Most notably, Canada’s gash has been made through participation in the February 29, 2004 coup of democratically-elected Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide and through the bloody aftermath that has followed the coup. The process ultimately breaks down into a class war pitting the elites in Haiti, Canada, France and the United States against the extreme poor people of Haiti—and indirectly against the poor people of Canada. But none of the significance in cruelty of Canada’s involvement in Haiti, and what it means in a bigger picture of historical oppression, can be understood without first dipping into the past.

Historical backdrop I – the nightmare before Canada’s addition to it

Neoliberalism as an economic ideology is spreading throughout the world via international financial institutions and transnational corporate hegemony. The effects of this colonial phenomenon is especially acute in Latin America where many nations faced debt crises directly related to the international economic system. In order for many nations in Latin America to deal with this economic crisis, they were forced to cede democratic control of their economies to these international actors. Although democratic procedures exist in most countries in Latin America which are implementing the reforms, real democracy is maimed by international economic interference in policy-making. Procedural democracy legitimizes the damaging effects which ensue from the neoliberal reform process. This is evident when we examine the nature of international lending institutions, the power of international capital, the degradation of worker and peasant lives, and the lack of popular opposition.