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Newsgroups: bit.listserv.politics
Date:         Fri, 22 Jan 1993 14:57:54 CST
From:         Titivillus <T9AA@SDSUMUS.SDSTATE.EDU>
Subject:      Re: Policie d'Ayiti (was Re:rantings of the Right Wing)
Comments: To: POLITICS@ucf1vm.cc.ucf.edu

> >>         In any event, it's Clinton's words that have increased the boat
> >> bulding.

> >And why did the boatbuilding start about a year and a half ago? Before
> >then, going the "Boat People" route was fairly rare. There there was
> >a flood.

>         The present boat-building, that was spurred by Clinton's words, is
> unprecedented.  Even when compared to the Mariel boatlift.  (Haitians have bee
> coming to America since before the coup.)

> >The situation is different than Brownsville, hoss.

>         No kidding.  The comparison was to highlight the obvious ramifications
> of going to an area with existing tendenicies for illegal immigration and
> saying "we're not goint to stop you".

> ...
> >>         The one solution that appears (to me :) to be optimal is to raise t
> >> standard of living in Haiti so that people don't want to leave.  Of course
> >> restoring democracy is a necessary step.

> >Crucial step. Vital step. If you take out the current regime and
> >reinsert the only democratically elected ruler in the island's
> >history, Aristide, then the boats would stop.

>         I think some of the post-independence (from France) leaders were
> elected, but my memory of that is foggy.  But after decades of dictators it's
> pretty obvious that it's the first democratic leader in their lifetime.

I was there right after the election. It was the first election since
their independance, and the first leader got into power in much the way
Washington did: no one could imagine anyone else. He was already the
the leader. Even defining the first as a democratically-elected leader,
it has been 200 years.

> >>         This is the solution that Salinas has for Mexico.  Mexico will beco
> >> place where you can earn a decent living so people will no longer go north.
>  I
> >> he succeds, we'll have a nice model for the rest of the developing world.

> >I hold there is a difference between the immigration problem
> >from Mexico and from Haiti. There was no large emigration from
> >Haiti until the coup. Now there is, and the main difference is

>         There has always been boat building.  The last large-scale exodus was
> Mariel.  So there have been previous examples.

Yes, there has been boatbuilding. I've been one one of them. Nice
boat. I wouldn't want to go to Miami on one, but Haiti is an island,
and therefore dependant on boats.

Which sidesteps the point you're trying to make, I'm sure. I do
not believe there was much emigration before the coup. Yes, there
was some. Haiti has an awful economy, and has had an awful economy
for years. However, the amount of people leaving increased dramatically
after the coup. Why? I suppose the easy answer in the coup. I can't
think of any variable that changed as drastically. This makes most of
those boat people political refugees, and political refugees are covered
by UN law.

> >is the military government. History shows us that these kinds
> >of governments do not solve any problems besides the small
> >balance in the despots' Swiss bank accounts. Yes, Haiti has
> >serious problems above and beyond the government, but unless
> >this government is removed, not one bit of positive change is
> >possible.

>         I agree, but my point remains that the current large scale boat
> building is a consequence of Clinton's poorly worded statement(s) on the issue
>         Dictator or not, they wouldn't be building so many boats if they didn'
> think Clinton had given them the green light.

Many of them would have already been here if Bush hadn't broken
UN rules (as treaties, they are the law of the land) earlier.

> Brett'

Dave
t9aa@sdsumus.sdstate.edu
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