican friends to "to take advantage of the negotiations to gain time and to use as many stalling tactics as possible until everyone gets tired and leaves us alone."
It seems as if the policy of the Bush administration, which has outraged many in Haiti by forcibly returning thousands of refugees who had fled in flimsy boats across the ocean in hope of reaching the US, is to do nothing and let the situation degenerate. The French state has followed the US example by refusing asylum and expelling Haitians without proper immigration papers.
A year after the coup d'etat such scandals must be stopped. *
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