Haiti's Earthquake Updates: February 15 - 22, 2010
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UPDATES: February 22, 2010
Crocodile Tears For Haiti By Femi Akomolafe
Two things struck this writer as odd in the Western media reportage about the Haitian earthquake -- that is apart from "Reverend" Pat Robertson's racist vitriol. First, when the 9/11 catastrophe occurred in the U.S. and about three thousand people were said to have been killed, not once did all the media in the West show a mangled white body. The deaths in 9/11 were treated with all the dignity that most cultures afford the dead. But when it came to Haiti, we were shown all the horrific details with unnecessary flourish. Was it because Haitians are poor or was it because they are black? The second thing that struck me as odd was the inability of any Western reporter to mention Haiti without the suffix: "poorest country in the Western hemisphere." Of course, we know Haiti is materially poor but what these not-so-clever Western reporters failed signally to tell us is how it happened that Haiti came to its sad state.
South American countries give concrete aid to Haiti By Berta Joubert-Ceci
The Union of South American Nations — UNASUR — held an emergency meeting on Feb. 9 in Quito, Ecuador, to examine the situation in Haiti after the earthquake and make plans for short- and long-term assistance to the destroyed nation. Exterior ministers and special envoys from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Guyana, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela and the presidents of Colombia, Paraguay and Peru joined current UNASUR President Rafael Correa from Ecuador and Haitian President René Préval.
Peter Hallward on 'Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment' By Democracy Now!
Haitian President René Préval said Sunday that the death toll from the earthquake could reach 300,000 once all the bodies are recovered from the rubble. We speak to Peter Hallward, professor of Modern European Philosophy at Middlesex University. "Unless prevented by renewed popular mobilisation in both Haiti and beyond, the perverse international emphasis on security will continue to distort the reconstruction effort, and with it the configuration of Haitian politics for some time to come," wrote Hallward recently. "What is already certain is that if further militarisation proceeds unchecked, the victims of the January earthquake won’t be the only avoidable casualties of 2010."
Time for socialism in Haiti By Ken Drapak
...the Quebec garment industry has survived and prospered by exploiting this Caribbean colony. Charity seems warranted since our armed forces, with American backing, kidnapped Haiti's (democratically) elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and hauled him off to exile in South Africa. I'll never forget how a reporter on CNN arrogantly remarked that Aristide's offer to return to Haiti three days after the quake was "too little, too late." I guess in her head, the crisis is over. After that news report, former President Bill Clinton remarked that Aristide is too radical and then began soliciting funds for the Clinton/Bush relief effort.
Mexico - Haiti Declaration
We, the Heads of State and Government of Mexico and the Member States of the Caribbean (CARICOM), gathered together on in the Mexican Riviera Maya, confirm our solidarity with the government and people of Haiti in the wake of the catastrophic loss of lives and material damage caused by the earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010.
Barack Obama Bares Imperial Fangs By R. Arun Kumar
The US administration under Obama had increased its efforts to regain its lost influence in Latin America. No efforts are let gone for achieving this purpose. The recent victory of right-wing forces in Chile elections had proved to be a shot in its arm. Even the recent earthquake in Haiti is used to further its penetration in the region.
Haiti warns of political violence By Aljazeera Jean-Max Bellerive, Haiti's prime minister, says his government is in danger of collapsing, as gangs and political opponents capitalise on its inability to deal with the aftermath of the January 12 earthquake. His comments come amid concern that armed gangs could try to take advantage of the situation to re-take control of areas now patrolled by UN peacekeepers.
What the World Owes Haiti By John Maxwell
On the other side, the American/French/Canadian side, while there is knowledge of the grievous harm these countries have wreaked and are wreaking on Haiti, there is no understanding of the need -- the absolutely essential requirement -- that Haiti belongs to the Haitians and it is they alone who must decide what they want. They may ask for help, but the US, France and Canada must have the grace to apologise and atone for the heinous crimes they have committed in Haiti. If the Haitians want Aristide back, simple human decency should inform the Americans, the French and the Canadians that they have a duty to help the Haitians get back their president and a responsibility to protect him and the constitutional integrity of Haiti. The Haitians have the brains, the genius and the skills to manage their own country, if they are only left alone.
Heroin found in Bulgarian 'aid' truck bound for Haiti By Gabriel Hershman
An article on the Haiti Press Network reveals that Romanian authorities discovered a substantial haul of heroin hidden in a Bulgarian registered truck carrying aid for Haiti. The article, entitled "Some Are Profiteering from Haiti's Tragedy," focuses on the incident, which took place on February 20, in which Romanian authorities discovered "hundreds of kilograms" of heroin hidden in a Bulgarian registered truck carrying aid for Haiti.
Haiti: Public Relations War and Historical Symbolism By Nikolas Kozloff
Could it all be a cynical plot to reoccupy Haiti by military means? The U.S. exercised plenty of leverage over Haiti even before the quake, and one could argue that it doesn't really need additional muscle. Nevertheless, it's easy to see how Washington's heavy handed approach in Haiti as well as elsewhere can feed into regional suspicions: the U.S. military has already intervened in Haiti and several other countries over the past decade.
Haiti's government in quake camps land grab
The Haitian government will seize land to build temporary camps for earthquake victims in a controversial new move, prime minister Jean-Max Bellerive said. The decision is potentially explosive in a country where a small elite owns most of the land in and around the capital Port-au-Prince. That elite, a traditionally corrupting force in Haitian politics, has the power to bring down the government.
A Test for Humanity By Leonardo Boff
The disaster that devastated Haiti, demolishing Port au Prince, killing thousands, and depriving the people of the minimum infrastructure needed for survival, is a test for humanity. According to the predictions of those who systematically follow the state of the Earth, it will not be long before we confront several Haitis, with millions and millions of climate-change refugees, provoked by extreme events that could cause a true ecological devastation and destroy countless human lives. Two virtues, linked to the essence of being human, should have special relevance in this context: hospitality and solidarity.
Cuba in Haiti: More than 95,000 patients treated
By Leticia Martínez Hernández
More than 95,000 patients have been treated here to date here by the Cuban medical brigade since the January 12 earthquake, and 4,500 operations have been performed. However, as brigade coordinator Carlos Alberto García says, in looking toward the country's future, the most important part begins today with the transfer of equipment and medical personnel to two new hospitals in the provinces.
Three in a Million - Voices from the Haitian Camps By Bill Quigley
The United Nations reported there are 1.2 million people living in "spontaneous settlements" or homeless camps around Port au Prince. Three people living in the camps spoke with this author this week, before the hard rains hit.
The Sacrifice of Haiti By Rev. William E. Alberts America's Foreign Policy "Pact with the Devil"
Haiti's history has been cursed by white nationalism and associated political and economic domination and not by rebelling slaves' "pact to the devil," as televangelist Pat Robertson "prophesized" after the fact of the 7.0 earthquake's devastation of the country. Unfortunately, whatever coverage America's mainstream media gave to Robertson's comment focused on its outlandishness and not on the real history of Haiti's liberation struggles against past and present white oppression. A comparison of evangelical Christian Robertson's "divining" words with Haiti's actual history provides an informed moral basis for judging and undoing the real "pacts with the devil" still cursing Haiti.
Strategic denial of oil in Haiti? By TheRealNews Engdahl: Geo-physics suggest there could be massive oil and mineral deposits in Haiti
Private Contractors 'Like Vultures Coming to Grab the Loot'
By Anthony Fenton
Critics are concerned that private military contractors are positioning themselves at the centre of an emerging "shock doctrine" for earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Next month, a prominent umbrella organisation for private military and logistic corporations, the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), is co-organising a "Haiti summit" which aims to bring together "leading officials" for "private consultations with attending contractors and investors" in Miami, Florida.
The U.S. in Haiti: Neoliberalism at the Barrel of a Gun By Arun Gupta
Official denials aside, the United States has embarked on a new military occupation of Haiti thinly cloaked as disaster relief. While both the Pentagon and the United Nations claimed more troops were needed to provide "security and stability" to bring in aid, violence was never an issue, according to nearly all independent observers in the field.
Angry demonstrators demand Sarkozy to pay up and return Aristide to Haiti By Kevin Pina
Thousands of supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide took to the streets on Wednesday as French president Nicolas Sarkozy toured the earthquake ravaged capital of Port au Prince. Holding pictures of the ousted president aloft they chanted for France to pay more then 21 billion dollars in restitution and reparations and to return Aristide as Sarkozy's helicopter landed near Haiti's quake damaged national palace. Their demands stem from a long held dispute over compensation a nascent Haiti was forced to pay French slave owners in exchange for recognition of their independence and France's role in ousting Aristide in 2004.
Sarkozy's visit to Haiti, The Independence Debt and Haiti's Sovereignty By Ezili Danto
President Jean Bertrand Aristide, the Constitutionally and duly elected Haitian president, was the first President in Haitian history to, as a matter of honor and justice, demand that France repay the $22 billion Independence Debt it extorted, at gunpoint, from defenseless Haiti with the approval and complicity of the other Euro/American settlers and countries.
The U.S. Ain't No "Model": Defend Haiti in Miami, February 20 By Glen Ford
Haiti's people don't need occupying armies; they "deserve a massive human response to their material needs, and they deserve solidarity in their struggle to regain national self-determination." Join the Black is Back Coalition this weekend for a National Mobilization in Defense of Haiti. "A free and independent Haiti can only rise under the democratic direction of Haitians, themselves – not under the guns of U.S. neocolonialism."
U.N. aid chief chides agencies on Haiti relief
U.N. humanitarian chief John Holmes has chided aid agencies working in Haiti for poor coordination and resourcing, which he said weakened confidence in their ability to deliver, according to a leaked e-mail.
HAITI: Food Crisis Looms By Paul Virgo
Haiti's misery after last month's earthquake will be compounded by a food catastrophe if the international community continues to ignore the country's agricultural needs, the United Nations has warned.
Christian Right kidnappers By Nicole Colson
"HELP US...That's the message I would give to Mr. Obama and the State Department. Start helping us." You might think that was the plea of a Haitian citizen following the devastating earthquake in January. But no, those words came from Carla Thompson--one of a group of 10 U.S. missionaries arrested by Haitian authorities on January 29, accused of trying to kidnap 33 Haitian children and take them across the border into the Dominican Republic. At least 22 of the supposed "orphans" were found to have at least one parent still alive in Haiti.
French President´s Visit to Haiti Opens Old Wounds
"President Sarkozy would do France a great service if he were to acknowledge the role of the French Republic in Haiti's present plight, by imposing a cruel indemnity on the Haitian people in 1825 for the crime of having believed that the glorious ideals of the French Revolution of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, applied to all members of the human fraternity, regardless of the color of their skin; and for having acted on that belief by fighting for, and gaining, the right to be free," says Girvan.
No more broken promises for Haiti By FinalCall.com News
'From 1915 to 1934, the U.S. Marines imposed harsh military occupation, murdered Haitians patriots and diverted 40 percent of Haiti's gross domestic product to U.S. bankers. Haitians were banned from government jobs. Ambitious Haitians were shunted into the puppet military, setting the stage for a half-century of U.S.-backed military dictatorship.'
"Haiti–The Politics of Rebuilding": A Video Report from Avi Lewis of Al Jazeera By Democracy Now!
Much of Port-au-Prince remains under mountains of rubble, and Haitian officials say it would take years to clear out the rubble and begin the process of rebuilding the destroyed city. As pledges of billions of dollars of international aid and investment are made, debates over the vision of a new Haiti are already underway. Journalist Avi Lewis was recently in Haiti exploring the politics of rebuilding the shattered country. He spoke to a number of people, including Haitian presidential adviser Patrick Elie and economist Camille Chalmers.
Haiti One Month after the Earthquake: I Witnessed, And I Want to Tell By Wadner Pierre
One Month after the Earthquake Bureaucracy worsens the Situation in Haiti. Because of lack of leadership, the Haitian government has no control over the distribution of humanitarian aids. In spite of all millions of dollars that have been raised and sent to Haiti, the majority of earthquake survivors still do not receive help. However, people keep moving with dignity and big hope on restarting a new life and putting their country back to work.
Evaluating Haiti's Pact With The Devil (France & The U.S.)
Last month Pat Robertson had some disparaging remarks against the people of Haiti and stated that their constant misfortune, including the tragic earthquake, was because they made a pact with the devil in their quest for freedom. Well as it turns out he wasn't completely wrong. It's just that the devil wasn't some evil serpant conjured up in spiritual tales but actually existed in the form of humans who ran France and The United States. Let's take a closer look at the pact from hell...
1 Million Remain Homeless in Haiti, Yet the U.S. Ambassador Brags It's 'Going Really Well' By Bill Quigley
Despite the fact that over a million people remained homeless in Haiti one month after the earthquake, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Ken Merten, is quoted at a State Department briefing on February 12, saying "In terms of humanitarian aid delivery...frankly, it's working really well, and I believe that this will be something that people will be able to look back on in the future as a model for how we've been able to sort ourselves out as donors on the ground and responding to an earthquake."
A military occupation in disguise By Arun Gupta
Official denials aside, the United States has embarked on a new military occupation of Haiti thinly cloaked as disaster relief. While both the Pentagon and the United Nations claimed more troops were needed to provide "security and stability" to bring in aid, according to nearly all independent observers in the field, violence was never an issue.
In Haiti, Carnival Celebrations Replaced by Mourning By Jacqueline Charles
It is a manifestation of the Haitian spirit, the enduring buoyancy and optimism that has guided Haiti for more than 200 years. For as long as anyone can remember, carnival or kanaval has taken place. Until this year. Haiti carnival has now become a wake. As quake-struck Haitians ended three days of national mourning and fasting Sunday, the satirical drumbeats of the traditional "meringues" ridiculing politicians and rivaling musicians that would have marked the beginning of the three-day carnival have been silenced.
A Million Homeless in Haiti By Bill Quigley And the U.S. Calls This a "Model Response?"
Despite the fact that over a million people remained homeless in Haiti one month after the earthquake, the U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, Ken Merten, is quoted at a State Department briefing on February 12, saying "In terms of humanitarian aid delivery...frankly, it's working really well, and I believe that this will be something that people will be able to look back on in the future as a model for how we've been able to sort ourselves out as donors on the ground and responding to an earthquake."
Official: Save, don't bulldoze, Haiti's heritage By Angela Charlton
"There is a temptation to demolish everything. When the bulldozers come, it's fatal," Daniel Elie, director of Haiti's governmental Institute for the Preservation of National Heritage, told The Associated Press at the Paris headquarters of the U.N. cultural agency. Keeping survivors alive and building solid shelter for the 1.2 million made homeless by the Jan. 12 quake are the most immediate priorities. But U.N. officials say preserving the country's churches, artwork and mementos from its slave revolt will be crucial for Haitians' long-term emotional recovery.
Is "WE ARE THE WORLD" What's Needed Now? The Challenges the STars Do Not Address By Danny Schechter
The danger is that we believe that's somehow the money and the good intentions will solve all the problems there. Millions have already been raised but the aid program has been flawed, uncoordinated, and even
now, a month after the earthquake, not moving fast enough with rain on the way, inadequate shelter and the dangerous spread of infectious diseases like TB and typhus. The disaster is actually deepening, leaving a suffering if strong people traumatized emotionally as well as physically.
Cuba's aid ignored by the media? By Tom Fawthrop
Among the many donor nations helping Haiti, Cuba and its medical teams have played a major role in treating earthquake victims. Public health experts say the Cubans were the first to set up medical facilities among the debris and to revamp hospitals immediately after the earthquake struck. However, their pivotal work in the health sector has received scant media coverage.
