Haiti is a sad story, U.S. negligence is sadder
Eric Hill - Opinion Editor
Issue date: 1/21/10 Section: Opinion
Looking at footage from the 7.0 earthquake that took place in Haiti last week leaves one feeling sick, sorrowful and scared. As President Barack Obama and his aides (former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush) lament the Haitian peoples' loss of life and collect funds to bring aid to the ruined nation, another emotion stirs: the sting of shame.
Haiti has had a sordid past of military dictators, bloody coups, rampant poverty and terrorism. Yet for all of Haiti's suffering the United States has been capricious and selfish in helping one of the most impoverished countries in our hemisphere get on its feet. The United States and the "international community" shunned reformers in the 1990's such as former President Jean Paul Arstide and the Lavalas party because they did not agree with the privatization of many portions of the Haitian government and catering to the needs of private foreign enterprises. This led to the cut off of aid by the international community from 2001-2004 until Arstide was ousted by the opposition party of the current government with assistance from a small group of U.S. forces, who exiled him to South Africa.
The current president, René Preval, has done little to actually help the majority of his people, despite having so much "international support." Like our own guileless former President George W. Bush, he was placed in office through a provisional election board because of discrepancies in election ballots. He claims to have strong support among his people, but with unemployment above 50 percent, riots in 2008 over food prices and accusations of corruption, it's a hard pill to swallow.
Haiti had no infrastructure, limited clean water, limited agriculture and massive amounts of disease and poverty before being destroyed by this earthquake. If the United States had supported Aristide in 2000 when he was democratically elected by the people in a landslide victory, he might have had time to brace the country for this disaster. Instead Haiti was capitulated, ignored and left to suffer for a decade while the United States started wars against terror halfway aroundthe world.
Haiti has had a sordid past of military dictators, bloody coups, rampant poverty and terrorism. Yet for all of Haiti's suffering the United States has been capricious and selfish in helping one of the most impoverished countries in our hemisphere get on its feet. The United States and the "international community" shunned reformers in the 1990's such as former President Jean Paul Arstide and the Lavalas party because they did not agree with the privatization of many portions of the Haitian government and catering to the needs of private foreign enterprises. This led to the cut off of aid by the international community from 2001-2004 until Arstide was ousted by the opposition party of the current government with assistance from a small group of U.S. forces, who exiled him to South Africa.
The current president, René Preval, has done little to actually help the majority of his people, despite having so much "international support." Like our own guileless former President George W. Bush, he was placed in office through a provisional election board because of discrepancies in election ballots. He claims to have strong support among his people, but with unemployment above 50 percent, riots in 2008 over food prices and accusations of corruption, it's a hard pill to swallow.
Haiti had no infrastructure, limited clean water, limited agriculture and massive amounts of disease and poverty before being destroyed by this earthquake. If the United States had supported Aristide in 2000 when he was democratically elected by the people in a landslide victory, he might have had time to brace the country for this disaster. Instead Haiti was capitulated, ignored and left to suffer for a decade while the United States started wars against terror halfway aroundthe world.
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