Dr. Robert Pastor is no stranger to earthquakes. He is a survivor of the 1985 Mexico City quake that registered an 8.0 on the Richter scale and has been caught in many others.
“It’s a frightening moment,” said the School of International Service professor. “The first time I was in an earthquake, I had no idea what was going on, because it’s so disorienting. It seems like the whole world is moving except you and so your first reaction is ‘there’s something wrong with me.’ But after you’ve done one, you know immediately when it’s happening again.”
But even after witnessing concrete sidewalks ‘undulating’ like ocean waves, Pastor is still shocked by the damage of the Jan. 12 earthquake in Haiti, a 7.0 on the Richter scale.
“To be honest with you, this is the most devastating I’ve seen,” he said.
For Pastor, a former Caribbean adviser to President Jimmy Carter, the earthquake is only the most recent in a series of problems for Haiti.
Pastor holds a Ph.D. and a master’s in public administration from Harvard University. He did his undergraduate studies at Lafayette College.
In 1994, former President Bill Clinton nominated Pastor to be U.S. Ambassador to Panama, but former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., prevented a vote on his nomination by the full Senate.
From 2002 to 2007, Pastor was AU’s vice president of international affairs. In that position, he created the Abroad at AU program.
In 2002, Pastor founded AU’s Center for North American Studies and Center for Democracy and Election Management. He was director of both centers from 2002 to 2007 and has been co-director since then.
“The trouble with Haiti is that you don’t even know where to start,” he said. “There is no infrastructure, practically no education, terrible diseases, malnutrition, every problem in the world exists in Haiti, only it’s magnified. And then, on top of all of that, you have this earthquake.”
Pastor was a senior adviser in 1994 to Carter, former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga., when the group traveled to Haiti on behalf of Bill Clinton to persuade the military to relinquish its command back to former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The mission was ultimately successful and constitutional government was restored.
“It’s a country that’s extremely poor, overpopulated, without an effective government and it’s had a very long, sad history,” he said. “Most of that history has been characterized by man-made disasters. Only last year and this year saw the arrival of natural disasters — hurricanes and now the earthquake.”
Pastor said he believes the current Haitian government is not equipped to deal with this natural disaster and its “catastrophic” devastation, saying the country is near medieval.
“I have long believed that the U.N. should establish a trusteeship over Haiti and govern it for about 20 years,” he said. “But the problem with that idea is that Haitians are very proud and nationalistic, and that won’t work unless they want to cooperate. I think we need a new pact between the Haitian people, government and the international community to renovate and reform Haiti so that it can move into the 21st century.”
Pastor said Haiti is a series of contradictions, citing successful Haitian immigrants around the world.
“The people are very engaging; they have a lot of charm, a lot of enthusiasm, though they are very uneducated,” he said. “Yet they can’t ever make that country work, and the paradox, which is so difficult to explain, is why Haitians do so well when they emigrate to other countries, including the United States, but do so poorly in Haiti.”
Although this crisis represents an opportunity to do just that, Pastor said he is not sure if it is possible to plan for a new Haiti.
“It’s a huge, huge task,” Pastor said. “I don’t know whether the international community has adequate funding to keep everybody alive while they completely rebuild the city. I think it will involve huge amounts of funding.”
Just as Pastor is not sure if the rebuilding will be successful, he does not consider his own work in the country to be either.
“Unlike almost any other country I’ve worked in, I’ve not felt that I made much progress in Haiti,” Pastor said.
Why is that?
“I wish I knew.”
You can reach this staff writer at sdazio@theeagleonline.com.
