US ships blockade Haiti coast to thwart exodus to America

[Prometheus Bound]

Haiti earthquake: US ships blockade coast to thwart exodus to America
Published: 8:53PM GMT 19 Jan 2010

US officials have drawn up emergency plans to cope with a mass migration crisis and have cleared spaces in detention or reception centres, including the Navy base at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay.

The unprecedented air, land and sea operation, dubbed "Vigilant Sentry", was launched as a senior US official compared Haiti's destruction to the aftermath of nuclear warfare.

As well as providing emergency supplies and medical aid, the USS Carl Vinson, along with a ring of other navy and coast guard vessels, is acting as a deterrent to Haitians who might be driven to make the 681 mile sea crossing to Miami.

"The goal is to interdict them at sea and repatriate them," said the US Coast Guard Commander Christopher O'Neil.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/centralamericaandthecaribbean/haiti/7030237/Haiti-earthquake-US-ships-blockade-coast-to-thwart-exodus-to-America.html

US ships set up blockade to prevent a mass exodus
22 Jan 2010, 10:00
An American aircraft carrier was the spearhead of a blockade of Haiti's waters yesterday as the US prepared for an exodus of thousands across the sea, fleeing the devastated capital of Port-au-Prince.

US officials have drawn up emergency plans to cope with a migration crisis and have cleared spaces in detention or reception centres, including the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

The unprecedented air, land and sea operation, labelled Vigilant Sentry, began as a senior US official compared Haiti's destruction to the aftermath of nuclear warfare.

"It is the same as if an atomic bomb had been exploded," said Kenneth Merten, US ambassador to Haiti.

Officials estimated that more than 200,000 people were killed by last week's earthquake.

As well as providing emergency supplies and medical aid, the USS Carl Vinson, along with a ring of other navy and coast guard vessels, will act as a deterrent to Haitians who might be driven to make the 681-mile sea crossing to Miami.
http://www.independent.ie/world-news/americas/us-ships-set-up-blockade-to-prevent-a-mass-exodus-2022667.html
http://www.last.fm/forum/23/_/596768

Haiti: a calculated impoverishment
.....In the last couple of days, another motivation has become clearer as the U.S. has launched a full-scale naval blockade of Haiti to prevent a seaborne exodus by refugees seeking sanctuary in the United States from the desperate aftermath of disaster. So while Welsh firefighters and Cuban doctors have been getting on with the job of saving lives this week, the 82nd Airborne Division was busy parachuting into the ruins of Haiti's presidential palace.
http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article87788.ece