Haïti in the News
Archive: 2010

Protest letter from Haitian members of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission to Co-Chairmen  12/30/2010 Norman Girvan: "A letter from the 12 Haitian members of the Interim Haiti Reconstruction Commission details their systematic marginalisation from information and decision-making in the affairs of the Commission. The letter was sent to a meeting of the Commssion held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, on December 14, 2010 which was chaired by Bill Clinton. Co-chair Haitian Prime Minister Max Bellerive did not attend."

Expert report: Haiti cholera outbreak 'came from UN camp'  12/8/2010 Haiti Analysis

A GUIDE TO DECODING HAITI'S SHAM ELECTION  12/2/2010 Haiti Analysis

'All Elements of Society are Participating': The Rising Popular Movement in Cap-Haitien  11/19/2010 Haiti Analysis: "I was glad when an elderly man walking in the street stopped me. I finally had a chance to do an interview, against the advice of my companions. I whipped out my audio recorder. He was Amos Ordena, the local section’s elected Kazek – an official dispute mediator. “The population has information that MINUSTAH introduced cholera,” he told me. “So many people have died. They’re obligated to hold fast, to demonstrate, so that the authorities will take responsibility. They’re asking MINUSTAH to leave the country.”

Will we allow Haiti to die?  11/5/2010 AfroCubaWeb: by Alberto Jones

Insult to injury: Cholera has Haiti reeling, and Bill Clinton & Anderson Cooper haven't done enough  11/1/2010 NY Daily News

Haiti ruling ends Wyclef Jean's run for president  8/21/2010 AP: Wyclef supported the paramilitary thugs who overthrew Aristide in 2004.

Sean Penn 'suspicious' of Wyclef Jean's bid for Haiti president  8/6/2010 USA Today: "This is somebody who's going to receive an enormous amount of support from the United States, and I have to say I'm very suspicious of it, simply because he, as an ambassador at large, has been virtually silent. For those of us in Haiti, he has been a non-presence," Penn said. Penn, who has been active in Haiti since the earthquake, highlighted allegations that Wyclef mishandled $400,000 donated for the country through his Yele Haiti foundation. "He claims he didn't do it. That has to be looked into it," said Penn, who has been running a 55,000-person tent camp through the J/P Haitian Relief Organization he co-founded. "I've been there. I know what $400,000 could do for these people's lives."

Clinton in Haiti - Haiti's Colonial Overlord  8/5/2010 CounterPunch: "Ordinary Haitians have a different view. They remember Clinton as the man who, while president, demanded Haiti follow the "Plan of Death"--the neoliberal prescriptions of the IMF and World Bank that "structurally adjusted" the Haitian economy in the interests of U.S. business, at the expense of the country's peasants and poor. Today, Haitians know Clinton as a man who wields immense power over the country's future. Esquire's description of him as the "CEO of a leaderless nation." can only be called a political Freudian slip--a CEO, after all, is concerned with profitable investments for shareholders, not meeting people's needs."

Wyclef Jean candidacy an “effort to put a smiley face on military occupation” in Haiti  8/5/2010 Peace Comrade: "Jean comes from a prominent Haitian family that has virulently opposed Lavalas since the 1990 elections. His uncle is Raymond Joseph (also a rumored presidential candidate,) who became Haitian ambassador to the United States under the coup government and remains so today. Kevin Pina writes in “It’s not All about That!: Wyclef Jean is fronting in Haiti,” Joseph is “the co-publisher of Haiti Observateur, a right-wing rag that has been an apologist for the killers in the Haitian military going back as far as the brutal coup against Aristide in 1991."

Wyclef Jean says he will run for president of Haiti  8/4/2010 CNN

Expect More Pranks From Fake French Foreign Ministry  7/29/2010 NYT: "This is for readers who followed The Lede’s coverage of the activists who invented a replica of the French foreign ministry’s Web site earlier this month, and used it to post a statement that drew attention to the huge sum of money France forced Haiti to pay in the 19th century, after it won its independence in a successful slave revolt. The money, 90 million gold francs — which Haiti paid to France from 1825 until 1947 to compensate slave-holders for their loss of “property” — was estimated by the Haitian government in 2003 to be the equivalent of nearly $22 billion today. Last week, the people behind the hoax, who call themselves the Committee for the Reimbursement of the Indemnity Money Extorted from Haiti, or C.R.I.M.E., held a news conference in Montreal to explain, in English and French, why they had constructed their elaborate ruse."

Haiti pranksters say more stunts targeting the French are on the horizon  7/22/2010 Sympatico: "In that video hoax, someone pretending to be a spokesman for the French government promised to pay huge reparations to Haiti - to the tune of US$21 billion, roughly the same sum France extracted from Haiti after its slaves rebelled and won their independence. It took 122 years for Haiti to repay the money, crippling the new country under a mountain of debt from which it has never escaped."

Six Months After the Quake - Haiti: Frozen in Time  7/13/2010 CounterPunch

Speech by Bruno Rodríguez Parilla, Cuban minister of foreign affairs, at the Haiti donors meeting  3/31/2010 Granma: "The international community has a tremendous debt with Haiti where, after three centuries of colonialism, the first social revolution on the American continent took place, an act of boldness that the colonial powers punished with close to 200 years of military dictatorships and plunder. Its noble and hardworking people are now the poorest in the Western hemisphere."

HAITI: Looking More and More Like a War Zone  3/30/2010 Narco News: "On an empty road in Cite Militaire, an industrial zone across from the slums of Cite Soleil, a group of women are gathered around a single white sack of U.S. rice. The rice was handed out Monday morning at a food distribution by the Christian relief group World Vision. According to witnesses, during the distribution U.N. peacekeeping troops sprayed tear gas on the crowd. "Haitians know that's the way they act with us. They treat us like animals," said Lourette Elris, as she divided the rice amongst the women. "They gave us the food, we were on our way home, then the troops threw tear gas at us. We finished receiving the food, we weren't disorderly."

Chomsky on Haiti  3/9/2010 CounterPunch: "Actually the prime minister of Haiti, Bellerive, went out of his way to thank three countries: the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Venezuela for their rapid provision of aid. What Al Jazeera said about Pakistan is quite correct. In that terrible earthquake a couple of years ago, the Cubans were really the only ones who went into the very difficult areas high up in the mountains where it's very hard to live. They're the ones who stayed after everyone else left. And none of that gets reported in the United States. But the fact of the matter is, whatever you think about Cuba, its internationalism is pretty dramatic. And the people who've been working in Haiti for years have been awestruck by Cuban medical aid as they were in Pakistan, in fact. That's an old story. I mean, the Cuban contribution to the liberation of Africa is just overwhelming. And you can find that in scholarship, but the public doesn't know anything about it."

El Sur haitiano también existe  3/4/2010 Granma

Haiti: A tale of two disasters  3/4/2010 SF Bay View: "The Haiti Emergency Relief Fund (HERF), the Prisoners of Conscience Committee and the SF Bay View were able to send a medical team consisting of one doctor (myself) and three nurses. Three media trained personnel were also a part of the team. The HERF medical team provided a modest amount of medical aid in two locations within the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. We served in a tent city in the Delmas area of the capital and at a curb-side clinic in the slum area of Cite Soleil. It was in these two locations that we found a very different level of resources and engagement by international relief workers and foreign missionaries."

Mercenaries Circling Haiti  3/3/2010 CounterPunch

Haiti: la labor “humanitaria” de la USAID  3/1/2010 Kaos en la Red: "Analizando los miles de millones de que se han invertido para el “desarrollo” de Haití cabe preguntarse cómo es posible que invirtiendo tanto dinero ese país sigue ocupando uno de los lugares más bajos en la lista de países pobres. La esencia está en que ese dinero entró y con la misma salió de la mano de empresas extranjeras, ONG´s y políticos haitianos corruptos. Los fondos no han tenido como finalidad mejorar al pueblo haitiano sino garantizar los intereses geoestrátegicos norteamericanos en la región."

Haiti-Séisme : Crise humanitaire majeure / Les dernières données - Un mois et demi après  2/27/2010 AlterPress: "La Direction de la Protection Civile (DCP) estime que 222.517 personnes sont mortes suite au tremblement de terre du 12 Janvier. Le président René Préval pense que le nombre de morts est susceptible d’atteindre les 300.000, tenant compte des cadavres que renferment encore les décombres. - Le nombre de personnes qui ont quitté Port-au-Prince pour la province est passé à 597.801, soit une augmentation de plus de 80.000, particulièrement vers la Grande Anse et le Sud ou des arrivées de 21,000 personnes et 63,000 personnes ont respectivement été enregistrées. Environ 160.000 ont laissé la région métropolitaine pour la zone frontalière avec la République Dominicaine."

Haiti-Earthquake : Human rights concerns  2/26/2010 AlterPress: "Only 23,000 proper tents have been distributed, according to the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance. At least 1.2 million people are homeless."

Haïti-Séisme : Décentraliser, refonder le pays, pas seulement reconstruire..., dixit Préval  2/24/2010 AlterPress: "Il ne s’agira pas de reconstruire, mais de refonder le pays. Un pays plus juste, un pays décentralisé, qui ne se contente pas de concentrer toutes ses ressources sur Port-au-Prince où vivent les élites économiques et politiques » a-t-il, en effet, déclaré le dimanche 21 février lors du 1er sommet des chefs d’Etat et de gouvernement du Mexique et des Etats membres de la communauté économique caribéenne (Caricom)."

Apprendre la leçon des colonisés!  2/24/2010 Haïti Liberté: "Bien sûr, le président Sarkozy, sans expliquer clairement la culpabilité de son pays dans le grand drame haïtien, ses responsabilités passées et présentes, s’est fait le conseiller avisé qui, à la faveur de ce grand naufrage, dit reconnaître la nécessité de la décentralisation dans une Haiti dans laquelle les ressources doivent être profi tables à tous. Voilà que le président parle de développement endogène dans un pays où l’impérialisme impose ses lois du talion, ses lois qui écrasent les plus faibles et renforcent les plus puissants. Offrant une aide de 326 millions d’euros, peut-être Sarkozy croit-il répondre à la fameuse revendication historique, à savoir : Restitution-Réparation. Restitution des 150 millions de francs arrachés d’Haiti pour « réparer les torts faits aux colons par l’indépendance » et la Réparation pour les deux siècles au cours desquels la France métropolitaine a jeté des milliers de Nègres dans l’enfer colonial de Saint-Domingue, où ils ont travaillé comme des bêtes de somme, pour la gloire et l’enrichissement de ladite métropole. Est-ce vrai que la France, hier colonialiste, aujourd’hui néo-colonialiste, voudrait bien qu’un pays de Nègres, Haiti, brise les structures fermées et aliénantes de l’assistanat pour construire une économie digne de l’homme et de tout homme ? La prétendue aide de 326 millions d’Euros et des possibilités pour que des cadres de l’administration publique haïtienne aillent se perfectionner à l’Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA), les promesses faites d’accueillir 700 étudiants dans des universités antillaises et autres, ne peuvent compenser les torts faits par la France à Haiti avant, pendant et après l’indépendance."

Angry demonstrators demand Sarkozy to pay up and return Aristide to Haiti  2/18/2010 Haiti Action Net: "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."

Act Now in Haiti Before It is Too Late!  2/15/2010 AfroCubaWeb: by Alberto Jones

A Million Homeless in Haiti  2/15/2010 CounterPunch: "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.”

Dominican Probed In Missionary Case Admits Prior Charges  2/15/2010 WSJ: "Mr. Puello also said he was the same person being investigated by police in El Salvador in connection with an alleged sex-trafficking ring broken up last year, in which women and girls from the Dominican Republic and elsewhere were lured into prostitution, Salvadoran authorities said. The El Salvador police have been trying to determine if the man they want, Jorge Torres Orellana, is the same person as Mr. Puello."

HAITI: Local Leaders Shut Out of Military-Run Relief Efforts  2/13/2010 IPS

Protesters clash with police following rain in Haiti  2/11/2010 Haiti Action Net: "At 4:30 am as the rain began to fall a collective wail could be heard rising from the makeshift camps of those left homeless due to a massive earthquake that rocked Haiti on January 12. Cries of helplessness and misery quickly turned into shouts of anger and invectives against Haitian president Rene Preval as thousands then took to the streets in several spontaneous street demonstrations. Throughout one of the largest marches that headed towards the United Nations headquarters located near the airport protesters also sang, “If Aristide was here he would be soaked along with us.”

Régis Debray en Bolivie et en Haïti  2/11/2010 VoltaireNet: Un compte rendu sur les maneuvres entreprit par la France de Debray et Villepin pour faire chuter Aristide.

Haïti: Les plans du FMI ont été meurtriers  2/10/2010 Haiti Progres

Media Disinformation regarding Emergency Relief in Haiti by Danny Schechter  2/7/2010 Global Research: "We have gone from hearing reports of massive casualties and social needs to a focus on 10 Americans being indicted for child snatching. Once again we have become the story just as the misnamed “We are the World” is revived. It may be another example of what Ishmael Reed calls “fading to white,” a play on the Fade to Black phrase that TV insiders use to end every recorded show. In a sense, the indictment of the American missionaries by the Haitian government—which has not yet included a charge for child trafficking---is a reassertion at its authorities when we are hearing voices on CNN and in policy circles faulting the devastated government for not doing enough. Not only are they still there, and reasserting but they are launching a high-profile case against Americans, something symbolically important for a retaining the support of Haitians who are furious (but not very vocal for obvious reasons given their situation) with the US response. This case gives them a high profile way of challenging the aid effort."

G-7 Forgives Haiti Bilateral Debt,Calls For Multilateral Debt Relief  2/6/2010 Dow Jones: "Finance ministers from the world's seven leading industrialized countries on Saturday suggested quick financial relief could be en route for earthquake-devastated Haiti. At a press conference after two days of meetings in this Arctic town, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said he and his G-7 colleagues would forgive bilateral loans extended to poverty-stricken Haiti, which estimates it could have lost 200,000 residents in the major earthquake that hit last month. Flaherty also called for Haiti's multilateral debt to be forgiven as soon as possible. "Debt should not be an additional burden," as the country aims to recover from the quake, he said. Haiti currently owes international creditors about $890 million. About 30% of that debt was extended through bilateral agreements while the remaining 70% is from the Inter-American Development Bank and other multilateral creditors."

Chavez Writes Off Haiti’s Oil Debt to Venezuela  2/6/2010 Latin American herald Tribune: “Haiti has no debt with Venezuela, just the opposite: Venezuela has a historical debt with that nation, with that people for whom we feel not pity but rather admiration, and we share their faith, their hope,” Chavez said after the extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, or ALBA. He also announced that ALBA has decided on a comprehensive plan that includes an immediate donation of $20 million to Haiti’s health sector, and a fund that, Chavez said, will be at least $100 million “for starters.”"

Haiti, Still Starving 23 Days Later  2/5/2010 CounterPunch: "You can walk down many of the streets of Port au Prince and see absolutely no evidence that the world community has helped Haiti. Twenty three days after the earthquake jolted Haiti and killed over 200,000 people, as many as a million people have still not received any international food assistance. On February 4, the UN World Food Program reported they had given at least some food, mostly 55 pound bags of rice, to over a million people. The UN acknowledges that it still needs to reach another one million people. The 55 pounds of rice are expected to provide a two week food ration for a family. Beans and cooking oil are scheduled to come later."

Democracy Now Interview with Bill Quigley  2/5/2010 Democracy Now

Haitians will defend their sovereignty  2/1/2010 Real News: "Well, I'm very thankful for so many people around the world giving money to Haiti, but many people, many Haitians on the ground, are not receiving the aid. And I don't really know how to explain this, because I do have families—from my own side and my wife's relatives—they are in zones that were severely hit by the earthquake, but they have not seen aid coming."

The US game in Latin America  1/29/2010 Guardian: "When I write about US foreign policy in places such as Haiti or Honduras, I often get responses from people who find it difficult to believe that the US government would care enough about these countries to try and control or topple their governments. These are small, poor countries with little in the way of resources or markets. Why should Washington policymakers care who runs them? Unfortunately they do care. A lot. They care enough about Haiti to have overthrown the elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide not once, but twice. The first time, in 1991, it was done covertly. We only found out after the fact that the people who led the coup were paid by the US Central Intelligence Agency. And then Emmanuel Constant, the leader of the most notorious death squad there – which killed thousands of Aristide's supporters after the coup – told CBS News that he, too, was funded by the CIA."

Video: Mistrusting of Their Government and UN, Haitians Place Their Hopes In US Troops, Aristide  1/29/2010 Media Hacker

On the Ground in Port au Prince - Haitians are Helping Haitians  1/28/2010 CounterPunch: "Though helicopters thunder through the skies, actual relief of food and water and shelter remains mimimal to non-existent in most neighborhoods. Haitians are helping Haitians. Young men have organized into teams to guard communities of homeless families. Women care for their own children as well as others now orphaned."

In Grand Goave, Relief Efforts Frustrate Haitian Neighborhood Leaders  1/28/2010 Media Hacker: “They have made many promises, but we don’t see the action yet,” Salam said, referring to the international community. “We have a lot of people suffering. There is an expectation that help will come.”

In Grand Goave, Relief Efforts Frustrate Haitian Neighborhood Leaders  1/28/2010 MediaHacker: "An analysis by the Associated Press on Wednesday found that 33 cents of every dollar towards emergency aid in Haiti goes to military aid, more than three times the nine cents spent on food. Residents of Grand Goave said there is a network of seven neighbourhood leaders for each section of the city that has not been tapped in the relief effort. Friends are pooling resources to purchase rice when possible, but family after family living outside the rubble of their homes told IPS they have received no assistance."

Traffickers targeting Haiti's children, human organs, PM says  1/27/2010 CNN: "There is organ trafficking for children and other persons also, because they need all types of organs," Bellerive said in an exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour."

Fear Slows Aid Efforts in Haiti  1/27/2010 CounterPunch: "One friend showed me the map, used by all of the larger NGOs where Port au Prince is divided into security zones, yellow, orange, red. Red zones are restricted, in the orange zones all of the car windows must be rolled up and they cannot be visited past certain times of day, even in the yellow zones aid workers are often not permitted to walk through the streets and spend much of their time in Haiti riding through the city from one office to another in organizational vehicles. The creation of these security zones has been like the building of a wall, a wall reinforced by language barriers and fear rather than iron rods, a wall that, unlike many of the buildings in Port au Prince, did not crumble during the earthquake. Fear, much like violence, is self perpetuating. When aid workers enter communities radiating fear it is offensive, the perceived disinterest in communicating with the poor majority is offensive, driving through impoverished communities with windows rolled up and armed security guards is offensive and, ironically, all of these extra security measures actually increase the level of risk for aid workers. As I said, this wall of fear is not a new phenomenon and it has had very serious implications for the distribution of the millions of dollars of aid that have been flowing into the country for the past 10 days. Despite the good intentions of the many aid workers swarming around the UN base, much of the aid coming through the larger organizations is still blocked in storage, waiting for the required UN and US military escorts that are seen as essential for distribution, meanwhile people in the camps are suffering and their tolerance is waning."

Plan of Death in Haiti  1/27/2010 CounterPunch: "The Obama team has not shifted the century-long U.S. policy vis-a-vis Haiti. Promotion of tourism and sweatshops, increase in debt and rural flight: all this will continue. A $100 million in aid is minuscule, almost insulting. It was Obama’s first tranche for Haiti. More will come, but with substantial conditions, more along the plan of death. These are inevitable, and they will set the stage for further suffering."

U. S. Fear of Democracy in Haiti - Security Kills  1/27/2010 CounterPunch: "Doctor Evan Lyon, of Partners in Health, a medical aid group famous for its heroic efforts in Haiti, referred to "misinformation and rumours … and racism" concerning security issues. "We’ve been circulating throughout the city until 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning every night, evacuating patients, moving materials. There’s no UN guards. There’s no U.S. military presence. There’s no Haitian police presence. And there’s also no violence. There is no insecurity." To understand the United States government’s obsession with “security concerns,” we must look at the recent history of Washington’s involvement there."

IMF chief in U-turn as Venezuela cancels Haiti debt  1/27/2010 Morning Star, UK: "International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn has made a U-turn on the US-dominated financial institution's attempt to burden earthquake-devastated Haiti with another $100 million (£61.7m) of debt. Mr Strauss-Kahn declared that he now supported efforts to "delete all the Haitian debt, including our new loan," following criticism from leaders such as Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who announced his own country's immediate cancellation of a $295m (£182m) debt on Monday."

Haiti-Séisme : Chavez estime que trop de marines accompagnent la mission « humanitaire » nord-américaine  1/26/2010 AlterPress: "Elle est tellement ‘humanitaire’ qu’elle a amené une grande quantité de marines, pas précisément entraînés pour des opérations de sauvetage. Ce sont des troupes entraînées pour envahir, pour tuer", ajoute-t-il. Selon le président vénézuélien, "les troupes nord-américaines contrôlent aujourd’hui le territoire haïtien. Ils ont pris le Palais du Gouvernement et le Palais Législatif et ils contrôlent l’aéroport international selon leur bon vouloir." Pendant qu’un groupe de nations souveraines luttent pour renforcer l’aide humanitaire, le Commando Sud s’occupe d’augmenter la présence militaire de l’empire », insiste Chavez… Cependant, considère le chef d’État vénézuélien, "en ces jours funestes, le peuple haïtien a démontré son courage et sa dignité. On l’observe dans l’exemple des bataillons de secouristes haïtiens qui se sont spontanément formés et qui ont participé à de nombreuses opérations de sauvetage pour dégager des blessés"

Haiti-Séisme : La Norvège appui l’intervention des médecins cubains  1/26/2010 AlterPress: "La Norvège à mis à la disposition de Cuba cinq millions de couronnes (environ 885 000 dollars) pour soutenir le travail réalisé par les médecins cubains dans ce pays, indique la presse cubaine. Selon l’accord paraphé le 24 janvier, les fonds seront destinés à l’acquisition et à l’envoi de médicaments et d’autres matériels qui seront utilisés par la brigade Médicale Cubaine qui offre actuellement ses services aux victimes du séisme du 12 janvier."

Israeli hospital in Haiti ends operations  1/26/2010 Ynet: "sraeli team preparing to go home: After performing 316 surgeries and delivering 16 babies, IDF field hospital in Haiti closes its doors Monday as doctors bid patients farewell; Haitian government says quake death toll reaches 150,000 … Meanwhile, local gangs are continuing the looting in the capital, while Haitians in more remote regions are trying to revert to their routine." [Had to get that dig in about looting!]

Statement on Haiti  1/25/2010 Adoptees of Color Roundtable

La Katrina d’Haïti  1/25/2010 AlterPress: "Comme les quatre cyclones qui ravageaient Haïti en automne 2008, ou encore Katrina, le cyclone qui frappait les États-Unis en été 2005, le séisme du 12 janvier a démontré l’ampleur que peuvent prendre les désastres naturels quand ils se combinent avec la négligence, l’incompétence, la corruption et la mauvaise foi des humains… C’est la différence entre un État fonctionnel comme celui de Cuba qui affrontait à peu près les mêmes cyclones qu’Haïti en 2008 avec considérablement moindres dégâts, et l’État dysfonctionnel d’Haïti, historiquement au service de la bourgeoisie prédatrice, qui ne s’est jamais souscrit à la notion de l’État comme protecteur du bien-être général et des moins privilégiés."

Haiti orphans at risk from traffickers -government, UNICEF  1/25/2010 Reuters: "A police unit tasked with protecting minors has sent officers to the border but officials said that like every other Haitian institution, the unit was hit hard by the earthquake that killed at least 120,000 people and probably many more. "We are very concerned that there are increasing reports that children are being picked up and trafficked out of the country," said Kent Page, a spokesman for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF). But he had no details of specific cases. Authorities also fear that legitimate aid groups may have flown earthquake orphans out of the country for adoption before efforts to find their parents had been exhausted. As a result, the Haitian government last week halted these types of adoptions. "There is no question that either NGOs (non-governmental organizations) or institutions of any kind can take children off the streets (for adoption) and say that they are orphans," said Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive, expressing his fears that this might be happening. There are no reliable estimates of the number of parentless and lost children at risk in Haiti's quake-shattered capital Port-au-Prince. Hungry, homeless minors fending for themselves in the city are a common sight."

Chávez: “No vamos a permitir que los gringos se apoderen de Haití”  1/24/2010 Aporrea: "El primer mandatario enfatizó que “los nuestros arriesgan su vida mientras los gringos están en su barco mientras llegan los pacientes. “CNN puede mostrar imágenes de los médicos venezolanos, están en el terreno, entre el dolor vacunando, ahora vienen las epidemias”.

Securing Disaster in Haiti  1/24/2010 Haiti Cuba Venezuela Analysis: "Nine days after the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti on January 12, 2010, it’s now clear that the initial phase of the US-led relief operation has conformed to the three fundamental tendencies that have shaped the more general course of the island’s recent history.[1] It has adopted military priorities and strategies. It has sidelined Haiti’s own leaders and government, and ignored the needs of the majority of its people. And it has proceeded in ways that reinforce the already harrowing gap between rich and poor. All three tendencies aren’t just connected, they are mutually reinforcing."

VIVA CUBA! Cuban Doctors Treating the People of Haiti  1/24/2010 Haiti Cuba Venezuela Analysis: See pics - "Since the earthquake, Cuba has sent an additional 100 doctors and last year students at LASM sent a letter to Raul pleading to have the “honor” to go to Haiti to help. Cuba’s humanitarian assistance to the world began just a few years after the revolution when a Cuban boat dropped a load of arms to assist in the Algerian independence struggle. The boat returned with 76 injured Algerian guerillas along with 20 children from a refugee camp. During Guinea-Bissau’s war of independence from the Portuguese, Cuban ships regularly picked up the injured, which included many children, mostly orphans, and took them to Cuba for medical care and schooling. And since then, over 56,000 Cubans have worked in Africa as doctors, teachers, engineers, sports trainers and skilled workers. It has been said many times that “when Africa called, Cuba answered.” Now we must add, when Haiti called, Cuba answered a long time ago and continues its service to the people of Haiti."

ALBA insta a ONU a encargarse de coordinación en Haití y evalúa fondo de reconstrucción  1/24/2010 Telesur: "Los cancilleres de la Alianza Bolivariana para los pueblos de América (ALBA) acordaron este domingo instar a la Organización de Naciones Unidas (ONU) a encargarse de la coordinación de la ayuda internacional que es enviada hacia Haití, ya que la fuerte presencia militar de Estados Unidos no es un mecanismo efectivo para enfrentar la crisis tras el terremoto del pasado 12 de enero."

Man Rescued Alive After Haiti Calls Off Searches  1/24/2010 Wall Street Journal

A Thorn in the Side of the U.S. Military in Haiti  1/23/2010 CounterPunch: "Now, in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, Telesur has joined al-Jazeera in providing critical coverage of events. Moving on from the MINUSTAH mission, Telesur has focused in laser-like on United States’ misplaced priorities in the Caribbean island nation. While most Americans watch the mainstream media and bask in a wave of self-congratulation, Telesur has painted a darker picture of the U.S. response."

Wyclef Jean foundation hires new accountants after rapper acknowledges mistakes  1/23/2010 CP

Did Mining and Oil Drilling Trigger Earthquake?  1/23/2010 Haiti Cuba Venezuela Analysis: "Human-triggered quakes are usually minor, but not always. A 1967 quake in western India that killed about 200 people was linked to the nearby Koyna Dam."

AUDIO: No help forthcoming for Haitian journalists determined to keep broadcasting  1/23/2010 mediahacker: "Here’s my story for yesterday’s Free Speech Radio News newscast, about Haitian radio broadcasters doing their best to stay on the air in the quake’s aftermath without any outside support. MP3. Video later."

Growth of aid and the decline of humanitarianism  1/23/2010 The Lancet: "Picture the situation in Haiti: families living on top of sewage-contaminated rubbish dumps, with no reliable sources of food and water and virtually no access to health care. This scenario depicts the situation in Haiti before the earthquake that catapulted this impoverished and conflict-ridden country into the international headlines."

Wyclef Jean's Yele Charity Not The Only One With Dirt  1/22/2010 ABC: "The financial misconduct at Jean's Yele charity has thrown some nasty light on Haiti's relief efforts. Jean has not admitted to wrongdoing, but the group's most recent tax filing shows some financial imprudence. Yele, also known as the Wyclef Jean Foundation, raised more than $2 million after the earthquake through text messages, after Jean called on fans to donate $5 by texting "Yele" to 501501. Most of the criticism against Jean has focused on what's considered dubious spending, and records show that in 2007, the most recent year for which a filing is available, Yele earned $79,126 but spent $569,050. Critics also point to the close connections between Jean's business and charity ventures, pointing out a $250,000 payment made to buy airtime on a Haitian television station owned by the Grammy award- winner and his business partner."

Prices in Haiti on the Rise While the Population Starves  1/22/2010 Alternet

Haiti-Séisme: De la discrimination dans les opérations de secours?  1/22/2010 Alterpresse: "Le premier choc reçu a été le 15 janvier dans l’aéroport international Toussaint Louverture, où un citoyen noir a été, selon lui, abandonné sur la piste sans aucune aide. « Il y a avait cette personne brûlée à 80%, abandonnée sur la piste sans aucune aide et ils ne sont pas allés la sortir, alors qu’il y avait deux personnes blanches à l’intérieur de l’aéroport, légèrement blessées seulement, avec trois docteurs à leurs côtés et des pansements sur la tête », affirme-t-il. Camilo Monroy soutient que les secouristes ont reçu l’ordre de vérifier si les cadavres rencontrés étaient blancs ou noirs, sans pouvoir identifier l’origine de cet ordre."

El Pentágono está en Haití  1/22/2010 Cubadebate: "Los militares estadounidenses ordenaron ayer el desalojo inmediato de todos los periodistas internacionales de la zona de acampada dentro del aeropuerto donde los reporteros compartían espacio con los cooperantes. El miércoles a las cinco de la tarde, hora haitiana, un soldado se acercó tienda por tienda a comunicar a los medios de comunicación que a las cinco de la mañana del día siguiente todo el mundo tenía que estar fuera… El secretario de Estado para Iberoamérica, Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, visitó por la noche el campamento español para comunicarles que el Gobierno haitiano había dejado el control del aeropuerto a EEUU y que la Armada estadounidense necesitaba todas las instalaciones… El edificio de la televisión de Haití también fue tomado por un grupo de soldados estadounidenses. Además, la presencia de los soldados con sus enormes vehículos militares ha empeorado aún más el tráfico. Circular 200 metros en coche en algunos tramos puede llevar más de una hora. Ayer, en una de las glorietas de la ciudad, la policía haitiana, cascos azules de Naciones Unidas, soldados de EEUU y un ciudadano occidental con la estética de miembro de Blackwater daban direcciones contradictorias entre sí a los desesperados conductores… Al margen del despliegue militar, Unicef denunció ayer el “descontrol absoluto” en la salida de 140 menores del país después del terremoto. Julie Bergeron, jefa de protección de Unicef, afirmó a Público que han enviado personal al aeropuerto para impedir la salida de niños sin papeles."

Security “Red Zones” in Haiti Preventing Large Aid Groups from Effectively Distributing Aid  1/22/2010 Democracy Now: "What I’ve been witnessing here is that the aid actually arrived fairly quickly. So, very quickly, they had ships there with supplies, medical supplies, water. As I understand, there’s thousands of tons of food that are available. But the problem that they’re having is distribution of the aid."

Looting - is it really a matter of black and white?  1/22/2010 Independent, UK

Did mining and oil drilling behind UN/US guns trigger the Haiti earthquake?  1/22/2010 Salon: by Marguerite Laurent

Media ordered from airport  1/22/2010 Straits Times, Singapore: "The Inter American Press Association earlier called on the US military to rescind what it said was an order turfing reporters out of an area that has become the focal point for the arrival of aid to the country. Media workers had for the last 10 days had regular access to Port-au-Prince airport but must now 'vacate these areas so that normal airport regulations can be established,' said the Haiti Joint Information Center, which presents news from Haitian and US authorities. The Haitian Ministry of Transportation has also asked the US military, providing security at the airport, to make sure media groups remove camps and equipment from the terminal and tarmac."

Cuba Aids Haiti Relief  1/22/2010 Voice of America: "President Barack Obama has pledged $100 million in aid to the ruined island nation, part of one of the largest international relief efforts in history. The bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Cuba reflects our overwhelming concern for the welfare of the Haitian people. We will continue to look for areas where cooperation between our 2 nations can support Haitian relief."

Haitians dying by the thousands as US escalates military intervention  1/22/2010 World Socialist: "Thousands of Haitians are dying every day for lack of medical care and supplies, according to a leading humanitarian aid group. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has announced that it is expanding the US military presence in the country, maintaining Washington’s priority of troops over humanitarian aid. The US-based medical aid group Partners in Health has warned that as many as 20,000 Haitians may be dying daily due to infections such as gangrene and sepsis that have set in, as the majority of the injured receive no medical care or are treated in facilities that lack the most basic supplies."

Private companies look to Haiti for opportunities  1/22/2010 YouTube: with Wayne Madsen - "Private companies are looking to Haiti for upcoming job opportunities. These organizations are offering a range of services, from rapid housing construction to emergency relief shelters and even transportation. After the 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti, several companies posted websites for future clients. Private organizations in Afghanistan and Iraq are also seeing dollar signs in the catastrophe. RTs Lauren Lyster talked with investigation journalist, Wayne Madsen about this issue facing Haiti."

Cuba stands by the Haitian People  1/21/2010 Cuban Embassy, Botswana: "The Cuban doctors began to offer their services immediately after the earthquake. It was the most important health care assistance received by Haitian people in the first 72 hours. On 13 January, over 60 health staff joined those in to Port au Prince, including specialists from the Henry Reeve Contingent with experienced in emergencies when similar disasters occurred in Asia and Latin America countries. Until Thursday 14 January the Cuban Medical Brigade had assisted 1 987 patients and performed 111 surgeries, at health centers in Port au Prince: Field Hospital Annex, Hospital La Renaissance, Ofatma Hospital, Diagnostic Health Centers of Grand Goave and Integral Diagnostic Center Mirebalais, the latter two located on the outskirts of the capital."

Bottled Water Supplies in Port-au-Prince Airport Being Distributed…to US Embassy  1/21/2010 Democracy Now: "AMY GOODMAN: Everywhere we have traveled, people have asked, “Where is the aid?” Well, a lot of it appears to be here, right here at the Port-au-Prince airport. People ask for water. They ask for food. And we see many, many pallets, thousands of bottles of water. We see some being loaded now onto a truck. But people are asking, “Where is it? Why isn’t it coming to us faster?” Most people haven’t gotten it at all. Let’s see where this water is going. So, where is the water going? HAITIAN WORKER: US embassy."

A Haiti Disaster Relief Scenario Was Envisaged by the US Military One Day Before the Earthquake  1/21/2010 Global Research: "A Haiti disaster relief scenario had been envisaged at the headquarters of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) in Miami one day prior to the earthquake. The holding of pre-disaster simulations pertained to the impacts of a hurricane in Haiti. They were held on January 11. (Bob Brewin, Defense launches online system to coordinate Haiti relief efforts (1/15/10) -- GovExec.com, complete text of article is contained in Annex) "

Haiti Earthquake: US Ships Blockade Coast to Thwart Exodus to America  1/21/2010 Global Research: "In response to America's closed door, Abdoulaye Wade, Senegal's President, has offered Haitian descendants of African slaves the chance to resettle in "the land of their ancestors" and offered them plots of land. "Africa should offer Haitians the chance to return home. It is their right," he said."

Help Haiti, No Military – Since Earthquake Cuban Docs Treated 10,000 People  1/21/2010 Haiti Cuba Venezuela Analysis

Haitians: 'To those in power, we are not considered victims'  1/21/2010 Independent, UK: "We don't have doctors, we don't have food, we don't have water," said Louis Jean Jaris, a 29-year-old resident. "The aid comes to Haiti, but it goes elsewhere. In Cité Soleil we are all victims, just like everyone else, but compared to the rest of the country, we are a low priority. To the people in power, we are not considered to be victims."

Stop treating these people like savages  1/21/2010 Independent, UK

Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations plane with relief aid for Haiti stranded in Caracas  1/21/2010 ITAR TASS: "Russia’s Charges d’Affaires in Venezuela Vladimir Tokmakov told Itar-Tass that the IL-76 plane was being grounded in Caracas because the U.S. air traffic controllers, who are in control of the Port –au-Prince airport, were constantly delaying permission to fly into the Haitian capital. The U.S. air traffic controllers are claiming the delay is caused by excessive workload of the Port-au-Prince airport. At the same time, U.S. planes are easily landing in the Haitian capital, the Russian diplomat went on to say… The Il-76 aircraft is carrying medical supplies, food and other essentials for the victims of the devastating earthquake. It’s also supposed to deliver five tons of drinking water for Russian rescuers who continue working in Haiti."

Haiti reporters hassled by Sanford airport director  1/21/2010 Orlando Sentinel: "A Los Angeles Times reporter says Larry Dale, president of Orlando Sanford International Airport, "bullied" and threatened to handcuff her and a reporter for The Wall Street Journal as they passed through the airport on their way home from Haiti. Tina Susman, who works for the Times, said she and Dionne Searcey of the Journal arrived at the airport Tuesday aboard a cargo plane with evacuees from Haiti, where they had been reporting on the aftermath of the earthquake… Susman, a national correspondent who was Baghdad bureau chief for two years and spent 11 years covering Africa, said Dale insinuated that she and Searcey could be stowaways or terrorists with fake credentials. She said he shouted at her to sit down and be quiet."

U.S. Private Security Firms Head to Haiti  1/21/2010 Pro Publica: "A trade group representing military contractors and private security firms, the International Peace Operations Association, has launched a Web site [3] for prospective clients, listing member companies offering their services in Haiti. Among them is Triple Canopy, a large private security firm that has operated under multi-million dollar contracts in Iraq. Others are already in Haiti, like HART Security which is currently "providing security services to the media."

Earthquake in Haiti: Under Aristide, Haitians were prepared for disaster  1/21/2010 SF Bay View: "Haiti is not that big. Haiti is the size of the state of Maryland. And with helicopters flying all over the place, yet nobody right there even in Port au Prince – people are not being told. Of course, various communities are not being approached. They are not seeing anybody come by to check and assess the damage or their needs. People are thirsty. People are hungry. And it’s incredible what’s going on, and that’s criminal."

Venezuela steps up aid effort to Haiti, questions U.S. military deployment  1/21/2010 SF Bay View: "Haiti “needs doctors, tents, rescue teams and machinery … Now, who said soldiers, rifles and machine guns are necessary?” he [Chavez] asked."

What Haiti Is Owed  1/21/2010 The Nation: "In the nineteenth century the French forced Haiti into paying reparations of some 150 million francs to French slave owners. It took Haitians 122 years, but in 1947 they were finally able to pay off what remained of this debt. Yet this came at the enormous cost of its development: at one point the Haitian government was spending 80 percent of its national budget on repayments. In the 1990s the Clinton administration and international lenders like the World Bank, IMF and the Inter-American Development Bank pressured Haiti into structural adjustment policies that opened the country up to imports and to the privatization of state-run industries and public infrastructure like the telephone, education and healthcare systems. The dire state of affairs that preceded the earthquake--poverty, deforestation, food shortages, broken schools and malnutrition--is this history's legacy. It's a kind of hell, perhaps, but a man-made one. Last year, much of Haiti's debt was forgiven, but some $1 billion remains. The biggest loan holders--the World Bank, the IMF, the Inter-American Development Bank, Venezuela and Taiwan--should forgive Haiti's outstanding debt, and any new aid should be dispersed as grants, not loans."

Emergency Earthquake Appeal: Support Cuban-Trained Haitian Doctors  1/21/2010 The Social Medicine Portal: "We have received an appeal from our friends at MEDICC who are providing support to Haitian doctors in Haiti who have been trained in Cuba. This is a particularly important effort since it strengthens the local medical infrastructure; these Haitian doctors will remain in place long after the disaster relief ends. And it also breaks with the mainly paternalistic (and subtly racist) presentation of Haitians as the passive recipients of help provided by outside agents."

The US Navy has anchored one of its secret prisons in Haitian waters  1/21/2010 Voltairenet: "Having denied it for a long time, the Pentagon eventually acknowledged that the USS Bataan had in fact been used as a prison in December 2001, but that it recovered its normal functions as of January 2002, an allegation which is contested by numerous specialists who claim that it continued to operate as a prison off shore."

Haiti’s Tragedy Could Provide an Opportunity for Improved US-Cuban Relations Through Disaster Relief Collaboration  1/20/2010 COHA

Haiti needs water, not occupation  1/20/2010 Guardian, UK: "On Sunday, Jarry Emmanuel, air logistics officer for the UN's World Food Programme, said: "There are 200 flights going in and out every day, which is an incredible amount for a country like Haiti ... But most flights are for the US military." Yet Lieutenant General PK Keen, deputy commander of the US Southern Command, reports that there is less violence in Haiti now than there was before the earthquake hit. Dr Evan Lyon, of Partners in Health, a medical aid group famous for its heroic efforts in Haiti, referred to "misinformation and rumours … and racism" concerning security issues."

Haïti ruinée et occupée!  1/20/2010 Haiti Liberté

Passing by the corporate news censors: disinformation regarding escaped Haitian prisoners  1/20/2010 Marguerite Laurent: "The Haitian Lawyer's Association is one of the "faux" representatives of the Haitians in the United States, particularly in southern Florida. It participates in forums with the likes of Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Bahlart (R-FL and right-wing Cuban gusano) and the CIA-connected World Vision."

Plane full of medicine turned away while health workers strain to treat patients in Port-Au-Prince  1/20/2010 mediahacker: with transcript

Soldiers in Haiti told to stop handing out food  1/20/2010 Military Times: "Food handouts were shut off Tuesday to thousands of people at a tent city here when the main U.S. aid agency said the Army should not be distributing the packages. It was not known whether the action reflected a high-level policy decision at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) or confusion in a city where dozens of entities are involved in aid efforts."

Emergency earthquake appeal: Support Cuban-trained Haitian doctors  1/20/2010 Progresso Weekly: "While U.S. law does not allow Cuban doctors in Haiti to receive these essential medical materials -- the U.S. embargo taking its toll post-disaster -- MEDICC and Global Links will ensure distribution to the young Haitian physicians working in public hospitals and clinics alongside the Cuban team, seeing hundreds of patients daily."

French aid group MSF accuses US over Haiti delays  1/20/2010 Reuters

Haiti rejects Dominican Republic troops-envoys  1/20/2010 Reuters: [Haitians remember the Dominicans under Trujillo massacred 30,000 of their citizens in 1937.]

Anti-Semitic video against Israel team in Haiti  1/20/2010 Ynet: "According to him, he is taking action "to promote positive change among Afro-Americans and in Africa. I am not a politician. I do a talk show and journalism and volunteer for a few non-profit organizations." And what of the Israeli aid currently being provided in Haiti? "It is good that the IDF and others are helping there, but everywhere there is death, there are exploiters. There needs to be transparency in Haiti."

The First Responders - The Blackout on Cuban Aid to Haiti  1/19/2010 CounterPunch: "The Christian Science Monitor, in a second article, quoted Laurence Korb, former assistant secretary of defense and now based at the Center for American Progress, as saying that the US, which is leading the relief efforts in Haiti, should “consider tapping the expertise of neighboring Cuba,” which he noted, “has some of the best doctors in the world--we should see about flying them in.” As for the rest of the US corporate media, they simply ignored Cuba. In fact, left unmentioned was the reality that Cuba already had nearly 400 doctors, EMTs and other medical personnel posted to Haiti to help with the day-to-day health needs of this poorest nation in the Americas, and that those professionals were the first to respond to the disaster, setting up a hospital right next to the main hospital in Port-au-Prince which collapsed in the earthquake, as well as a second tent-hospital elsewhere in the stricken city."

Exporting Misery to Haiti: How Pigs, Rice and US Policy Undermined the Haitian Economy  1/19/2010 Honduras Oye

The Obama administration's killing of Haiti through a military occupation  1/19/2010 Marguerite Laurent

Tell CNN to stop hyping fears of violence in Haiti. For shame.  1/19/2010 Media Hackers: "They started pushing the violence meme the day after the earthquake. I was interviewed by Wolf Blitzer that evening via Skype. Part way through the interview, they cut to their correspondent for a live chat from the airport. He spoke briefly with Mario Andreso, the chief of Haiti’s national police, who warned of out-of-control violence from all the prisoners who escaped the penitentiary the day of the quake. The CNN reporter repeated the claims uncritically. When they came back to me, I began to explain that I had walked through the remains of the jail (here’s the video). That many of the prisoners were reportedly shot dead by police as they tried to escape. And that I had not seen or heard of violence so far. The prison was a hellish place, with almost no medical facilities. Did it contain some genuine thugs? Yes. But it also contained many political prisoners and people who never received a fair trial from Haiti’s flawed courts. These are simple facts that CNN is too happy to overlook. I was quickly interrupted by Blitzer and they went to commercial break."

US Mercenaries Set Sights on Haiti  1/19/2010 The Nation: "We saw this type of Iraq-style disaster profiteering in New Orleans, and you can expect to see a lot more of this in Haiti over the coming days, weeks and months. Private security companies are seeing big dollar signs in Haiti thanks in no small part to the media hype about "looters." After Katrina, the number of private security companies registered (and unregistered) multiplied overnight. Banks, wealthy individuals, the US government all hired private security. I even encountered Israeli mercenaries operating an armed checkpoint outside of an elite gated community in New Orleans. They worked for a company called Instinctive Shooting International."

Haiti earthquake relief is stifled by chaos in Port-au-Prince  1/19/2010 WaPo

CIA Contractor Now Flying Spy Drone Over Haiti (Updated Again)  1/19/2010 Wired: "A controversial CIA contractor has found new work in Haiti, flying drones on disaster recovery duty. When last we heard from Evergreen International Aviation, the Oregon-based firm was offering to post sentries at local voting centers during the 2008 election, ”detaining troublemakers” and making sure voters “do not get out of control.”

US Security Company Offers to Perform “High Threat Terminations” and to Confront “Worker Unrest” in Haiti  1/18/2010 Aletho News

Haiti Aid Delays: Bottleneck At US-Controlled Airport  1/18/2010 AP: "French, Brazilian and other officials have complained about the U.S.-run airport's refusal to allow their supply planes to land. A World Food Program official has told The New York Times that the Americans' priorities were out of sync, allowing too many U.S. military flights and too few aid deliveries."

Disaster Profiteering: US 'Security' Companies Offer 'Services' in Haiti  1/18/2010 Common Dreams: "What is unfolding in Haiti seems to be part of what Naomi Klein has labeled the “Shock Doctrine.” Indeed, on the Heritage Foundation blog, opportunity was being found in the crisis with a post titled: “Amidst the Suffering, Crisis in Haiti Offers Opportunities to the U.S.” “In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti earthquake offers opportunities to re-shape Haiti’s long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to improve the public image of the United States in the region,” wrote Heritage fellow Jim Roberts in a post that was subsequently altered to tone down the shock doctrine language. The title was later changed to: “Things to Remember While Helping Haiti.”

US Military Tightens Grip On Hait  1/18/2010 Countercurrents: "Amid the humanitarian tragedy following the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, Washington has concentrated on establishing indefinite military control of the country. Fearing mass protests and riots by desperate Haitians against inadequate rescue efforts, US logistical efforts are focused on massing tens of thousands of troops for use against the population."

The Rescue Operation's Priorities in Haiti  1/18/2010 CounterPunch: By NELSON P. VALDÉS - "The United Nations and the US authorities on the ground, are telling those who directly want to deliver help not to do so because they might be attacked by “hungry mobs.” [9] Two cargo planes from Doctors Without Borders have been forced to land in the Dominican Republic because the shipments have to be accompanied within Port au Prince by US military escort, according to the US command. [10] One American on the ground summed up the situation: "For the aid to work and the teams of search and rescue workers to be able to do their job there is going to need to be a major effort of all people to lay down their own fear and personal need and allow the help to get to the worst off. Pray that people will think of others as best they can and that relief will begin to get to the places it is needed most." [11] Such fears, created and nurtured in colonial times, have been reproduced for over two hundred years. Alexander Hamilton and José Martí recognized the humanity of the former black slaves turned revolutionaries and told us to put our fears aside. As Linda Polman writes in The Times of London class and racial fear by the rescue teams is costing the lives of thousands in Haiti. [12]"

After Haiti's earthquake - Growing deadlier  1/18/2010 Economist: "Yet the majority of victims did not perish during the 35-second tremor. Ted Constan of Partners in Health, an American NGO, says that some 200,000 people were probably injured or trapped but not killed by the quake. He estimates that an additional 25,000 of them have died on each day that has passed since the tremor, as a result of treatable ailments such as bleeding, dehydration, suffocation and infection."

Who Was The First Hospital Responder for the January 12th Haiti Earthquake? The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Medical Corps Delegation  1/18/2010 Expert Click: "Israel flew 2 giant planes in Thursday night Jan.14th, - self-sustained, meaning they had a full operating theater set up by Saturday - the only hospital in Haiti. The Israeli military team of 250 is working flat out in the city's Antoine Izmery soccer field, in 2 fully-equipped operating rooms, intensive care units, children and maternity wards, laboratories, an X-ray facility and a pharmacy, plus 50 metric tons of aid. One-third of the medical team of 40 doctors, 20 paramedics and 25 nurses plus technical staff are reservists who volunteered for the Haiti disaster relief team. They are treating 500 patients a day. Israel had the first mobile hospital on the ground in Haiti after the 7.0 magnitude earthquake Tuesday January 12th. They also brought units from Israel's Search-and-Rescue Team and the Oketz Unit dogs, trained in locating trapped persons. They have already rescued a 52 year-old Haitian, a 69-year old Frenchman and a Danish man in the capital Port-au-Prince."

Clash over Haiti aid flights  1/18/2010 Financial Times: "MSF said an aircraft carrying a surgical hospital was denied permission to land on Saturday and re-routed to Santo Domingo in the neighbouring Dominican Republic. Other planes had suffered the same fate, even after guarantees from the UN and the US defence department. Jets carrying VIPs such as US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, and Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, have been able to land. "You have to question what's the priority," said Marie-Noëlle Rodrigue, deputy head of operations at MSF in France. Speaking at Port-au-Prince airport, Alain Joyandet, the French minister for cooperation, said he had lodged an official protest via the US embassy in the Haitian capital."

Disaster Profiteers Swarm on Haiti as on NOLA  1/18/2010 Gather: "Meanwhile, over on the dark side of the aid aisle, Jeremy Scahill reports that IPOA in Haiti is following Blackwater's lead from Katrina. As noted in 2005 by The Nation, Blackwater beat most governmental agencies to the scene in New Orleans after the city was ravaged by the hurricane where they did work such as "securing neighborhoods" and "confronting criminals" while armed with flak jackets and assault rifles. Though they claimed to be operating under the auspices of the Department of Homeland Security, their motives and duties were certainly questionable and questioned, especially considering the $70 million price tag."

Progress Report on Coordinated Rapid Response to Haiti Earthquake  1/18/2010 Konbit Pou AyitiKonbit Pou Ayiti: "We have made substantial progress this weekend on finalizing logistics to get supplies and critical medical teams into Haiti and now have three points of entry to Haiti: direct to Jacmel via boat from the Dominican Republic, direct to Port-au-Prince over land from the DR, and to points north of PAP and the capital via Cap-Haitian and Santiago, DR (crossing at Dajabon-Ounaminthe). This report includes progress made on transporting teams and supplies into Haiti, the latest summary assessment for Jacmel from the UN in PAP and details of our headquarters and operations in Santo Domingo."

Haiti: An Unwelcome Katrina Redux  1/18/2010 Op Ed News: by Cynthia McKinney - "Therefore, we note here the writings of Ms. Marguerite Laurent, whom I met in her capacity as attorney for ousted President of Haiti Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Ms. Laurent reminds us of Haiti's offshore oil and other mineral riches and recent revivial of an old idea to use Haiti and an oil refinery to be built there as a transshipment terminal for U.S. supertankers. Ms. Laurent, also known as Ezili Danto of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN), writes: "There is evidence that the United States found oil in Haiti decades ago and due to the geopolitical circumstances and big business interests of that era made the decision to keep Haitian oil in reserve for when Middle Eastern oil had dried up. This is detailed by Dr. Georges Michel in an article dated March 27, 2004 outlining the history of oil explorations and oil reserves in Haiti and in the research of Dr. Ginette and Daniel Mathurin."

Profiting From Haiti’s Crisis  1/18/2010 Toward Freedom

Haitian President Préval largely absent in quake's aftermath  1/18/2010 WaPo

Disputes emerge over Haiti aid control  1/17/2010 Al Jazeera: [Endless armored vehicles and guns…]

Clinton, Bush on Haiti Relief Fund  1/17/2010 CBS: [Bringing in that Katrina expertise.]

Medical Worker Outside of Port-Au-Prince: We Are Waiting For Patients That Have Yet To Arrive  1/17/2010 Democracy Now

The Haitian People Have Mobilized, While Foreign Aid Efforts Continue to Stall  1/17/2010 Democracy Now

US accused of annexing airport as squabbling hinders aid effort in Haiti  1/17/2010 Guardian, UK

Haïti-Séisme: La ville des Cayes débordée  1/17/2010 Haiti Press Network: "98 % des blessés de l’hôpital général de la 3e ville du pays sont venus de la Capitale, rapporte le correspondant d’une radio. Et c’est presque la même situation dans les autres centres hospitaliers de la métropole du département du Sud. Là aussi, il commence à manquer des médicaments, du matériel mais aussi des bras. Les médecins appellent à l’aide, pourtant même à Port-au-Prince ces soins manquent où ce matin trois personnes du troisième âge ont succombé à leurs blessures dans un centre d’hébergement qui en logeaient 78."

HAITI MEDICAl Emergency, Jamaican doctors on duty  1/17/2010 Jamaica Gleaner: "The Jamaican soldiers, camped next to the German contingent at the airport, up to yesterday were still in the process of making the area habitable as they dug in for what appears to be a long haul. Engineers most of them, the soldiers have been playing their part in the rescue effort even while setting up their base. "Bodies are rotting, eyes are falling out, skins are peeling, and yes, there are children out there," Lieutenant Kanien Smith said, explaining what they saw on the streets of Port-au-Prince. He said further that there had been a great deal of activity over the past days to clear the city centre, but things were moving slowly along the outskirts."

Caricom blocked from landing in Haiti  1/17/2010 Jamaica Observer: "On Friday afternoon, the US State Department confirmed signing two Memoranda of Understanding with the Government of Haiti that made "official that the United States is in charge of all inbound and outbound flights and aid offloading". Further, according to the agreements signed, US medical personnel "now have the authority to operate on Haitian citizens and otherwise render medical assistance without having to wait for licences from Haiti's Government". Prior to the US taking control of Haiti's airport, a batch of some 30 Cuban doctors had left Havana, following the earthquake, to join more than 300 of their colleagues who have been working there for more than a year."

Nobody is Coordinating the Aid - Report from Port-au-Prince  1/17/2010 Konbit Pou Ayiti: "I spent the first half of the day in the airport, full of airplanes and helicopters and dozens of journalists. One journalist who had worked in Iraq told me it was like another Green Zone. The military was taken over by the US military, which insists that planes are arriving as fast as possible, although countries such as Brazil, Russia and France have complained they haven't been able to land planes, as well as non governmental organizations."

Haiti: Coping with the aftermath  1/17/2010 LA Times: Many pics, including one of "looter" arrested for stealing milk…

“The International Community Must Let President Jean-Bertrand Aristide Return to Haiti”  1/17/2010 NarcoNews: "At the collapsed parliament building in downtown Port-Au-Prince, another bulldozer retrieved the bodies of politicians laying in the street. Supporters of Haiti’s most popular political party, Fanmi Lavalas, dragged the stiff and dripping body of a high-profile party organizer named Bob Moliere into a wheelbarrow. The bulldozer drove 200 yards to a grassy area on the sea and dumped his body in a four-foot-deep grave dug minutes earlier. Marianne Moliere, now a widow, looked out at the dipping sun with tears streaming down her face. “There is no life for me because Bob was everything to me. I lost everything. Everything is destroyed,” she said. “I’m sleeping in the street now because I’m homeless. But when I get some water, I share with others. Or if some one gives some spaghetti, I share with my family and others.”

Getting Help to Haiti  1/17/2010 NarcoNews: "What I Have Learned about Haiti from Authentic Journalist Reed Lindsay, and What We Can Do to Help at this Hour of Need"

Video Footage of Immediate Aftermath of Earthquake in Port au Prince, Haiti  1/17/2010 NarcoNews

Haiti in Ink and Tears: A Literary Sampler  1/17/2010 NYT: Haitian voices on the aftermath.

Chavez says U.S. occupying Haiti in name of aid  1/17/2010 Reuters: "Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez on Sunday accused the United States of using the earthquake in Haiti as a pretext to occupy the devastated Caribbean country and offered to send fuel from his OPEC nation."

The right testicle of hell: History of a Haitian holocaust - Blackwater before drinking water  1/17/2010 SF Bay View: by Greg Palast - "Gates wouldn’t send in food and water because, he said, there was no “structure … to provide security.” For Gates, appointed by Bush and allowed to hang around by Obama, it’s security first. That was his lesson from Hurricane Katrina. Blackwater before drinking water."

Why the U.S. owes Haiti billions: The briefest history  1/17/2010 SF Bay View: "Why does the U.S. owe Haiti billions? Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell stated his foreign policy view as the “Pottery Barn rule.” That is, “If you break it, you own it.” The U.S. has worked to break Haiti for over 200 years. We owe Haiti. Not charity. We owe Haiti as a matter of justice. Reparations. And not the $100 million promised by President Obama either – that is Powerball money. The U.S. owes Haiti Billions – with a big B."

CARICOM BLOCKED ...as US takes control of airport  1/17/2010 T&T Express: "THE CARIBBEAN Community’s emergency aid mission to Haiti, comprising Heads of Government and leading technical officials, failed to secure permission Friday to land at that devasted country’s aiport, now under the control of the United States. Consequently, the Caricom ’assessment mission’, that was to determine priority humanitarian needs resulting from the mind-boggling earthquake disaster of Haiti last Tuesday, had to travel back from Jamaica to their respective home destinations.. On Friday afternoon the US State Department confirmed signing two ’Memoranda of Understanding’ with the Government of Haiti that made ’official that the United Stateas is in charge of all inbound and outbound flights and aid off-loading...’"

Wyclef's Skipping Records - Star's charity repeatedly dissolved after failing to file reports  1/17/2010 The Smoking Gun: "As TSG reported yesterday, the Jean foundation's records delinquency extended to the filing of its tax returns--and could make a prospective donor question whether the organizationally challenged foundation is a wise choice for disaster relief contributions. In August 2009, the group filed overdue tax returns for 2005, 2006, and 2007, documents showing that Jean and fellow board member Jerry Duplessis paid themselves at least $410,000 for services provided to the foundation. Duplessis, a bass player who has toured with Jean, co-owns a New York City recording studio with the performer, as well as a Haiti-based production company."

Jacmel, Haiti: Ciné Institute videos of disaster  1/17/2010 Vimeo: Students posting videos here.

Patients overwhelm medical teams at Haiti clinics  1/17/2010 WaPo

Daniel Ortega: EEUU está aprovechando tragedia de Haití para instalarse en el Caribe  1/16/2010 Aporrea: ""No tiene ninguna lógica que tropas norteamericanas estén desembarcando en Haití. Si lo que Haití está pidiendo es ayuda humanitaria, no está pidiendo tropas. Sería una locura que todos empecemos a enviar tropas a Haití", advirtió el mandatario."

Caricom gets moving on Haiti  1/16/2010 Jamaica Observer: "A Caribbean Community (Caricom) team yesterday flew to Port-au-Prince to get a first-hand view of the devastation in the Haitian capital, as the regional body begins to formulate a relief plan to help the neighbouring territory ravished by Tuesday's massive earthquake. The team -- Caricom Chairman and Prime Minister of Dominica Roosevelt Skerritt, Barbados Prime Minister David Thompson, Secretary General Edwin Carrington, Archbishop of the West Indies Rev John Holder, and representatives of the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) -- was scheduled to meet with Haitian Government officials to finalise plans for the regional relief efforts."

No, Mister! You Cannot Share My Pain!  1/16/2010 Jamaica Observer: "The French demanded [in the early 19th century], essentially, that the Haitians pay France an amount equivalent to 90 per cent of the entire Haitian budget for the foreseeable future. When this commitment proved too arduous to honour, the City Bank offered the Haitians a 'debt exchange", paying off the French in exchange for a lower-interest, longer-term debt. The terms may have seemed better but were just as usurious and it was not paid off until 1947."

Alertan sobre capitalismo del desastre en Haití  1/16/2010 Jiribilla: “Debemos tener totalmente claro que esta tragedia —que es en parte natural y en parte no— no debe, bajo ninguna circunstancia, usarse para endeudar aún más a Haití o impulsar políticas corporativistas impopulares en favor de nuestras empresas, dijo Naomi Klein, según informa Democracy Now."

Course contre la mort dans le chaos de Port-au-Prince  1/16/2010 Le Monde: "Alice Anaya, une infirmière cubaine, ausculte doucement le petit Samaël, en état de choc. Elle nettoie ses paupières, collées par le plâtre et lui fait une injonction d'analgésique. "Il est déshydraté, un médecin viendra l'examiner", dit-elle avant de retourner prodiguer les premiers soins à une longue file de blessés. L'équipe cubaine est arrivée dès mardi soir, quelques heures après le séisme, et attend un chirurgien. Dans un bloc opératoire de fortune, sous une bâche, un médecin ampute un blessé. "Il nous manque des antibiotiques, du sérum pour hydrater les patients, des pansements, des seringues", énumère l'infirmière."

Updated on Coordinated Rapid Response  1/16/2010 Rightsbasedhaiti

Shades of Katrina: No help for Haitians who need it most  1/16/2010 SF Bay View: "According to CNN tonight (Jan. 15), “for security reasons,” the U.N. required all doctors and nurses to leave one small Port-au-Prince hospital, full of badly wounded Haitians, some today post-surgery. And CNN showed the doctors and nurses in trucks being driven away abandoning patients to … no care at all. No U.N. security left to guard the desperately ill or, better yet, guarding the hospital with doctors and nurses inside helping their patients. What in hell might have been the security threat that 3,000 (seemingly absent in helping dig buried people out) U.N. soldiers stationed in Port-au-Prince couldn’t handle? “Security” is the U.N. Haiti mandate, after all. Fear of poor Black people … so sadly reminiscent of the response to Katrina, and so lacking in actual evidence."

Singing and praying at night in Port-au-Prince  1/16/2010 SF Bay View: "A Haitian American journalism student told us he’d seen Haitian police and a few of the 9,000 members of MINUSTAH – the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti – directing traffic and picking up bodies in other areas of the city. But the only organized response the rest of us saw yesterday was what looked like a white MINUSTAH helicopter flying high above the city about an hour after the first shock, apparently surveying the damage. At about 4 o’clock this morning I saw a United Nations truck filled with soldiers on the street outside. They only stopped long enough for the singers to open a path for them. After that I saw no sign that there was a Haitian government or an “international peacekeeping force” – no police taking the injured to the few clinics still standing, no MINUSTAH soldiers arranging shelters for the people praying in the streets. Earlier in the night I was listening to the singing with a young Haitian American at the hotel. “Haitians are different,” he said. “People in other countries wouldn’t do this,” he said, referring to the singing. “It’s a sense of community.”"

The Haitian tragedy and mainstream media response  1/16/2010 SF Bay View: by Kiilu Nyasha - "I cannot remain silent in the face of so much racism and disinformation streaming over the mainstream media regarding the ongoing Haitian tragedy."

The media called: Earthquake victims still await help, I say  1/16/2010 SF Bay View: by Marguerite Laurent (Ezili Dantò) - "China, Venezuela, Cuba relief teams got there before the world’s richest country and number one superpower. The U.S., with a base next door to Haiti in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, got there two days later, mostly after everyone had died under the rubble baking in the hot tropical sun, trapped inside concrete and metal tombs that used to be homes, schools or businesses. On Thursday, Jan. 15, 2010, the U.S. military began landing in Haiti. It’s Saturday and they haven’t started any rescue. No. Survivors in the capital are still waiting for the basics: water, food, medicine. Up to 10,000 U.S. troops are expected in Haiti by next week. Soldiers kill, are not humanitarian rescuers, are not policemen. Obama sent Haiti military soldiers. The military is not about providing humanitarian relief. No. It’s about domination, conquest and submission. That’s what soldiers are trained to do. They took over the airport the day after they arrived. Privatized it. The Haitians manning the damaged control tower fought the privatization… When the U.S. military got to Haiti, all those Haitians who had WALKED from Cap Haitian in the North or up from the South, from all points they walked for hours under the hot sun to get to Port au Prince and to help their countrymen were also ignored, pushed aside like trash. But it was these Haitians and neighbors in Port au Prince who were less injured who RESCUED, gave EMERGENCY relief. The people who could be saved, got saved mostly by HAITIANS frantically using their bare hands to dig through the rubble, lift pulverized concrete in the immediate 48 hours after the earthquake. They worked in the dark on Tuesday night, all day Wednesday in areas that they believed people could be trapped. Did what they could to save themselves as they have been doing since 1503 when the white settlers’ “New World” began."

U.S. and Cuba should work together to help Haiti  1/15/2010 CNN: "Shortly after, in October 2005, the Reeves Brigade was dispatched to help provide much-needed medical relief after the devastating Kashmir earthquake that tore through the Himalayan mountain region along Pakistan and Kashmir. The United States and Europe each sent teams of doctors to Pakistan, each with one base camp deployed for a month. The Cubans deployed seven major base camps and 30 field hospitals in the fundamentalist Islamic region of Pakistan, a nation with which Cuba did not have diplomatic relations at the time. Today, the Cubans and Pakistanis have embassies in each other's capitals. Bruno Rodriguez, the new foreign minister of Cuba, who was then the deputy, headed the mission and lived in Pakistan's rugged mountains for that full year. The Cuban medical teams reportedly worked constructively and positively with personnel from the U.S. and Europe -- and this kind of collaboration, even if informal, could be the kind of confidence-building narrative to move U.S.-Cuba relations out of the gridlock they have been in for decades."

The Militarization of Emergency Aid to Haiti: Is it a Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?  1/15/2010 Global Research: "The main actors in America's "humanitarian operation" are the Department of Defense, the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). (See USAID Speeches: On-The-Record Briefing on the Situation in Haiti, 01/13/10). USAID has also been entrusted in channelling food aid to Haiti, which is distributed by the World Food Program. (See USAID Press Release: USAID to Provide Emergency Food Aid for Haiti Earthquake Victims, January 13, 2010) The military component of the US mission, however, tends to overshadow the civilian functions of rescuing a desperate and impoverished population. The overall humanitarian operation is not being led by civilian governmental agencies such as FEMA or USAID, but by the Pentagon."

Desolation and Death  1/15/2010 Granma: "Haitian Prime Minister Jean Max-Berllerive said that one of the reasons for the high number of fatalities caused by the January 12 earthquake is the serious degree of poverty, which forces many families to live in precarious housing and extremely crowded conditions."

Reflections of Fidel - The lesson of Haiti  1/15/2010 Granma: "In the field of healthcare and other areas, Cuba – despite being a poor and blockaded country – has been cooperating with the Haitian people for many years. Around 400 doctors and healthcare experts are offering their services free of charge to the Haitian people. Our doctors are working every day in 227 of the country’s 337 communes. On the other hand, at least 400 young Haitians have trained as doctors in our homeland. They will now work with the reinforcement brigade which traveled there yesterday to save lives in this critical situation. Thus, without any special effort being made, up to 1,000 doctors and healthcare experts can be mobilized, almost all of whom are already there willing to cooperate with any other state that wishes to save the lives of the Haitian people and rehabilitate the injured."

"War is a Racket": Citibank owned the Haitian Treasury & central bank 1910-1947  1/15/2010 Hannah Bell: "The story begins in 1910, when a U.S. State Department-National City Bank of New York (now called Citibank) consortium bought the Banque National d'Haïti--Haiti's only commercial bank and its national treasury--in effect transferring Haiti's debts to the Americans.(1) Five years later, President Woodrow Wilson ordered troops to occupy the country in order to keep tabs on "our" investment. 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.(2) 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. The U.S. kept control of Haiti's finances until 1947... Still--why should Haitians complain? Sure, we stole 40 percent of Haiti's national wealth for 32 years. But we let them keep 60 percent."

To Increase Help for Haiti, Obama Should Let U.S-Cuba Cooperation Take Flight  1/15/2010 Huffington Post: "According to Spanish press reports, this contingent is already providing emergency medical care across Haiti for patients that Cuban doctors had already been treating for many years. Immediately following the earthquake, these doctors opened up two make-shift clinics in their residences because local hospitals were destroyed. Cuban doctors then moved to reopen the "Social Security" hospital and started operating on the injured. A day ago, the Cubans reopened the national hospital and started to treat people. Their work could form the foundation for broad Cuban-U.S. cooperation. First, as U.S. AID and military teams roll into Haiti, the U.S. government should make it clear that our personnel should cooperate, coordinate, and work with the Cuban medical personnel in Haiti. They know Haiti, they've been providing health care in Haiti since 1998, and they have been running a highly effective medical response since the earthquake occurred."

Henry Reeve Cuban Medical Brigade Serving in Haiti  1/15/2010 Juventud Rebelde: "Despite repeated aftershocks following the 7.2 earthquake that shook Haiti on Tuesday, a 60-member relief team of Cuban healthcare professionals is already providing medical assistance in that country. The team is part of the Henry Reeve emergency medical brigade, a contingent of Cuban doctors specializing in disaster situations and epidemics created by Fidel Castro to bring professional assistance to peoples in need in any corner of the world. In a catastrophe report published by the Cubadebate website, Cuban radio correspondent Isidro Fardales reports that this group of specialists brings the total number of Cuban doctors working in Haiti to 300, many of whom were sent to Puerto Principe in the aftermath of the earthquake."

‘We should be there, in Haiti’: Statement by Dr. Jean-Bertand Aristide  1/15/2010 SF Bay View: "Dr. Aristide is Haiti’s first democratically elected president and remains the beloved and preferred leader of the vast majority of Haitian people. He was kidnapped and forced into exile by the U.S. military on Feb. 29, 2004, and has been living in South Africa with his wife and two young daughters. This statement was previously posted at HaitiAnalysis.com. Watch Dr. Aristide deliver it on Democracy Now!"

Too little too late for Haiti? Six sobering points  1/15/2010 SF Bay View

Wyclef's Skipping Records - Star's charity repeatedly dissolved after failing to file reports  1/15/2010 The Smoking Gun: "Musician Wyclef Jean's charitable foundation--now the recipient of many donations big and small in the wake of the Haiti earthquake--has repeatedly had its corporate status dissolved for failing to file required state disclosure reports, records show. As seen below, the Florida Division of Corporations has, on four separate occasions over the past five years, sanctioned the Yele Haiti Foundation (the charity was incorporated in Florida in 1998 as the Wyclef Jean Foundation, but formally changed its name two months ago)."

U.S. troops in Haiti to prevent Aristide's return  1/15/2010 Wayne Madsen Report

Ten Things the US Can and Should Do for Haiti  1/14/2010 Black Agenda Report: "Do not allow US military in Haiti to point their guns at Haitians. Hungry Haitians are not the enemy. Decisions have already been made which will militarize the humanitarian relief – but do not allow the victims to be cast as criminals. Do not demonize the people."

The Incapacitation of Haiti: Before and After the Quake  1/14/2010 CounterPunch: "While everyone should support the current outpouring of aid to help Haiti, no one should do so with political blinders on. As Engler said: Aid in Haiti has always been used to further imperial interests. This is obvious when you look at how the U.S. and Canada treated the Aristide government in contrast to the coup regime. The U.S. and Canada starved Aristide of almost all aid. But then after the coup, they opened a floodgate of money to back some of the most reactionary forces in Haitian society. We should therefore agitate against any attempt by the U.S. and other powers to use this crisis to further impose their program on a prostrate country. We should also be wary of the role of international NGOs. While many NGOs are trying to address the crisis, the U.S. and other governments are funneling aid to them in order to undermine Haitians' democratic right to self-determination. The international NGOs are unaccountable to either the Haitian state or Haitian population. So the aid funneled through them further weakens what little hold Haitians have on their own society."

Cuba increases aid to Haiti  1/14/2010 Granma: "He said they had been able to confirm the status of all those working "within the city of Port-au-Prince. Only two of them received very slight injuries, and the others have confirmed that they are all right." "We are verifying the situation and gathering complete information about cooperative workers in other parts of the country. We have been able to locate the majority of them and they are fine," he assured. The minister added that victims have been receiving medical attention from the Cuban brigade since the earthquake struck. He noted that "they are now working in two campaign hospitals in our medical personnel’s accommodation facilities." He said that plans are underway to more emergency aid to the sister Caribbean nation, consisting of "a quantity of medicine and heath materials. An additional number of doctors are to travel there.""

Haiti's plight can bind US and Cuba  1/14/2010 Guardian, UK: "Moving beyond the cold war stasis in US-Cuba relations is a priority of Barack Obama's administration, and the devastation in Haiti provides a platform to provide relief for a desperate nearby nation and build collaboration between Cuba and the US. Many great American voices from Brent Scowcroft and George Shultz to Jackson Browne and Bill Richardson have argued that the US-Cuba embargo makes no sense as foreign policy, that the right of Americans to travel anywhere in the world should not be suspended in the case of Cuba, that Cuba's exports of doctors rather than arms should be more than enough reason to strike Cuba off America's watch list of state sponsors of terror."

WHAT CAN YOU DO: Conscious Disaster relief with human rights and dignity  1/14/2010 Marguerite Laurent

Haiti's earthquake in the context of decades of forced poverty  1/14/2010 Norman Girvan: "One possible bright side to this disaster, as we saw after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake, might be that civil society, in the face of government inability to respond to such a major disaster in the first few days, can come through and realize that communities are able to organize themselves, without the help (or interference) of a corrupt or inept government and the international institutions that support it. In Mexico, this set the stage for a flowering of community, neighbourhood, regional and national organizations which eventually played a major role in the overthrow of a 70 year old institutionalized governing party."

Henry Reeve Cuban Medical Brigade in Haiti  1/14/2010 PL: "The medical brigade, which has experience in China, Pakistan, Guatemala, Indonesia and Bolivia, joined the rest of the health staff that was located there, which is helping citizens since the beginning of the tragedy. Cuban authorities sent medicines, saline solutions and blood serum, food and provisions as part of the solidarity aid."

Haiti: A Moment of Reckoning  1/13/2010 AfroCubaWeb: by Alberto Jones

Haiti Devastated by Largest Earthquake in 200 Years, Thousands Feared Dead  1/13/2010 Democracy Now

Allow Aristide to return to Haiti now  1/13/2010 Haiti Action

An Urgent Appeal from the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund  1/13/2010 Haiti Action: "Since its inception in March 2004, the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund has given concrete aid to Haiti’s grassroots democratic movement as they attempted to survive the brutal coup and to rebuild shattered development projects. We urge you to contribute generously, not only for this immediate crisis, but in order to support the long-run development of human rights, sustainable agriculture and economic justice in Haiti."

Robertson's "true story": Haiti "swore a pact to the devil" to get "free from the French" and "ever since, they have been cursed"  1/13/2010 Media Matters

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Haïti in the News Archive: 2010

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Haïti in the News
Archive: 2010