Haiti's Calamity Is a Windfall for Everyone, Except Haitians-Part II

Guest post by Terroroftyrants

President Barack Obama meets with President Luiz
Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil in the Oval Office,
March 14, 2009. (Official White House
Photo by Pete Souza)

Most mainstream media coverage won't explain the massively lucrative nature of the Haiti venture to the US, the United Nation and Brazil. The financial interests in "their plan" for Haiti. The general spin is that the fundamental motivation of this trade initiative was humanitarian – to aid Haiti's economic development through sustainable production activity.

The authorities in the US, UN and Brazilian governments won't explain that the Brazilian-headed UN troops are, by-the-way, in Haiti not only to secure the use of cheap Haitian labor for their transnational corporations, exploit Haiti's natural resources, but also to defend Brazil’s dream of becoming more of a status quo power itself and gain a seat in the UN Security Council. Brazilian corporations have successfully lobbied Washington and made Brazil a beneficiary under the Washington HOPE Act that allows for duty free textile goods from Haiti for 10 years.

That means, for instance, the Brazilian company, Coteminas - Latin America's largest textile company, owned by the brother-in-law of Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazil will be able to make clothing in Haiti or the Dominican Republic and ship them to the US with preferential treatment. Currently, Brazil is the top maker of textile in the region. The textile empire is owned and controlled by President Lula's brother in law. Brazil retained a high-powered law firm in DC to broker the trade deal in Washington.

In an article that appeared in the August 15, 2008 issue of the Brazilian newspaper Valor Economico, explained why Brazil should get preferential trade terms:

"In the midst of chaos [the chaos of the Haitian economic situation and earthquake disaster], Brazilian companies are searching for opportunities and are beginning to profit from their strategic position as leader of MINUSTAH.

Coteminas [Brazilian giant of the textile sector, whose chairman is none other than the son of the vice president of Brazil] wants to use Haiti as a platform for export and clothing manufacture aimed at the US. Brazil is a known collaborator in the rescue process of Haiti. Our country has the right to demand preferential treatment, said Valor Josue Gomes da Silva, president of Coteminas.

In spite of institutional confusion, Haiti presents important advantages for a company in the textile sector: proximity and access to the biggest market in the world, the US, and very inexpensive labor. A dressmaker for the capital Port-au-Prince is paid $0.50 an hour. That is a wage lower than the $3.27 paid in Brazil, and comparable to the $0.46 of Vietnam and $0.28 of Bangladesh."

Coteminas' plan is to export fabric from Brazil, have it made into clothes in Haiti at very low cost, and enter the US market without customs duties. The whole process protected by free trade agreements.

The HOPE Deception of Haiti

The following is a guest post by terroroftyrants

Rep. Charles Rangel takes questions from reporters regarding alleged financial improprieties on Capitol Hill in Washington. Photo Credit: Associated Press

They are working their plans while keeping folks busy.

Between 2005 to 2007 the apparel industry of the Dominican Republic was in bad shape. So Charlie Rangel -- who has a superb residence in the Dominican Republic-- introduced legislation to rescue and enrich DR captains. But there was something missing that the earthquake provided. Hence came H.R. 5160 Haiti Economic Lift Program Act of 2010 (HELP). At first, everyone worried about the creation of sweatshop jobs in Haiti. Well, the first to benefit from this bill is not Haiti. Although the bill title leads everyone to believe that it was about Haiti, everywhere in the bill, the real beneficiaries are "Haiti or the Dominican Republic."

Note the bill title: "To extend the Caribbean Basin Economic Recovery Act, to provide customs support services to Haiti, and for other purposes."

Both the Senate and House version of the bill acknowledged that the factories and infrastructure in Haiti were destroyed by the earthquake, so the immediate theater of operations is the Dominican Republic.

There are 168 textile companies in Dominican Republic that are benefiting now from the signing of the HELP Act into law.

In Haiti, there were 24 textile companies before January 12, 2010, but most did not survive the wrath of the quake.

Rangel, the miracle worker for the Dominicans, introduced the bill on 4/28/2010. There was only 40 minutes allocated for debate, enough time for the co-sponsors to speak on behalf of the bill and the measure was passed. Believe it or not, in four weeks, the bill was introduced, voted on and signed into law by the president on 5/24/2010.

It was Congressman Hank Johnson who said something that raised suspicion. He told the speaker of house that the bill will benefit Haiti, the Dominican Republic and their economy. Three weeks earlier, Hank Johnson asked a general if the island of Guam would capsize if the number of soldiers are increased. This time, it was his support of the bill, since there was no recorded vote, which capsized Haiti on the floor of the House. He also let the cat out of the bag. He was the only one of the co-sponsors who mentioned the Dominican Republic on the floor of the House.

Why would a bill design for Haiti/post earthquake be beneficial to the Dominican Republic? Of course, Rangel. Since the president signed the bill into law on 5/24/2010, these companies can now export duty free to the States no matter where the fabric originated from. So the guys in Brazil got their lobbying money's worth and cheap labor. Also, we know that all the big names in clothing in the US have their clothing made in DR.

The president of the DR quietly signed his version of TPS to all Haitians living in the DR. That was probably part of the deal; no more ugly scenes of mass deportations of Haitian nationals from the DR. All Haitians on Dominican soil have a three year permit to stay in the DR legally until they can have permanent residency. All Haitian students in the DR have either a substantial reduction in tuition or free tuition for one year. So the DR gets to keep the labor force in case anyone notices that no Haitian workers benefited from the bill. Rangel successfully rallied members of the black caucus to co-sponsor the bill – his retirement package abroad. Since no one asked for a recorded vote, the measure passed with Voice Vote only. So we won't know who else screwed Haiti on the Hill besides the co-sponsors. Well we know, except there is no record of it.

So, although this is a bill to revive Haiti after the quake, there was no mention of it in the media about the president signing the bill into law. The New York Times chose to write about something else. Distrust of the Haitian government and in-fighting within Haitians have always been the tool used to rob Haiti. It is used to empower NGOs and special business interests. In order to overcome the struggle, we must always keep an eye on the money and who stands to benefit from everything. As always, it is rarely the Haitian people. Remember that Brazil was asking for favorable treatment for clothing made in Haiti, but the factories are in the DR. They hired a law firm in DC and they took care of business. Perhaps DC stands for Diabolical Circle and not District of Columbia.

Here are the Senate version and the House version. The language used in both redirect operations to the Dominican Republic, which stands to benefit from the Haiti bill. Note that the bill arrived in the Senate on 5/5/2010 and it passed on 5/6/2010 and I guess they ran to the white house with it before the end of the day.


_______________________________________________________
BACKGROUND INFO:


SENATE BILL

[...] SECTION 2. FINDINGS.

[...] (2) The earthquake has devastated Haiti's infrastructure, including homes, offices, factories, roads, ports, communications, and other facilities. The loss of life attributable to the earthquake was massive.

(6) However, the Haitian apparel sector has been hard hit by the January 12, 2010, earthquake. A number of apparel factories based in and around Port-au-Prince have been heavily damaged, including the collapse of one major apparel factory that had employed nearly 4,000 workers.

(7) The Port-au-Prince seaport that had served the apparel trade has been badly damaged. And extensive damage to roads has made it difficult to transport apparel to the Dominican Republic for shipment from ports in that country.

(8) According to estimates by the Department of Commerce, imports of apparel articles from Haiti to the United States in 2010 have decreased by 43 percent as compared to the same period in 2009.

(9) The earthquake has increased significantly the costs and uncertainty of doing business in Haiti. A strong and unequivocal commitment from the United States is needed to help Haiti offset these costs and preserve the gains made under United States trade preference programs, and to encourage buyers and investors to stand with Haiti through this crisis.

[...] SECTION 4. APPAREL AND OTHER ARTICLES SUBJECT TO CERTAIN ASSEMBLY RULES.

[...] (F) CERTAIN OTHER APPAREL ARTICLES-

(i) IN GENERAL- Any of the apparel articles described in clause (ii) that is wholly assembled, or knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, or yarns and is imported directly from Haiti or the Dominican Republic shall enter the United States free of duty, without regard to the source of the fabric, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, or yarns from which the article is made.

House of Representatives Version (H.R.5160)

SUMMARY AS OF:
5/6/2010--Passed Senate without amendment.

[...] Extends, in each applicable one-year period through FY2020, the duty-free treatment of imported apparel articles made in Haiti or the Dominican Republic.

(Sec. 4) Prescribes duty-free treatment also, without regard to the source of the fabric, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, or yarns from which the article is made, for specified apparel articles or made-up textile articles: (1) wholly assembled, or knit-to-shape, in Haiti from any combination of fabrics, fabric components, components knit-to-shape, or yarns; and (2) imported directly from Haiti or the Dominican Republic.

MAJOR ACTIONS:

4/28/2010		Introduced in House
5/5/2010		Passed/agreed to in House: On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote.
5/6/2010		Passed/agreed to in Senate: Passed Senate without amendment by Voice Vote.
5/6/2010		Cleared for White House.
5/13/2010		Presented to President.
5/24/2010		Signed by President.
5/24/2010		Became Public Law No: 111-171 [Text, PDF]

The Poverty Pimps of Haiti

The Forces aligned against Haiti's political, agricultural and economical sovereignty are The Poverty Pimps:

• 
  
  • The Haitian oligarchy and immoral wealthy business class
  • United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH)
  • US Embassy cronies, the Breton Woods institutions and their USAID subcontractors
  • Charitable NGOs
  • Security companies: XE (Blackwater), DYNCORPS and Brown & Root.
  
  

The Poverty Pimps are currently being aided and abetted by the new Obama administration and its push for the HOPE act - legislation that will ban trade unions from protecting worker's rights. Activist have maintained that "Enriching the few at [the] expense of the many is not "HOPE" but fueling more despair."
Haitians, represented by the Haitian government do not have a voice or partnership in improving the country in the vital areas that are necessary to pull the general population out of misery; namely:

• food sovereignty (domestic agriculture and food production)
• investment in environmental rehabilitation
• domestic manufacturing and jobs that circulates capital and
  investment IN Haiti.
• Haiti needs a stop to deforestation
• investment in infrastructure, construction of flood-resistant bridges, roads
• investment in such renewable energy as biofuels, wind turbines, solar, water and micro-hydro.

Most importantly - Haiti needs cash crops, food production and alternative energy (see Ezili Danto's post).
The Poverty Pimps in control of Haiti are responsible for many human rights abuses committed during their reign. Namely, the US sponsored coups, interventions, financial criminality by the world banking institutions and other violations of international law that have kept Haiti's infrastructure underdeveloped and primitive, leading to many deaths and the prevalence of preventable diseases among other dire consequences.

THE POVERTY PIMPS OF HAITI
Human Rights Violations Currently Underway:

• MEDICAL EXPERIMENTATION via VACCINATION - The UN, the Rwanda Genocide Model and the Vaccination Campaign (see link)
• Food Crisis (see also Mud Cookie Economics in Haiti)
• GENOCIDE: The Gran Ravine & Soccer Massacre and death squads roaming free in UN-occupied Haiti
• MILITARY OCCUPATION: UN repression and militarization is turning Haiti into a penal colony

Proposed comprehensive long term solutions (from Ezili Danto's post):

• Fair trade with Haiti. Trade that does not further degrade the environment, repress worker's rights or contain Haiti in poverty or ignore Haiti's most essential domestic needs for food production.
• Haiti needs food sovereignty
• Haiti needs the cancellation of its debt to the international financial institutions
• The US should grant Haitians TPS (Temporary Protected Status) and equal immigration treatment
• The US needs to support the release of the political prisoners -- justice not impunity
• The UN military occupation of Haiti should end in order for participatory democracy that means inclusion of the masses in the affairs of their own country.
• The Western countries who control the world banking system are not providing Haiti with authentic assistance in poverty reduction that involve domestic agricultural investments and community policing.

Hinche Haiti Sept. 2008 - Food Crisis in Haiti Agravated
by Successive Hurricanes: Gustav, Hanna, Ike and Fay.

Most of all, Haiti needs a US trade, aid and investment culture that is committed to integrating all levels of corporate responsibility – economic, social and environmental including;

• patronizing the informal sector of local service providers
• generally not exporting all profits and capital but committing to paying equitable custom duties
• not dumping assembly goods for export, or dumping subsidized US foods, but investing in mutually beneficial trade, aid and investment
• And they should be investing a reasonable percentage of their Haiti profits put back into Haiti.

HatTip: Ezili Danto's post:
"Obama's offered HOPE is sweatshop slavery"