Harvest of Hope’

‘Harvest of Hope’:
Kevin Pina documentary on Haitian army, with review by Dady Chery


by Kevin Pina, video; Dady Chery, review

“The Constitution is a piece of paper. This gun is what talks.”

“If Aristide returns, we’ll eat him up.”

“We’ll kill everybody and reduce this country to ashes!”


These statements are from the Forces Armées d’Haiti (FAd’H), a professional army that has never shown any respect for Haiti or the lives of ordinary Haitians. After all the crimes of the FAd’H, a violent spit to the ground would seem a more appropriate reaction to the words “Forces Armées d’Haiti” than any thought of a civil discourse about reviving such a body.

Yet Michel Martelly has revived this discussion, and some of the funds he is requesting to raise his “new” army are meant to cover back pay for this army of bandits. For those who never knew or forgot the crimes of the FAd’H, this masterful video by Kevin Pina should serve as an excellent introduction or reminder.

The army of Haiti’s Slave Revolution was a militia army [2] – a decentralized army in which every able-bodied man in the country was serving. The FAd’H is a professional army that has never repelled a colonial invasion. It has never been a revolutionary army – not even in its most distant past. It is a relic of a predatory army trained by the racist 1915-1934 U.S. occupation and then refined by subsequent military dictatorships – especially those of Duvalier father and son from 1958-1986.

Pina’s film gives us a glimpse of the Haitian elite during the ‘50s and then expertly guides us through the army’s reactions as a hopeful Haitian people tries to reclaim its birthright after uprooting Duvalier in 1986.

We witness the attempted coup in January 1991 between Aristide’s election in December 1990 and his inauguration in February, the army’s resistance to efforts to bring to justice those criminals from their ranks, the attempts by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to accommodate the army, the successful coup of September 1991, and finally the return of Aristide and his disbanding of the FAd’H in 1995.

Along the way, we are reminded that the argument that all is permitted for the sake of stability and attractiveness to corporate investors is often a prelude to brutal acts of repression. We see how the FAd’H has consistently served the elite, whether this was to disenfranchise the masses, terrorize activists and parliamentarians, or enforce the stranglehold of Haiti’s wealthy families on commons lands.

It is so easy to kill, and Haiti has lost so many brave and good ones to these bandits. There is a fierce love that says, “No! We will allow no more of this!”

The same love that said at the Bois Cayman, “No! We will make no more slaves!”

That love is ever alive in Haiti. As President Aristide says in the video: “Hope and justice cannot be killed …. We will be celebrating love in Haiti again.”

Dady Chery grew up at the heart of an extended working-class family in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. She emigrated to New York when she was 14 and since then has traveled throughout the world, living in Europe and several North American cities. She writes in English, French and her native Créole and holds a doctorate. She can be reached at dc@dadychery.org [3]. This story [4] first appeared on her blog, Haiti Chery

Men istwa entegral plan ki anpeche Demokrasy pran pye ann Ayiti.
Kijan FADH te kraze espwa pèp lan.
Videyo saa dire preske inn è dtan (uner heure), men sa vo lapèn.
Klike sou lyen an paske mwen pakapab mete fenèt videyo an.

SASAYE;

Ou pa manti;se yon ""powerful documentary"".Se diferans sa a ki genyen ant AYITI ak de peyi tankou DOMINIKANI,AJANTIN ou byen CHILI.
Pèp ayisyen an pa p wè sòt de DOKIMANTÈ sa yo ,paske POUTCHIS ak GNBis kontwole près lan ann AYITI;RADYO ak TELEVIZYON.
Men tou pinga;paske se konsa bagay yo te ye lan AJANTIN ak CHILI tou.Kan pèp yo kòmanse wè kijan bagay yo te ye vre;yo kòmanse mete POUTCHIS anbakòd.
Gade atik sa a ki date de JIYÈ 2010.Se POUTCHIS pa kanpe;SIVIL ak MILITÈ lan CHILI.Yo arete 710 POUTCHIS e se tout la jounen y ap jije yo.
Lè atik sa a te parèt ,yo te deja kondane 60,kounye an se plis ke 200 e y ap jije e kondane lòt yo toujou.
Tankou m di l se pou POUTCHIS ak KOUDETAYIS AYISYEN yo remèsye PROVIDANS ke yo kontwole PRÈS lan ann AYITI.

POU KONBYEN TAN ANKÒ?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/26/world/americas/26chile.html?ref=chile

Se ak dlo nan je ke mwen gade video saa.Men sa ki atire atantyon m se diferans ki genyen ant kolonel saa ke Aristide di ki te responsab sekirite Palè ya ak yon militè tankou Jacques Gracia ke yon moun ka di ki te two fidel a Francois Duvalier men tou ki pat yon lach.yon moun ka di li te two loyal ,men li te konn moun ki te fè li byen e li te deside mouri le 29 juillet 1958 lè Flambert te di Duvalier fok ou kite palè paske ou ka mouri ,Gracia te di Duvalier ou pap fè yon pa si pou mouri nou tout ap mouri nan palè ya ak w .Duvalier pat pè si te genyen gè sivil an ayiti .Se sa ki fè mwen di ke Aristide pat genyen moun brav ak li vre.

nanpren omlet ki fet san kase ze.pè gè sivil poukisa eske yo menm yo te pè touye patizan li yo?Eske lè anti revolutyonè kiben yo te debake nan baie des cochons Fidel te pè pou pat genyen gè sivil kiba? se pou sa mwen di si yon moun pè chalè kwisinn lan ou pa ka chef.Si Roger lafontant te presidan an ayiti eske Cedras tap pran chans fè kou deta an ayiti jis poul tal arete lafontant?li pa tap fel paske li konnen tout zantray li nan jeremi tap mouri ak tout lot moun yo ki ta soutni li.Fok moun ki di yo se lidè mouvman popilè an ayiti konprann reyalite ke nanpren revolutyon pasifik ki ka fet an ayiti.Si yo pa ka bay gagann alor ke yo rete lakay yo okipe yo de lot aktivite paske yo ka lakoz anpil san pep la koule pou gremesi a koz de lachte yo.