 Lately there has been a group of articles about the rape of Haitian women and girls in the tent camps. The security of women and girls is paramount and the Haitian police must provide better protection to Haitian women and girls from this violence so that it is stopped at all cost.Today I read this Katherine Balwin article from Reuters on the matter which maintained that: "Haiti has the worst rate of HIV infection in the region and officials fear the quake will set back years of progress in fighting the virus."But Haiti does NOT have the "worst HIV infection rate in the region." So we wrote a comment to Reuters as follows: "This mainstream propaganda about Haiti must stop and editors ought to fact-check before allowing these articles to air with such mistakes. The Bahamas, a member of England's commonwealth of nations with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state (represented by a Governor-General) has the highest HIV rate in the region at 3.3. The same (3.3 rate) as Washington DC where the US Congress sits. Haiti's HIV rate is 2.2."The large tourism industry from North America and Europe is to the Bahamas, which is the sort of "development" the Internationals and Clinton want for Haiti, accounts for the high HIV rate in the Bahamas. |
Sexual violence against poor and defenseless Haitian women and the powerless ought to be decried and prevented at all cost, but the missing part in this article and others like it published lately is the failure to assess the damage to Haitian women, boys and men caused by the systemically abusive role of Catholic priests in Haiti like John Duarte, other US/Euro charity workers and accused pedophiles like Douglas Perliz and the UN in the rape, molestation, food-for-sex, trafficking and molestation of Haiti's people.
The info is readily available on the internet and on HLLN's website.
In fact just today it is reported that former Canadian priest, John Duarte, was sentenced to 18 months in jail yesterday after pleading guilty to sexual interference charges involving three teenage Haitian boys.
Ezili Dantò of HLLN
April 2, 2010
Forwarded By Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
BACKGROUND:
BILL CLINTON on "Meet the Press"(01.17.10) made some misleading statements, including the oft repeated one that Haiti has the highest AIDS rate in the Caribbean.
David Gregory: Look at our experience. Almost a trillion dollars in trying to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan -- the money that's been poured into Haiti. Why does Haiti matter strategically?Debunking Bill Clinton on Haiti:
Bill Clinton: Because, number one it has the highest AIDS rate in the Caribbean and our neighbors, we don't want them to spend any money on crushing health burdens, they can avoid. 1 Number two it's the poorest country in the Caribbean and its holding the whole region back. 2 And the Caribbean and Central America and Latin America, they all want to help now. For the first time in my lifetime, they are committed to being good partners with Haiti. 3 And number three, they actually have shown a willingness to change to improve their own circumstances. And therefore if they could succeed where they have failed for two hundred years, that would change our idea of what is possible not just here, but in Africa, in East Asia and everywhere else. they're not… in.. this government has not made excuses.4 They said, we know we've made mistakes in the past, we want to make changes. I have seen them make several changes, since I've been working. That's worth it all over the world.5
2 • Why Is Haiti So Poor?
• The U.S.-Haiti Connection -- Rich Companies, Poor Workers
• Latin America's Richest & Poorest
"While Brazil remains the top economy in the region, the smallest economy is no longer Haiti. Now it's Nicaragua that ranks at the bottom, according to a Latin Business Chronicle analysis of the IMF’s latest World Economic Outlook. The IMF expects that to continue this year as well."NOTE: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a subjective indication of a country's wealth and resources. Countries of Latin America, Africa and East Asia which have been deemed "under-developed" and "poor" by Western "economic indicators" are measurably rich in natural resources and human potential.
3 • Training Haitian Doctors: A Tri-Lateral Agreement Between Venezuela, Cuba, and Haiti
• Venezuela Launches 732 New Public Health Works For 2009
• Chávez and Venezuela: Duty, not Charity, to Haiti
• CARICOM’s Action on Haiti: Honor for a Few, Shame for Most
4 • Mixed U.S. Signals Helped Tilt Haiti Toward Chaos
(Translation: U.S. financed & orchestrated the 2004 Coup against Aristide)
• US Campaign against Haiti: Why?
• Haiti: US Undermines Another Democracy
Read more articles at Third World Traveler
• History of US Military, CIA Involvement in Haiti
• History, Haiti, Interference, the CIA and America
5 • A Timeline of CIA Atrocities
• The Ravaging of Africa :
The ravaging of Africa has been enriching Europe and North America for more than 500 years. First, European empires imposed slavery and colonialism on the continent. After 1945, the United States took over as the dominant neo-colonial power."
HIV AIDS Data and Statistics – People living with HIV AIDS world map in 2008
• HIV/AIDS in Haiti
WHO | HIV AIDS Data and Statistics (2007):
Haiti: Estimated number of adults and children living with HIV (pdf)
Bahamas: Estimated number of adults and children living with HIV (pdf)
NOTE: WHO does not have a record of the U.S. "HIV surveillance prevalence by site"6; so while Haiti's and the Bahamas' HIV rates "by site" statistics are recorded when available, no data is listed for "major urban areas" such as Washington, DC, USA on the WHO's global "Epidemiological Fact Sheet on HIV and AIDS".
6 By site meaning "HIV prevalence in different populations." Different populations is defined by WHO as: "The differentiation between the two geographical areas "Major urban areas" and "Outside major urban areas" is not based on strict criteria, such as the number of inhabitants. For most countries, "Major urban areas" were considered to be the capital city and, where applicable, other metropolitan areas with similar socio-economic patterns. The term "Outside major urban areas" considers that most sentinel sites are not located in strictly rural areas, even if they are located in somewhat rural districts."
Washington, DC, USA HIV AIDS Rate:
At Least 3 Percent of D.C. Residents Have HIV or AIDS, City Study Finds; Rate Up 22% From 2006
2 comments:
I believe the HIV rate in the USA is much higher
i think so.
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