ZERO: Percent of Pledged US Aid to Haiti That Has Been Given

The US has some things in common with the other nations who have pledged to help Haiti in the wake of the January 12th Earthquake that has left more than 300,000 dead and millions homeless and destitute with no jobs, food, shelter, health care or much hope for a better future. What, pray tell, is that? Despite all the big talk and big crocodile tears, the US has delivered zero dollars, zip, nada! Empty promises don't fill empty stomachs. This is even worse when one looks into the possibility that the quake itself was manufactured by the US military to take down the Haitian government and to seize the newly discovered oil, gold and other riches in Haiti. Not to mention Obama's 'Special Envoy to Haiti', the corrupt Bill Clinton, who has angled his way into control of the Haitian telephone system.

Well, a 3.7 magnitude quake just hit Washington today.

Maybe somebody is playing tit for tat.

Here are several videos on the situation in Haiti:

click here :http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/07/14/haiti.donations/index.html?hpt=

(CNN) -- Six months after a devastating earthT1quake struck Haiti, most governments that promised money to help rebuild the country have not delivered any funds at all, a CNN investigation has found.
Donors promised $5.3 billion at an aid conference in March, about two months after the earthquake -- but less than 2 percent of that money has been handed over so far to the United Nations-backed body set up to handle it.
Only four countries have paid anything at all: Brazil, Norway, Estonia and Australia.
The United States pledged $1.15 billion. It has paid nothing, with the money tied up in the congressional appropriations process.
Venezuela promised even more -- $1.32 billion. It has also paid nothing, although it has written off some of Haiti's debt.
Former President Bill Clinton, a U.N. special envoy for Haiti, said he plans to put pressure on governments that have been slow to deliver on their promises.
"I'm going to call all those governments and say, the ones who said they'll give money to support the Haitian government, I want to try to get them to give the money, and I'm trying to get the others to give me a schedule for when they'll release it," Clinton told CNN's Anderson Cooper earlier this week.
He said the worldwide economic crisis was at least partly to blame.
Accidents and Disasters
"I think that they're all having economic trouble, and they want to hold their money as long as possible," Clinton said.
Altogether, about $506 million has been disbursed to Haiti since the donors' conference in March, said Jehane Sedky of the U.N. Development Program.
That's about 9 percent of the money that was pledged. But about $200 million was money that had been in the pipeline for aid work before the earthquake, and about another $200 million went directly to the government of Haiti to help it get back on its feet, Sedky explained.
That has left the commission with about $90 million in donations since the conference, Sedky said.
There is some dispute about the World Bank's contribution
The bank says it has made available $479 million dollars, and of that $56.6 million has "already been used" for different government-led projects. The World Bank says that this money was provided directly to the Haitian government and did not go into the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission.
CNN compiled the information for this report by reviewing commission figures and surveying the donors that had made pledges to determine the disposition of those pledges.
Spain, France and Canada are also among the countries that have not yet followed through on their pledges, CNN found.
No countries told CNN they do not plan to deliver the money eventually.
The pledges are for fiscal year 2010-2011, so the donors have until the middle of next year to get the funds to the Haiti recovery commission, Sedky said.
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said Wednesday that aid delivery to Haiti is going relatively well compared to other disaster relief efforts the world body has been involved in.
"Compared with other disasters, coordination systems in Haiti have actually functioned reasonably well," he said, adding that there was no requirement for aid efforts to work within systems.
"But within that constraint, what we've been trying to do is coordinate the aid responses as best as we can, and we are trying to provide food as quickly as possible," he said.
Some charities, meanwhile, are spending money as fast as they get it, while others are planning long-term projects.
Doctors Without Borders -- primarily a disaster-relief organization -- has received $112 million and spent $65 million, it says. The group plans to spend more than $109 million by the end of the year, spokesman Michael Goldfarb told CNN.
The Red Cross has spent $148 million of the $468 million it has taken in, and is holding some money in reserve for more permanent projects such as shelter and water.
Private money has also come in from the Clinton Foundation, from Mexican telecommunications billionaire Carlos Slim Helu and Canadian mining investor Frank Giustra, but that's not part of the $5.3 billion pledged by countries at the conference in March.
The January 12 quake left more than 220,000 dead, 300,000-plus injured and more than 1 million homeless. According to recent U.N. reports, the quake destroyed 60 percent of government infrastructure and left more than 180,000 homes uninhabitable.
Six months later, more than 1.5 million remain in overcrowded displacement camps.
According to the United Nations, 1,300 camping sites and 11,000 latrines have been built, and thousands of kilos of food and humanitarian resources have been delivered to those in need.
CNN'S Richard Roth at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Heavy Rain Destroys Haitian Camp (video)

Six months after the devastating Haitian earthquake that evidence shows was man-made, life for most people in Haiti is still a nightmare. Here is what happens in a tent city when a sudden storm arises.

The Haitian Disaster Aid Disaster

The following article details the disaster on top of the disaster - the failure of the nations of the World to adequately deliver promised aid to the people of Haiti. As Haiti has faded off the headlines, so has the commitment to provide life-saving aid. The worst offenders seem to be the largest governmental donors. They are using aid schemes that basically route all aid back to themselves through multinational corporations who are making a literal killing at the expense of Haiti. Read the details here.

Disaster Aid, or Aid Disaster?

The international community (here referring to nations and international organizations) has pledged or given $9.9 billion in relief and reconstruction aid to Haiti, since the earthquake on January 12, 2010. Citizens and non-profit agencies of foreign countries have provided billions more. The aid is many times the size of Haiti's annual budget, which was $1.97 billion for the 2009-10 fiscal year. [1]If one looks close to the ground, in certain refugee camps and community organizations, one can see the donations of citizens and non-profits at work, supplying tents, food and medical aid. A handful of progressive foundations are funding community, peasant and advocacy organizations as they work for an alternative rebuilding process, based on economic justice and the fulfillment of social needs. Social assistance and rebuilding projects are working best when communities are engaged in the planning and implementation.Yet, for the most part, the impact of the dollars is imperceptible. Where is it going?Much of the aid pledged has not yet arrived, and may never. A lot of it has gone straight back to donor nations, as with the $.40 on every US government aid dollar that paid for the US military presence in Haiti for, at least, the first two months after the quake. [2] Untold dollars more go to US firms, like the agribusiness corporations whose surplus rice is being purchased by USAID to deliver as aid. Then there are fees and expenses paid to a small army of consultants working for foreign governments and international agencies. Many UN consultants, for example, slept until mid-March in a luxury cruise ship (the Love Boat), which the UN rented. Then, there is graft, corruption and poor planning, all of which further redirects aid dollars away from desperate earthquake survivors, up to 1.9 million of whom are left homeless, hungry and wet in tents during the rainy season.
What would Haitians like to see happen with the aid? We asked for opinions; here are a few.Christine Miradieu is an unemployed mother of nine who lost her husband, one of her children, and her home in the earthquake. She now lives with six of her children in two tents in a field outside of the town of Gressier. They tell me the international community gave $2 million dollars in aid. Where is it? [We suggest the figure is actually $9.9 billion.]What? [Turns to her family behind her.] You hear? Nine point nine billion in aid. Now, who's getting that? We haven't seen any of it.Lucien St. Louis is an agronomist by training who worked for many years with farmers through the Ministry of Agriculture. Now, he is employed by a European NGO, helping to direct disaster responses in several earthquake-impacted towns to those who most need them.
First, we want to say how much we appreciate all the citizens of the world who have paid attention to Haiti after January 12 and who have given whatever they could, whether money or solidarity. They make us know we're not alone in this fight to reclaim our lives and rebuild our country.This aid could be a marvelous thing, giving us the assistance we need to get back on our feet. It could help us build a different country, a country where everyone is recognized as a human being, a country where all children go to school, and no one dies for lack of decent medical care. It could help strengthen peasant agriculture, so farmers could stay in the countryside, where they could have work and feed the nation, instead of having to migrate to Port-au-Prince. It could help women do marketing and form cooperatives, so they could have an income for their family. It could provide decent housing for all, especially those who lost their homes in the earthquake, in communities that are close to all the services people need to live. It could strengthen the people's institutions that are trying to build a new society and economy.We haven't seen any of this yet. But, we're going to keep on fighting for it.Ghislene Deloné (a pseudonym used at her request) is a health promoter at the clinic of the Center for the Promotion of Women Workers (CPFO). Prior to this job, she worked for eleven years as a seamstress in a multinational textile factory.
Now, we have the international community which came to Haiti, which is helping workers and CPFO get medicines. They're distributing medicines; they're doing free exams for the women at CPFO. Workers can now come and get the medical care they need, without having to pay anything. We are satisfied.Marlène Jean-Pierre lives in Cité Soleil. She is a student in civil engineering and an organizer with women's and youth grassroots groups in Cité Soleil.
We don't need more than social support. We need collaboration with all the foreign citizens who want to come help us Haitians, who want to give their support. We don't need money coming into the country to create huge projects to bring about change, no. When that money comes, the population itself doesn't receive it. It doesn't ever get to the community. They should find people within the community and divide it among them. But, the foreigners who came after the earthquake, they don't know a single person. They come to this country and want to take action. They say, "I've brought you water! I've brought you food! Look at all I've brought for you!" But, they don't know who to contact. So, they work through the government, or else, they choose someone to work with them, and that person gets to direct the aid whatever way they want. But, with someone who knows the country well, that work would be better supervised, they'd be able to see that the population is really receiving the aid directly. We know there are billions of dollars coming to the NGOs now. It's from that money the NGOs are paying their employees, that they're buying gas for their cars; it's with that money that they're paying for their own security. The only thing we ask is that, whatever is left for us, that the work they do with it is done well. That's all we ask for.Carolle Pierre-Paul Jacob is a coordinator of Solidarity Among Haitian Women (SOFA). Among other things, SOFA provides health care and anti-violence support to women now living in refugee camps.
This is an international parade. The aid has been given in total chaos. The way it's been run represents economic and political domination. It's being done in a context where the symbols of state power are gone, and the government is basically nonexistent. There are lots of ways we could have taken advantage of this moment, to create a minimum of social, economic, and political transformation. But, we haven't had that chance, because of the domination of the foreigners.Josette Pérard is the director of Fon Lambi, the Haitian-run branch of the Lambi Fund of Haiti. Josette has a long history of providing funding and technical support to women and peasant groups in Haiti and, prior to that, in the Congo.
The people want another system, so they can be treated as citizens in a country that belongs to them. They want their rights as human beings to be respected. But, with all the aid and programs, they're treating people like children. It's not possible. Who knows better than the people? They want to make decisions with themselves; they don't want anyone to make those decisions for them.What plan does the country have five months after the earthquake? People can't sit in the mud in the camps all day; they can't live like that. Now, they're kicking people out of the tents to send them to other tents, without water or shade. There are no changes. The government is totally irresponsible.We're very happy that people are coming to help us, but there is no one to sit down with them to coordinate. This is because the state is inexistent. It doesn't take its responsibility. People are saying, "Here's what we need in the way of aid; here's what we want to happen so we can have results." But, each group comes up with its own program for reconstruction. If no one sits down together and comes up with one coordinated program, will there be one? What makes me most angry is to see people sitting under the hot sun to get a half-sack of rice and a bottle of oil. Where are they going to cook food? They don't have a stove to cook food with, and they can't eat rice and oil only. They're saying that aid recipients are selling the food, in order to buy a piece of bread with peanut butter, because they don't have any way to cook the rice. People are very dissatisfied. For weeks, there have been demonstrations in the streets against Préval.Presto Deroncil has lived in Cité Soleil since 1977, where he is an informal (unelected) community leader.
Cité Soleil is a place where lots of money is spent, but nothing ever happens. It's the place where everyone comes to make money, to get rich. After January 12, it got even worse. After January 12, everyone mobilized, the international community mobilized. Me, I thought that things were finally going to change. No way! I see things getting more difficult. I see there's a lot of food distribution happening. At the beginning, it went well, but after a while things started getting looser, people started making money off it. What hurts the most is that people from Cité Soleil have been working to have political representation, to have people who will represent them in the government. But, now, it's those same people who are making a business [out of aid]. Imagine, really imagine - when a person is the leader in a community, there are a lot of things that person shouldn't do. But, there are people who take those cards [aid vouchers] and make a fortune with them. They buy cars with them; they buy motorcycles. Something that was meant to help the people, and now they're selling them. I think this has to change.People are sleeping in the mud; they're sleeping in garbage. When it rains, they don't have anywhere to sleep. I think that the most important thing now is a public housing project within Cité Soleil. I think that everyone, the international community that wants to help Cité Soleil, they must sit with the community leaders, with the population of this community. First off, they should listen to people, so that they know what they should work on. We know what we need.Jacqueline Cherilus is a fourth-year medical student at Université Lumière in Port-au-Prince. On January 12, her school collapsed, killing many of her professors and classmates. Her home was damaged, and now she and her family sleep under a tarp, because they are afraid to be inside.
Americans and everyone who've sent tents, we're tired of that stuff, those same tents and tarps. We need construction. You see how strong the rains are becoming? Tents can't resist that rain. How long can we live in tents and tarps? You can't live for two or three years under a tarp. We need houses. We're going to have hurricanes soon and flooding. The aid is poorly organized and poorly divided. There are lots of people who don't receive anything. To have real aid, we need social change. Right now, they're just giving us tarps, tents, and food. We need health care. You see, in Briztou [a tent community in Pétion-ville] they only have one doctor for 25,000 people? And, there's no educational reform. Children are still paying to go to school. Like my little brother, who still has to pay. How can other children, the ones who lost their parents in the earthquake, pay for school?
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[1] Matthew Bigg, "UPDATE 2-Haiti GDP to shrink but govt says revenue recovering," Reuters, March 4, http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN0417117420100304[2] Jonathan Katz, "Billions for Haiti, A Criticism for Every Dollar," Associated Press, March 5, 2010. Sources taken from USAID and the U.N. See http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/haitiaid.jpg

Micro Lending Helps Haitian Women (video)

Able to quickly reach a well-developed network of women throughout the country, an alternative banking system performs while the Haitian economy is in shambles.
A micro-credit program and banking system for more than 200,000 women in Haiti has come to the rescue of the overall economy in the wake of the devastating earthquake.
At a time when Haitian commercial banks remain closed, Fonkoze, the Haitian branch of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, mobilized over one weekend to get funds to its members in rural towns as well as Port-au-Prince.
Between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m., last Saturday, January 23, Fonkoze brought in two million dollars in cash from their U.S. bank and distributed it by helicopters to regional offices in the most remote parts of the country.
That got money flowing again. The cash came from Haitians working abroad who had sent funds — called remittances — to their relatives.
Also known as Haiti’s, “Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor,” Fonkoze found a way to get money to its members through the 34 of its 41 branch offices still open after the earthquake. It had a lot of help in high places: the U.S. Secretary of State, top Treasury and Defense Department officials, the Federal Reserve, the Agency for International Development, the United Nations, the Inter-American Development Bank and more.
The operation read like a cloak-and-dagger saga. Anne Hastings, the CEO of Fonkoze Financial Services, was point person on shaping the unorthodox solution. It involved many conference calls to Washington, New York and Miami, as well as intricate strategies with managers on the ground in Haiti who would get the money to the women.
By Friday, January 22, the plan was ready. Remittances from U.S.-based Haitians deposited in Fonkoze’s accounts at City National Bank of New Jersey were sent to JP Morgan Chase in Miami, converted into cash — and packed in office supply boxes. An armored vehicle then transferred the boxes to Homestead Air Force Base.
A C-17 plane, diverted from Langley Air Force Base, landed at Homestead at 3 a.m. Saturday, took on the camouflaged cargo of cash, and flew to Haiti, where the major airport at Port-au-Prince has been under U.S. military control since the earthquake.
Once there, Hastings and two other Fonkoze executives inspected the cash cargo — and called the Pentagon to say so far, so good. Under a military escort, the Fonkoze vehicle loaded with the boxes of cash awaited the two helicopters that could fly the money to 10 designated drop-off locations.
Fonkoze’s Jean-Guy Noel rode with the helicopters as they began deliveries before dawn. Seven hours later, all the cash had been delivered and the helicopters were back in Port-au-Prince. By early afternoon, the cash had been distributed to the 34 Fonkoze branches. Almost immediately, the Fonkoze managers began giving Fonkoze members cash from their relatives, a financial lifeline at a time when the formal banking system is in shambles and remittances sent through it from overseas Haitians remain locked up.
Jennifer Harris, a member of the policy staff of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a memo to Pentagon officials released by Fonkoze, spelled out the implications of the combined State-Defense operation.
“Fonkoze has by far the deepest reach into the country’s rural poor, a remittance network that would take years to recreate from scratch. As people continue to migrate from Port-au-Prince, Fonkoze’s branch network will become even more essential,” she said. “Perhaps most important, unlike the commercial banks, Fonkoze has re-opened many of its branches and has continued to pay out remittances using its cash on hand.”
In essence, she said, the unconventional operation “may well have stabilized the banking system for the country’s most vulnerable population.”
Fonkoze has been operating in Haiti for 15 years. Ninety-nine percent of its members are women. By midweek, it expects all but three of its branches to be open. In the heavily damaged capital city, Fonkoze managers set up shop at a makeshift office in the courtyard next to its damaged headquarters—as hundreds of Haitians lined up to get the money due them.
In addition to micro-lending programs, Fonkoze sponsors major literacy, health care and micro-insurance programs. Its remittances and savings accounts serve more than 200,000 people, making it a significant part of the country’s financial system. Relatives of Fonkoze members working abroad use its conduits to send back money — “that taxi driver in New York City who wants to send fifty dollars to his mother,” says Leigh Carter, Fonkoze USA fundraiser — amounting to $57.7 million last year.
It also serves as a vendor for three other remittance services that still operate after the earthquake: MoneyGram, CAM and Unitransfer. The process is a lifeline for a country where, in 2007, 79 percent of Haitians lived on less than $2 a day and 55 percent lived on half that.
Fonkoze’s micro-lending program has four different levels. The first step is for the poorest of the poor and may involve home repairs and health care, as well as building the confidence of the women as they plan to start a micro-enterprise. Next the women may qualify for small loans — perhaps only $25 — with a short repayment period, while they enroll in literacy classes. In Haiti, more than 50 percent of people are illiterate.
The third level is the core: a “solidarity” group in which friends take out loans together, then morph into credit centers of 30 to 40 women. These women can start out borrowing $75, but if they prosper they can borrow up to $1,300 for six months.
The fourth level focuses on business development. Some women in this group borrow up to $25,000 and are being nurtured to become part of the formal economy, creating jobs in rural areas where there are few employment opportunities.
It isn’t the first time that a micro-lending network of mostly women has taken a lead role in helping rebuild a country’s economy after a natural disaster. In Poland, after a devastating flood in the mid-1990s, the U.S.-backed Fundusz Mikro became the conduit for credit to small businesses, ultimately funneling more than $10 million to rebuild when the central government proved inept and also tone-deaf to the challenge.
Leigh Carter, who broke several vertebrae in her back getting out of the Fonkoze headquarters building during the earthquake and was airlifted out days later, is back at work in Washington. She says multinational economic and financial leaders already are talking to Fonkoze about ways to use their extensive network of micro-lending programs for programs to rebuild the Haitian economic base.
“People are coming to us saying ‘you need to expand your capacity,’” she said.
But first things first: the immediate priority had to be getting cash to its members, throughout Haiti, from their friends and relatives abroad, which in itself expands members ability to survive and rebuild.

Fonkoze has had strong success working with microfinance programs to improve lives of suffering women and their families. This program, Chemen Lavi Miyo, which means “Pathway to a Better Life” in Haitian creole, is testing a new approach to helping those living in extreme poverty to transition into a sustainable way of life. This highly structured and intensive program combines livelihoods and basic support with training and financial management so that at the end of just 18 months, participants will be equipped with the skills and a business plan to move themselves out of poverty. “What we want to demonstrate,” says Anne Hastings, director of the program, is that there is a “proven, replicable, methodology for accompanying people as they struggle to make their way out of these conditions into a …decent standard of living.” Fonkoze is now leading microfinance programs that will help rebuild Port-au-Prince since the devastating 10 January, 2010 earthquake that hit the capital and outlying areas.

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For more information on this topic:
“A graduation pathway for Haiti’s poorest – Lessons learnt from Fonkoze,” Karishma Huda and Anton Simanowitz – The Mastercard Foundation, 29 September, 2009 “The Haiti Earthquake: How microfinance is helping,” – CGAP – Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, World Bank Publications, 27 January, 2010 “Reimagining Microfinance,” Alex Counts, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 13 May, 2008 “Gender and Microlending – Diveristy of Experience,” – Critical Half / Annual Journal 2004, Women for Women International

Monsanto Attacks Haiti With GMO Seeds!

How shall I oppress thee? Let me count the ways...America, her allies and the corporations who rule her, are forever finding new ways to destroy Haiti and her people. For two hundred years they have frustrated the desire of the Haitian people to be fully independent and free. Now with high tech seeds, a new form of oppression is set loose on Haiti. It means the total subservience of Haiti to Monsanto for the ability to grow crops to feed herself. Monsanto, not Haiti, will determine what will grow and how it will be done, and who will profit from Haiti's agriculture. Read about it here and learn what needs to be done.

Monsanto, Haiti's "New Earthquake"

"A new earthquake" is what Haitian peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be dumping 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds on Haiti, seeds doused with highly toxic fungicides such as thiram, known to be extremely dangerous to farm workers. Hybrid seeds, like GMO seeds (in contrast to Creole heirloom or organic seeds) require lots of water, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides. In addition if a small farmer tries to save hybrid seeds after harvest, hybrid seeds usually do not "breed true" or grow very well in the second season, forcing the now-indentured peasant to buy seeds from Monsanto or one of the other hybrid/GMO seed monopolies in perpetuity. Monsanto wanted initially to dump GMO seeds on Haiti, but even the corrupt Haitian government knew that this would spark a rebellion, so Monsanto cleverly decided to dump hybrid seeds instead. The Haitian small farmers organization has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.

Read More

Learn more on OCA's Millions Against Monsanto campaign page.


Alert of the Week
Monsanto's Poison Pills for Haiti
Take Action in Solidarity with Haitian Farmers Who Vow to Burn Monsanto's Toxic Fungicide-Coated Hybrid Seeds

Since gaining their independence from France more than 200 years ago in a bloody slave uprising, Haitian farmers have wisely protected their seeds and nurtured native crop varieties. They know that true food security is maintained by farmers who save, trade and breed indigenous seeds using traditional organic methods.

As Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, the Executive Director of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP), wrote earlier this year, "We need to establish seed banks and have silos where we can store our Creole seeds. Local, organic seeds are the basis of food sovereignty. It's urgent that Haitians buy local seeds. ... What's the danger we face today? It's that food aid from USAID and others is getting dumped in the country."

USAID and Monsanto have a poison pill for Haiti, designed to the make the island nation into a slave colony once again, except this time they won't be slaves for France, but rather for Monsanto and corporate agribusiness. Join the Haitian people and the growing global movement of Millions Against Monsanto.

Take Action

You can donate to the distribution of local, organic seeds within Haiti here.

The Imperial Plunder of Haiti

What is taking place now in Haiti? This article which is a collection of articles seems to paint a dismal picture of the hyenas and jackals moving in to rip apart the carcass of a devastated country which has struggled for 500 years to survive. The international 'aid' community is moving in for the kill as if the quake were not bad enough. According to some reports the major food market in Port au Prince has been burnt down by the government in retaliation for refusing to go along with a scheme to sell aid items on the black market. Thousands are being forcibly removed from tent encampments with no where to go, or moved to UN camps with no facilities.

The nightmare continues.

Preparing Haiti For Exploitation And Plunder

By Stephen Lendman
5-1-10

Over 15 weeks post-quake, Haiti's imperial takeover is proceeding. It began straightaway after the calamity, Haitians victimized by denied aid, appalling repression, and now dispossession of their land, homes, and communities. More on that below.

On April 16, The New York Times carried Reuters and AP reports stating Haiti's parliament approved the participation of foreign investors to rebuild the country, meaning, of course, seize, occupy, own, control, and colonize it for profit, using Haitians as exploited serfs.

AP stated:

"Haiti's soon-to-expire parliament has approved the creation of (an Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission - IHRC) co-chaired by former US President Bill Clinton to oversee billions in post-quake reconstruction aid, the Ministry of Communications said Friday (April 16)."

The vote also extended Haiti's state of emergency for 18 months, leaving the Rene Preval-Jean-Max Bellerive government in charge, effectively a dictatorship like Preval instituted in 1999 by not renewing parliament and ruling by decree pending new elections.

Reuters explained that a March 31 "donors" conference established the IHRC to oversee their investment, Preval to have nominal veto power over commission decisions. In fact, he'll rubber stamp what Washington and corporate interests dictate, supervised by the World Bank, a longstanding imperial tool.

Preval asked, "Do we lose our sovereignty because of the creation of this commission? I think the answer is no."

Except for the Aristide years (1991, 1994 - 96, and 2001 -2004), early in Preval's first term (1996 - 2001), and its brief 1804 liberation, Haiti lacked sovereignty throughout its history. Post-quake, it has even less, its people more than ever in jeopardy with imperial plans to gravely harm them, perhaps exterminate hundreds of thousands through neglect or other means.

Laying Imperial Plans

On March 10, prior to the March 31 "donors" conference, Preval was received at the White House, held a joint press conference, ignored the plight of his people, yet Obama thanked him for "showing great courage and determination," when, in fact, he's been largely invisible, and to date has done nothing to engage Haitians directly, including in their makeshift camps the way Jean-Bertrand Aristide would have done straightaway, with a hands-on approach for long hours daily.

Preval prefers White House photo-ops in deference to power and privilege, increasing, not alleviating his peoples' suffering.

The Predators Ball - Nations Gather in New York for Their Share

The web site www.haiticonference.org announced the:

"International Donors' Conference Toward a New Future for Haiti" explaining:

"The United States and the United Nations (UN), in cooperation with the Government of Haiti, and with the support Brazil, Canada, the European Union, France, and Spain co-hosted" the conference and received "over US $5 billion pledged for Haiti's recovery" - around $1 billion promised by Washington, less than the EU's $1.7 billion and Venezuela's $1.3 billion. In total, however, it's a fraction of what Haitians need, and "redevelopment" won't reach them as it's earmarked for profit-making ventures, not poverty-stricken neighborhoods and essential infrastructure to support them.

A recovery and development roadmap outlined short and longer-term priorities, with participating countries lining up for their take, the lion's share, of course for America, then France and Canada, and what they have in mind is more sweatshops, gentrified elite areas, expanded tourism, free trade zones, and the grand prize - exploiting Haiti's resources, including what's believed to be abundant untapped oil reserves, what US oil giants made plans for decades ago. They intend deep water ports, refineries, and other facilities to fully exploit the treasure, not mentioned in major media reports, now largely silent on Haiti and its long-suffering people.

Ahead of the conference on March 27, a New York Times editorial headlined, "Making Haiti Whole," endorsed it, saying:

It marks "the beginning of the long, slow birth of a new Haiti. Representative of the Haitian government, the United States and other nations and aid organizations will be discussing large, ambitious, farsighted plans," far different ones from what The Times suggests.

On April 28, Reuters headlined, "Lawmakers agree on trade bill to help Haiti," saying:

"Top US lawmakers said on Wednesday they have reached a bipartisan deal to help Haiti rebuild its earthquake-shattered economy by opening the US market to more Haitian clothing and textiles" - to be produced in rebuilt sweatshops, where workers are treated like slaves, not human beings. They pay starvation wages, no benefits, and no overtime for up to 70 hours a week in harsh or hazardous environments. They're inhumane workplaces, dimly lit in stifling heat, with no way to organize for redress or avoid being fired if complain.

Yet according to Congressman Charles Rangel (representing his black Harlem constituents):

"The Haitian garment sector, Haiti's flagship industry, was making important strides prior to the earthquake and helping the country's economy establish a stable foothold. With this legislation, we will help to get the garment sector and Haiti's economy back on that critical trajectory," mindless of how it affects exploited workers.

Mindless also of haitian-truth.org's April 27 report headlined, "Preval Instigated Fire rips through major Haitian market," saying:

"A large incendiary fire" destroyed much of Port-au-Prince's main public market, Marche du Port, affecting hundreds of stalls and two surrounding blocks. UN Blue Helmets (MINUSTAH) were notably absent. Firefighters had inadequate resources, and shopkeepers rushed to save what they could.

One seller, Pierre Elian, said:

"The front of the market place is already burned down. We don't know if the area where we kept our merchandise is also burning, because they won't let us go near it."

Merchants blamed Preval-controlled instigators, saying "recognized gang members were seen pouring gasoline over material to" ignite the blaze - as "political pressure against the poor" who need the food and merchandise to survive.

Patrick Servius, who lost his clothing business, said:

"Preval is angry with us for our refusal to sell relief supplies in our places. These are (donated goods) for the earthquake victims, not for Preval's profits. Now we pay for our patriotism."

They'll soon know what else Preval has in mind. More on that below.

The Next Shoe to Drop - Forced Relocations

On April 7, the Haiti Response Coalition (HRC, a network of urban and rural civil society groups) issued an alert saying:

An encampment of 11,000 Haitians on Saint Louis de Gonzague school land face forced displacement. They've "been offered a plot of land that will hold 500 in a different location. No regard has been given to the fact that the majority of the 11,000 will end up in the street," or that mass forced relocations are coming next.

On April 12, AFP headlined, "Haiti evacuates quake victims camp, faces critics," saying:

"....authorities ramped up moves to forcibly evacuate dozens of tent cities across the capital....After evicting some 7,000 people at the weekend (from the national stadium), the government began the forced removal of a further 10,000" from camps around the city, early steps preceding mass numbers to follow, ahead of preparing the area for redevelopment.

One camp member said he was given a week to leave for Tabarre Issa, a UN camp where there are "No toilets, no showers....there's nothing there."

On April 11, Reuters reported that "Haiti starts moving quake victims to safer refuge," saying:

"Haiti's government and foreign aid agencies started an operation....to move thousands of earthquake survivors," on the pretext of sending them to safer areas ahead of seasonal rains that cause flooding.

On April 29, Los Angeles Times writer Ken Ellingwood headlined, "Tensions rise over Haiti tent camps," saying:

Tensions are "playing out at stadiums, in churchyards and factory lots, almost anywhere there is enough land to pitch a tent. (Authorities face) the tricky task of balancing the needs of more than a million homeless with the urge of many others to resume a more normal life," ignoring the real "urge" for imperial plunder.

Haiti's constitution recognizes the rights of all citizens to "decent housing, education, food and social security."

The "United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement....reflect and are consistent with international human rights law and international humanitarian law." They:

-- assure "full equality, the same rights and freedoms under international and domestic law as do other persons in their country. They shall not be discriminated against in the enjoyment of any rights and freedoms on the ground that they are internally displaced;

-- shall be observed by all authorities....;

-- (assure) protection and humanitarian assistance from these authorities....without discrimination of any kind....;

-- (guarantee) "the right to be protected against forcible return to or resettlement in any place where their life, safety, liberty, and/or health would be at risk," among other provisions, 30 in all recognizing the needs of displaced people when they're most vulnerable.

TransArica Forum Alert

On April 12, Transafricaforum.org issued a memorandum headlined "Forced IDP Relocations," saying:

"Throughout our network of contacts (on the ground in Haiti), we received a report of a forceful removal of an IDP camp in Caradeux Delas 75, Port-au-Prince. The exact number affected isn't yet known....all reported a complete lack of latrines....no water sources....and no food distributions.

The Refugee Camp community members reported that they did not receive warning before the large Conseil Nationale Equipements (CNE) bulldozers and graters came to their community with Haitian National Police escorts late on Sunday evening (April 4)....threaten(ing) the families with violence if they did not leave their home immediately."

Batons were used, firearms discharged in the air, and their homes were destroyed, by officers, then bulldozers. The process continued for three days and nights. Where those displaced were sent isn't known. The only answer given was they're "now living on the streets."

Around 1.2 million Haitians remain in makeshift tent cities throughout Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas with little aid or concern for their welfare or safety. Now in preparation for redevelopment, hundreds of thousands, perhaps all, will be ordered to move or be forcibly displaced to even grimmer locations, on their own, with little beyond their own ingenuity to survive.

This is Washington's imperial plan, being implemented for exploitation and plunder. This writer's previous article explained Haiti is no stranger to adversity and anguish, having endured over 500 years of oppression, slavery, despotism, colonization, reparations, embargoes, sanctions, extreme poverty, starvation, unrepayable debt, and calamities like the January 12 quake killing around 300,000, destroying their homes and belongings, and leaving them vulnerable to imperial plunder of their land, resources and lives - again, on their own, out of luck, and out of major media focus that ignores the greater disaster awaiting them, and the trashing of their human rights and freedoms.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

Food Self-Sufficiency for Haiti

Haiti is a perfect example of how globalism and free-trade policies wreck whole countries. How could little Haiti - long a producer of enough rice to feed her own people with some left over for export - compete with low-cost subsidized rice from abroad? Developing countries like Haiti have to have protectionism policies that shield them from unfair foreign competition, otherwise all local agriculture and manufacturing will wither on the vine. That's how Alexander Hamilton set up the American System of economy to break free from the economic shackles imposed by Great Britain, the 'Mother Country'. The policy for Haiti has to be ; "No cheap imports!" That will allow for the development of Hatian agricultlure and economy. Globalism and free trade should be exposed for what they truly are - velvet gloved genocide, without the velvet. The best part of this article of Bill Clinton's confession that it was he, as President, who ruined Haiti's agriculture.


Boost Haiti's Self-Sufficiency by "Buying Local" Rice
07 April 2010
by: The Center for Economic and Policy Research
Washington, D.C. - The international community could, in the words of former President Bill Clinton, help Haiti "become more self-sufficient" by purchasing the entire Haitian rice crop over the next two years for just 2.35 percent of total current committed aid funds. A new issue brief from the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR) finds that buying up all of Haiti's rice should be close to the amount of food aid for rice that the international community is likely to provide this year, and would provide a tremendous boost to Haitian farmers, who currently are unable to compete with low-cost rice imports from the U.S.
"The international donors have said that they do not want to repeat the mistakes of the past, which have destroyed much of Haiti's agriculture," said Mark Weisbrot, economist and CEPR Co-Director, and lead author of the paper. "It would be very easy and inexpensive for them to keep this promise. Now we will see if they mean it."
There has been a growing recognition that past food aid to Haiti has had a significant negative impact on local food production and contributed to the sharp decline of Haiti's rice sector. Last month, Bill Clinton told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that exporting cheap rice to Haiti "was a mistake … I had to live everyday with the consequences of the loss of capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people because of what I did."
The paper notes that while there is much that can and should be done to support Haitian agriculture and the rebuilding of the economy, it is most important to immediately reduce the harm caused by imported, subsidized rice. The authors propose that this can be done by having the international community immediately commit to buying Haitian rice for the next two years. Since food aid was 13 percent of the total rice supply last year, and Haitian rice production is about 15 percent of total supply, buying up all of Haiti's rice would be close to the amount of food aid for rice that the international community would be expected to provide this year.
The paper also suggests the aid donors buy the rice at a price that is high enough to encourage local production. Even though this would have to be somewhat higher than an average of past years' market prices, the cost would only be between $62.1million and $82.8 million per year. Since international donors have committed $5.3 billion in aid for the next 18 months, or $3.53 billion annually, the cost of buying Haiti's rice crop would be only 1.76 to 2.35 percent of committed international aid funds.
Since there are funds allocated to bringing in a similar amount of rice in any case, the additional cost of buying the Haitian rice crop would actually be considerably less than the high estimate of $82.8 million, or 2.35 percent of committed funds.
On March 25, former President Clinton and UN special envoy to Haiti told representatives of aid groups: "Every time we spend a dollar in Haiti from now on we have to ask ourselves, 'Does this have a long-term return? Are we helping them become more self-sufficient? ... Are we serious about working ourselves out of a job?"
CEPR maintains a blog, "Haiti: Relief and Reconstruction Watch" that tracks the multinational Haiti relief and reconstruction efforts with an eye towards ensuring that they are oriented toward the most urgent and important needs of the Haitian people, and that aid is not used to undermine Haitians' right to self-