USAID is Meant to Cripple & Destroy Countries

The Shelters That Clinton Built: Structurally unsafe and
formaldehyde laced, the "hurricane-proof" classroom trailers
installed by the Clinton Foundation in Haiti came from the
same company being sued for sickening Hurricane Katrina
victims. Warren Buffet's company was paid $1 million;
same amount he donated to HRC's campaign.

"USAID Go Home" is a 1996 article on the Third World Traveler website (still relevant today) and what a number of countries, such as Russia, Bolivia, Venezuela, Eritrea... have said to US spooks masquerading as aid in their country. False aid some folks call it. In Haiti it is a major issue (see here, here and here).

The headlines say its the end of foreign aid as we know it... "President Donald Trump’s vow to put “America first” includes a plan to drastically cut assistance to developing countries and merge the State Department with USAID, according to an internal budget document and sources.

The administration’s March budget proposal vowed to slash aid to developing countries by over one-third..."

This is Orwellian doublespeak of course, because the plan has always been to "put America first."

Donald Trump is reiterating what USAID and Hillary Clinton (see below) have both been caught candidly admitting:

"The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), which has spent more than $1.5 billion in Haiti, explains its goal as “furthering America’s interests.” In a more candid assessment, contained in a document now over a decade-old and no longer publicly available, USAID explained that “the principal beneficiary of America’s foreign assistance programs has always been the United States.”
"Is USAID Helping Haiti to Recover, or US Contractors to Make Millions?"
by Jake Johnston | The Nation, January 21, 2015

America first is the plan. It's working just as it was designed to. What do you have to add to that Candidate Clinton?

“I believe that together we can make America great again,”
             –William Jefferson Clinton in his 1991 presidential announcement speech.

.. and America is not great. You don't get an "A" for originality, because Ronald Reagan used it as his campaign slogan (perhaps foreshadowing Iran-Contra, Grenada war(!), the delayed AIDS response debacle, scapegoating Black women as welfare moms, tax hikes...).

Evidently, American presidents have a major problem with other countries acting in THEIR national interest though (Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria, Palestine, Venezuela, Haiti, Honduras, Iran, Somalia, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, ... this could go on for a while). One could argue that Saudi Arabia and America have a lot in common, seeing as how they both like a good decapitation strategy.

The Red Cross bought them tainted water during a UN initiated cholera epidemic.

A woman explains that the Red Cross recently visited the
camp to give vaccinations. Al Jazeera video exposing the
Red Cross' real mission in Haiti. It wasn't to help the people
with what they really needed to stay healthy: clean
drinking water. As the UN cholera infestation spread, the Red
Cross delivered unpurified water that made the people sick.

USAID being stripped of funds would be wonderful news for the impoverished global south. It would necessitate the immediate building of sound infrastructure and hopefully speed development; were it true. Alas, this is not the desire of the deep state establishment and Donald Trump has done a number of 180's in his stands so far; no withdrawal from Afghanistan being one. As campaign rhetoric is often just that; this is to be expected. A note to whoever may be planning a "decapitation" (Kathy Griffin, Brad Sherman... ), had you thought maybe President Donald Trump is actually not the right head?

UN/USAID/World Bank are the three-headed hydra monster representing the corporatocracy in Haiti. What a headache to be aided to death by these thieving aid agencies? They do the exact opposite of what they are supposed to do, which is end the need for their services. The old saying goes: "teach a man to fish", but these poverty pimps only take away the ability of a country to produce enough food to feed its people and replace it with a cycle of aid dependency.

When there is an end to this type of headline: "Canada Buys a "Lead" Role On Haiti Recovery Team;" we can look forward to a world where the miserable business of impoverishing a people is not profitable to foreign governments, who come to speculate and bid on men, women and children's sad existence as pawns in a global game of unbridled greed in the name of vulture capitalism.

"Aid is meant to cripple people. Governments in Africa are not allowed to write their own programs." – Isaias Afwerke, Eritrean President

"It's hard enough for today's citizens to figure out what our western governments are really doing in the world, so just imagine being a target of their policies overseas. When programmes branded as "aid" can cause serious harm, and their failures are blamed on the would-be recipients, confusion is sure to ensue... In this light, the aims of Washington or London can be as inscrutable to a vulnerable, crisis-racked country as the intentions of a half-seen cat are to a mouse."
– Disaster aid: how US charity begins at home by Jonathan Katz
On the third anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, it's time to question the US's helping hand

"NGOs who are such a force multiplier for us and such an important part of our combat team." – Colin Luther Powell (former US Secretary of State and War criminal who presented false evidence of WMDs to UN to start Iraq invasion/destruction)/Counterpunch

USAID is a poverty pimping US government secret service operation to uphold corporatist "interests."

"In Latin America, USAID has long earned a reputation of an organization whose offices are, in fact, intelligence centers scheming to undermine legitimate governments in a number of the continent's countries. The truth that USAID hosts CIA and US Defense Intelligence Agency operatives is not deeply hidden, as those seem to have played a role in every Latin American coup, providing financial, technical, and ideological support to respective oppositions. USAID also typically seeks engagement with the local armed forces and law-enforcement agencies, recruiting within them agents ready to lend a hand to the opposition when the opportunity arises." – End to USAID Spying Looms in Latin America by Nil NIKANDROV | 26.09.2012

The goal is for local government to lose control of vital public services, agriculture, electricity, water, construction, manufacturing, telecommunications... anything that will may have the ability to put money into the local economy and empower that country's leadership is sucked away, thus making them dependent on the predator economies of the global north and their pimps.

Chemonics, a leading USAID recipient of multi-million dollar contracts in Haiti. After the Haiti earthquake USAID gave Chemonics the lead role in one example: a "cash for work" program in Fort National. Chemonics (CEPR: Haiti Relief and Reconstruction Watch) they played a large part (as did William Jefferson* Clinton) in Haiti's loss of its food security:

Chemonics is a subsidiary of ERLY Industries, which is also the parent company of American Rice Inc. American Rice was perhaps the largest benefactor of the influx of "Miami rice" in the 80s and 90s in Haiti, wiping out thousands of Haitian farmers who could not compete with the cheaper, subsidized imported rice. American Rice Inc. officials were found to have paid bribes in 1998-1999 to custom officials in order to avoid import tariffs (already by then some of the lowest in the hemisphere due to IMF and World Bank policies). Chemonics has close ties to USAID, and relies on government contracts for over 90% of its revenue.

More on Chemonics at CEPR:
"... But Chemonics, whose contract with USAID explicitly states that decisions about what programs to fund “will be based upon US foreign policy interests in consultation” with the State Department, worked to further USAID’s objectives of “counter[ing] the destabilizing effects” and the “growing discontent” with the pace of reconstruction. They ran PR for the new industrial park, installing benches and flower planters in nearby areas to “project a positive image.” An audit later noted that the flowers soon died “from lack of care,” while the mayor decried the lack of community involvement. But business was good for Chemonics, whose CEO at the time received a $2.5 million bonus."

In Haiti, the US orchestrated two coups against the democratically elected government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide forcing their neoliberal agenda of privatization of all public industries and services. They bring in their poverty pimps to provide services that the "failed" Haitian government is unable to... no matter that they targeted that government with sanctions, boycotts, opposition groups, thugs, assassins... whatever means necessary to bring about the so-called "failure" of "socialism." Is it socialism, communism or a dictatorship when they destroy a country... they are interchangeable terms used by these fascist; a distraction from their role in destroying a country; bringing war, chaos and death, while promising that capitalist predators, central banks, foreign control will bring back order. Ezili Dantò calls this neoliberal nazi raid and plunder technique "playing arsonist and firemen."

They actually have reached their goal when a country can be declared a "failed state"... if there wasn't anything to fix, there wouldn't be any money to be made and they're influence would be negligible.

"Helpfully, powerful leaders now and again stop to explain their motivations. One such moment came in a speech given in October 2011 by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Addressing an audience of wealthy New Yorkers, she laid out a vision of what the US is trying to accomplish in the world; it was

"The question should always be "how will this
affect our economic growth?"

very telling for those trying to understand foreign aid – and its younger, hipper cousin, investment.

Clinton told the audience: "Our problems have never respected dividing lines between global economics and international diplomacy. And neither can our solutions." That is why, she explained, she has put "economic statecraft" at the heart of the US foreign policy agenda. Clinton further defined how the US can use "the forces and tools of global economics" to bolster American "diplomacy and presence" abroad and to strengthen the economy at home. She argued that America should "put economics at the center" of its foreign policy. In foreign relations, the question should always be "how will this affect our economic growth?"

A superpower such as the US would, of course, always consider its domestic interests, especially economic ones, when it acts abroad."
– Disaster aid: how US charity begins at home by Jonathan Katz
On the third anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, it's time to question the US's helping hand

They project their destructive naked greed for power and control on their victims. Venezuela is going through a stage of globalist terror that happened in Haiti in 1990 and again in 2004. Haiti is a proving ground for most terror tactics before they go global south, with the help of the corporatist media and their millionaire news anchor stenographers.

Ezili Dantò: Barack Obama and Bill Clinton did not “build Haiti back
better.” Where did the money go? Haiti recovery was about US land
grabbing, privatization of Haiti assets, militarizing Haiti police,
amending Haiti Constitution to better dominate and tightening
the occupation further with Martelly puppet government

Unfortunately, during these interventions, occupations, US intelligence financed death squad (FRAPH) cleansing of political opposition, bio-terrorism (UN cholera, USAID vaccines/"birth-control"/expired medicines... ); some have even found convincing evidence of weather manipulation and earthquake's from either frakking or HARPP (Venezuela and Russia both say the 2010 Haiti earthquake was man-made).

To make sure their control is not threatened the US has controlled every election since the coups in order to assure that real democracy did not have a ghost of a chance. The Empire's usual storm troopers - the Haitian (drug cartel) army were disbanded by surprise presidential winner Aristide after he was elected by a landslide over the US' (former World Bank executive) candidate – Marc Bazin)

Turns out, Hillary Clinton was a great strategic choice by Barack Obama for his Secretary of State given her experience in rigging elections.

“I do not think we should have pushed for an election in the Palestinian territories. I think that was a big mistake... and if we were going to push for an election, then we should have made sure that we did something to determine who was going to win.”
                         – Hillary Rodham Clinton (2006 interview with The Jewish Press)

Obama named Bill Clinton the UN "special envoy" to Haiti in 2009 and and after the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake, Clinton was teamed with George W. Bush to form the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund because of all the special things he'd done for Haiti... i.e. "free trade reforms", destroying rice production to boost subsidized Arkansas rice farmers, mass starvation resulting from Haiti's inability to feed its people... good times.

Nothing much is changing, but if the Trump administration were to actually put an end to USAID's immense reach in countries like Haiti, it could end the unrelenting, cold, and calculated cycle of misery, impoverishment and underdevelopment. Withdrawing aid could impact Haiti in a very positive way and just maybe it could make America seem kinda nice again.

Reactions to the news of defunding of aid:
Chemonics Responds to Devex Article
It looks like the end of foreign aid as we know it is coming

Remember Mandela As He Was - The Struggle Continues

Nelson Mandela leaving the court in 1956
First Treason Trial

Photo credit: ngozigold.com

now that 
Madiba is dead

beware the icon makers
they will say he was great
they will laud his calls for peace
they will wring their hands and cry
speaking only of the man
disregarding the people
explaining away the movement
pretending the revolution was won
they will deny their guilt
denying their privilege
obscuring his birth in the pains and the blood of his people
denying the capital crimes
of neoliberal friends of apartheid still alive
now that Mandela is dead

they will say no one else will come
they will wink that we still organize
they will pretend that de Klerk was his friend
they will ignore the birth pangs in Jo’burg today
pretending to honor him with deceitful silence
in the face of Capetown shanties and Manenburg misery
and Durban oppression
while former murderers still prey
and bougie negros still play
while lying bishops still pray
and corporations still rape
and the people in South Africa still die
like people across the Global South
as the Revolution dies as Madiba’s children live in squalor
as the wine growers awake in shacks
as the homeless sleep beneath the floors of stores—after hours
when they will not be seen while they are still being sold

beware the speakers of phrases that lie
they will disremember liberation struggles
that have yet to be won
they will pretend that Mandela belonged to them
denying the people to whom he belonged

remember to remember Chris Hani
remember to remember Robben Island
remember to remember the South African Charter
remember to remember that icons created by oppressors
will never liberate the people
remember to remember that they are still killing Martin
remember to remember that they are still killing Malcolm
remember to remember that Assata still lives
remember to remember that our liberation will be sold to us for profits
unless we work for it with our minds and our actions
then we will remember Mandela as he was
for he will live inside us
and the lies will no longer deceive
because the struggle will continue
and the last will be first at last

From M Thandabantu Iverson | (FB: http://on.fb.me/1iIdvAc | Dec. 6, 2013)

***********************************************
Forwarded by Ezili's Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
***********************************************

What to make of this U.S. "government shutdown"

Things to look for in deciphering the goals of the unity party's shutdown drama:

1) Will they allow all 800,000 "furloughed" workers to return to their "government jobs?" Over the years that term has become a perjorative. As this manufactured crises has shown, most of the anger should be directed at Legislators.

2) How is Wall Street doing? Have stocks fallen significantly? No, right? Search the net and the typical news is "Wall Street Shows Little Reaction to the Government Shutdown."

The dollar is in crisis.
U.S. military might is used  to buttress the power of the dollar.

"This system requires war." - Stan Goff

New World Order -- Small Wars, Limited War. Henry Kissinger on the record about U.S. foreign policy, July 7, 1958

What is “dollar hegemony?”

“The United States makes dollars. The rest of the world has to make things to get dollars.” -- Henry Lui (Economist)

3) What about "the debt ceiling" and it's relation to this drama? Remembering that Washington is where they print all the money, what's keeping them from paying off all they're debts? Significantly, all of the U.S.' debtors (basically all the world's major economies) are now heavily  invested in the U.S. , whose vulture capitalists control the globalized economy, with its interconnected markets. "The financial “hub” for the neoliberal world system is Wall Street. All lines go through that hub." They have a lot to lose if the U.S. defaults on its debt.

4) Supposedly, the issue for the Republicans is ObamaCare. They claim to want to "defund ObamaCare." They object to it as "government control of healthcare." They especially dislike the  "individual mandate" and "employer mandate" (delayed 1 year) insurance aspect of the new law. If the mandates remain intact it will land tons more new business for the private sector insurance companies. Republicans claim to be "the party of business," so it is counter to their ideology to kill ObamaCare, a bid to privatize healthcare.

That's the opinion of Pediatrician and "Green Cabinet" member Dr. Margaret Flowers of the Green Party. Dr. flowers thinks ObamaCare will lead to the privatization of health insurance.*

Rather than leading to government-run healthcare (like Medicare and Medicaid), ObamaCare signifies the attempt to privatize healthcare.

So the famous sign at a Tea Party rally was (inadvertently) right and not as assinine as "liberals" thought in defiantly declaring: "Get Your Government Hands off my Medicare!" The Affordable Care Act (ACA) aka ObamaCare will NOT lead to the implementation of a "public option."

Wiki: "The public health insurance option, also known as the public insurance option or the public option, was a proposal to create a government-run health insurance agency which would compete with other health insurance companies within the United States of America."

"Neoliberal theology asserts the primacy of the private, the value of small government; but neoliberal practice has been massively subsidized and legally protected from public accountability by the state. Without the state’s affirmative actions on behalf of the international business class, the system would collapse. Fast. Begin by thinking about how many battle groups from the US Navy are required to ensure the flow of fossil hydrocarbons into the industrialized metropolis, and you can extrapolate from there."

The above is excerpted from the "blog-book": Hillary's Bones - A Coup Tutorial by Stan Goff. It was posted at his now defunct blog "the Feral Scholar."

Thanks to archive.org this must read article is available online here.

*  Obamacare Debate: Flowers vs. Baker Economist Dean Baker and Dr. Margaret Flowers debate the merits of the Affordable Care Act -October 1, 2013

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?

"The Quake"– Haiti Through The Distorted Lenses of PBS' Frontline

Marc Bazin: former Haitian Prime Minister
and U.S. candidate for Haitian Presidency in 1990.

If Americans watched the PBS/Frontline documentary "The Quake" last Tuesday, they would have learned that nearly half of all Americans contributed to the Haiti relief effort in the wake of the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that shook Haiti on January 12, 2010. According to Hilary Clinton, the amount donated was over $700 million dollars. So, with such a potentially vast American audience, it would have been great if the writers and producers of "The Quake" had offered a documentary that was not only representative of the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake, but was also an accurate historical, political, and economic perspective on what has made Haiti so desperately poor and vulnerable to this "natural" disaster. Instead, Fronline chose to spotlight among others, former World Bank executive, Marc Bazin. Bazin was Washington's candidate in the December 1990 Haiti presidential elections. Bazin was trounced by Jean-Betrand Aristide, who won an easy victory with two-thirds of the vote. Marc Bazin came in a distant second with 14%.

Neoliberal Economist Paul Collier on his UN
role of finding "strategies that gov'ts
would find helpful" in Haiti.

Speaking of elections, perhaps the producers were unaware that Haiti has a popular political party with representatives that they could have tapped to speak on the political issues that this "documentary" attempts to tackle. It is at the very least symbolic that Fanmi Lavalas was also barred from the April 2009 elections and again from this year's rescheduled February elections.

In this regard, Frontline is in line with the U.S. government, which learned a lesson from the 1990 elections. The lesson was that allowing a free election may result in the election of a populous, liberation theology Priest who may advocate for modestly higher sweatshop wages, for building the country's infrastructure and institutions (Aristide founded Haiti's first medical school) and who would want vital services like electricity, mill and cement factories and telephone companies to remain nationalized, not privatized, in order to benefit the local economy and people.

Raymond Joseph, is Haitian Ambassador to the U.S. He was
appointed by U.S. backed interim puppet gov't of Gerard LaTorture.
Joseph, who is the uncle of rapper Wyclef Jean, spoke of Haiti's
"proud" and "opulent" heritage during the period of slavery – when
Napoleon Bonaparte's sister had her palace in Port-au-Prince.

If Aristide and Lavalas' plans for Haiti had gone forward, who knows, perhaps the scope of the earthquake disaster would have been lessened. But, rather than include Lavalas's voice as a counter balance to the colonial and "entrenched" narrative, Frontline chose to provide a bully pulpit for Bill and Hillary Clinton, Ban Ki Moon, Edmond Mulet, Raymond Joseph, Jean-Max Bellerive and to trumpet the "economic opportunities" and "very low income area" that is Haiti –– by such luminaries as neoliberal Oxford economist Paul Collier. In Collier's view Haiti is a land of opportunities, no, of course he doesn't mean in the same sense as America is known as "the land of opportunity;" as in people will be flocking to Haiti for a better life, where they will succeed in their chosen field, where they can raise and educate their children to have a promising future. Be for real! What Collier, Bill Clinton and his "twenty" heads of companies and CEOs see is opportunity for the multinational corporations in "agriculture, tourism and especially in manufacturing." The privatization of Téléco (the telephone Co.) it turns out, isn't working out too well and labor organizers say that managers "mismanaged the company in order to justify its break-up." As for the plans for Haiti by the "international community," they are just more of the same.

"In a March 2009 New York Times op-ed, Ban Ki-moon outlined his development plan for Haiti, involving lower port fees, “dramatically expanding the country’s export zones,” and emphasizing “the garment industry and agriculture.” Ban’s neoliberal plan was drawn up [by] Oxford University economist Paul Collier. (Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff admitted, in promoting Collier’s plan, that those garment factories are "sweatshops.")

Collier is blunt, writing (PDF), “Due to its poverty and relatively unregulated labor market, Haiti has labor costs that are fully competitive with China." His scheme calls for agricultural exports, such as mangoes, that involve pushing farmers off the land so they can be employed in garment manufacturing in export processing zones. To facilitate these zones Collier calls on Haiti and donors to provide them with private ports and electricity, “clear and rapid rights to land," outsourced customs, “roads, water and sewage," and the involvement of the Clinton Global Initiative to bring in garment manufacturers.

Revealing the connection between neoliberalism and military occupation in Haiti, Collier credits the Brazilian-led United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) with establishing “credible security,” but laments that its remaining mandate is “too short for investor confidence.”

More Pain for Devastated Haiti: Under the Pretense of Disaster Relief, U.S. Running a Military Occupation by Arun Gupta | Black Agenda Report & Alternet

Dr. Mitchell Shuster works on the foot of Enis Turneau ValBrun,
a sixteen year old who lost his foot when he fell into a hole
while attempting to rescue his sister. Tragically, Enis' sister died.

By the way, that medical school that Aristide founded in 2003 was shut down by the U.S. after the coup they orchestrated against Aristide. The shutting of the school undermined Haitian healthcare and "set the stage for the disaster." The existence of a medical school and trained Haitian doctors would have mitigated the misery and death toll from the disaster. The Haitian medical students who were left stranded by the closure were accepted by Havana’s Latin American Medical School (ELAM). These former students came back and reportedly worked "tirelessly" during the earthquake emergency. The Cubans were the first to set up triages and medical camps to care for the victims of the earthquake. Cuba has a tri-lateral agreement with the governments of Haiti and Venezuela to train medical students. The students are pledged to work in areas where they are most needed in their respective countries.

This Frontline "documentary" relied on the same old colonial narratives. Accordingly, they represented that the "corrupt" Haitians "resisted change," whereas the "reformist," as seen by Frontline, were those bent on instituting harsh structural adjustment and neoliberal policies in Haiti. If you believe Frontlines' rethoric, this heroic "reformist" bunch, have tried unsuccessfully time and again to bring Haiti kicking and screaming into the light of civilization to no avail. Frontline's premise begs the conclusion that Haitians are unable to govern themselves without the benevolent aid and support of the "international community." Half-way through the "documentary," the audience is presented with old footage of the brutal U.S. occupation of Haiti that lasted 19 years. From the old black and white footage, one is left with the impression that the pictures are supposed to represent old and abandoned interventionist U.S. policies, but realistically, was there ever a period in Haiti-U.S. history when Haiti was left to make decisions without the intervention of the U.S. government, its representatives or its allies in the international community?

It is Frontline's version of the political situation in Haiti that some will take the most issue with. In the "documentary" they address the future of Haiti only in terms of what the international community will do for Haiti, but neglect to explore the fact that Haitians are quite capable of determining their own course and finding the path to healing and recovery themselves. This paternalistic attitude is characteristic of the colonial narrative.

If Fanmi Lavalas is barred from any more elections, there will be another boycott and consequently political tension will escalate. Since the earthquake, there have been more than 50 protests. Most have been to protest the inadequate response to the crisis, but many have called for the return of president Aristide. The people want Aristide restored. They want Fanmi Lavalas to take part in any free and fair election. When Fanmi Lavalas was barred last April, the polls were pitifully empty of voters. The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) could avoid tensions by reversing their course and allowing real elections to take place.

Frontline may have avoided mention of Fanmi Lavalas, but the program did not sidestep political discourse regarding Haiti. Minutes into the narrative, Frontline explains: "There have been a lot of promises made about Haiti in recent weeks, but Haiti has a history of frustrating reformers, absorbing aid and resisting change" Who are these heroic reformers, you may well ask? Some will assume they are those who had just intoned dutifully supportive remarks on behalf of Haiti.
Obama: "To the people of Haiti, we say clearly and with conviction: you will not be forsaken; You will not be forgotten."
Ban Ki Moon: "We are with you. We will help you to recover and rebuild."
Hillary Clinton: "We will be here today, tomorrow and for the time ahead."

These international figures speak a good game, but can they walk the talk? Why are Haitians today not rejoicing and enjoying in the bounty of opportunities, the raised standards of living, safe infrastructure and functional institutions that one would expect is the agenda of "reformers?" Could it be that this was not the goal of neoliberal policies that the U.S. forced the Haitian government to accept? Ironically, Frontline time and again brought up how weak the Haitian government is, but the core purpose or result of neoliberalism is to weaken a government which is subjected to its policies. A weak government will not put up any trade barriers or restrictions to protect its industries. A weak government will be forced to allow the multinationals to flood their markets with imports that destroy the local economy and industry. A weak government will allow the privatizing of local services, even such vital services as safe water, electricity and communications. Did the structural adjustment programs of the IMF, World Bank, IDB and World Trade Organization intend to "reform" Haiti? Yes, but not for the benefit of Haiti, it's government, economy, infrastructure, industries or people. Bill Clinton recently apologized for supporting trade policies which destroyed rice farming in Haiti. The policy led to the loss of an estimated 830,000 rural jobs according to Oxfam. Read more about U.S. trade policy and rice farmers in Haiti at "Harvest of Hunger."

"Shocking though they may appear, the latest round of impoverishing policies are part of a historical continuum in Haiti. Indeed, the presence of U.S. troops in Haiti is not new. In 1915 President Woodrow Wilson sent the Marines into what turned out to be a nineteen year occupation. Both the 1915 and the 1994 U.S. invasions were ostensibly about restoring democracy and stability. But both were in typical U.S. fashion very much about U.S. geopolitical and economic interests. The interests of Haiti's poor majority have consistently been damaged by U.S. military intervention and by U.S.aid programs."

"This and the decimation of the invaluable Creole pig (because of fears of an outbreak of African swine fever), led to displacement of the peasantry into urban areas, along with the promise of urban jobs, fueled rural migration into flimsy shantytowns. It’s hard not to conclude that these development schemes played a major role in the horrific death toll in Port-au-Prince."

Neoliberalism benefited the Robber Barons, not the Haitian people. Once they buy up a national industry, prices doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. Instead of investing in the local economy, these leeches take their profits and go home. What they leave behind are higher costs of living, and worse conditions for people who were living in desperate poverty to begin with. The one notable exception being Digicel, which employs a lot of Haitians and provides dependable cell service in Haiti. So with rare exceptions, these were the detrimental "reforms" that the U.S. wanted Aristide to institute, and when he didn't do it fast enough, the U.S. slapped an aid embargo against a country that their State Department routinely describes as the "poorest in the Western Hemisphere." Heroic wasn't it, to deprive the Haitian people of infrastructure, clean water, and basic social services! After Aristide's government was weakened, the U.S. concluded their orchestrated dismantling of Haiti's democracy by forcing him and his family onto a U.S. plane in the dead of night. They brought him half-way around the world to the Central African Republic, a former colony of France against his will. Later when Aristide was to receive asylum from Jamaica, in direct violation of international law, the U.S. warned him to stay out of the Western Hemisphere or risk "violence."

Watching the section where Paul Farmer briefly spoke about the consequences and misery brought on by a series of unprecedented hurricanes in 2008 in Haiti, particularly in Gonaive, one wonders what he would have said if he was asked to explain as he did in his book "The Uses of Haiti," the U.S. role in Haiti's bitter fate. Unfortunately, Dr. Farmer seems to have lost his voice since he was made Bill Clinton's U.N. Aide. The fact is punctuated when you see the images of Bill Clinton with his arm around Dr. Farmer's shoulders. Clinton's gesture seems to say, see this is my boy now! Dr. Farmer probably couldn't tell you "Who removed Aristide," even if he wanted to.

Was this the same Paul Farmer who wrote:

"[…] the Haitian poor know from long experience that they are not supposed to care about democracy. Perhaps post-coup Haiti's symbolic utility is chiefly as a warning to those who dare to care what democracy is. The coup is a warning to those who think that a country's wealth ought to be equitably shared among the people who live there.

Such was the plan of the Aristide government. From the perspective of the Haitian poor, The Aristide presidency, and not the coup, was a rupture with the past. Throughout his adult life, Aristide has made it clear that he thought the uses of Haiti should be altered in radical ways. Inspired by the idea of "an option for the poor. Aristide wanted, at a minimum, to provide a "decent poverty" for the majority of Haitians. This would require, he felt, greater popular input into decision making: it would require an end to the most flagrant injustices and the redistribution of some of Haiti's wealth. The Council of Hemispheric Affairs, noted that Aristide's victory "represented more than a decade of civic engagement and education on his part," heralded lavalas as "a text-book example of participatory, 'bottom-up' and democratic political development."

Constrained by a new world order that was more concerned about making an option for the rich, and constrained too, by his cabinet of moderates, Aristide's government was less about socialism or anti-imperialism than it was about a modest, reformist nationalism. His eight months in office saw significant reforms against tremendous odds. But, as Noam Chomsky has noted, it is precisely such dangerous notions as reform that are most likely to bring down the wrath of the international elite."

-- "The Uses of Haiti" p.195 by Paul Farmer

From Dr. Farmer's take on the situation back in the 90s, to the tea parties, and cries of "you lie," at Obama's first Senate address, to accusations of socialism and even Nazi symbols that purport to describe the current American President, there are a lot of parallels between the claims being made against the Obama administration and similar baseless accusations that were made against President Aristide. Ironically, both men are not extremist, instead they advocate for modest reforms to a corrupt system. Also, similar to Obama, Aristide angered and ignored his base. For Aristide, it was to lead to his downfall. Time will tell with President Obama whether his pandering to the Republicans and right-wing elements will truncate his time in the American presidency.

There were some good moments in the documentary. The rescuers and medical personnel were authentic and real. Their actions were heroic and they often went beyond the call of duty and showed real leadership and heart. Witlet Maceno, a Haitian-American nurse volunteer was tenacious, gutsy and energetic in seeking out life giving blood for a pregnant woman in distress. Maceno is symbolic of the heros and heroins who volunteered in Haiti and who performed to the best of their abilities with the limited resources they had. Maceno finally found the blood he needed at the Haitian Red Cross in Port-au-Prince. Which is significant, since that particular resource is in-country, and came through for Maceno when others like the Red Cross, and the UN did not.

In fact the UN in the aftermath of the quake failed Haitians miserably. The heroes were those who worked tirelessly on the ground to help the victims, Haitians helping Haitians and those countries which responded quickly, like Cuba, Israel and individuals and international aid agencies from around the world.

Most striking were the statements made by the UN Head of Mission Edmond Mulet. Mulet in effect said that the UN threw up it's hands and "deliberately decided not to coordinate aid. "How can you coordinate, I mean… the border was open with the Dominican Republic. Thousands of volunteers coming in. Airplanes landing. Imagine if the government of the UN or any other organization tried to coordinate that. We would have bureaucratized the process. And I think it would not have been effective. Martin said (perhaps incredulously?), "It would have prevented aid from getting through? Is that what you're saying?' Mulet acknowledges; "We didn't have the capacity to really organize the whole thing. Such good will and generosity from everywhere and I think it would not have been effective."

Mr. Mulet, how effective was the alternative?

It was instructive to see a photo op in the documentary where the American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was with President Preval. The faces on both individuals showed the stress and tension each felt towards each other. Frontline's Martin Smith asked Mrs. Clinton about the relationship.

"Is Preval a reliable partner?" asked Smith.

"He is a reliable partner, but he is a partner with very serious challenges when it comes to capacity."

Smith: "What do you mean by capacity?"

Clinton: "Well, that the government has a political structure, and a social structure which is very entrenched in the way it does business."

No kidding. This is coming from a woman who went up against the Washington lobbyists for the health care industry and blinked.

The interview cuts off at this point. I guess the rest is "off the record" as they say? The disembodied Narrator takes his cue from Clinton's remarks:

"What Clinton is talking about is Haiti's entrenched elite. A handful of families who control everything. From the local economy to many key ministries. And while Preval is not considered corrupt himself. He is weak. And many think unlikely to survive Haiti's fall elections."

Good summary Narrator, but not exactly a surprise since Preval has already announced that he would not be seeking another term as president of Haiti.

Since Clinton knows from experience about battling entrenched power structures, why isn't there more cooperation and empathy between President Preval and Secretary Clinton? Probably because "entrenched" power structures isn't the real issue.

What was a surprise was the admission by Frontline, that Preval is not corrupt--deviating from an oft-stated mantra throughout the presentation. They conclude that it is an "entrenched" system, (which is not unlike the system which exists in the U.S. and worldwide when you think about it) where a few well connected families control most of the wealth, industry and power.

During the presentation, Frontline made a point of noting the negative graffiti that abounds in Port-au-Prince about Preval. A popular one reads: "Preval = K K" – meaning Preval equals excrement. What Frontline cameras did catch, but predictably ignored, underscoring the problem with this skewed "documentary," was the graffiti off to the side. The one that read, "Aristide Wa [King]."

The Quake can be viewed online at the PBS Frontline website.

UPDATE 04.06.2010: The transcript of the Frontline interview with Hillary Clinton is on the State Department website.

UPDATE 04.06.2010 8:02pm:
Haitian Prime-Minister Bellerive revealed this week that Haiti has oil. Contracts have been signed and investments have been made by the World Bank and IMF. "For a project worth billions of dollars."

"Bellerive and a consortium of well-known Haitian figures such as Reginald Boulos, worked on a document concerning the economic future of Haiti. The text does not explore the amazing opportunities offered by the exploitation of Haiti’s mining and oil resources, nor does it mentioned any of the serious studies done on the subject. Instead it presents agriculture as the main alternative to resolve’s Haiti’s problems. By ignoring the question of Haiti’s natural resources, it is as if the message was: there will be looting, pillage but we will give you a little piece of bread. Even more deceiving is that they managed to get the help of left wing Michel Chancy, to caution this masquerade. The paysans may only receive little leftovers from the NGOs but at least they will eat bread…. One bag of rice against one bag of Gold."

UPDATE 04.06.2010 9:16pm:
Statement of Cuban Foreign Minister. H.E. Bruno Rodríguez Parilla,
Minister of Foreign Affairs | Republic of Cuba at UN Donors Meeting on Haiti | UN Headquarters, NY, March 31, 2010

"The international community has a tremendous debt with Haiti where, after three centuries of colonialism, the first social revolution on the American continent took place, an act of boldness that the colonial powers punished with close to 200 years of military dictatorships and plunder. Its noble and hardworking people are now the poorest in the Western hemisphere.

[...] The program for the reconstruction and strengthening of the Haitian national healthcare system, drawn up by the Haitian government and Cuban governments, with the cooperation of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and other countries and humanitarian organizations, will guarantee wide health coverage for the population, in particular the low-income sector.

[...] From almost immediately after the earthquake, Cuban specialists have been dedicating their attention to the population affected. To date they have seen 260,000 patients, performed more than 7,000 operations, delivered close to 1,400 babies, and administered close to 100,000 vaccinations. More than 50,000 patients have undergone rehabilitation therapy and more than 75,000 children have received psychosocial therapy, in the presence of some of Cuba’s most eminent professionals.

A total of 783 Cuban and 481 Haitian doctors, plus 278 health professionals from 28 countries – all of them graduated in Cuba – are working on this program.

[...] During the 11 years of work prior to the earthquake, the Cuban medical brigade, which has a presence in 127 of the 137 Haitian communes, saved 223,442 lives, treated 14 million people, performed 225,000 operations and delivered 109,000 babies. Via the Operation Miracle program, 46,000 Haitians have had their sight restored or improved. During the same period, 165,000 Haitians have become literate in Creole.

If we evaluate the medical services provided in these 11 years and the training of medical personnel in Cuba, it would represent $400 million throughout the period.

The medical program that we are proposing, in its entirety, will benefit 75% of the poorest population of the country at a minimum expense.

We invite all governments, without exception, to contribute to this noble effort. For that reason, we attribute particular importance to this conference, and aspire to its success.

Thank you very much."

Ron Paul -- No Need for "Civil" War to Get Rid of Slavery

Paul: "Other Western nations all got rid of slavery without a Civil War."

Hughley: "You just make way too much sense, you can't be a Republican."

Ron Paul, the former Republican candidate for President was on the D.L. Hughley program on CNN. He opined (at 7:50) that the Civil War did not need to be fought. The North should have just "bought" all the slaves from the South. After all, he stated, other nations did not fight a "civil" war to free their slaves.

Congressman Ron Paul, the slaves of Haiti bought their freedom from the French, English and Spanish IN BLOOD, more than 60 years before American slaves were "freed." Haiti was the first successful slave rebellion in the world. Haiti was a beacon for the enslaved blacks of North America and the Western Hemisphere. Haiti was the second republic in this hemisphere after the US, but stood first as a truly liberated country -- since the U.S. still held slaves in chains. The slave revolt in Haiti (1791-1803) inspired white abolitionists and black slaves in the US, such as Gabriel Posser, Nat Turner, Denmark Vesey and John Brown. Napoleon Bonaparte was forced to give up his ambition to build an empire in the new world. He sold the Louisiana Territory to Jefferson for a song -- doubling the size of the United States. The South American leader Simon Bolivar of Caracas, Venezuela was the second of his country man (Francisco Miranda -- the first to come, died in a Spanish jail) to come to Haiti seeking aid in fighting to end colonialism. The Haitian president Alexandre Petion provided him with provisions, arms, ships and men with one stipulation; free the slaves too. Bolivar went on to liberate a vast portion of South America comprising the present day countries of Colombia, Panama, Venezuela and Ecuador.

Congressman Paul, maybe the wars to free the slaves in Haiti and South America were not "civil" as you say... but they bloody well did the job of tolling a death knell for chattel slavery in this hemisphere. In fact, other nations did fight to keep slavery, but lost to the heroes of the Haitian Revolution and their protege, Simon Bolivar.

Haitians Shackled by Debt &
Dependency -- Fight Back

In Haiti, the neoliberal policies of the U.S. government have bought about debt and dependency at every geopolitical level.

As Haitians continue to struggle for autonomy and sovereignty, a younger generation is taking up the fight to empower themselves. Their inspiration comes from Haiti's founding father Jean-Jacques Dessalines who declared Haiti's independence in 1804 after a bloody 13 year war.

UPDATE:

HISTORY MATTERS: The Brutal US Occupation
of Haiti - 1915 to 1934

Charlemagne Péralte is a national hero. He took up arms to defend Haiti against the US military occupation of 1915. His army, the Cacos was made up of poor people. In 1919 the US Marines assassinated Pèralte, nailed his body to a door and put him on public display. Haitians saw the parallels to Jesus in the manner of the atrocity, thus solidifying his heroic image.

Charlemagne Peralte's call to arms:

People of Haiti!

Soon a day like the 1st of January 1804 will rise. For four years the [American] Occupation has been insulting us constantly. Each morning it brings us a new offense. The people are poor and the Occupation still oppresses us with taxes. It spreads fires and forbids us to rebuild wooden houses under the pretext of keeping the city beautiful.

Haitians, let’s stay firm. Let’s follow the Belgian example. If they burn our cities, it doesn’t matter! As the inscription on the tomb of the great Dessalines states: “At the first canon shot, giving the alarm, cities disappear and the nation stands up.”

The holy battle in the North is led by brave citizens. The South is only waiting for the right man to follow its wonderful example. Don’t worry, we have the arms. Let’s get rid of those savage people, whose beastly character is evident in the person of their President Wilson—traitor, bandit, trouble maker, and thief.

Die for your country.
Long live Independence!
Long live the Union!
Long live the just war!
Down with the Americans!

From Charles the Great Massena Peralte High Commander of the Revolution in Haiti to The French Minister in Haiti Port-au-Prince

****

Honored Minister,

Despite the principles, of international law usually adopted by civilized nations, and coming out of Great War in Europe, the American Government got involved in the internal affairs of the small republic of Haiti and imposed a rule whose approval by the Haitian Parliament was guaranteed enforced by military occupation.

We were ready to accept this rule and follow its obligations, despite the threat to our autonomy and the dignity of our free and independent people. But the false promises, given by the Yankees, when they invaded our land, brought in almost four years of continuous insults, incredible crimes, killings, theft and barbarian acts, the secrets of which are known only to Americans.

Today we lost patience and we reclaim our rights, rights, ignored by the unscrupulous Americans, who by destroying our institutions deprive the people of Haiti of all its resources and devour our name and our blood. For four years, cruel and unjust Yankees brought ruin and hopelessness to our territory. Now, during the peace conference and before the whole world, the civilized nations took an oath to respect the rights and sovereignty of small nations. We demand the liberation of our territory and all the advantages given to free and independent states by international law. Therefore, please take into consideration that ten months of fighting has been in pursuit of this aim and that our victories give us the right to ask for your recognition.

We are prepared to sacrifice everything to liberate Haiti, and establish here the principles affirmed by President Wilson himself: the rights and sovereignty of small nations. Please note, honored Consul, that American troops, following their own laws, don’t have any right to fight against us.

Dear Sirs (sic), please, accept our distinguished salutations.

Signed by the High Commander of the Revolution M. Peralte

followed by 100 other signatures

Source: History Matters: Bandits or Patriots?: Documents from Charlemagne Péralte