Haiti's Humanitarian Crisis Ignored as Media Focuses on Failed WyClef Bid

WyClef' Jean's candidacy dies with a wimper.

August 19, the night of the expected announcement from the Provisional Electoral Council (SEC), heavily armed United Nations blue helmets patrolled the streets in armored cars on the alert for a riot that never came. However, about 300 of WyClef's supporters did march through heavy rain to protest outside Haiti's electoral office in Port-au-Prince.

The Council rejected the singer-songwriter's candidacy because of the constitutional requirement that candidates who run must have lived in the country for five years prior to the November 28 election. WyClef moved to the United States when he was nine years old and his primary residence is New Jersey.

WyClef released a statement the next day that he would cooperate with the decision made by the SEC. "We must all honor the memories of those we've lost -- whether in the earthquake, or at anytime -- by responding peacefully and responsibly to this disappointment," he said.

That was then, now WyClef has announced that he is not abandoning his presidential bid. He will appeal the decision rejecting his candidacy. He plans to send a lawyer to a Haitian court to appeal the electoral commission's decision to keep him off the list of eligible presidential candidates. He says he has a document "which shows everything is correct" and that he and his aides "feel that what is going on here has everything to do with Haitian politics." Evidently, the appeal is being based on WyClef's honorary status as "Ambassador at large" for Haiti, a "post" he claims exempts him from residency requirements.

The whole elections process is a charade to begin with, given that it is being carried out under a brutal occupation, so it is not surprising that WyClef and his lawyers are pushing for inclusion in the elections in spite of being officially rejected. Unfortunately, the process is tainted, as WyClef suspects, but not because, "They are trying to keep us out of the race." It is primarily because Haiti is under occupation by the UN military (MINUSTAH).

Additionally, the legitimacy of the November 28 election is also questionable because Haiti’s largest political party Fanmi Lavalas has been barred from the election.

WyClef is being criticized not only because he is not qualified to run, nor because he does not meet the constitutional requirements, but because he does not have the political skills or savvy to deal with Haiti's multitude of problems. The elitist private business sector in Haiti will make mincemeat out of him. He is also not equipped to deal with the legions of multinational interests that occupy and run Haiti through the pulling of purse strings and the muscle of MINUSTAH’s occupying force.

WyClef has not even outlined a comprehensive political platform, except for the declaration that “Haiti is open for business” and other very general statements. It stands to reason that with the neophyte WyClef at the helm, Haiti will be open to further exploitation and the continued apartheid between the super-rich and the ultra-poor. The apartheid class system in Haiti needs to be addressed and acknowledged by Haiti’s next leader. There is also an urgent need to addressed the stranglehold that Non-governmental Agencies (NGOs) have on Haiti in order to determine how to regulate their activities.

Even if he were qualified to run, WyClef’s political constituency is tenuous at best. He has not built a base or electorate. People are asking: What's his platform? He’s a musician. While some are fans and enjoy his music, that does not necessarily translate into voting for him to be Haiti's next president.

Above all, the Haitian majority needs someone in the Presidency who will champion human development (education, health, food, security, housing and infrastructure), above sustaining foreign and private business interests which continue to plunder Haiti for cheap labor and rich natural resources, but do not support the local economy. A notable exception is the Irish-based cell phone company Digicel, which has promoted "the kind of grass-roots entrepreneurship long ignored by the business elite."

While all of the distraction over the candidacy of WyClef is going on, forced evictions continue in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps… and Haitians are tired of sleeping on garbage.

People are living in the streets and no homes are being built, but already they’ve announced plans to build a new textiles factory. Sweatshops should not take precedence over people’s health and well-being.

In this day and age of technology, Haitians are being taught how to sew. This move cements Haiti's role as the low-cost, low-wage, low-tech center of the world.

In the meantime USAID is giving money to countries in Southeast Asia and elsewhere in Europe to train high tech workers.

The media attention should focus less on the distraction of WyClef Jean’s failed presidential bid and the ensuing circus, and more on the desperate humanitarian situation on the ground in Haiti.

Dark Controversy Surrounds Miss Haiti 2010 Sarodj Bertin

Covering Up the Ugly Truth About the Assassination of Mireille Durocher

Sarodj Bertin has been selected to represent Haiti at the 2010 Miss Universe pageant. Miss Bertin is a 24 year old lawyer who has lived in the Dominican Republic since she was 9.

There is fierce debate in the Haitian diaspora about Miss Bertin's selection as Miss Haiti. The controversy centers around her long-time residency in the Dominican Republic (15 years), her light complexion, her "Dominicanized" persona and most disturbingly, the execution style assassination of her mother Mireille Durocher Bertin in 1995. Given the divide, it remains to be seen whether Miss Haiti will "give hope to a devastated country."

The assassination of Miss Haiti's mother was a terrible tragedy. Unfortunately the sad event is being used by many to demonize Haiti's first real democratically elected government and the Lavalas political party. Lies, misinformation and insinuations about the event are being presented on a daily basis. Often excluded from the dialogue is the fact that the Aristide government made at least two arrests in the case. One Haitian suspect arrested was linked to the U.S. military.

Nevertheless, the implication of some articles is that the Aristide government or Lavalas (Haiti's largest political party) was somehow involved in her execution style murder. This implication is to be viewed with skepticism since Mrs. Durocher's murder was never solved and there are agendas at work here that need to be examined in order to be understood. This includes the continuing demonization of President Aristide and his political party Lavalas, not only in the U.S. mainstream media but also by the coup d'etat cabal who see Haiti as their very own private piggy bank.

Here's the paragraph addressing the issue from a Google News article which seems to imply that President Aristide was somehow involved in the assassination (they misspelled the name of Haiti's capital city):

"Sarodj Bertin had a privileged childhood in Puerto Principe [Port-au-Prince] until age 9, when her mother, lawyer and opposition leader Mireille Durocher Bertin, was gunned down after announcing the creation of a political party that would compete with that of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the upcoming elections."

Another article from the LA Times from 1995 offers more details about the death, including the investigation, revealing that there were a number of arrests. Two Haitians, the LA Times reported, including a translator working for the U.S. military, were arrested and "several high-powered assault weapons and radios were seized." This is how the Haitian government came to be aware of a plot to assassinate Mrs. Durocher:

"Gen. George A. Fisher, the U.S. military commander here, knew at least 10 days before Mireille Durocher was murdered that the outspoken anti-government figure was the target of a serious assassination plot allegedly involving Haitian Interior Minister Mondesir Beaubrun [a charge Beaubrun vehemently denied], American and Haitian sources said Wednesday.

These officials said Fisher wrote to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's government, outlining the plot. As a result, Justice Minister Jean-Joseph Exume called Durocher in and told her that U.S. military intelligence believed she was in real danger. Although advised "to take all precautions," she did not get protection from U.S. or Haitian forces, the sources said.

[...] Durocher, 38, was a lawyer closely linked to former Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras, the Haitian army commander who led the September, 1991, coup that overthrew Aristide. She also served as chief of staff for Emile Jonassaint, the puppet civilian president installed by Cedras in 1994."

According to a NY Times article, Mrs. Durocher was the passenger in a car being driven by a very shady character by the name of Eugene "Junior" Baillergeau, when it was attacked in broad daylight by gunmen who fired two shots at the car engine and numerous shots into the car. The article reveals that Baillergeau may very well have been the target of the assassination. Junior Baillergeau was a reputed drug trafficker with "known association with illicit business circles close to the former military Government." Reportedly, an autopsy report the NY Times obtained at the time showed that Baillergeau was shot "many more times" than Mireille Durocher.

The NY Times article also indicates that Junior Baillergeau had an ongoing dispute with "American soldiers at the airport." Baillergeau was a pilot who had retained Mrs. Durocher to represent him regarding damages to his plane by the U.S. military.

Another bizarre and disturbing twist is that Mrs. Durocher held a high profile position on a violent death squad organization responsible for the deaths, rapes and torture of thousands of Haitians. More about the paramilitary group: Advancement of Progress of the Haitian People or FRAPH is available at History Commons and Peace not War.

Ben Dupuy had this to say about Mrs. Durocher Bertin in an article at Third World Traveler.

"But the dream didn't last for long. As 1995 progressed, friction between Aristide and the U.S. began to surface. For example, on March 28, three days before President Clinton was to visit Haiti, a putschist political figure, Mireille Durocher Bertin was publicly assassinated. The hit was never solved but its highly professional execution suggests it was a CIA operation carried out to smear Aristide and embarrass Clinton.

In the U.S. mainstream press, Bertin was lionized as an "opposition figure" and "an expert in international law." Listen to the beginning of a March 31 Associated Press dispatch movingly titled, "Her Last Days" by Michelle Faul: "She was setting up an opposition party running her busy law office, redecorating her home, writing and publishing a newsletter, and making time to educate her four children."

The killing was indeed seen as an embarrassment to the Aristide government. As noted in the NY Times article:

"There is no doubt that President Aristide's reputation has been severely blemished," said a prominent intellectual critical of the old order. "The killing is a major blow to President Aristide -- and to President Clinton."

Miss Haiti, Sarodj Bertin is evidently unaware of the finer details of her mother's political involvements. On Miss Bertin's blog this is what is said about her mother: "Mireille, Sarodj's mother, was a woman highly admired by the Haitian people, she was a fighter; dreamed with having a country with more opportunities, being able to institutionalize the country and guarantee their rights to the haitian citizens."

Perhaps her father Jean presented her mother's death to her as being at the hands of Aristide "thugs." It's not a stretch to come to that conclusion given his statements after the murder.

In the couple's massive stone house in the hills high above the city, John Bertin recalled it differently. "I, as head of the family, was not notified," he said stiffly, and added that a phone call from the Justice Minister [Jean-Joseph Exume] to his wife told her only not to worry and did not warn of the plot.

It is very dangerous business when one represents a paramilitary group which is guilty of overthrowing a democratically elected government. Mrs. Durocher's involvement apparently caught up with her on March 28, 1995. A reasonable conclusion is that the killings were calculated to embarrass the Aristide administration. What is in serious doubt is whether Aristide or his Lavalas party had much to gain from the spectacular nature of Mr. Durocher's demise. Especially given the fact that, the Clinton administration had "advised" Aristide to make nice with his "opponents." This was a particularly onerous demand by the U.S. since these were actually the sworn enemies of the Aristide government and of any real democracy in Haiti. These same "opponents" had been involved in the traitorous military Coup D'etat of October 31, 1991. The Advancement of Progress of the Haitian People (FRAPH) overthrew the government while President Aristide was on a visit to the UN in New York.

Some quick facts about FRAPH. The second in command of FRAPH Louis-Jodel Chamblain was convicted in absentia for the Raboteau Massacre and the assassination of pro-democracy advocate Antoine Izmery (who was dragged from church during mass and executed). Chamblain was also a death squad leader under the tyrannical regime of Jean Claude "Baby" Doc Duvalier. The leader of FRAPH, Emmanuel "Toto" Constant has acknowledged that he was in the employ of the CIA and paid $500 a month for his services. On 60 Minutes Mr. Constant said that in "daily meetings" with the CIA, he was never confronted about FRAPH's criminal activities.

Constant was convicted of mortgage fraud in Brooklyn, NY in 2007. The case, Doe vs. Constant was a civil case brought against Constant on behalf of three women who survived attempted killings, rapes and torture at the hands of Constant's paramilitary group FRAPH.

At Constant's trial, two Haitian women testified in court behind screens about the horrors they suffered. The case is summarized at The Center for Justice and Accountability website (CJA). CJA filed the criminal fraud case against Constant on Dec. 22, 2004. More about the case is also available at the Center for Constitutional Rights website.

In his article, "The Attempted Character Assassination of Aristide," Ben Dupuy is critical of the media for not exposing the truth about Mrs. Durocher's involvement with FRAPH: "They never say that she defended the slaughter of over 5,000 people by Haitian soldiers and FRAPH thugs during the coup. Indeed, she sat on the leadership committee of the death squad FRAPH."

The ugly truth is that Mrs. Durocher was deeply involved with a death squad. FRAPH's weapon of war against Haitians (for their family's political affiliations) was the signature atrocity of sexual violence against women.

It would be either dark irony or fitting justice if Miss Haiti were to choose as her platform the defense of women against sexual violence. That would be a gesture that could bridge the divide between the privileged, anointed class in Haiti and the downtrodden masses who are often their victims.

Background:More on the motives for the double murder from
Haiti Info, Vol. 3, no. 13, 8 April 1995

Double-Murder Significant

The most famous attack was the well-executed assassination of staunch coup supporter Mireille Durocher Bertin and Eugene Baillergeau, a former pilot for coup-leader Lt. General Raoul Cedras, obviously timed to throw a wrench in the celebrations.

The case has all the necessary ingredients: the more well-known victim is an outspoken enemy of Aristide and the democratic movement, two brothers, labeled "ultra-leftists" by the local and international reactionary press, have confessed to a similar plot and have implicated Aristide's Minister of the Interior, and well before the murder (in mid-March), rumors of a "hit list" of Aristide enemies began to surface in the U.S. (not the Haitian) press.

Whether the intended victim was Durocher Bertin, a lawyer who was frequently at anti-Aristide demonstrations, who led the effort to impeach Aristide, who served as counselor to de facto President Emile Jonassaint's ministerial council and who recently founded a political party which was said to be supported by the National Democratic Institute, or Baillergeau, as some have speculated, the other intended victims were obviously Aristide and Clinton.
Beginning before March 31, the sectors opposed to Clinton used the murders in an attempt to tarnish the celebrations of one of his few "foreign policy successes," and the assault has continued. Yesterday Senator Jesse Helms renewed his attack on Aristide and demanded Clinton block all aid to Haiti until the murder investigation is completed.

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The Heritage Foundation Warns Haiti to Stay Clear of Candidates Who Are in Hugo Chavez's Camp

The Heritage Foundation is at it again. Last time they suggested the militarization of aid to Haiti after the quake, on the fear that drugs from Venezuela would pass through Haiti. They opined that appointing Bush and Clinton to head relief efforts would be just swell bi-partisan politics. The very policies the U.S. then implemented. Now the HF is urging the U.S. to lock down control of Haiti's elections, preventing undesirable (Aristide-like?) candidates from being elected in order to foil Hugo Chavez' "evil" plan to make Haiti a part of his "camp."

Ray Walser, Ph.D.
Senior Policy Analyst
The Heritage Foundation

The Heritage Foundation is circulating an op-ed by Ray Walser titled: "An Aristide government would put Haiti in Hugo Chavez Camp."

An excerpt of Mr. Walser's bio from the Heritage Foundation website:

Walser's interests and emphasis in policy research include defending the values of freedom and individual liberty; strengthening democratic institutions and the rule of law; and advancing free trade and free-market economies in the Western Hemisphere.

Among his subjects are how to protect U.S. security and meet the transnational threats posed by drugs, crime and terrorism in a global age. He devotes particular attention to the resurgence of anti-American and anti-democratic political forces in the Americas.

In reality, Mr. Walser's fears have evidently already come to fruition. It happened even without the evil presence of Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Haiti. Mr. Chavez was given a hero's welcome last time he visited Haiti in 2007. This happened just three years after the U.S. supported coup against the Aristide government. Mr. Chavez declared during his visit that Venezuela owed Haiti a debt for helping his country's revolutionary hero, Simon Bolivar win its independence from Spain.

Mr. Chavez insisted that his commitment to Haiti was a "duty, not charity." True to his word, Venezuela embarked on several trilateral agreements with Haiti and Cuba. One agreement was for discounted fuel to Haiti and aid in building an oil refinery. Money from this deal was used by the Haitian government in the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 12 earthquake.

Additionally, Venezuela has launched, along with Cuba, an effort to improve Haiti's healthcare system. Venezuela was one of the first nations to cancel Haiti's debt after the quake, while urging other Latin American countries to also cancel their debt. Venezuela has kept their promise to support Haiti. Haiti has not been the only beneficiary of Venezuela's generosity; Venezuela has offered billions to countries in Latin America.

The Latin American countries participating in the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (ALBA) are creating an alternative to the neoliberal policies of the U.S. which has favored autocratic governments, the marginalization of workers, created a cycle of debt and dependency (using the IMF, IDB, WB and WTO) and contributed to the dramatic widened of the gap between the rich and the poor.

Venezuela and Haiti are further linked in that both countries have been targets of coups financed and supported by the U.S. In Venezuela, the coup was unsuccessful due to a popular uprising. Significantly, post coup, Chavez had support from some elements of the military, which Aristide did not, since he had disbanded the military with the jubilant approval of the people of Haiti. The Haitian military had long been the source of terror and oppression. They were often used by the U.S. to overthrow Haitian governments.

President Aristide currently resides in South Africa where he has been given asylum and protection by the S.A. government. For more information on how the U.S. destabilized Haiti visit the Third World Traveler's Haiti page or read about timelines and personalities involved in the 1991 and 2004 coups against Aristide at History Commons.

The destabilization campaign against Hugo Chavez government continues. The attack is on three fronts. One is the financial front; the financing of the opposition. The diplomatic front is second; the leveling of sanctions, on the basis of claims that Venezuela is trafficking in drugs, persons and arms. The third front is the military; including an increased military presence in the region.

In complete disregard for the resulting chaos following the two coups sponsored by the U.S. government in Haiti, Ray Walser's op-ed urges the U.S.' continuing intervention into Haiti's internal affairs, rather than independence and autonomy:

The United States and the world have their sights set upon on a Haiti-owned process for building a new, sustainable, productive island nation. Yet in a country where 80 percent of the populace lives on less than $2 a day and where hundreds of thousands live in tents, rough sketches of a better future are still on the drawing boards.

A more complete picture of the situation would have noted why the multinational corporations that operate in Haiti are able to pay slave wages in their sweatshops, bar union organizing, pay low/or no trade tariffs and receive other favorable concessions. They benefit directly from the "free trade" policies of the U.S. government. These policies have destroyed the Haitian economy.

Interestingly, former President Clinton apologized and said he regretted that his administration destroyed rice production and food security in Haiti. Too little, too late. It is very easy to find examples of this sort of economic terrorism imposed on Haiti throughout its two hundred year history.

Mr. Walser puts forward what he believes is required of a new Haitian government. He advocates for the continuation of a Haiti hamstrung by the occupations of the UN, NGOs, and the "international community":

It also requires an ability to work with the complex maze of international bodies: the United Nations, non-governmental organizations, and key donors like Brazil, Canada, France and the United States.

Generally idealistic, sometimes cynical and always bureaucratic, this patchwork of forces provides the safety net that keeps Haiti from falling into the abyss. Without sustained international support, Haiti will collapse.

Unfortunately, except Brazil, the "key donors" Mr. Walser named have not come through with the pledged aid. Reportedly, only 9% of the aid money has materialized. Reportedly, Brazil, Estonia, Norway and Australia are the only donors who have followed through on their pledges. Venezuela is not credited by the mainstream media, but they have given substantial direct donor money to the Haitian government, as well as canceling Haiti's debt. The Haitian government only receives a penny of every donor dollar given, so it has limited resources to aid the population, never mind undertaking the reconstruction of the country.

Cuban doctors were already in
Haiti in large numbers (350+).
Cubans established medical
infrastructure before the quake

Also giving Haiti substantial aid on the ground is Cuba. For political reasons this fact is not publicized by the U.S. mainstream media. The Cuban doctors and Haitians trained as doctors in Cuba were the first responders after the devastation of the earthquake. Haitian students were permitted to train as doctors in Cuba because Haiti's first (free) medical school, built by the Aristide administration, was shut down and occupied by troops of the U.S. Southern Command. The troops where there to assure the removal of Aristide. Symbolically, after the U.S. removed Aristide, they flew him to the Central African Republic, where he was detained in the former French colony and military regime temporarily.

The Cuban doctors who have operated in Haiti for years have been struggling to keep their medical services free in the face of opposition from the private sector in Haiti--private hospitals for one. They even went on strike briefly to protest the imposition of fees on their patients.

The supposed "generally idealistic" motives of the United Nations must be a joke. The United Nation's Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is conducting a brutal military occupation of Haiti. Putting a smiley face on that is pretty cynical. Especially when you take a look at the brutally violent way MINUSTAH stiffed dissent in the shantytowns where Haiti's most popular party Lavalas has the most support.

Massive non-violent demonstration originated from these poor communities. They demanded the return of Aristide. They were often attacked violently during these protests and unarmed protestors shot. MINUSTAH also conducted bloodie raids, which most view as massacres into the communities of Cite Soleil and Martissant. If MINUSTAH was there to protect the Haitian population this was not evidenced by their criminal actions.

Mr. Walser quickly glosses over the fact that Lavalas is barred from the upcoming November 28 elections. What should be noted is that elections without the participation of Haiti's largest political party are illegitimate. Additionally, elections under occupation are illegitimate.

Also quite ludicrous is the writer's statement that "without sustained international support, Haiti will collapse." By that Mr. Walser means that not only should the UN occupation of Haiti continue, Haiti's new de facto Governor General, Bill Clinton (co-head of Haiti Interim Reconstruction Commission-HIRC) should be given carte blanche to usurp Haiti's sovereignty. Never mind that Clinton has admitted that his past actions have had disastrous consequences for Haiti; i.e. the lowering of trade tariffs, privatization and other interventions into Haiti's internal affairs, such as insisting that Aristide negotiate and work with the criminals who plotted a coup against his government.

The writer is concerned that the elections "pose a risk that political divisions will further fracture the nation" -- but according to the title of his piece, the primary concern seems to be for the influence that Hugo Chavez would have on Haiti, not for the recovery and well-being of Haiti itself. In any case, wouldn't it be advantageous to the U.S. if Haitians were too divided to challenge the occupation of Haiti by the U.S.' proxies?

Who or what, is a radicalizing influence on how the world views the U.S.? If polled most people with negative views about the U.S., they would most likely say U.S. foreign policy -- not the venerable Hugo Chavez. Mr. Chavez has kept his promise in Venezuela to close the poverty gap and empower the population. Poverty in Venezuela has fallen from 70% in 1996 to 23% in 2009. A significant change. Unfortunately, in the U.S., the gap between the rich and the poor is on the rise.

In Mr. Walser's opinion, Aristide's return would make Haiti "ungovernable"-- the question that arises is: for who? The U.S. wants to keep control of Haiti, that much is clear. Aristide was removed by Washington because he was not privatizing as fast as they wanted him to. Aristide's government (although Haiti is a very poor country) was put on an aid, loan and trade embargo by the U.S. What other purpose could that have had except to destabilize and remove the Aristide government? The actions undertaken by the U.S. government were not only inhuman, immoral and collective punishment, they were a human rights violation. Collective punishment is recognized by the Geneva Conventions as a war crime.

The U.S. has waged an undeclared war against Haiti since the enslaved won their independence from France in 1804. America's first action against Haiti, which had just won freedom from the tyranny of chattel slavery, was by the slave owning Thomas Jefferson, who declared a trade embargo against Haiti that lasted from 1804 to 1862.

Americans are fed the idea that they have a lot to fear from Hugo Chavez. He is an imminent threat to "freedom" and "democracy." The problem with this ideological stance is that it doesn't take into account that Americans are under a more pressing concern; its for their way of life. They are suffering through an onerous financial depression. The situation is not helped by the spending on preemptive wars of aggression and other priorities that many don't support. The U.S. is also spending about 9 million dollars financing the Venezuelan opposition. Surely, the same story is repeated in Ecuador, Bolivia and anywhere else where the feared left holds sway. The U.S. government will spend 3 billion dollars to keep Israel armed to the teeth and marginalizing and killing Palestinians. Just maybe Americans think that their government's priorities are all screwed up.

Heritage Foundation, how about advancing "free trade" and "free market" economics in the U.S.? If one were to take a look at the thriving city of Hiroshima, Japan and contrast it with American cities like Detroit or Flint in Michigan, it would be hard to believe that the U.S. won WWII. An article about how "dozens of U.S. cities may have to be bulldozed in order for them to survive" in the UK Telegraph, should be a wake up call to Think Thank ideological right-wingers and the Obama administration alike. The U.S. should find a system that works to take care of their people, their infrastructure and their economy before they impose their failed economic systems on the rest of the world, never mind the Western Hemisphere.

What kind of stupor must the American people be in that some actually believe Mr. Walser's and the U.S. government's contention that Hugo Chavez threatens their "freedom" and "democracy?"

The right-wingers at the Heritage Foundation also want people to believe that Haitians are to blame for all that has befallen them over the years, not the criminal actions of the U.S. government and the "international community." They write articles that berate Haiti's bad governments, corruption and incompetence. So one would think that the U.S. celebrated with Haitians when the Duvalier dictatorship was forced out by a popular uprising. Not so, this was the reaction of major league baseball (MLB) to the overthrow of Baby Doc Duvalier:

MLB in alliance with Rawlings Sporting Goods conspired to help destabilize Haiti after the overthrow of dictator Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier in the late 1980’s and moved their baseball factories to Costa Rica, throwing thousands of Haitian women out of work, the professional sports organization should acknowledge their long, exploitative relationship with the devastated nation and make a much more significant donation to help rebuild the nation from which it made so much money.

Daniel Fignolé Provisional President of Haiti. 05.25.1957 - 06.14.1957

The U.S. corporate run government has more often then not, thrown their support behind autocratic governments in the global south. They supported the Duvalier dictatorships of Papa and Baby Doc, a terrorist regime that killed over 50,000 Haitians.

The U.S. pushed out the government of Daniel Fignolé a populist who held the Haitian presidency for about a minute before Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier. Fignolé was "a liberal labor organizer in Port-au-Prince so popular among urban workers that he could call upon them at a moment's notice to hold mass protests... He pledged to raise the daily wage and expressed determination to remain in office, angering his opponents."

Those were goals that did not suit the U.S., making Fignolé a threat to "freedom" and "democracy."

Why did Daniel Fignolé anger the U.S.:

Although Fignolé promised an FDR-style New Deal and was explicitly anti-Communist, his politics had long made him suspicious in the eyes of the Cold War era American administrations. CIA director Allen Dulles warned President Eisenhower that Fignolé had "a strong leftist orientation." The administration refused to recognize the Fignolé government, whose political program was seen as "comparable with the Soviets." Eisenhower told the French Embassy in Washington that he was worried Fignolé "might eventually become another Arbenz," referring to the social-democratic President of Guatemala overthrown three years earlier in a CIA-backed coup d'etat.

With foreign governments and most elements of Haiti's traditional power structure arrayed against him, Fignolé could not hold onto power. After just 19 days, the Haitian armed forces, with U.S. foreknowledge, broke into the presidential chambers. They seized Fignolé, forced him at gunpoint to sign a resignation letter, and bundled him into a waiting car.

The U.S. has evidently financed and supported coups in Haiti. Despots and criminals like Raoul Cedras and Guy Philippe, former members of the Haitian military received training at the infamous School of Assassins. Reportedly, Raoul Cedras is living in luxury in Panama at the expense of the U.S. government.

Guy Philippe was pursued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) on drug charges briefly after he indicated on Haitian radio that the Haitian private sector was involved in the 2004 coup against Aristide, but has since been allowed to roam freely in Haiti. He even ran for elected office in 2006. The people Philippe named were those that were considered the "opposition" by the U.S. government. The "opposition" were supported through USAID, the IRI and other "democracy building" organizations.

Let's be clear, Haiti's democratically elected government was destabilized and removed by the U.S., France and Canada. It was all planned at the Ottawa Initiative. The intervention put Haiti in a precariously dangerous position because the country was left more vulnerable to the natural disasters that hit the country in quick succession, culminating in the earthquake.

Now the geologists say that Haiti's earthquake was caused by a previously "unknown" fault. Who's fault was it?

Scandal Plagued Rapper Wyclef Jean for Haiti President?

The news is that Wyclef Jean will be announcing his candidacy for the Haitian Presidency on Larry King Live today, never mind that the man is not qualified for the office. Number one, his candidacy violates the Haitian Constitution. The requirements are that a candidate must have resided in Haiti for a period of 5 years and kept a home in Haiti in that time. Jean's primary residence is New Jersey.

Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) still has to validate Wyclef Jean's candidacy, so let's see what happens. Let's keep in mind that Haiti's majority party Fanmi Lavalas has been barred from running in the next elections because of a manufactured technical issue by the CEP. The CEP has said that Lavalas has not provided them with a proper signature from the party head (President Aristide). Not so, of course. It will be interesting to see how the CEP justifies inviting Wyclef Jean to take part in their electoral circus. There are currently 54 parties registered and the possibility of 54 presidential candidates from each. The U.S.-France-Canada cabal must be commissioning their "mission accomplished" sign right now.

Chris Matthews of MSNBC's prediction that Jean will easily win the Haitian presidency aside, Jean is being scrutinized closely for a number of serious matters such as: failing to pay his taxes, the fact that he paid his mistress with money from his charity, for personally banking money from the charity fund, and whatever else may crawl out of his closet.

This morning Wyclef Jean announced he is resigning from his charity. The move hardly puts a distance between Jean and the matter of alleged misappropriation of funds, as this occurred while he was at the helm of his scandal plagued charity, Yéle.

In a timely article that came out August 2nd at the SF BayView, Charlie Hinton outlines more reasons why Wyclef Jean should not get our support for a run for the Haitian presidency.

"PLEASE SPREAD THE NEWS: “WYCLEF JEAN IS NOT A FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT OF HAITI.” The floating of his candidacy is just one more effort by the international forces, desperate to put a smiley face on a murderous military occupation, to undermine the will of the Haitian majority by making Wyclef Jean the Ronald Reagan of Haiti."

Below is an excerpt of the article:

Wyclef Jean holds a Haitian flag as he considers running for president of Haiti. Beware! Wyclef is Haitian, but he is no friend of the Haitian people as a whole, who remain loyal to President Aristide.

To cut to the chase, no election in Haiti, and no candidate in those elections, will be considered legitimate by the majority of Haiti’s population, unless it includes the full and fair participation of the Fanmi Lavalas Party of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Fanmi Lavalas is unquestionably the most popular party in the country, yet the “international community,” led by the United States, France and Canada, has done everything possible to undermine Aristide and Lavalas, overthrowing him twice by military coups in 1991 and 2004 and banishing Aristide, who now lives in South Africa with his family, from the Americas.

A United Nations army, led by Brazil, still occupies Haiti six years after the coup. Their unstated mission, under the name of “peacekeeping,” is to suppress the popular movement and prevent the return to power of Aristide’s Lavalas Party. One must understand a Wyclef Jean candidacy, first of all, in this context.

Every election since a 67 percent majority first brought Aristide to power in 1990 has demonstrated the enormous popularity of the Lavalas movement. When Lavalas could run, they won overwhelmingly. In 2006, when security conditions did not permit them to run candidates, they voted and demonstrated to make sure Rene Preval, a former Lavalas president, was re-elected.

Preval, however, turned against those who voted for him. He scheduled elections for 12 Senate seats in 2009 and supported the Electoral Council’s rejection of all Lavalas candidates. Lavalas called for a boycott, and as few as 3 percent of Haitians voted, with fewer than 1 percent voting in the runoff, once again demonstrating the people’s love and respect for President Aristide.

When Lavalas candidates were barred from the ballot for the Senate election of April 19, 2009, almost no one voted; even some poll workers refused to vote. That's how loyal Haitians are to the Lavalas Party. - Photo: Alice Smeets

Fanmi Lavalas has already been banned from the next round of elections, so enter Wyclef Jean. Jean comes from a prominent Haitian family that has virulently opposed Lavalas since the 1990 elections. His uncle is Raymond Joseph – also a rumored presidential candidate – who became Haitian ambassador to the United States under the coup government and remains so today. Kevin Pina writes in “It’s not all about that! Wyclef Jean is fronting in Haiti,” Joseph is “the co-publisher of Haiti Observateur, a right-wing rag that has been an apologist for the killers in the Haitian military going back as far as the brutal coup against Aristide in 1991.

“On Oct. 26 [2004] Haitian police entered the pro-Aristide slum of Fort Nationale and summarily executed 13 young men. Wyclef Jean said nothing. On Oct. 28 the Haitian police executed five young men, babies really, in the pro-Aristide slum of Bel Air. Wyclef said nothing. If Wyclef really wants to be part of Haiti’s political dialogue, he would acknowledge these facts. Unfortunately, Wyclef is fronting.”

As if to prove it, the Miami Herald reported on Feb. 28, 2010, “Secret polling by foreign powers in search of a new face to lead Haiti’s reconstruction …” might favor Jean’s candidacy, as someone with sufficient name recognition who could draw enough votes to overcome another Lavalas electoral boycott.

Wyclef Jean supported the 2004 coup. When gun-running former army and death squad members trained by the CIA were overrunning Haiti’s north on Feb. 25, 2004, MTV’s Gideon Yago wrote, “Wyclef Jean voiced his support for Haitian rebels on Wednesday, calling on embattled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down and telling his fans in Haiti to ‘keep their head up’ as the country braces itself for possible civil war.”

During the Obama inaugural celebration, Jean famously and perversely serenaded Colin Powell, the Bush administration secretary of state during the U.S. destabilization campaign and eventual coup against Aristide, with Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”

Jean also produced the movie, “The Ghosts of Cite Soleil,” an anti-Aristide and Lavalas hit piece, which tells us that President Aristide left voluntarily, without mention of his kidnapping by the U.S. military, and presents the main coup leaders in a favorable light. It features interviews with sweatshop owners Andy Apaid and Charles Henry Baker without telling us they hate Aristide because he raised the minimum wage and sought to give all Haitians a seat at the table by democratizing Haiti’s economy, a program opposed by the rich in Haiti.

It uncritically interviews coup leader Louis Jodel Chamblain, without telling us he worked with the Duvalier dictatorship’s brutal militia, the Tonton Macoutes, in the 1980s; that following the coup against Aristide in 1991, he was the “operations guy” for the FRAPH paramilitary death squad, accused of murdering uncounted numbers of Aristide supporters and introducing gang rape into Haiti as a military weapon.

Wyclef Jean’s movie, “The Ghosts of Cite Soleil,” an anti-Aristide and Lavalas hit piece, features interviews with sweatshop owners Andy Apaid and Charles Henry Baker without telling us they hate Aristide because he raised the minimum wage and sought to give all Haitians a seat at the table by democratizing Haiti’s economy, a program opposed by the rich in Haiti.

It uncritically interviews coup leader Guy Phillipe, without telling us he’s a former Haitian police chief who was trained by U.S. Special Forces in Ecuador in the early 1990s or that the U.S. embassy admitted that Phillipe was involved in the transhipment of narcotics, one of the key sources of funds for paramilitary attacks on the poor in Haiti.

Read the full article at SF BayView