Haiti to Mark 200th Anniversary Amid Worsening Poverty by Larry Luxner On New Yearís Day 2004, Haiti will celebrate its 200th anniversary as the worldís first independent black republicóand the second-oldest independent republic in the Western Hemisphere after the United States. Yet the truth is, Haiti doesnít have much to celebrate. Slightly smaller than Maryland, the country has more than 8.5 million inhabitantsó50 percent of them illiterateócrammed into its cities, towns and barren hillsides. Haitiís per-capita gross domestic product hovers around $250 a year, making it by far the poorest nation in the Americas. According to World Bank figures, 80 percent of Haitiís population lives in abject poverty, 76 percent of children under the age of 5 are underweight or experience stunted growth, and 63 percent of Haitians are undernourished. In addition, Haiti accounts for 90 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases in the Caribbean, and because there is only one doctor for every 10,000 people, the countryís infant mortality rate stands at 93 deaths per 1,000 live births. Politically, things donít look much better. Relations with the United States are very dif ficult at the moment, and President Jean-Bertrand Aristideóonce praised by Washington as a beacon of hope for Haitiís impoverished massesóis now viewed by the Bush administration as little better than the dictators who preceded him. One indication of this bilateral tension is that for the past four years, the Haitian Embassy, which employs 30 people in a mansion fronting Massachusetts Avenue, has been without an ambassador. For months, the countryís envoy to the Organization of American States (OAS), Raymond Valcin, has been slated to become Haitiís next ambassador to the United States. The State Department seems to approve of the idea, but the Aristide government has yet to submit Valcinís name for consideration by the White House, so the post is still officially vacant. Valcin, a former professor, was director-general of Haitiís Ministry of Foreign Affairs while the Aristide government was exiled in Washington, after the presidentís overthrow in 1991. When Aristide returned to Haiti three years later under the protection of U.S. troops, Valcin became Haitiís ambassador to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia and Guyana. Neither Valcin nor the embassyís chargÈ díaffaires, Harry Frantz Leo, made themselves available to The Washington Diplomat, despite repeated requests for interviews. Nevertheless, a source close to the Haitian Embassy said relations between Washington and Port-au-Prince are at a virtual standstill. "Clearly the United States has expressed its frustration with whatís going on in Haiti. The U.S. doesnít single Haiti out that wayóeveryone is subject to criticism from the United Statesóbut thereís also a lot of misperceptions about whatís going on in Haiti. Some people blame the government for being intransigent on finding a solution to Haitiís political crisis, when the fact of the matter is that the intransigence is the disloyal opposition, which is hoping for a zero-sum solution." The source, who asked not to be identified, said Haitiís opposition "has very little political clout in Haiti. When elections are free and fair, their candidates donít win, so thereís no incentive for them to participate at the national or legislative level." An estimated 60 percent of Haitiís population support Aristide, a former Salesian priest who has long worked closely with the countryís impoverished masses. He is generally opposed by the countryís mulatto business elite, which has staged demonstrations and rallies to try to unseat him. As a result, Haiti has been wracked by widespread political violence, with rock-throwing and tear-gassing incidents becoming increasingly common in the streets of Port-au-Prince as Aristideís presidency continues with no end in sight to the political crisis. "The vision that President Aristide has for Haiti is for participatory democracy that includes the poor and disenfranchised. It is not a detached representative democracy," said the Haitian Embassy source. "Yet Aristideís enemies and members of the former Armed Forces, which the president dismantled, are still in place. Those are the people who wish to derail the accomplishments of the government." The United States has worked to block $210 million in loans that had previously been approved by the Inter-American Development Bank. Those loans have subsequently been released. Last month, the head of the World Bankís Caribbean division announced that the bank is planning to "re-engage" in Haiti after a four-year absence. The World Bank hopes to allocate $45 million over a two-year period to various educational and health care projects. Most of the economic assistance that Haiti now receives from the United States is channeled through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and private voluntary organizations. "Our policy in Haiti is to support implementation of OAS Resolution 822, which was approved by consensus by all OAS members including Haiti," said State Department spokesman Lou Fintor. That resolution, he said, "calls for free and fair elections to be held in a climate of security. President Aristide has failed to take the steps asked of him by the OAS." Nevertheless, Fintor said there is no freeze on any U.S. loans to Haiti. "The United States is the largest donor since Aristide was restored to power in 1994. It has made more than $850 million in donor funds available to Haiti between 1995 and 2003," he said. "In fiscal 2003, all U.S. grants totaled more than $70 million. This money is to promote health care, nutrition, education, sustainable agriculture, micro-enterprise and democracy programs." Despite Haitiís overwhelming problems, there are a few glimmers of hope. In 2001, Haiti was admitted to the English-speaking Caribbean Community and Common Market (Caricom), despite the fact that Haitiís official languages are French and Creole. Haitiís admittance effectively doubled Caricomís population and has helped reduce the isolation that has traditionally plagued the country, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Spanish-speaking Dominican Republic. Nearly one million Haitian refugees are thought to be living in the Dominican Republicómany of them illegallyówhile another 500,000 reside in the United States. One of them is Magda Silva, a Maryland consultant who is also treasurer of the Toussaint LíOuverture Historical Society, which has around 40 members. "For us, this is a time of reflection rather than celebration," she said. "Itís all about being able to understand the totality of Haiti. From a personal perspective, most of the events in Haitian historyóthe Duvalier era, the military coup, Aristideóare looked at only in a particular point in time. But Haiti is a series of repeated events that have manifested themselves differently. The only way to break the cycle is to understand it." Silva said many scholars believe that when Haiti declared its independence from France in 1804, "it was at a time when color was still a major obstacle to being recognized as a part of humanity." Silva said her organizationónamed after Haitiís independence heroóplans to sponsor several events in the Washington, D.C., area. Many of them will be held in late June and early July, in conjunction with the Smithsonian Folk Life Festival featuring Haiti. "Weíre doing a retrospective at the Smithsonian with a series of historical paintings depicting events in Haitiís history," she said. "Weíre also in talks with a local film institute to have a week of documentaries on Haiti, and weíre looking at sponsoring a VIP ambassadorsí reception for local dignitaries." In Haiti itself, tourism officials hope that the countryís upcoming 200th anniversary will shine the spotlight on Haitiís natural attractions and encourage people to visit. "We are surprised that more and more people are coming as tourists, but weíre extremely annoyed that there is a complete barrier in the tourist industry to sell Haiti," said Fred Pierre-Louis, owner of the 103-room Le Plaza Hotel (formerly the Holiday Inn) in downtown Port-au-Prince. "We go on the Internet to hotels.com, and Haitiís not even mentioned." Added Elisabeth Silvera Ducasse, co-owner of the Hotel El Rancho and president of the Association Touristique díHaiti: "Most people here are concerned about political stability and not festivities, but there are professionals in art and culture who would like to come to Haiti." At the moment, Haiti receives two cruise-ship calls a week, bringing 5,000 to 6,000 people weekly to the country. Yet there are only 800 hotel rooms in the entire country, compared to more than 40,000 in the ne ighboring Dominican Republic. "We were supposed to have 5,000 hotel rooms by 2004 if the master plan had been put into practice. But unfortunately, it was not done," said Giliane Cesar Joubert, the associationís executive director. "This is why we have a backlog of hotel rooms." Although itís unclear how many Americans would visit a country in such political turmoil, thereís little doubt that Haitiís 200th anniversaryóand its historical ties to the United Statesówill give the country a higher profile in Congress next year. Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) recently introduced legislation titled the New Partnership for Haiti Act of 2003. The lawmaker, who has lined up 27 co-sponsors, says her bill would execute an environmentally sound approach to rebuild and develop basic sanitation, water and health infrastructure systems for Haiti. Leeís legislation seeks to address the impediments to adequate medical care and basic necessities for millions of Haitians by providing the resources necessary to build new roads, offering water treatment solutions, and developing sanitation systems. One other feature of the Partnership for Haiti Act calls for a Peace Corps-like pilot program that would provide the means for American doctors, scientists and engineers interested in participating in Haitiís development to live and work there in partnership with Haitian NGOs, USAID and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "We have a moral imperative to help the Haitian people survive this humanitarian and medical crisis," said Lee. "This bill provides that aid. As a Congress, we must work together to make this happen." Larry Luxner is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.