Haiti Marks Independence Day With Pride, Anger

Haitians marked their bicentennial of independence Thursday with passionate displays of pride, violence and vitriol to commemorate the bloody slave revolt that created the world’s first black republic.

Tens of thousands filled the streets of this deeply troubled capital with rival expressions of joy over the 200-year-old feat of abolishing slavery and anger at the persistent restraints on their liberty and living standards today.

At a morning ceremony on the lawn of the National Palace, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide vowed to a crowd of about 15,000 supporters to lift the nation out of the abject poverty and despair prevailing a decade after a U.S. invasion restored him to power.

Three hours later, throngs of government opponents crashed through police roadblocks in a march that quickly escalated into a melee. Police dispersed one group of about 5,000 by firing into the crowd, wounding six people and angering what had begun as a peaceful protest. Through the afternoon, the anti-Aristide crowd swelled to about 20,000, setting fire to piles of tires that choked the crumbling streets with thick black smoke and pelting police with rocks and bottles. Bursts of police gunfire and screaming sirens put an abrupt end to the air of celebration that had prevailed earlier.

Most of the unrest played out in the capital as Aristide flew to the volatile city of Gonaives to deliver a speech at the site of Haiti’s Jan. 1, 1804, proclamation of independence.

Repeatedly delayed by reports of unrest in the city, the visit was curtailed after gunshots rang out from among crowds of demonstrators. State-controlled television failed to carry the address, instead repeating footage of a music and dance performance from the previous evening.

The mounting unrest and marred celebrations highlighted the deep divide running through the country, the poorest of the Western Hemisphere. Lawyers and jurists have refused to operate courts, in protest of government interference. Students and teachers have been boycotting classes for weeks. Malnutrition afflicts two-thirds of the population, unemployment is rampant, and life expectancy has fallen to a hemispheric low of 49 years. On Monday, the national parliament will cease to function because deputies’ mandates expire then and the government and rival political forces have failed to organize new elections.

“Look at this city! There is no work. There is no food. The people are starving. The streets are filthy and stinking. This is not my country!” fumed Franz Gilbert, a 54-year-old mechanic taking part in the march with his wife and adult children.

The show of solidarity against Aristide drew students, homemakers, professionals and artists, as well as the moneyed elite and disenfranchised who have long made up the polarized opposition. The protest, expected to replay itself today, appeared to be the largest outpouring of frustration in years.

“This is the first time I see all kinds of Haitians taking part -- the rich, the poor, the black, the light-skinned. We need a change in this country,” said a 24-year-old computer programmer who feared giving more than her first name, Maria. Like others who skipped the palace pageantry, she said she saw nothing to celebrate. “We do not have real liberty. In many ways we are still slaves.”

Those who had hoped to see the bicentennial foster social reconciliation were bitterly disappointed. As many feared, Aristide used the events to try to pump up his flagging popular support. Throughout the capital, billboards and banners cast Aristide as the historical equal of Haiti’s father of independence, slave revolt leader Toussaint L’Ouverture. “Two men, two centuries, the same vision,” read a huge placard with the president’s beaming countenance on one side and a drawing of L’Ouverture on the other.

Aristide’s government spent $15 million on the celebration, including 200 place settings of china commemorating the anniversary. But neither the paving of the road to Gonaives nor the Monument 2004 construction on the palace lawn was completed in time for the ceremonies.

South African President Thabo Mbeki headed a small delegation of foreign leaders and dignitaries, most from African and Caribbean countries, but more influential world figures stayed away out of fear of just the sort of civil strife that racked Port-au-Prince, Gonaives and the cities of Gros-Morne and Jacmel.

“We celebrate the Haitian revolution because it dealt a deadly blow to the slave traders who had scoured the coasts of West and East Africa for slaves and ruined the lives of millions of Africans,” Mbeki said. The few prominent U.S. figures to attend were critical of Washington’s failure to positively influence events in Haiti.

“Our biggest job is to avoid a coup d’etat here,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, a Los Angeles Democrat and member of the Congressional Black Caucus, criticizing the lack of attention paid to Haiti and the mounting tensions dividing its people.

Actor Danny Glover said he came to take part in “the celebrations of this great moment in history,” not to make any political statement.

“This is not a fact-finding visit. There will be many opportunities to talk with everybody throughout this year. What we want to do is create a climate for reconciliation,” he said of the Haiti Support Project, of which he is a member. “Those victimized by this impasse are the Haitian people.”