Is Haiti Cursed?

That was the rhetorical question posed to me recently by a doctor of Jamaican ancestry who took part in a drive by the staff of Greater Southeast Washington Community Hospital to collect clothing, shoes, food, and money for the hurricane victims in Haiti and Grenada.

Unbeknownst to the physician, this is precisely the assertion of some Haitians, especially those who support President Aristide, currently in exile in South Africa. They point to Gonaives, the coastal city in north central Haiti where about 3,000 died, to illustrate their point. It was in Gonaives that former members of Mr. Aristide’s self-styled “Cannibal Army” first revolted against their boss and sparked a nationwide movement that forced him to resign and flee for his life.

The pro-Aristide “curse theoreticians” also point to what happened to Florida, which was hit no less than four times this year by major hurricanes. They say it’s due to Governor Jeb Bush, the brother of President Bush, who is ultimately blamed for Mr. Aristide’s ouster.

Following the curse reasoning, one must ask what Grenada did wrong. More than 90% of that island’s infrastructure, homes, and agriculture have been destroyed. Other island nations, like the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Jamaica, and the Bahamas have also been visited by the hurricanes. What have they done wrong? Indeed, some of these, members of Caricom, or the Caribbean Community, were staunch supporters of Mr. Aristide. Up to now, there is a lingering dispute pitting some Caricom countries against the interim government of Haiti because they opposed the ouster of Mr. Aristide, a “democratically elected” president.

There is no mystery as to why Haiti was more affected than the others by the hurricanes. It is generally acknowledged that the deforestation of the land over two centuries of independence is to blame for its lack of preparation when faced with nature’s wrath. And this calls for a nationwide campaign to plant trees, not unlike the three-decades old campaign that was undertaken by Wangari Maathai, the “Kenyan Green Militant” who was declared the Nobel Peace Prize winner last Friday.

Other than confronting corrupt officials and empowering women, Mrs. Maathai reportedly founded her “Green Belt Movement” in 1997 with nine tree seeds planted in the yard of her house. Millions of trees later, she has changed the face of many countries in Africa afflicted by the greed of the indiscriminate wood cutters.

But who is to blame for the terrorists who have chosen this precise moment of trial for the Haitian people to unleash “Operation Baghdad” and “Operation Moscow” in Haiti?

Prime Minister Latortue formally accused Mr. Aristide of financing the gangs that have cut the heads of several policemen in the latest outbreak of violence that began last September 30. That marked the 13th anniversary of the first military coup against the former Catholic priest turned politician. On Wednesday, Mr. Latortue announced the arrest of Gerard Jean-Juste, a Catholic priest who is a close associate of Mr. Aristide, and accused him of harboring the terrorists in churches and of “planning, organizing, and implementing” the attacks in Port-au-Prince. Moreover, that same day, a Canadian citizen was arrested at the Port-au-Prince airport with $1 million in his suitcase. Mr. Latortue asserted that much of the funding for the violence in Haiti has been funneled through America and arrived with couriers such as the unnamed Canadian citizen.

The arrests of the Reverend Jean-Juste and of the rich Canadian citizen have probably disrupted plans for major mayhem that was expected today, October 15,to commemorate the 1994 return of Mr. Aristide to power under the wings of more than 20,000 American troops dispatched by President Clinton.

Mr. Latortue said that the police discovered a plot that would have included his beheading and the murder of two or three cabinet ministers. The Rev. Jean-Juste was the pivotal man in the “Iron Cut Iron” murderous campaign in 1993-94 that prepared the way for Mr. Aristide’s return.

America has condemned the violence in Haiti. In a statement issued Tuesday, Department of State spokesman Richard Boucher accused armed gangs and groups who support Mr. Aristide of having “launched a systematic campaign to destabilize the interim government and disrupt the efforts of the international community to assist the Haitian people.” Mr. Boucher called upon leaders of the Lavalas Family “to break with the party’s legacy of violence and criminality that tarnished its image during the rule of Mr. Aristide, and to participate peacefully in the electoral process.”

While “Operation Baghdad” and the beheadings of law officers may have been stymied, the “psychological warriors” in the service of the exiled Mr. Aristide have been touting their “Moscow Operation,” a chilling reminder of what happened to students and parents in Beslan, Russia, two months ago. Last Monday, the “teledyol,” or grapevine, spread the news in Haiti and in Haitian enclaves abroad of the beheading of two students in the rebellious Bel Air section of Port-au-Prince. The rumor was that the students failed to heed a school strike. While no student was actually beheaded, nor any school attacked, a father taking his child to school was reportedly gunned down.

It is unconscionable that so-called democracy activists clamoring for the return of Mr. Aristide would exploit natural disaster and engage in horribly barbaric practices copied from their terrorist mentors in Iraq and Chechnya. Indeed, the war against terror must be global. The terrorists in Haiti and their financiers, as well as those aiding and abetting them abroad, must be the concern of all freedom-loving people who should come to the help of Haiti, besieged by natural and man-made disasters.

Mr. Joseph is Haiti’s envoy to Washington.