That feat culminated in the parade ground of the city of Gonaives, where General Jean Jacques Dessalines declared Saint Domingue independent on January 1, 1804, adopting the name of Republic of Haiti.

However, the pride and ferocity demonstrated by the Haitian revolutionaries toward Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops could not battle with hurricane winds and waters.

Unlike past victories, today there is an atmosphere of pain and despair left behind by hurricane Jeanne, after her passing through this city that bears such historical significance. Once again we are shown how human forces cannot be compared to those of Mother Nature, and this applies to Gonaives as well, where valour and courage have deep-seated roots, but were not enough to stop Jeanne’s fury.

The tragedy of Gonaives will pass through history as one of the most significant given the material and human losses, but Haitians can be happy to know that, once again, the international community has shown solidarity with its misfortune and there will be no shortage of moral support or material help. In this case, it is a question of humanitarian aid, the most primary form of international co-operation, which responds to the most human and spontaneous reaction to someone else’s pain.

However, that bitter experience tells us that in Haiti, the time has come to move from solidarity to co-operation. It is not enough to express that primary sentiment to help those in need, but rather the international community is obligated to assume the duty of co-operating with Haiti from a more structural and basic perspective, so that instead of being reactive, it would be preventive, thus giving Haitians the opportunity to face their adversities on their own.

In that respect, as a distinguished friend said some few years ago, long term co-operation needs to be considered in Haiti, providing assistance that goes beyond the most immediate social instabilities, and focussing on programmes that would offer more definitive responses to the factors of poverty and political instability experienced by that country since the onset of the transition process toward democracy.

Independent of the support given to Haitians, it is necessary to discuss with their authorities, the possibilities of launching programmes that would contribute to the political stability of that nation. This begins by reducing the levels of conflict that exist there. Changes must be made to the factors responsible for such conflict in order to bring tranquillity to the Haitian people and certainty to the international community that the Haitian political process is moving toward normalcy.

In that respect, this huge physical misfortune suffered by Haiti could serve as motivation for that nation’s political and social forces to pledge among themselves to fight together for development, participation and institutionalisation. In other words, sign the Gonaives Pact in memory of the historic event, with which the heroes of that time will be honoured and the door of hope opened to its present population.

This would in turn be the starting point to increase the effectiveness of a national reconstruction programme supported by international co-operation, having the assurance that it will help reduce the social conflict affecting that country.

Dr. Rubén Silié Valdez is the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org

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01 October, 2004