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[TiCam]

The Betrayal at Panama: The shameful ostracism of Haiti by Panama, Colombia, Venezuela and the U.S.

The Hemisphere’s Pariah State

In 1826, in Panama, the hemisphere’s first region-wide meeting of independent states - the Congress of American States - was held. By this time, many former Spanish colonies in the hemisphere had gained independence, largely as a result of the efforts of Simon Bolivar, the Liberator of Latin America, and his allies. Yet, the black republic of Haiti - the hemisphere’s pariah state - was excluded from the Panama congress, as the new republics in Latin America bowed to US pressure and failed to include Haiti in their midst.

This “betrayal at Panama” - in which Bolivar played an important role - was especially hurtful for Haiti in consideration of the fact that about a decade earlier, the Haitian government of Alexandre Petion had played a key role in support of the Liberator’s efforts. The story is outlined on pages 157 and 158 of Written in Blood by Robert and Nancy Heinl:

“...in his darkest hours, Simon Bolivar sought and found shelter and support from Petion’s republic. Expelled from Venezuela in 1815 and made unwelcome in Jamaica, where he first sought asylum, Bolivar and his followers reached Les Cayes on Christmas Eve, 1815. There they were warmly received, succored, and, on Petion’s order, re-equipped. As soon as he could, in January 1816, Bolivar made his way to Port-au-Prince to meet Petion. The sympathy between the two was instant. Petion secretly directed that 4,000 muskets, 15,000 pounds of powder, flints, lead and - most telling weapon of revolution - a printing press be given to Bolivar...

“Before he sailed again for Venezuela, on 10 April 1816, Bolivar tried to thank Petion. Petion replied simply that the best thanks he could receive would be the liberation of every slave in the Spanish colonies. And, on July 6, struck off by the liberator on his little press from Les Cayes, a decree by Bolivar... proclaimed the abolition of slavery in Spanish America. (Bolivar’s decree did not stick. It was 1846 before slavery finally ceased in Venezuela.)

“Scarcely had Bolivar proclaimed freedom than he was again beaten. In mid-September he was back at Cayes. Once again Petion helped him refit, and, on 28 December 1816, Bolivar sailed from Haiti for the last time...”

“When Haitians write this glowing chapter in their history, they tell of the handsome court sword Bolivar sent Petion, of Bolivar’s prophecy that Petion would outshine George Washington, and of the fine statue eventually raised to Petion in Caracas. What they omit is that Bolivar never even recognized Haiti’s independence and that he refused to invite Haiti to the Congress of American States... They also omit the shameful ostracism of Haiti by Colombia, which in considerable part owed its liberation to Petion’s support, and by other Spanish-American republics during that congress, which had been organized by Colombia. Making Colombia’s snub even more brutal, her Minister of Foreign Affairs bluntly asserted ‘great repugnance against maintaining with Haiti those relations ... generally observed among civilized nations.’ Venezuela, at least equally indebted, did not even send a diplomatic representative to Haiti until 1874.”

A Recent Chapter of the Betrayal

Another chapter of the betrayal of Panama was written some 170 years later when the Organization of American States held a meeting of its General Assembly in Panama. As told by one of the diplomats who attended the meeting, the Panamanian hosts, as a symbolic gesture to the 1826 congress, decided it would be fitting to schedule the opening ceremony of the General Assembly at the site of the 1826 meeting. The symbolic gesture touched the nerve of the Haitian delegation, however, re-opening deep wounds from long ago. Haiti, joined in solidarity by the island nations of the Caribbean Community, refused to attend.

[Bonhomme]

Hi Ticam,

Thank you so much. It's not a surprise for me, I was in some south american countries in the past, the racisism is deeper than you may think. My problem is to see how thoose peoples are traited in europe.