[Marxism] Peace in Haiti: Pax Americana

[Chris Brady <cdbrady@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Subject: Peace in Haiti: Pax Americana
Date: Sun, 29 Feb 2004 19:25:32 ?0800
From: Chris Brady <cdbrady@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: marxism-digest <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

[Note headers: I first sent this in almost an hour ago.  I sent it
before my last Venezuela post ?Thousands take to the streets to support
Chavez.?  But ?Peace in Haiti: Pax Americana??actually written by me,
still didn?t appear on the list, so I?m resending it.]

 On the local NBC TV news tonight a representative of the US Government
praised the opposition.  Their desire for peace will help the
restoration of order.  Later, the national broadcast showed opposition
soldiers wearing new, bandana-sized US flags like masks across the lower
part of their faces.  That image stays in my mind; it is very symbolic.

I am reminded of other US-backed coups that played out with similar
scenarios.  They do not bode well for the people of Haiti.

The San Francisco Chronicle today quoted the rebel leader Guy Philippe
as saying the heroes he admired include US Presidents Ronald Reagan and
George W. Bush:  ?I like tough guys.  The guys that protect their
country.?  The rest of Latin America knows about the rule of ?mano dura?
(hard hand=strongman rule).

Mais entendez bien: this was not just a US-backed coup.  France played a
critical role.  And listen well: after the US Marines flew in to guard
their embassy, Canadian troops were the first to arrive in Haiti.  These
troops could have been dispatched to confront the drug-connected, School
of the Americas-trained ?rebels?.  But this coup was a coordinated
imperialist conspiracy.  The rebels had to drive Aristide from power
before the order could be ?restored.?

The best quote on the TV networks? news tonight?they all carried it?was
from President Bush:  ?I urge the people of Haiti to reject violence.?
Now that violence effected the change he wanted, it is time to secure
the new order.  That is ?peace? in our time.



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