The 22 articles in this book were originally presented at the Wingspread Conference in Racine, Wisconsin, in September 1982, and several of them have been updated. They are authored by some of the best-known names writing in English on Haiti, such as Patrick Bellegarde-Smith, Léon-François Hoffmann, Uli Locher, Mats Lundahl, Gerald F. Murray, David Nicholls. Aaron Segal, Alex Stepick, and Albert Valdman, along with some people who are exceptionally well informed about Haiti but who rarely publish, such as Ira P. Lowenthal and Glenn R. Smucker. Reflecting the importance of Haiti to the international development establishment, the book also contains several articles by people from such organizations as the World Bank, U.S.A.I.D., and the Inter-American Foundation.
The inclusion in one volume of a diversity of views leads to some interesting contrasts. The “Introduction,” by Ernest H. Preeg, the American ambassador to Haiti from 1981 to 1983, calls for more communication between governments, and focuses on the importance of offshore assembly plants and the Caribbean Basin Initiative as opportunities for economic development. Anthropologist Murray, in recounting how his tree-planting project is aimed directly at the peasants, argues that “freedom from interference by governmental officials or government employees is one of the major design features that has kept the trees flowing” (p. 159).
Michael S. Hooper, executive director of the New York–based National Coalition of Haitian Refugees, suggests that François Duvalier stayed in power strictly through the use of terror (p. 284). Nicholls, author of the best recent study of Haitian history. From Dessalines to Duvalier, points out that Duvalier had widespread support from several sectors of Haitian society. Nicholls then proceeds to contrast the François regime with that of his son, Jean-Claude, and says that while François depended on the black middle class, Jean-Claude depends mostly on the mulatto business community and the young elite technocrats (p. 260). Nicholls argues that this elite is not as dependable as the black middle classes and “is composed of groups many of which live off the state and whose members expect the government to ensure that their standard of living is maintained. . . . Up to now the government, thanks largely to U.S. aid, has been able to satisfy the elite” (p. 263) and apparently to maintain Jean-Claude in an autocratic position. Preeg seems to think that the U.S. is “involved in the political process within Haiti, using economic aid as potent leverage” (p. 14) to develop [Haiti] into a more open, just, and democratic society” (p. 13).
