Re: [Marxism] The Chinese occupation of Haiti

[Greg Dunkel <gdunkel@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There are around 60 Chinese cops out of the 9,000 + UN troops in Haiti.  I do 
not support their presence, but how does having 2/3 of a percent of the forces 
occupying the country make the occupation a "Chinese" occupation?

Peter Hallward has a very insightful and thorough book ("Damming the Flood:  
Haiti, Aristide and the Politics of Containment" Verso) that documents the role 
of the United States, France and Canada in the overthrow of Aristide's 
government and his kidnapping by U.S. special forces.

The food "riots" in Haiti last week should really be called a rebellion.  They 
occurred all over the country with the same demands -- feed us, we're hungry, 
down with Preval (the president), withdraw the UN occupiers, return Aristide.

Without UN troops, and their armored personnel carriers, rubber bullets, tear 
gas, firing in the air, the protesters would have stormed the Presidential 
Palace last Tuesday and would have made sure Preval didn't continue as 
president.

It was Aristide that disbanded the Haitian army; the UN occupation forces are a 
replacement for that tool of class repression.

The U.S. wants to continue its control of Haitian markets -- for example, Haiti 
is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, with no more than 9 million 
people but still is the fourth largest foreign market for U.S. rice.

But the real reason for the U.S. drive to contain the popular movements of 
Haiti is that they succeeded in electing their representative -- Jean-Bertrand 
Aristide -- twice in the face of determined U.S. opposition.  This is an 
example that they didn't want to spread.

Brazil's role in Haiti is to do the bidding of the United States;  it is not 
building an "empire" -- no matter how absent-minded they are -- because it 
doesn't have the military or economic capability.

/greg

>
>When is an invasion imperialist, and when is it only a small mistake? Is it 
>only the Chinese who are prone to this kind of minor error? How about the 
>Brazilian forces in Haiti? Perhaps they are just a little confused about the 
>exact meaning of the words 'national sovereignty'. Or perhaps, like the 
>British, they are building their empire 'in a fit of absent-mindedness'.
>
>As a result of its major military role, will Brazil be able to call more 
>shots in Haiti, and more widely throughout Latin America? My guess is, this 
>was exactly the calculation of the Brazilian elite.
>
>Paula 
>
>
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