Today I’m chatting about Haiti. To understand why many people are concerned about the USA sending thousands of marines into Haiti after the recent earthquake, you have to understand the history between these two countries. Of course, you won’t hear much of this in the mainstream media, as they tend to have amnesia. However a little research shows that America has had its corporate paws all over Haiti for a century and the Haitian people have suffered as a result.
No Illusions Podcast #05 – Haiti, Part One
by cameron | Jan 26, 2010 | geopolitics, Podcast | 4 comments
4 Comments
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Hi, Cameron-
You’re a cynic.
The US doesn’t care much about Haiti- stability is everything, and stability there has been increasing. The really sad part is that Aristide turned out to be as much of a charlatan as the rest of the rulers of Haiti. Less violent, but still ineffective. Haiti’s problems are largely of its own manufacture, with dollops from France and the US thrown in.
On the other hand, you left out the part about the Bush coup in 2004, which expelled Aristide finally. I don’t know chapter and verse on it, but one would guess the same old idiotic machinations in search of (friendly?) stability.
http://www.haitianalysis.com/international-relations/the-haitian-coup-an-unresolved-injustice-after-five-years
http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/186/34461.html
http://www.politicalaffairs.net/article/articleview/3509/1/187/
-Burk
Burk, you might be right about me being a cynic! I wonder what America’s definition of “stability” is? Not sure about Aristide being a charlatan. He’s obviously the target of a US disinformation campaign and when that happens, it’s hard to get to the truth.
“1% of the US controls 99% of the wealth.”
Extreme exaggeration. Obviously in terms of consumption, that figure is inaccurate, and if you want to say that this is somehow manifested by remote control, then the fact of the matter is that in any dictatorship 1 man controls everything and hence communist dictatorships, inc Castro’s, aren’t any better on that accord.
The correct thing to look at is consumption, which largely vindicates Cuba, and not ownership/control.
There is massive disparity in the US, and it is worsening, but it is not as bad as you say.
Don’t be loose with the facts; I realize you may not have meant to be literal but that sort of thing closes people’s minds to you.
Anyways, given that Obama and Clinton fully support the present Haitian government, it doesn’t look as though any sort of regime change is in the works as of yet.
The alleged catalyst for the US troop deployment seems rational enough: Haiti is presently incapable of maintaining law and order on its own accord so we have to do that for them, in part so that supplies can be distributed fairly instead of being looted by the best connected and most able-bodied. Personally, I trust Obama, because the most consistently fitting explanation for his actions throughout his career is that he is a well-meaning technocrat, and hence I am not suspicious of our present doings in Haiti.
Good point, William, thanks for picking me up on that stat and forcing me to look it up. According to this site, the top 1% controls 42.7% of the financial wealth. It’s not 99% and I was obviously just making a point, but it’s useful to know the correct data.