Port-au-Prince, October 10 — When former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, close adviser to the plundering police state of Haiti President Michel Martelly, died October 4 of a heart attack, the working class had only one regret — that he died of natural causes.
Human rights organizations complain that Duvalier, ousted from power in 1986, was never tried or convicted in a court of law. But it is an illusion to believe in “justice” for dictators under capitalism. As journalist Marvel Dandin has noted, there were many reasons that the Duvalier regime was never held accountable for its crimes:
Fascist Father, Fascist Son
Under the rule of Duvalier, known as “Baby Doc,” and his father, “Papa Doc,” workers in Haiti endured nearly three decades of horrific brutality, from 1957 to 1986. The Duvaliers were notorious for crimes against humanity, misappropriation of public funds, illegal arrests, torture, imprisonment, murder, and forced exile of opponents. According to historian Charles Dupuy, “Thousands of opponents were sentenced to prison and exile. At least 50,000 people died in Fort Dimanche prison in Port-au-Prince.” They had the active support of the U.S. and other imperialists because they claimed to be the biggest anti-communists in the region. They are proof that we can speak of real justice only in a communist world. Under capitalism, it’s just bosses and criminals and their war against workers.
Duvalier was chased from Haiti after a decade of crises, including in 1978, ostensibly to deal with an epidemic of Swine Fever, all of Haiti’s native pigs, a mainstay of the rural economy, were killed. They were replaced by expensive U.S. pigs, which very few could afford, intensifying rural poverty.
In 1984, under U.S. President Ronald Reagan, the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI) attempted to counter guerrilla movements in Nicaragua and El Salvador with trade perks to right-wing regimes in the region. In fact, the CBI led to widespread hunger and triggered months of mass demonstrations against Jean-Claude Duvalier and the Tonton Macoutes, his murderous paramilitary. Under a secret agreement between the governments of the U.S., France and Haiti, Duvalier received a police escort to a U.S. military plane. The second-generation dictator was finally dechouke (uprooted).
Rehabilitating a Mass Murderer
In January 2011, to general surprise, Duvalier was welcomed back to Haiti by Martelly after 25 years of exile and idleness in France, where he led the high life with the untold millions he’d stolen from the Haitian masses.
In the Duvalier tradition, Martelly recently told workers and students in Haiti that he was against communism. Martelly’s lawyer threatened that communists would not be given national or state funerals! But this is nothing new. The bosses attack communism ferociously because they fear it. In workers’ struggles against capitalist exploitation, racism, sexism and wars for profit, communist strategy and ideology are the main threats to the ruling class. Indeed, communists in Progressive Labor Party must challenge attacks by intensifying their work in Haiti. The working class in Haiti has suffered from the lack of communist-led struggle around the world. We must continue to organize students, peasants, and workers, and to build a base for communist revolution.
Martelly’s Turn
Even as the news of one tyrant’s death leaves the masses of Haitians cold, the current tyrant, a notorious criminal, goes on his merry way under the gleaming eyes of the imperialists! Now it’s Martelly who exploits the workers and takes bribes from the U.S. bosses to keep Haiti safe for capitalism. Martelly is known as “Tet Kale” for his bald head. But this Creole phrase also refers to the way pigs are shorn. The working class will not let Martelly and his gang off the hook so easily!