After thirty years of service in Africa, the first difference is obvious: Haiti is part of the West. Its social and developmental problems are not those of other developing countries. The slaves transported here from Africa were completely torn from their origins and culture, deported into the western world and organized in western terms. There is great individuality here. In Africa, if an individual is alone, set off from the group, he does not exist. Thus this country has a different point of departure from the developing countries in Africa, where virtually all decision-making is collective. Secondly, Haiti is a country that hears, sees, and knows everything. Up to 25 years ago, this was a well-organized country, although it had achieved this through a period of authoritarianism. To a degree it resembles postwar Italy, when there were huge manpower resources. Haiti today has a large labor force and great potential for tourism development. This country has a real capacity to participate fully in the western world and benefit from the economic possibilities of that participation.

Exactly, Haiti is like a poorly managed industrial concern. A disaster, a real disaster. Twenty-five years of bad management, not always due to the abilities of certain managers. It is a continuous seesaw of destruction and reconstruction. I think that’s probably the principal handicap in the history of this country which is not really a country, it doesn’t give the impression of having been able or wanting to direct its own destiny. Unfortunately this is a country without positive heroes, and in the search for its own identity, it has come to be appreciated only for the tumult it has produced. These explosions of violence, expressions of an instable social structure, destroy everything that has been achieved, and then start all over. With all the problems that follow.

In part, because of reasons linked to the history of the governments of the past 20 years. Haiti today is a country damaged in every sector of social organization and leadership. The basic problem, it seems to me, is its unstable social structure, which perpetuates a colonial-type situation.

 

Colonialism plays a part in a lot of talk heard on the street. The population is still very angry at the “white man” and the “mulattoes;” they are still regarded as colonizers. What is your opinion?I’d say that in this society, like in other countries in this part of the world, a minority controls virtually all the resources and lives as though it were a colony. They manage resources without any interest in the local culture. There is pride in the history of Haiti that makes every citizen say, “Haiti is my land,” because it must not be forgotten that this was a country conquered with blood. But the bourgeoisie has completely abandoned the rest of the country, and I think that’s a result of the more recent history of Haiti. There are forms of local plutocracy that at a certain moment fragmented the nation. But I’d also say that the Duvalier experience, with its centralization, has probably created one republic centered on Port au Prince and another republic consisting of the rest of the country. You never get the feeling from people, with rare exceptions, that they feel they belong to this country. Everyone in Haiti seems to be just passing through.

 

There’s a great difference between the people of Haiti and the other Latin-American countries…There is a certain promise inherent in the fact of deportation. People here think, “I am here but I am destined to be somewhere else.” Economic pressures here are such that everyone you meet in the street asks for help and a passport to get to Italy or somewhere else. It’s extremely saddening, everyone wants to leave this splendid land. There is no hope among the people of constructing a new Haiti. I’d say that on the other hand the current president, Renè Preval, has shown that he is bound to this country, in contrast to most of the economic-industrial world that has abandoned it. Business leaders are present only to the degree that they still have property here, but they live elsewhere. That tells you that Haiti is still a colony with a colonial structure, where a few give orders and exploit the rest of the population.

I’d say that today, if there is any hope, it comes from the will of the new leaders to make Haitians see that they are trying hard to bring attention to Haiti and seeking a future path, and doing everything they can to establish social equality.

I believe that the Haitian administration is committed to seeking the most just way to resolve problems. Preval has said that the battle that must be won in this moment is the battle for social equality, and I agree. It is also important, however, to recognize that the international community has invested a great deal to establish stability here. Certainly, the current leaders should get more help from the world’s investors, but the investors’ concerns must be appreciated. Investors left the island quite some time ago and are having great difficulty returning, precisely because of the continuous violence that has the country in its clutches.

Crime is a big problem, although we should acknowledge that it has lessened recently. We know the objectives of the criminal bands very well, and because of this we have to acknowledge why investors don’t want to come back here to renew the national economy.

 

Yes, but in reality, how can 8000 soldiers control a country like Haiti? There have been some positive results, such as the capture of a few gang leaders. But the Preval administration has nothing to do with the failure or success of the Minustah. This country lives two completely different realities: one is hidden, in which everyone knows or presumes certain things; the other is visible, where poverty and individualism dominate daily life.

The European Union is the second largest donor to Haiti, after the United States. Thus, within certain limits and not to make it an issue of special pride, I’d say the European Union is the expression of a genuine wish for solidarity and sharing of values, which are those of the European Constitution. The belief that the stability of the region depends largely on the social and political stability of Haiti is very important to us. There is a common will to live in a peaceful world. I think there is also a will to express a collective vision of our common values, which is why I like being in Haiti to work on cooperation, because my work has an ethical and moral dimension of true solidarity and a real wish to share a world in which every person receives what he or she deserves to have.