PERSPECTIVE ON HAITI : Orphaed by Its Latin Neighbors : The principle of noninterference is just an excuse to ignore the pain of our hemisphere’s ‘black Bosnia.’

Haitians go home! And stay there! This is clearly the message to the poorest inhabitants of our Hemisphere. The message is most audible in the United States, where the fate of the first democratically and constitutionally elected government of Haiti has become a domestic political issue, largely due to the pressure exercised by black American political leaders.

Undoubtedly, the U.S. government has its share of responsibility in the failure of the international community to restore the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But its involvement, limited as it is, has served to shield the failings of the Latin American countries to assume, effectively and honestly, their collective responsibilities within the inter-American system.

Haiti, after all, is in the Caribbean, not on some faraway continent. It is the second-oldest independent country in the Hemisphere (after the United States). It is also the world’s oldest black republic. It should be known more widely that many Haitians died fighting for the United States in its war of independence, and that a Haitian president, Alexandre Petion, generously assisted Simon Bolivar to finance the campaign of independence of Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Panama and Ecuador. As part of these recollections, I would add that it was the Haitians who handed Napoleon I, emperor of France, his first defeat.

Is is evident, then, that the Haitians have not been free-riders in the defense of their rights or in their solidarity with the peoples of the United States and of Latin American in their struggles for independence.

The Haitians have--and continue to live--a tormented history, from enslavement by the French to the dictatorships of the infamous Duvaliers and their current heir, Cedras; from the richest sugar-producing colony in the Caribbean in the 18th Century to the extreme poverty of today.

Even though Haiti is part of the Americas, the general impression in the region is that its problems are, and should essentially be, of concern only to the United States. This impression is confirmed by the strictly ritualistic and formalistic interest expressed by Latin Americans.

The sacrosanct principle of self-determination has served them well on this occasion as an excuse not to get seriously involved in the tragedy of this black and poor member of our community.

The “Haitians keep out” message comes not only from Florida, which already has generously received more than its share of refugees, but also from the Latin American countries that do not welcome refugees and are, if only through passivity, effectively discriminating against their poorest sibling.

For the future of inter-American relations, it is sad and disappointing to witness once more--as if the case of the U.S. invasion of Panama was not enough--how the Latin American governments continue to yield their responsibilities to the United States in affairs in their own back yards. Also how they have so easily discarded their historical debt to Haiti, a once independent and generous nation. Yesterday the leadership was surrendered to a U.S. ambassador, Lawrence Pezzullo; today to William Gray. Are the principles of regional sovereignty and independence of action less important than the principle of self-determination? Or is it plainly that Haiti is not worth the effort?

Today, the Black Caucus of the U.S. Congress and the leadership of other black Americans such as Randall Robinson provide the main support for President Aristide’s return to Haiti. Was it necessary for the cause of Haiti to resort to ethnicity? The sad answer is yes. Haiti in some ways is becoming a black Bosnia. In the Balkans, the Bosnians are considered Muslim and as such, non-Europeans not worth fighting for. The Haitians are black, not Latin, and as such, it seems, not worth fighting for. Their only recourse, then, is to appeal to their black brothers in the United States to influence their government to act.

Unfortunately, there are no black caucuses in Latin America to speak on behalf of their black and impoverished brethren on the island of Hispaniola. So, for their own domestic political considerations, the nations of Latin America will let Washington carry the ball and incur the costs that an intervention may incur--as well as thecensure for violating Haiti’s sovereign right to suffer alone. Only then will Latin America find it useful to remember that Haiti does not belong to the United States but to the Organization of American States.