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jpowerj's review
4.0
A really amazing book - really puts together a ton of history and research to make a compelling case that basically anti-Aristide "grassroots movements" actually just represent the latest incarnation of Western neo-colonialism in Haiti. It's also fascinating how many parallels there are between Aristide in Haiti and Chavez in Venezuela (for example the concerted efforts of the media, funded by USAID et al., to demonize the leader as a demented psychopath). Like George Ciccariello-Maher's "We Created Chavez", however, I also feel like I don't know enough about the "mainstream" accounts of Aristide to really fully grasp the myths that this book is attempting to shatter. Otherwise I'd give it a full 5 stars.
unisonlibrarian's review
5.0
There is a political party in Haiti called Fanmi Lavalas, roughly translated in to English as Waterfall Family, this is the Flood of the title of this book, the flood is the people. The damming is the attempt by the international community to stop the people having their day. I consider myself sceptical of developed nations interventions in third and developing world countries, and yet as I read this book by Peter Hallward even I was shocked at the lengths the US and France Mainly, but others as well, will go to in their desire to keep ordinary people down. George Bush’s government has been rightly vilified over the Iraq debacle, but little has been said about his forays in to Haiti (and he is by no means the first US president to do so).
Jean Bertrand Aristide has been twice elected, overwhelmingly by the people of Haiti, and he fights for them. Like Chavez, but less radical, or Castro but less comic (latterly), he is another nightmare for American imperialism. After trying the age old tactics of threatening people, shooting Aristide loyalists, bribing people, funding opposition groups and using NGOs as well as the mass media to smear Aristide they finally realised that nothing could shake the public faith in this quiet, humble priest of Port au Prince. On finally understanding this they decided to kidnap him in 2004. Once deposed already to international disgust in the early 90s, this was different. The international smear campaign was supported almost completely with even left-leaning organs of the press claiming Aristide was a human rights abuser, a communist or simply a murderer, none of which is true. Proven. The people whom the US and France came to support in all elections were themselves murderers, fraudsters and elitists whose entire politics was shaped to keep the income distribution as wide as possible in Haiti, following in the footsteps of the Duvalier family who lead Haiti with an iron fist right up to the 80s for over 30 years.
Upon the election of Aristide, political violence came to an immediate stop until the US backed overthrow in 1991. In 1994 when he returned after international outcry, violence stopped again although he was hamstrung by policies imposed on his government that stunted his ideas for true democracy. This book is deserving of the word “shocking” in every area. I don’t think I have read a book that has made me so angry. In this new edition there is an equally sickening afterword on the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Haiti which the elite classes with American help have used as an excuse to disenfranchise the Haitian people again. The US military intervention in this time is truly horrifying and utterly, utterly racist. Hallward has written a superb balancing to international narrative on Haiti, and now it seems that there is a possibility for Aristide to return, his party Fanmi Lavalas has been banned from taking part in elections, ostensibly because they would win, outright so it remains to be seen what he can do. However, like Nelson Mandela or Kwame Nkrumah, Aristide is the symbol of an entire nation’s struggle, and having him back in Port au Price will is vital for the progress of the people of Haiti in their struggle against darkness, the darkest darkness of “international diplomacy”.
Jean Bertrand Aristide has been twice elected, overwhelmingly by the people of Haiti, and he fights for them. Like Chavez, but less radical, or Castro but less comic (latterly), he is another nightmare for American imperialism. After trying the age old tactics of threatening people, shooting Aristide loyalists, bribing people, funding opposition groups and using NGOs as well as the mass media to smear Aristide they finally realised that nothing could shake the public faith in this quiet, humble priest of Port au Prince. On finally understanding this they decided to kidnap him in 2004. Once deposed already to international disgust in the early 90s, this was different. The international smear campaign was supported almost completely with even left-leaning organs of the press claiming Aristide was a human rights abuser, a communist or simply a murderer, none of which is true. Proven. The people whom the US and France came to support in all elections were themselves murderers, fraudsters and elitists whose entire politics was shaped to keep the income distribution as wide as possible in Haiti, following in the footsteps of the Duvalier family who lead Haiti with an iron fist right up to the 80s for over 30 years.
Upon the election of Aristide, political violence came to an immediate stop until the US backed overthrow in 1991. In 1994 when he returned after international outcry, violence stopped again although he was hamstrung by policies imposed on his government that stunted his ideas for true democracy. This book is deserving of the word “shocking” in every area. I don’t think I have read a book that has made me so angry. In this new edition there is an equally sickening afterword on the aftermath of the recent earthquake in Haiti which the elite classes with American help have used as an excuse to disenfranchise the Haitian people again. The US military intervention in this time is truly horrifying and utterly, utterly racist. Hallward has written a superb balancing to international narrative on Haiti, and now it seems that there is a possibility for Aristide to return, his party Fanmi Lavalas has been banned from taking part in elections, ostensibly because they would win, outright so it remains to be seen what he can do. However, like Nelson Mandela or Kwame Nkrumah, Aristide is the symbol of an entire nation’s struggle, and having him back in Port au Price will is vital for the progress of the people of Haiti in their struggle against darkness, the darkest darkness of “international diplomacy”.
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