Nations that go all out to cripple other nations with sanctions are killing common people by the thousands (millions?).
Is Haiti a nation or isn't it? US and UN step in any time they like and bully the government and people. I once did a thread about the most **** on nation and it still goes.
Josh Winiecke
·
The US has some of the best propaganda in the world. They have convinced the working class that supporting their own exploitation is not only good but the best humanity can ever do economically. Capitalists own / control everything and have you convinced that some day if you work hard enough for them that you can also be rich beyond imagination. The reality is that there is only two ways to get rich and that’s either winning the birth lottery or mercilessly exploiting your fellow workers and communities. Why anyone would support a system of their own exploitation I have no idea. Not only is capitalisms productivity rates lower than other economic systems and much more exploitative but by leaving the control in the hands of the capitalists the US has fallen off the radar in the past 50 years in every positive category
@edgarblythe,
It might sound dumb, but I lived in Tulsa for nine years, and was unaware of all this for at least eight of them.
@roger,
They did a good job hiding it for a long time.
@edgarblythe,
edgarblythe wrote:
Is Haiti a nation or isn't it? US and UN step in any time they like and bully the government and people. I once did a thread about the most **** on nation and it still goes.
Quote:Gang violence, kidnapping and intimidation has forced about 96,000 people to flee their homes in Haiti’s capital, the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday, as the country faces a crisis that has prompted the government to request the immediate deployment of foreign troops.
The IOM said gang-related violence has led to “racketeering, kidnappings and wider criminal acts in a context characterized by deep inequalities, high levels of deprivation of basic human needs and a fragmented security environment”.
Gangs are believed to control some 60% of Port-au-Prince, raping women, children and men and setting homes on fire as they fight to control more territory in the wake of the July 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse, according to the UN.
Haitians also are struggling with dwindling supplies of fuel, water and other basic goods at the same time as a cholera outbreak, with concerns growing over the unhealthy state of government shelters where thousands of people have been living for months after fleeing gang violence.
At least 40 deaths from more than 1,700 suspected cholera cases have been reported, although health officials believe the number is much higher.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/28/haiti-port-au-prince-fleeing-gangs-kidnapping-un-iom<br />
The Government has asked the UN for help, the alternative is gang rule.
It's not pleasant.
Intervention is justified and legal, no bullying involved.
Ever since Haiti overthrew the colonial government other nations, the US in particular have bullied Haiti. Overthrowing elected governments as freely as they do in Latin America.
While the United States refused to diplomatically recognize Haiti, it continued trade relations with the new nation. Prior to the revolution, the United States was a large trade partner with Haiti, second only to its colonial power, France. Throughout the 19th century, the United States continued to import Haitian agricultural products and export its own goods to Haiti, with unfavorable trade policies for Haitians. In fact, by the mid-19th century the United States exported more goods to Haiti than to any other country in Latin America (Farmer 51). During the 19th century, its first century as a nation, Haiti was heavily burdened and its development stuck; it was forced to repay France in order to receive diplomatic recognition, and was diplomatically isolated from all other major powers (see Plummer 1992).
The Haitian Revolution was a significant event in the history of the Caribbean, Western Hemisphere, and world. However, Haitian Independence was not recognized by the United States at the time, to the detriment of the country, and is still left out of popular knowledge of the time period. The writers of history are those in power, as is clear in the case of the historiography of the Haitian Revolution (Trouillot 29).
Military Occupation, 1915-1934
In 1915, the United States Marine Corps invaded Haiti, and remained in the country for almost twenty years. Nominally there to keep peace within the country (there had been six presidents and untold violence during the prior five years), the military played an important role in re-shaping the country’s government and in forming their national army. That national army is infamous today for its undemocratic coups and violations of human rights.
The military occupation also provided an opportunity for the United States to strengthen its economic ties with the country. Since the late 19th century and early 20th century, the United States attempted to revitalize mercantilism in the Caribbean, with a large focus on Haiti (Plummer 12). This trade had devastating effects on Haiti, as Haiti models how “foreign trade… can foster socioeconomic decline” (Plummer 40).
Political Turmoil in the 1990s and early 2000s
In December 1990, Haiti completed its first democratic elections, after violence surrounding prior elections caused them to be aborted. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a Catholic priest with tremendous support from the black poor of the country, was elected with 67% of the vote, and took office on February 7th 1991. On September 29th 1991, the Haitian military removed him from office and forced him to sign a resignation. He spent the next three years in exile, returning in 1994 and serving out his term until February 1996 (see Farmer 2006). During the time of his exile, the country was in chaos, and its next political elections were not approved by international election commissions. The U.S. military occupied Haiti from 1994-1997 in order to “establish peace” and “restore democracy” (see Ballard 1998).
In 2000, Aristide won another presidential election, garnering over 92% of the votes. The next several years saw violence and political agitation in Haiti. On February 28th, 2004, Aristide was taken from the country by the Haitian and American militaries and flown to South Africa, where he is still in exile (see Farmer 2006).
The United States’ role in both the coups against Aristide have been disputed. Aristide, among others (ex. Farmer 2006), claim the United States was directly involved in his forced removal from the country in 2004. The Haitian military and the Haitian National Intelligence Service, set up and funded by the CIA in the 1980s, were both key players in the coups against Aristide.
Foreign Aid
Haiti holds many records: the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and the first nation of former slaves, for example. Another is the highest per-capita rate of NGOs than any other nation. Haiti is desperately poor and has horrible health statistics, so in some ways it makes sense that many non-Haitians, especially Americans given its proximity, work in NGOs in the country. The benefits and harms of the large numbers of foreign NGOs within the country are examined in scholarly literature (see Schuller 2007, for example). One of the major drawbacks to the work of NGOs within the country is the vast majority of them work outside of the government, and most are not even registered with the government. By bypassing the state, NGOs weaken it; American money, both from the federal government and from individuals, flows to NGOs and not, in general, the Haitian government, making it even harder for the state to function.
An additional form of foreign aid has been food aid given by the federal government to Haiti. This food aid, heavily subsidized by the U.S. federal government so that it benefits American farmers, has flooded the Haitian markets, driving prices down. This, along with environmental degradation, has forced many Haitian farmers to give up their farms and move to Port-au-Prince and its surrounding slums.
The Future of U.S.-Haitian Relations
A recent publication by the Brookings Institution with recommendations for the Obama administration on its policy towards Latin America stressed that the United States should be involved in facilitating elections and strengthening Parliament and political parties in Haiti (The Obama Administration and the Americas 107). Because of the recent devastating earthquake, priorities have certainly shifted from strengthening political institutions to providing for immediate physical needs and building up infrastructure. With recent discussion in the Senate about Haiti becoming “some sort of receivorship” (Senator Dodd) or “something far more draconian” (Senator Corker), it is clear that Haiti and the United States will continue to be politically and economically tied (MacFarquahar 1).
*****
References:
Note: These sources provided background information for this paper, and though not all are directly cited, all are important scholarship and primary source in understanding the topic.
Ballard, John R. Upholding Democracy: The United States Military Campaign in Haiti, 1994- 1997. London: Praeger, 1998. || A description of the military campaign in Haiti in the mid-90s from the view of the U.S. military.
Farmer, Paul. The Uses of Haiti. Maine: Common Courage Press, 2006. || A stinging condemnation of U.S. policy towards Haiti from a physician-anthropologist who has worked in the country for thirty years; provides a self-proclaimed Haitian version of the relationship between the two countries.
Greene Balch, Emily, editor. Occupied Haiti. New York: The Writers Publishing Company, 1927. || A report of the conditions under the U.S. occupation of Haiti.
MacFarquahar, Neil. “Haiti is Again a Canvas for Approaches to Aid.” The New York Times. 30 Jan. 2010. || A current article about foreign aid to post-earthquake Haiti, incorporating dicussions at the United Nations and U.S. Congress.
McCrocklin, James H. Garde’Haiti: Twenty Years of Organization and Training by the United States Marine Corps. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute, 1956 || An original Marine Corps document describing the United States’ military’s formative role in the development of the now infamous Haitian National Army.
Montague, Ludwell Lee. Haiti and the United States, 1714-1938. Durham, NC, Duke U. Press, 1940. || A comprehensive history of United States-Haitian relations through the occupation.
Plummer, Brenda Gayle. Haiti and the United States: The Psychological Moment. Athens: The University of Georgia Press, 1992. || Examines the intertwining history of the two countries and the impact of the U.S. on Haiti’s poor development outcomes.
—. Haiti and the Great Powers, 1902-1915. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1988. || Examines the trade relations between Haiti and the United States, and other foreign powers, during the turn of the 19th century.
Reinhardt, Thomas. “200 Years of Forgetting: Hushing up the Haitian Revolution.” Journal of Black Studies 35 (2005): 246-261. || An article examining the historiography of the Haitian Revolution in the United States.
Schmidt, Hans. The United States Occupation of Haiti, 1915-1934. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers U Press, 1971. || A stinging condemnation at the occupation using Marine Corps documents.
Schuller, Mark. Invasion or Infusion? Understanding the Role of NGOs in Contemporary Haiti. The Journal of Haitian Studies, Vol. 13 No. 2 2007. || An important article examining the influence of NGOs on Haitian cultural, political, and economic autonomy.
The Obama Administration and the Americas. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press, 2009. || Recommendations for the Obama Administration on their policy towards Latin America, including Haiti.
Trouillot, Michel-Rolph. Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Boston: Beacon Press, 1995. || A historiography of the Haitian Revolution, using the silencing of this event along with the attempts by German neo-Nazis to cover up the Holocaust, as a gateway into examining the processes by which the powerful produce history.
To put a lid on the violence would be a commendable thing. Except. What the people need then is an economy that allows them to live better than sewer rats. Otherwise as soon as the violence is quelled it will take up where it left off when the cops leave. Happens again and again.
U.S. Relations With Haiti - United States Department of State
Three-quarters of the population lives on approximately $2.41 per day; the poorest live in extreme poverty, surviving on only $1.23 per day.
@edgarblythe,
I don't think anybody is disputing Haiti's awful treatment historically.
The fact remains, the legitimate government has been swept aside and criminal gangs are raping and killing with impunity.
It needs to be stopped.
@izzythepush,
I agree it needs to be stopped. Just saying, with no long range development it does no good. Simply perpetuates until they step in the next time.
@edgarblythe,
That's the pfoblem with peace keeping, all the money is spent on putting down the fighting so there's nothing left for investnent in infrastructure which is what happened in Afghanistan.
It's short sighted and doesn't work.
At least as much, if not more, money needs to be put into winning the peace as winning the war.
@izzythepush,
That's how I perceive it.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – A bill that would make Connecticut the first state in the country to allow police to use drones outfitted with deadly weapons has stalled.
The Hartford Courant reports the Legislature’s Public Safety Committee held the measure on Monday, which is a parliamentary move that could hurt the bill’s chances. It could possibly be brought up as an amendment later on in the session.
The bill would ban the use of weaponized drones but exempt police. The state Police Officer Standards and Training Council would have to approve new rules and train officers before they could use weaponized drones.
Opponents say the lack of action on the bill shows that lawmakers “on both sides of the aisle” have problems with the legislation.
___
Information from: Hartford Courant,
http://www.courant.com
“Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.”
— Aristotle
Greta Thunberg - wondered why the media no longer follows her.
Calls for overthrow of capitalist system
Green Party Peace Action Committee - GPAX Public Group ·
Logan Martinez ·
21h
·
Haiti Action Committee is honored to circulate this statement from Fanmi Lavalas, the people’s party of Haiti. As threats of a new foreign invasion ramp up, Lavalas states, in the clearest terms, the need for continued popular mobilization to produce a genuine Haitian solution to the crisis. We hope you will read it and circulate it widely.
Fanmi Lavalas Press Release October 12, 2022 [unofficial translation by Haiti Action Committee]
Haiti is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history. But this grave situation began long before today. The country, specifically the majority population, the main victim, has been suffering greatly as a result of one coup d’état after another, meddling by the international community, corruption, impunity and a government that is in the service of the economic mafia.
We must remember that since the kidnapping/coup d’état of February 29, 2004, the occupation of the country has caused more corruption, more massacres in the popular/working-class neighborhoods, more impunity, more hunger, more misery, more actors in the economic sector who have allied themselves with gangs that are increasing the digging of graves daily. Many billions of dollars were spent for the occupation, and for what? The situation has continued to worsen, as we all can attest. This calamity is the result of the 2004 coup.
While the cholera epidemic has re-surfaced to kill more people, prisoners are dying of disease, starvation and mistreatment day and night. When it comes to the excessive cost of gasoline, it has fallen upon us like a deadly bomb.
If we do not overturn this cauldron of misery, there will be no better life for Haiti. The solution for Haiti is in the hands of Haitians. The mobilization against the system of corruption must not stop. All of us who are opposed to a foreign military intervention, let us put the well-being of our Country before any ambition for political power or any ambition for economic power.
All of those honest forces who represent the economic and political strength of our country, the time has come for us to sit down with respect for each other.
Yes, the time has come to find together how we will stop the machine of insecurity that is spreading death everywhere in the country. Yes, it is not too late!
The future of Haiti is in our own hands, Haitian People. Together, let us safeguard our dignity.
Alone we are weak, Together we are strong, All Together, WE ARE LAVALAS
Executive Committee of Fanmi Lavalas
Dr. Maryse Narcisse
M. Joël Edouard Vorbe
Dr. Jean Myrto Julien
Agr. Anthony Dessources
