What the Mainstream Media Will Not Tell You About Haiti: Part of the Suffering is "Made in USA"

[kpete]

Bill Quigley
Posted: January 14, 2010 08:45 PM
BIO Become a Fan
Get Email Alerts Bloggers' Index
What the Mainstream Media Will Not Tell You About Haiti: Part of the Suffering of Haiti is "Made in the USA"

............

How? In the last decade alone, the U.S. slashed humanitarian assistance to Haiti, blocked international loans, forced the government of Haiti to downsize, ruined tens of thousands of small farmers, and replaced the government with private non-governmental organizations. <...>

In 2004, the U.S. assisted in a coup against the democratically elected President of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide. This continues a long tradition of the U.S. deciding who will rule the poorest country in the hemisphere. No government lasts in Haiti without U.S. approval.

In 2001, when the U.S. was mad at the President of Haiti, the U.S. successfully led an effort to freeze $148 million in already-approved loans and many hundreds of millions more of potential loans from the Inter-American Development Bank to Haiti. Funds which were dedicated to improve education, public health and roads.

For much of 2001-2004, the U.S. insisted that any international funds sent to Haiti had to go through non-governmental organizations. Funds that would have provided government services were re-routed thus shrinking the ability of the government to provide aid.

more:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-quigley/what-the-mainstream-media_b_424126.html

[Billy Burnett]

1. More... How Washington’s Plot Against Haiti Worsened The Earthquake Disaster

You might want to check this out...

How Washington’s Plot Against Haiti Worsened The Earthquake Disaster
http://maxblumenthal.com/2010/01/how-washingtons-plot-against-haiti-worsened-the-disaster/

[Bullet1987]

2. Must Read...thanks

The US is not the good guy is this instance. The West has been screwing Haiti over for decades.

[global1]

3. And Who's Administration In The U.S. Was In Power During This Time Period? Hmmm.... Let Me See..nt

[Jennicut]

4. W. and co really did a number on Haiti, didn't they?

[JoDog]

7. Um, actually

The IMF with the backing of the US lowered the tariff on imported rice in 1994.

President Clinton's administration are no angels in this, either.

[Raineyb]

10. This country has a LOT to answer for vis a vis Haiti.

But I'm not holding my breath waiting for it to be addressed.

[Raineyb]

9. And now we're supposed to applaud that he's supposedly raising funds for the country.

Although frankly I'd look at the strings attached to any money he raises. No doubt there will be a crony there with his pockets full.

[wtmusic]

5. More accurately: "Made by the GOP" nt

[mmonk]

6. Thank you. Recommended.

[dipsydoodle]

8. Wish I could recommend more than once.

.

[Peace Patriot]

11. Thanks for posting! We really need to understand this and to be alert and vigilant

regarding what happens now--as to use of aid funds, treatment of the Haitian people, further militarization of their country, private contractors, rightwing death squads, continued use of Haiti as a "free trade" zone (slave labor), and potential use of Haiti by the Pentagon for its geopolitical machinations in Latin America (it's very close to Cuba and not that far from Venezuela's oil coast). Haitian democracy has, time and again, been destroyed by the U.S.--and, before that, by the French--and extensively LOOTED by both. For instance, Haiti was stripped of its forests--only 2% remain--leaving vast soil instability, and frequent mudslides that affect Haiti's hillside slum dwellings in urban areas and farming and water supplies in rural areas. (The proneness to slides of Haiti's soils has no doubt greatly exacerbated the damage and loss of human life from the earthquake.) Haiti's wealth imbalance is also extreme. 1% of the population owns 99% of the land! The U.S. supports this immense injustice, as well as being the major reason why Haiti had NO building codes and NO emergency infrastructure, i.e., NO effective government.

Now, the same parties--the multinational corporations and war profiteers who control U.S. policy--will be rebuilding Haiti from the ground up. Will they encourage fair land distribution? Will they help put good peasant farmers back on the land, to produce food? Will they encourage democracy and good government? Will they encourage creation of a strong public sector-a good public school system, publicly owned and accountable utilities, a fair and just legal system, maximum citizen participation in government and politics?

Not bloody likely.

So, in so far as we, the people, here, have anything to say about U.S. foreign policy, we should try to influence our government to use our tax dollars toward good purposes in Haiti, and toward reversing a century of the grossest injustice.