c: (.) 1\ I I . I' 1 (.) �
n tions ha com in 0
f cing much oppo-
ition H iti.
Born J nuary Ist 10ft. r
a bloody and horrific volution
against t ir French overlord ,
Haiti arne th fi t nation on
earth h an ensla peopl
broke thei r own chains nd mili-
o RI A re-
pond to th n w nation?
One politician, outh Caro­
lina Senator Robert Hayne
(1824 mad no bo about th
is ue of Haiti's recognition,
"Our policy ith regard to Haiti
The mulatto familie have been employed
'rom the earlv part of th entury as puppet for
the C.S. During the m rican oc upation of Haiti
(1915-34). l".,. officer. man" of them
Southerners. pr ferred dealing v. ith light-skinned
mulattoes. The mulatto elite share power with
the military. an easier car r ladd r for the Haitian
blacks .., ho dorninat the in uitution.
The Haitian militury maint. in its power
and di p nses its own brand of ju ti . not only
through the top generals who have frequently
occupied the presidential palace. but al 0 through
a complex and omnipresent ystem of low-level.
miofficial armed operatives-the " ction chief"
and their .assi tants (attache )--� ho rule through
fear and brib rv. For 75'% of Haitian who live in
the country ide: the ction chief IS th government.
The military hierarchy put in place by the
Marines has remained largely untouched for more
than 50 years. The General Headquarters, directed
by th Commander in Chief, holds ultimate
authority over all officers and soldiers in the F ADH
(Haitian Armed Forces). It oversees the 14 military
corps. one for each of the nine geographic
Departments (i.e .• provinces-Haitian exiles are
referred to as the "10th D pertment''), Port-au­
Prince police, the Navy. the Air Force. the
Presidential Guard. and the Armed Infantry. .
Each of the geographic departments,
upervised by a colonel is divided into districts
- which are overseen by FADH captains. The
di tricts are-further divided into subdistricts which
are under the command of a lieutenant or sub­
lieutenant. Finally. the ction chief lies at the
lowest level of the military hierarchy. Each of
Haiti' 515 com munal . sections. the smallest
admini trative unit in the country. is under the
. command of a 'section chief appointed .by the
military commander of the ubdi trict· with
jurisdic ion over the ction. A section chief has
life and death power over the residents of his
section. Section chiefs are at the heart of the
human rights violation in Haiti. The unr trained
power of ection chiefs and their as istants,
combined with their need to make money, created
a y tern that ran onoppres ion and corruption.
Among the quasi-military groups that have
wielded power in Haiti wa the infamous Tonton
Macoute. created a private force by Papa Doc
Duvalier, following his election to the presidency
in 1957. as a counterpoi to the army. The
Macoutes were a network of paramilitary activists.
10) at to the pre ident, who rved a a cret
police to terrorize the populace. Tonton Macou
i derived from th name of a bogeyman thought to
carry off children at night in a bag.
CONNECT WITH US
ational Rainbo Coalition
Office of the Field Director
1700 K tre t. �.w. #800
Washin ton. DC 20006
Voi e:
I �.
READERS WRITE
o
m work
your civil
By Eric H. Kearney
c n-,
c u
nomic uc-
o not be