Archive for the ‘Haiti’ Category
The Truth about Haiti
The devastating 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti on January 13, has produced nonstop coverage of this tiny impoverished nation. However, many of the pundits who have been presented to the public as experts on the poorest country in our hemisphere have shown their ignorance.
Since 1990, Haiti has received more than $6 billion dollars in aide, $3 billion from the U.S. alone. Add to that another $1 ½ billion it has borrowed from international sources (the debt has now been forgiven). Some said that is tantamount to pouring money down a rat hole.
How is it that this poor country that is within spiting distance from our shores is still unable to help itself?
Is Haiti a lost cause? Hardly. Read the rest of this entry »
Supporting Democracy — Only when it suits Us
The U.S. has gone halfway around the world to spread democracy. Too bad, we don’t practice what we preach a little closer to home.
It is unconscionable that freedom loving Americans could be standing toe to toe with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and Cuba’s Castro brothers in the effort to undermine the people of Honduras as they fight to keep their country free.
It is incredulous that we are insisting that this poor country reinstate Manuel Zelaya, who was forcibly removed from power on June 29, after he attempted to subvert the constitution and hold a referendum to make himself president for life. Read the rest of this entry »
Haitian Hat Trick
Twice, we have propped up Jean Bertrand Aristide as the leader of Haiti. What did this accomplish? We reduced one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere to one of the poorest countries on earth. Now the country is in chaos.
The question is: are we going to make the same mistake thrice?
The answer appears to be, “yes!” Read the rest of this entry »
Re-evaluating Clinton’s Haiti
When ticking off his foreign policy accomplishments, President Clinton always has listed “restored democracy to Haiti,” at or near the top. However, in this year’s State of the Union address, which was his longest ever, he failed to mention Haiti for the very first time since he invaded that tiny country on Sept. 19, 1994, to force defrocked priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide back on his people. Was it an oversight? Read the rest of this entry »
The Death of Democracy in Haiti
It’s official! Democracy is dead in Haiti. It had been on life support for the last 21 months but President Renee Preval officially pulled the plug shortly after 11:00 p.m. on Monday January 11 by following through with his threat to dissolved parliament, setting up what should be a confrontation with the United States and the international community. Read the rest of this entry »
