The US have now decided to try to turn the situation created by Aristide's election to their advantage. They know that they have many instruments to hand, starting with the army, while Aristide, as new dictatorship, asking "if the new leftwing orientation might not lead Haiti to put on the old Bolshevik clothes cast off by the East European countries."
These musings chimed in with those of the former boss of the Tonton Macoutes [terror gangs of the former dictators, the Duvaliers], Roger Lafontant, who stated: "we will never leave the country in the hands of communists."
A priest defined the significance of such remarks as "verbal hand grenades, comparable to the one which killed seven people on December 5" during a meeting addressed by Fr. Aristide. It is thus no surprise that the seat of the bishops' conference and the residence of the papal representative were attacked by angry demonstrators responding to Lafontant's coup d'état on January 7.
Lafontant's seizure of the National Palace with a small group of armed soldiers and civilians was a gamble. He declared that the army and police were with him.
In fact, however, the army chiefs denounced the putsch and surrounded the National Palace, arresting Lafontant after a brief struggle. Meanwhile, the USA had also denounced the attempted coup and barricades were being erected in the capital. Journalists talked about districts "in a state of insurrection."
Voters beat electoral fraud
THE US embasay wanted to prefirst round. On December 16, 1990, the day of the vote, everything was Indeed done to hinder voting in the Port-au-Prince and the provinces. In some voting stations in the caplrial was incomplete, In one station, middle of the day that the situation was very difficult, that voting slips had been stolen and that, In the countryside, the army were following the peasants into the voting booths to see how they were voting.
But the people were defermined to vote. Sometimes they walted up to ten hours in line, They Intercepted the care containing the stolen ballots. They demonstrated against "trickery" In the streets of Port-auPrince, Under popular pressure, and agalnst the wishes of the political parties opposed to Aristide, voting was prolonged for several hours Into the night* 3 January 21, 1991 • #198 International Viewpoint vent the victory of Fr. Aristide in the popular quarters, both In the capital tal nobody was able to vote before 4 in the afternoon. The electoral matethe foreign observer had to construct the voting box himself. A member of the Electoral Council entrusted with organizing the voting declared in the
HAITI / USSR president, has few powers, and the network of popular organizations is weak. It will be very hard for him to implement significant reforms, so there is a risk of popular disillusionment.
Furthermore, during the election campaign the most enlightened sectors of the bourgeoisie understood that it was in their interests to support Aristide to stabilize the situation with a view to neutralizing him at a later date. Rather than directly confronting Aristide, the USA is trying to sounded a militant note. In his victory address he pointed the way: "form strong committees in the districts, strong vigilance brigades and strong clean-up brigades. Link up the organizations in the Gorbachev towns with the rest of the country. In this way there will be an avalanche of organizations, the flesh, blood, and bones of
Haiti. Without this the country will be an empty bag."* threatens control him, and, if this proves impossible, to wait for the population to be demoralized before acting. But none of these calculations take into account the "avalasse" (creole word for an "avalanche" of mud), the popular tidal wave, brought about by Aristide's campaign. It is this which defeated the attempts at electoral fraud (see box) orchestrated on election day by the American embassy, aimed at ensuring at the very least that Aristide would not be elected on the first round.
Majority of army remains
Duvalierist
It was the popular "avalasse" also which was the key to the failure of Lafontant's coup, since it dissuaded the army. the majority of which is still Duvalierist, from rallying behind the putsch. As soon as the news of Lafontant's action was out, people poured into the streets of Port-auPrince and the provincial towns and self-defence began to be organized. It is also possible that, by blocking the road to the airport, the popular mobilization prevented the army from allowing Lafontant to military crackdown AS WE GO TO PRESS, a Kremlin rape of Lithuania seems to be a growing possibility. The implicit threat by the chief of the Stalinist bureaucracy, Gorbachev, to impose presidential rule if the Lithuanian government fails to repeal laws he considers to conflict with the Soviet constitution directly, contradicts the principles on which the Soviet Union was founded.
An open military attack aimed at crushing the democratic rights and aspirations of the Lithuanian and other peoples subjected to national oppression by the Stalinist bureaucratic state could mark a paroxysm of the crisis of bureaucratic rule. The apparently real threat of such an eventuality is a reminder that at some point, perhaps very soon, the breakdown of bureaucratic rule has either to go forward to a democratic revolution or backward to terror. GERRY FOLEY leave the country.
The mass media have been emphasizing the role of the "loyalist" army in resolving the crisis. But they are forgetting that this very army has been protecting Lafontant since his return to the country in July 1990, refusing to arrest him, as ordered by the Justice Minister. At that time the head of the army, General Abraham, talked of a "judicial imbroglio". And the army has allowed Lafontant to construct a stronghold in Port-au-Prince where he was able to assemble heavy arms and prepare his putsch. It was this bunker that the population took with their bare hands on January 7.
Lafontant's attempt is a serious warning. It has once more been shown that all that is needed to seize the National Palace is a small group of armed men. What might happen when Fr. Aristide is resident there? Clearly, he cannot entrust his safety to the army. Elected by the popular majority, he must be defended by them. Thus the key task is the construction of an armed popular militia.
As president elect Aristide has made several declarations that will sow illusions, notably in the army, which is now trying to polish up its image to allow it to 4 play a new political role in the future. On • the other hand, the new president has also