By Berthony DuPont, Haiti Liberté, Feb. 15, 2023
The bluff is a political weapon as old as politics itself. The words and actions some leaders of the Haitian political class say do not necessarily correspond to what they mean. We were presented with the August 30 Accord, known as the Montana Accord, as the most credible among the various Accords to find a Haitian solution to the crisis. To better market the Accord it had even been baptized the "Transition de rupture".
We have demonstrated that there was no fundamental divergence within the political class - the Montana Accord , the Musseau Accord - “Bonnet blanc et Blanc bonnet”. No significant disagreements beyond simple, insignificant misunderstandings.
Moreover, we had demonstrated that this class of politicians all suckle from the same corrupting, exploitative capitalist system. There is nothing contained in these Accords that corresponds to the demands of the working masses. This is why we cannot trust these gravediggers who continue to betray the deep convictions and aspirations of the Haitian popular masses.
Whether due to naivety or a lack of political maturity, many people had, directly or indirectly, supported the Montana Accord. Thus, they rushed to cling to it, calling it an indispensable alternative to the crisis. Commentators have had a field day highlighting its ridiculousness, especially the support of Ambassador Daniel Foote, who has recently disappeared from the discourse on Haitian politics.
For example, the former senator from the West, Pierre Paul Patrice Dumont, even dared to declare that "the signing of the Montana Accord is the third historic event of the Haitian people". He raised the installation of the National Transitional Council (CNT) on Sunday, December 12, 2021, to the level of the signing of the Act of Independence of the country. What nonsense!
This is a fool's bargain organized by politicians who function as mercenaries for western power, laboriously put in place by Western consulates. The latest reaction by the Montana group to the December 21 Accord of the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti (BINUH) and Prime Minister Henry are not sincere. In our view, their rejection of the Accord is only political theater. What appears to be the total rejection of the December 21 Accord is, in reality, a huge bluff.
It is not by chance before the installation of Henry's High Council of Transition (HCT), on February 6, 2023, that Steven Benoit spectacularly resigned on Monday January 30 as elected Prime Minister of the Montana Accord. In his own words, he did so in order to facilitate a resolution to the crisis, in fact for future negotiations with other “vital sectors” of society.
Jacques Ted Saint-Dic, one of the influential members of the Montana Agreement Monitoring Office (BSA), told Le Nouvelliste "this decision was not taken by the chance. This action is coordinated. Steven Benoît believes that the situation must be unblocked and that he must not constitute a blocking element ”.
To build upon this narrative, on Wednesday February 1, 2023 Saint-Dic fsaid "Montana is not a force of opposition but of proposal". What does he mean by that?
This declaration must be scrutinized in a broader context in addition to its political implications. We all know that opposition is meant to counter-balance those in power. An opposition must challenge the decisions of those in power. When we are not opposed to a power, how can we then fight it?
Can we deduce that everything the leaders of the Montana group undertook was sham opposition? Puppet negotiations for the gallery in order to deceive the masses? The whole Montana-Musseau polemic was simply to propose certain paths which do not challenge U.S. imperialist domination of Haiti. It was window dressing intended to mask their monstrous paradox.
Does the apparently calm political atmosphere that has prevailed since the installation of the High Council of the Transition mean that all is well that ends well? Mission accomplished for the two branches of the political class?
What casualness and what cynicism! In the end, all these negotiations were only a sham political opposition with only one objective, only one concrete, unacknowledged aim: to keep the Haitian masses out of power. Put a brake on all popular mobilization!
Translated by CHIP editors
Posted Feb. 19, 2023