Haiti: The Damage Done
Darren El investigates life and politics in Haiti since the 2004 overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
A new exhibition by Montreal artist, photographer and Citizenshift contributor Darren Ell is set to open on September 18th. Ell’s exhibition, Haiti: Rewind, was created as a response to Canadian, French and U.S. policy in Haiti and comprises material drawn from Ell’s visits to Haiti between 2006 and 2008. The photo exhibition exposes the role of these three powers in the destabilization and subsequent overthrow of the popular government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004.
The photo exhibition looks at the consequences of the overthrow of the elected government, an event with which the Haitian people are living to this day. It questions the purported benevolence of the United Nations force that has been the predominant power in Haiti since 2004.
The photographs and video installations of the exhibition place current foreign meddling in Haiti squarely within colonial history. Photographs taken in Port-au-Prince during UN police raids and popular demonstrations against rising prices harken back to French painters working at the height of French imperial power in Haiti in the late 1700’s and to activist American painter Leon Golub.
The first video installation features a serene but abandoned landscape with a voice-over by Haitian-Canadian Jean St-Vil reading Frantz Gabriel’s eye-witness account of the abduction of Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 29th, 2004. Gabriel was responsible for Aristide’s security.
The second video installation is a looping projection, of legal data concerning the hundreds of political prisoners still detained in Haiti. The information for this piece was obtained from Haiti’s Bureau des avocats internationaux (Office of International Lawyers).
Haiti : Rewind is the third body of work for Darren Ell. Twice Removed (2004) dealt with the Israeli occupation of Palestine; Between States (2006) addressed the treatment of refugee claimants in Canada. Haiti : Rewind opens on Thursday, September 18th at Concordia University’s MFA Gallery. The gallery is located at 1395 Boulevard René Lévesque West and is open from 9am to 9pm, Monday to Saturday. A vernissage (opening party) will take place on Friday, September 19th at 7 pm.
Darren Ell
Haiti: Rewind
September 18th to 30th
Vernissage / Opening: September 19th, 7 pm
MFA Gallery: 1395 René Lévesque West, Montreal
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Has Canada undermined democracy in Haiti? Darren Ell’s much anticipated dossier on Canada’s involvement in the coup in Haiti is now online, where you can absorb fact and opinion alike through video, audio, photography and more. Check out The Damage Done: Canada and the Coup in Haiti, and feel free to have your say in the comments section.
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darren
August 19, 2007
Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine photographed in Port-au-Prince by Darren Ell, February 2007.
On August 15th, one of Haiti’s most prominent and vocal advocates of human rights in Haiti went missing. His car was found abandoned in Port-au-Prince. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine has founded numerous justice and social service organizations in Haiti throughout his life. His most recent organization, the 30th of September Foundation, works on behalf of the thousands of victims of the 1991 and 2004 coup d’états, the only such organization in a country where the victims number into the tens of thousands. As he has done before, he was touring the country speaking to groups about the human rights situation in the country. Following the coup d’état of 2004, Lovinsky fled for his life, but courageously returned to continue his human rights work in Haiti. I personally met Lovinsky numerous times while in Haiti last February and published a wide-ranging interview with him on HaitiAction.net. I urge Canadians to contact the Canadian Embassy in Haiti to urge officials to work for this safe return. I urge American readers to contact their embassy in Haiti. To learn more about the situation, read a recent posting by Canadian activists who were working with Lovinsky at the time of his abduction. Their contact information is in the posting.
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darren
July 31, 2007
Some of the biggest news coming out of Haiti in recent weeks concerns attempts by America’s DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) to arrest a man named Guy Philippe. Philippe, long accused by Aristide of drug running, was one of the key leaders of the 2004 armed coup d’état against democratically-elected President Aristide, a coup d’état with key Canadian involvement. After Canadian troops helped secure the airport in Port-au-Prince so US troops could whisk Aristide out of the country (the US is still barring his return), Miami lawyer Gérard Latortue was flown in to run a dictatorship that saw thousands murdered and tens of thousands raped, with Canada’s full knowledge and support. In the elections that were held two years later, in 2006, Guy Philippe ran for President, winning about 2% of the vote.
Election posters of Guy Philippe in Port au Prince prior to the 2006 elections.
So why is the DEA suddenly looking for him now, years after his affiliations with drugs were known? A recent article by American journalist Kevin Pina may shed crucial light on the subject: Philippe has been spilling the beans on Haitian radio, naming the names of members of the Haitian business and political elite involved in the overthrow of democracy in 2004. A crucial name is Andy Apaid, textile mogul in Haiti who makes T-shirts for Montreal based Gilden ActiveWear (seen the ads on the bus shelters?). Apaid is being fingered for key involvement in the overthrow of democracy in 2004. Him and his cronies all have ties to the US and could name many more inconvenient names.
Andy Apaid delivers a speech in the 2006 elections in Haiti. Photo: Darren Ell
So as in much of US history, a close friend and ally (in this case Guy Philippe) has become a common enemy that needs to be locked up. He’s still in hiding, but the story is worth following. To read Pina’s original article, click here.
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darren
July 19, 2007
As Stephen Harper prepares to land in Haiti, it is interesting for Canadians to get a look behind the spin they’ll be hearing. To get a look at what he WON’T be talking about, and to read suggestions form astute Haiti observers about what he SHOULD be talking about when he’s there, visit the Canada Haiti Action website and read their recently posted message to Mr. Harper.
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darren
June 17, 2007
The issue of debt relief for the developing world has been discussed for decades. Action is now happening Most recently, the Inter-American Development Bank announced that it would cancel the debts of Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Guyana, and Haiti. As Tom Ricker points out in his analysis of the recent announcement, this is good news for all countries but Haiti. The current arrangement will require at least 3 years to have any effect, which in the meantime will mean the death of tens of thousands of Haitians due to desperately needed improvements in health care services. As Ricker and other critics point out, more than half of the Haitian debt is odious debt, money lent to the dictatorships that ran the country until 1990. To learn more, see Ricker’s article…
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darren
June 14, 2007
The Canadian publication, EMBASSY MAGAZINE, recently interviewed Edmond Mulet, the chief UN representative working in Haiti. He is responsible for the huge UN force of 9,000 troops currently in the country (MINUSTAH). MINUSTAH is quite unpopular with the Haitian majority, partly because it has used excessive force a number of times and killed and wounded many people. MINUSTAH also signed immunity agreements with the Latortue dictatorship, leaving the victims with nowhere to go to see justice for their dead and wounded loved ones. To get an idea what the leader of MINUSTAH is thinking, and to get his view of Canada’s contribution to Haitian development, check out the article. Bear in mind that EMBASSY MAGAZINE describes itself as an “unbiased and authoritative newsweekly focused on international affairs from a distinctively Canadian point of view and on the diplomatic community in Ottawa.” Bear in mind also that Canada’s top diplomat to Haiti, Claude Boucher, recently praised MINUSTAH for its armed attack on Haiti’s poorest neighborhood, during which they killed 22 civilians and wounded dozens more. Boucher called on MINUSTAH to carry out more such attacks.
In the interview, Mulet praises Canada’s past involvement in Haiti. He does not specifically mention the Canadian participation in the 2004 coup d’état against the democratically-elected leader of the country: Jean-Bertrand Aristide. This coup led to the human rights nightmare MINUSTAH was supposed to come in and fix. Mulet also point out, uncritically, that “the international community has had to intervene in Haiti eight times in the last 20 years.” He neglects to point out the sinister nature of every one of these interventions, in each case designed to deal with a political and human rights disaster nurtured by the “international community.”
On the upside, Mulet calls on Canada to cancel its part of Haiti’s debt, a great idea. This could make a real concrete positive difference in the lives of ordinary Haitians, liberating state money for important infrastructure investment. Many more subjects are covered in the interview. To get other points of view, try reading the articles on HaitiAction.net. Here’s the interview.
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darren
June 14, 2007
‘Globalization’ is one of those terms that is used so often it hardly means anything anymore. It is however a very real phenomenon most cogently understood by those benefiting from it or being crushed by it. The majority of Haitians fall into the latter camp. To get a sense of what international economic policies have done and continue to do to the lives of individual Haitians, read Canadian Nik Barry-Shaw’s recent blog postings on the Dominion website. He visits a small area of Haiti where the stories of local people illustrate where the buck really stops when major economic decisions become reality. Read part one here and part two here.
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darren
June 14, 2007
Nik Barry-Shaw, a prominent member of the Canada Haiti-Action Network, Canada’s most significant solidarity organization formed after the 2004 coup d’état, is in Haiti currently and sending back some solid reports. In this report, published in his Dominion weblog, he discusses the problematic presence of the UN troops in a peaceful department of the country, and also explains why MINUSTAH (the UN troops) have become so unpopular among the Haitian population since their arrival in the country shortly after the coup.
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darren
May 23, 2007
Another Canadian activist, and a well-informed one, has arrived in Port-au-Prince and I’m going to be referring everyone to his blog entries. He’s one of the most well-informed people I know about the current state of affairs in Haiti and a key member of the Canada-Haiti Action Network (CHAN). His name is Nik Barry-Shaw and here is his first blog entry. I know you’re find it interesting and enlightening.
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