Abstract

Haiti's Collapse

The author speculates about Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's chances of holding onto power in the face of violent protests against his government. The Aristide administration, which has been overthrown once already, has been egalitarian in the lives destroyed during its time: Among its dead can be counted the president's former friends and his foes, democrats and supporters of dictatorship. No one can argue that Jean-Bertrand Aristide's presidency has been in any way successful other than this: It exists. By now, with the country well on its way to chaos, many argue that Aristide has exhausted the electorate's patience and must be replaced. Yet now--as he finally begins to recognize how powerful the opposition has become despite all his political jockeying and playacting--should be the time for all friends of Haiti, especially in the US government, to support Aristide's continuation at the helm: not because he is good but because he is president. Aristide is a transitional figure and not the best of these. He is no Mandela, and he does not have the political maturity to control the violent forces that swirl through Haitian politics--no easy job. Yet the future of Haiti hinges on support for institutions and for a state based on law. The numbers of Aristide's detractors, their unwillingness to stop their protests even in the face of police brutality and killings and their takeover of Gonaïves and other towns have brought a new humility to Aristide, which sits rather uncomfortably on his proud shoulders. If Aristide must fall, let us hope still for real, meaningful elections in Haiti, soon. But let us not expect them.