Three experts discuss U.S. involvement in Haiti at U. panel

The storm of controversy surrounding U.S. involvement in Haiti swept back onto campus last night with the arrival of a distinguished panel of Haitian experts. The three-member panel was organized by the Dessalines Haitian Student Association and co-sponsored by the Office of the President and the Office of the Vice Provost. Haitian Cultural Attache Jean-Claude Martineau, who was introduced by mediator Laurie Richardson as a "writer, playwright, cultural icon?and official spokesperson for the Aristide Government," spoke about the history of relations between the United States and Haiti. "Relations between Haiti and the U.S. have been very very laborious to say the least," he said. Martineau added that he believes the reason for the continuing tension between the two countries has to do with differences in their makeup. "The difference between [Haiti] and the U.S. is that they are a big country, half a continent, while we are a little country, only half an island," he said. "They are a white-dominated country, while we are a black-dominated country. They gained their independence from a revolt of slave owners, while we gained ours by a revolt of slaves." Martineau was followed by Michael Morfit, director of the Haiti Task Force of the U.S. Agency for International Development, who addressed the question of why the United States should be involved in Haitian politics at all. Morfit suggested that there were three main geopolitical reasons for the United States to be in Haiti. The first, he said, was the government's interest in promoting democracy throughout Latin America for both economic and security reasons. "How we succeed or fail in Haiti will have an impact on how we are regarded in the rest of the region," Morfit said. He added that Haiti could serve as a test case for relief efforts in the future. Finally, Morfit pointed out that if democracy in Haiti failed, the flood of refugees into the United States would surely resume. The last speaker of the night was African-American activist and Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights Ronald Daniels. Daniels, who referred to himself as a political theorist but "not an expert on Haiti," is a prolific writer and teacher who has worked on the Jesse Jackson presidential campaigns. He specifically addressed the controversial article on Haiti published in The Red and Blue last November. He said articles of this nature have become increasingly common in America. "Almost daily there is a slip of the tongue which is an indication of the deep-seated racism, sexism and homophobia which is embedded in the American character," Daniels said emphatically. His own theory about the poor relations between the United States and Haiti stemmed from the revolution that freed Haiti from colonial rule in 1803. He suggested that the revolution in Haiti -- an overwhelmingly black country -- scared the major Western countries still practicing slavery. "The Haitian people have never been forgiven by the U.S. and the Europeans for this transgression," he said. The speeches were followed by a question-and-answer session in which many members of the audience expressed dissatisfaction with the official explanation of U.S. motives for intervening in Haiti.

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