Riding The Paper Tiger
by pessimist
The foreign policy of King George is an abject failure. Every nation he meddles with turns to uproar and chaos. The list grows longer with the passage of time: Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, ...
You forgot about Haiti, didn't you?
U.S. TOPPLES THE VERY MAN THEY FOUGHT TO REINSTATE ONLY 10 YEARS AGO
When U.S. president Bill Clinton sent 20,000 American troops into Haiti to restore Aristide to the presidency in 1994, there was widespread support for a mission aimed at restoring democracy and relieving the misery of the Haitian people. It also seemed to herald a new day in the post-Cold War world, when American invasions were not automatically synonymous with supporting some Latin American caudillo or Southeast Asian despot.Seven weeks after the invasion of Haiti, the Republicans took control of Congress and systematically dismantled aid to the impoverished country. The aid was never very substantial. Per capita, the U.S. was giving Haiti one-fifth what it was spending in Bosnia, and one-tenth what it was distributing in Kosovo. These cuts meant there was no effort to rebuild roads, ports, airports or infrastructure. After 1996, U.S. aid to Haiti was the same as it had given the dictatorship that deposed Aristide. Aid did flow, but not to Aristide. Instead, U.S. organizations like the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) funnelled hundreds of thousands of dollars to the opposition.
When Aristide's opposition cried foul over eight contested seats in the 2000 election, the U.S. froze the final $500 million in aid.
Whether through enmity or in difference, U.S. fingerprints are all over the overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
The departure of the country's duly elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was the sad result of the threat of massive political violence by feared former members of Haiti's security forces and intense U.S. pressure. There is certainly reason to suspect the two men in charge of diplomacy in the region. Otto Reich, U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), played an important role in the coup attempt against Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, and U.S. assistant secretary of state Robert Noriega has been a long-time critic of Aristide. Shortly after the recent demonstrations and attacks on Aristide began, the U.S. State Department made it clear it would do nothing to impede his overthrow.
Louis-Jodel Chamblain, one of the principal leaders of the armed opposition, is a former death-squad leader and one of the founders of the brutal Front for the Advancement of Progress in Haiti (FRAPH) that killed thousands of people in the 90s. The shady history of people like Chamblain and André Apaid of Group 184 has human rights groups deeply worried and has generated some anger in Washington.If one could turn back the clock and transform the 20,000 U.S. troops into a UN peacekeeping force working from the beginning in close conjunction with the OAS and the Caribbean Community (Caricom), the outcome might have been different.
For the Bush administration, international organizations – particularly the UN – are the Antichrist. It is interesting to note, however, that obituaries about the UN's imminent demise fall off in direct relationship to the number of American casualties and roadside bombs in Iraq.
There are some who dismiss the OAS, and even the UN, as little more than cat's-paws for U.S. policy, and certainly both organizations have served as its handmaidens in the past. But both have independent streaks that appear to be strengthening. In any case, they are the only game in town.
Haiti happens to be one of the poorest nations on Earth. According to the CIA Factbook, Haiti's GDP was only $10.6 billion(2002 est.), barely rising to $12.3 billion (2004 est.). Walmart's gross income for 2004 was more than $256 billion, so invading Haiti has nothing to do with its national treasure.
What is it that would attract Bu$hCo interest in Haiti?
The fact that is is so impoverished.
Haiti could become a vacation paradise catering to the Topper$ if it could be calmed and 'civilized' to their satisfaction But with a per capita annual income of about US$1600/year, that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Besides, other things would have to happen before resort developers would even begin to be interested. This article opens the door to that particular situation:
EU to release 90 million dollars for Haiti development
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): The European Union will release 90 million dollars over three years to help Haiti's government boost the impoverished Caribbean country's economy, the EU said Thursday. The money will finance repairs of public buildings, rural infrastructures and roads, the EU statement said. The European Commission, which plans to disburse 368 million dollars for Haiti's reconstruction, has already released 63 million dollars.
Let me add a little spice to this simmering broth: a hint of Halliburton, a bit of Bechtel, a scosh of Kellog, Brown, and Root...
VOILA!
Corporate profits to be 'earned'!
While not specifically naming names of such Bu$hCo contributors, Jesse Jackson's views on the situation in Haiti aren't too far away:
Jesse Jackson: Bush Coup Sends a Chilling Message -- Bush Protects Corporations, Not Democracies
Originaly published on March 2, 2004 by the Chicago Sun Times.
President Bush dispatched Marines to Haiti to secure order -- after his administration forced the elected leader of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- into exile. Now the administration will determine who gets to run Haiti.So much for all that talk about democracy.
Aristide was a huge disappointment to his followers. He made, as the leaders of the State Department say, 'many mistakes'. He could never curb the violence of either his followers or his enemies. And he presided over an administration that grew more intolerant and corrupt. Mostly he failed to find a way to reconcile the greed of the Haitian elite with the needs of the vast majority of impoverished Haitian people.
But he was the choice of the Haitian people.
For the Bush administration it was clear: The Haitian voters had put their faith in and cast their votes for the wrong man, so he had to go. Bush then ridiculously announced that the 'Haitian constitution is working' -- as if words could turn night into day.
The U.S. government never liked Aristide. The neocons loathed him as a messianic dreamer who believed in redistribution of wealth. The CIA's covert operators viewed him as an ideological adversary. The Haitian elites enlisted lobbyists from both parties to undermine him. The Haitian military, which he disbanded, despised him.
So when the Haitian 'opposition', led by that same elite, fed the thugs, former death squad killers, gun-runners and drug dealers who formed the armed rebellion against Aristide, the United States did nothing. A democratically elected leader was toppled with the aid of the U.S. administration. This coup sends a chilling message to leaders across the world. Turns out all that rhetoric about supporting democracy as a centerpiece of U.S. policy is just words, not policy.
As we learned in Florida four years ago, Bush is all for elections, but only if they come out the right way. This administration values governments that protect private investment and stability for U.S. multinationals. Stable dictatorships are preferred to unstable democracies. So it runs up massive trade deficits and maintains cordial relations with the repressive, communist dictatorship of China, while it topples the elected president of Haiti.
But Haiti isn't the holder of the second-largest portfolio of US Federal Debt!
Speaking of China, ...
China to send a third riot squad to Haiti on UN mission
China will dispatch a third squad of riot police to crisis-wracked Haiti this year on a United Nations' peacekeeping mission, state media reported Tuesday. The 125-strong team would leave in December on an eight-month deployment, arriving after general elections scheduled for October 9, Xinhua news agency said, citing the Shandong Public Security Department.China has so far contributed 138 police officers -- 125 men and 13 women -- to the UN stabilization force that has been in Haiti for 11 months after former president Jean Bertrand Aristide fled amid an armed uprising. Despite the presence of the 6,000-strong UN force, Haiti has seen a sharp increase in violence and kidnappings in recent months.
It's getting bad when Bu$hCo has to perform a strategic withdrawal!
U.S. Orders Families of Embassy Staff to Leave
The State Department ordered the families of U.S. Embassy staff and some nonessential embassy workers to leave Haiti because of recent violence in the Caribbean nation's capital. The order was issued after an unidentified man fired gunshots at an embassy van in Port-au-Prince on Wednesday and amid ongoing violence in the poor nation.
Haiti Violence Spurs U.S. to Evacuate Embassy Workers, Families
A surge in carjackings, kidnappings and gang roadblocks prompted the U.S. Embassy in Haiti today to evacuate all non-emergency workers and family members. U.S. citizens were advised to defer travel to the Caribbean nation and depart Haiti 'if they can do so safely,' in a statement on the State Department's Web site. The travel warning noted the lack of an effective police force.Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, has depended on United Nations, U.S. and foreign troops for security since President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced from power during a February 2004 rebellion. The former French colony has a history of political instability since declaring independence in 1804 after a revolt by a half-million black slaves.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a May 20 report that security in Haiti is 'fragile' and periods before and after elections have been 'historically volatile.' He asked the Security Council for an extra 750 soldiers and 125 police to aid the UN peacekeeping mission. The world body has 7,413 troops and police in Haiti already.
U.S. orders some embassy staff out of Haiti
U.N. peacekeepers were deployed last summer to try to stabilize Haiti after its elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was driven out in February 2004 during an armed revolt. But the Caribbean nation is still shaken by political and gang violence that has killed nearly 700 people since September. The U.N. mission, known as MINUSTAH, is struggling to quell the violence before November elections to replace the U.S.-backed interim government.The United States expects the United Nations to gear up to counter the armed gangs and criminal activity in the capital.
That's a good one, George! Go in somewhere, bungle the operation, then leave the mess for someone else to clean up! That's been the basic track record of your (mi$)Admini$tration since you stole into Washington!
Kabul, Baghdad, Port-au-Prince - they are all major problems for everyone within their borders. All brought to chaos through your ineptitude:
U.S. issues travel warning to Haiti
The U.S. State Department issued a travel warning asking all U.S. citizens to leave Haiti, including all nonemergency embassy employees and family members. The agency also urged all U.S. citizens to leave Haiti, reminding them that there is 'a potential for spontaneous demonstrations and violent confrontations between armed groups.'Battling, armed gangs have turned parts of Port-au-Prince, the capital, into a war zone, and in recent months a rash of kidnappings has swept the country.
The new travel warning and order to leave the country comes as the Haitian National Police and a U.N. Stabilization Mission in Haiti, known by the acronym MINUSTAH, struggle to help Haiti combat its No. 1 problem: lack of security. Haiti's interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said his government is making progress in curbing the violence and rash of kidnappings. "Things are moving," Latortue said in a telephone interview with The Herald. "MINUSTAH and the Haitian National Police are doing everything to reduce violence. I do regret the timing of this note."
Dangers In The Night
The State Department also warned staff members and their families to remain in their homes between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., and said downtown Port-au-Prince was off-limits after dark. "The problem is localized, but it hampers the embassy's ability to provide logistical service and a safe working environment for embassy employees, said State Department spokeswoman Nancy Beck. "There is an increase in violent crime near certain U.S. facilities in Port-au-Prince and that is affecting embassy employees."On Wednesday, the violence hit home for embassy employees when an unknown number of assailants fired five rounds of bullets at an embassy van as it traveled between embassy buildings at 5:30 a.m. in downtown Port-au-Prince. None of the three employees was injured.
Still, the incident was a stark reminder to foreigners and Haitians of how dangerous Haiti's streets remain, just five months before the country is scheduled to hold elections to replace the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was ousted last year.
Despite all of the problems Aristide had while still in power in Haiti, there were no credible reports coming out like this one:
Haiti: Rights abuses worse says Human Rights Watch
Haiti's human rights conditions are worsening despite efforts by U.N. peacekeepers, watchdog group Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported Tuesday. Armed rebels -- mostly former military members -- took over much of the nation last year, prompting then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to leave the country. But, despite the troops' presence, HRW says former members of the military "commit rampant abuses, including kidnappings, illegal detentions, and extortion."The United Nations is expected to extend the mandate of the 7,500 troops and international police officers in Haiti for at least another year. The force -- led by Brazil -- has been in the Caribbean nation for almost a year. The international organization commended the job peacekeepers were doing in Haiti and urged the U.N. Security Council to ensure the mission is upholding human rights.
There are some questions as to whether or not the UN peacekeepers are really doing the job:
U.N. Covers for Haiti's Killer Cops, Threaten American Journalist
[Photos at this site are a must see, but be aware that some are gruesome - ed]
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Haiti's capital May 18 to demand the return of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and freedom for political prisoners. The U.N. provided security for the march but allowed SWAT units of the Haitian police to enter the otherwise peaceful demonstration with automatic weapons drawn.These same units of the Haitian police have been responsible for human rights violations in the past that include killing unarmed demonstrators on Feb. 28 and April 27. To date, not a single officer of the Haitian police has received a reprimand or been charged with a crime in these high profile murders. This has led to charges the U.N. is helping to cover-up the killings and is providing unqualified support to a police force that is seen by many as widely corrupt and out of control.
Following the march, the Haitian police attacked demonstrators returning to Cite Soleil. According to witnesses, Sanel Joseph was shot and killed by the Haitian police for no apparent reason as he returned home from the demonstration. No U.N. security presence or U.N. police monitors were present as the police opened fire.
At about 8 p.m., SWAT units entered the Petion-Ville market place and began shooting indiscriminately and were seen dragging a taxi driver out of his car and placing a gun to his head. A nearby restaurant owner lamented,
Just like King George!
There is more:
Calls mount for investigation into rights abuses by Haiti's police
Amid mounting evidence of a police force spinning out of control, U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan recently stated, "There is an urgent demand for justice in Haiti. I appeal to the transitional government to set the example by promptly initiating an investigation into those human rights violations allegedly committed by national police officers." The U.S.-installed government is ignoring this appeal, like so many before it, as it whips up a new hysteria to justify the abuses of the police.The Haitian police fired on a peaceful demonstration by supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the capital on Feb. 28. This prompted Brazilian Lt. Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro to speak out. According to the Associated Press (AP) Ribero said on March 1, "police killings had poisoned an atmosphere that peacekeepers had been working to improve for two months." Ribero continued, "But police went there and killed six people on Friday ... now we're being received with a completely different attitude."
After the police killings of Feb. 28, the U.N. bars the Haitian police from security duties during demonstrations the following week. This exclusion is short-lived as interim Justice Minister Bernard Gousse claims that the limits placed on the police by the U.N. are illegal and usurp the rights of the Haitian state.
Refugees International (RI) released a statement entitled, "Haiti: UN Civilian Police Require Executive Authority."
"Haitians see peacekeepers standing by while bodies litter the street, and question what MINUSTAH is doing to help them."
An Insider's View
The problems of reigning in the abuses of the Haitian police are apparently a source of frustration for some members of the U.N. Civilian Police or CIVPOL. HIP received the following response to an article published May 8 entitled, "U.N. accommodates human rights abuses by police in Haiti." The author asked to remain anonymous fearing reprisal and dismissal:"I am one of the U.N. CIVPOL here on the ground in Haiti. As a group we are frustrated by the UN's and CIVPOL's unwillingness to interpret their mandate aggressively."
According to sources close to the mission, a major obstacle to holding the Haitian police accountable is the U.S.-installed interim government and the high command of the HNP. Another frustration among some officers in CIVPOL is the lack of command authority in their mandate to supervise daily operations to implement an efficient institutional reinforcement program within the HNP. There is also increasing concern by some in CIVPOL over the vetting process for the enrollment of cadets into the police academy. A large number of former members of Haiti's military have been inducted into the force without apparently meeting basic psychological and physical standards required by most professional police forces.
Gee! Just like in Iraq!
But I digress!
CIVPOL: Complicity by default
The purported lack of command authority of the U.N. over the HNP has brought about charges of complicity in the abuses they have committed. Just as the U.N. military forces have been accused of standing by and allowing the HNP to kill unarmed demonstrators, reports have surfaced of CIVPOL members standing by as the HNP tortured and murdered political opponents. These reports do not only concern supporters of Aristide's Lavalas movement, but also members of the former military who challenged the current U.S.-installed regime.
Being a US-installed regime is causing problems outside of Haiti's borders as well as within:
Caribbean foreign ministers to hold talks on Haiti, UN Security Council
Guyana: Caribbean Community foreign ministers will meet in the Bahamas next week for talks on Haiti and the U.N. Security Council, an official said Wednesday. The 15-member Caribbean Community suspended its newest member, Haiti, after an uprising led by demobilized soldiers ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004.
Not all of the members of the Caribbean Community were willing to go along - at first:
Barbados Prime Minister pressed not to engage with Haiti
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Prime Minister Owen Arthur is being pressed to retract immediately the Barbados government’s policy to engage fully with the Gerard Latortue regime in Haiti.President of the Clement Payne Movement, David Commissiong, says his organisation is also pushing for Mr. Arthur publicly to insist on the unconditional release of former Haitian Prime Minister, Yvon Neptune as well as all other political prisoners.
In an open letter to the Prime Minister dated May 20th and which was sent after a ‘Solidarity with Haiti Rally’ held on that day, Mr. Commissiong said the movement is concerned that the Barbados government’s policy of fully engaging with the Latortue regime has given comfort and confidence to “human rights abusers who now occupy the corridors of power in Haiti”.
Mr. Commissiong says it’s time for Barbados to take a stand and for Prime Minister Arthur to make every effort to save the life of Mr. Neptune. “We also call upon you to publicly insist upon the unconditional release of Mr. Neptune and all other political prisoners and the end to state-sponsored human rights abuses in Haiti, before there can be any consideration of full engagement,” he added.
Here's how one of the locals explains the situation [italics mine]:
Barbados' Shameless Path Regarding Haiti
Barbados
May 25 2005
Press Release - Council On Hemispheric Affairs
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate, Philip Morrow
On several occasions, Barbados has expressed a willingness to work with the interim Latortue government of Haiti and on May 22, it was reported that Prime Minister Owen Arthur planned to “engage” Haiti. Arthur’s initiative, without question an attempt to curry favor with Washington, is shortsighted and ill advised.Not surprisingly, Arthur has always been considered one of the weaker links regarding upholding a democratic script when it came to the Caribbean Community’s relations with the U.S.-imposed rump government of interim-Prime Minister Gérard Latortue.
In addition to lending support to an illegitimate and grossly incompetent Haitian government that has shown little consideration for the constitutionally-mandated right of due process for its own citizens, Arthur’s decision to move closer to Latortue undermines the efforts of the Caribbean Community to promote democracy in its region and carries on a long tradition, save for Prime Minister Erskine Lloyd Sandiford (1987-1994), in which Barbados’ leaders have served as bucket carriers for U.S. policy makers.
This attitude of assuming a bent knee in regards to Washington dates back to 1983 when the Tom Adams government cooperated with the controversial U.S. invasion of Grenada by closing down Grenada’s airport so U.S. students, attending Grenada’s St. George’s Medical School, would be unable to escape the island, thus justifying the invasion by U.S. forces, using the stranded medical students as a pretense.
While the overwhelming majority of CARICOM’s member states support the isolation of Haiti until the holding of free and fair elections, Barbados has indicated its willingness to neglect its commitment to democracy and overlook the plight of the Haitian people so long as sufficient incentives, such as improved benefits from the U.S., are furnished.
If Caribbean states break rank when the first hint of an opportunity to score points with Washington or Brussels is at hand, then CARICOM faces an uphill struggle to establish itself as an effective, relevant, self-respecting regional organization with a keen sense of its own sovereignty.
As for Arthur, to quote Franklin Delano Roosevelt on Mussolini’s attack on France in 1940, “the hand that holds the dagger has struck it into the back of its neighbor.” At the very least, Arthur owes an apology to his Caribbean neighbors.
And what of CARICOM? Some - including this reporter from St. Kitts and Nevis, feel the neglect:
Three news items about Haiti this week emphasize the fact that the Haitian situation is worsening rapidly. But while this happens and CARICOM continues to express concern, on our home front we are deporting Haitians that have fled the horror of their intolerable existence.The news items give the following details:
* UN SAYS FORMER HAITIAN PM JAILED ILLEGALLY
A top UN official in Haiti yesterday denounced the detention of former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune as illegal and the Organization of American States offered to help end what it called a standoff with serious moral implications. Neptune (58) has been jailed for more than 10 months without appearing before a judge and began a hunger strike on April 17 that has left him dangerously weak. Haiti's constitution requires a hearing before a judge within 48 hours of arrest.
* HAITI MURDER VERDICTS 'QUASHED'
Thirty-eight former Haitian military leaders found guilty in 2000 of murder and torture have had their convictions overturned, according to reports. They were found guilty of mass killings during an attack on supporters of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the shanty town of Raboteau in 1994. Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue said the decision, if confirmed, showed the independence of the courts. But Aristide supporters were outraged, calling it a "partisan" decision.
* STUDENT DEMONSTRATORS SHOT BY U.S./UN TROOPS IN HAITI
In an ironic turn too late to help thousands dead since the military overthrow of President Aristide, some of the students in Haiti, who had once stood with the Coup d'etat contingent, took to the streets today asking for a stop to the killings, arrests and oppression; the resignation of the U.S.-backed Latortue government; and, yelling "Aba Charles Baker" - down with Charles Baker and group 184. Reports coming in are that MINUSTAH opened fire on the unarmed students. No confirmation of whether anyone was killed yet. However, many were wounded and rounded up and arrested as is the norm with the foreigners in Haiti
On May 5, a press release issued from Jamaica Prime Minister Patterson stated “CARICOM CONTINUES TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE PEOPLE OF HAITI.“
But it seems that this is being done mainly by “expressions of concern”. But these ‘expressions of concern’ do not appear to be helping the Haitian people and CARICOM’s position appears to be that their hands are tied. According to P.M Patterson, “To this end an assistance programme has already been drawn up by the CARICOM Task Force on Haiti and is ready for implementation as soon as the security situation normalizes. Until that time comes, Haiti, it seems that CARICOM can only say “We’re SORRY” and insist that you stay there and fight to death for they cannot accommodate you here when you flee the terror and land on their shores “illegally”.
HAITI, WE’RE SORRY!
Dear Mother Earth.
Please excuse CARICOM from having to pay any attention to the situation in Haiti. They were too busy worrying about the unrest in Belize which affected a US corporation:
CARICOM STATEMENT ON BELIZE (CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana)The Bureau of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, having been seized of ongoing events in Belize, expresses its deep concern over the situation in that Member State. The Bureau is alarmed at the reports of violence, looting and deliberate acts of sabotage, which have affected the personal security of the people of Belize and have had a negative impact on its economy.
The Bureau wishes to call on all Belizeans at this time, to respect the rule of Law, to abide by the Constitution of Belize and to engage in a process of dialogue in order to resolve in the national interest, such outstanding issues as confront the nation.
The Bureau also reminds all Belizeans of the need to adhere to the principles enshrined in the Charter of Civil Society of the Caribbean Community and in the Inter-American Democratic Charter, both of which endorse their right to the free expression of their political beliefs, in a peaceful manner.
The Bureau, on behalf of the entire Community, will continue to follow closely, developments in Belize, and stands ready to assist the people of Belize at this time.
Runaldo R. Venetiaan
PRESIDENT OF SURINAME AND
CHAIRMAN OF THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
What's going on in Belize?
The Belizian government took control of a US-held telecom company. The reason? Bu$hCo-style graft, corruption, and broken promises!
The latest protests came about after Belize Telecommunications Limited’s 15-year monopoly expired and the government of Belize claimed to open telephone and internet service to competition. The former major shareholder in BTL, Lord Michael Aschroft, a billionaire British conservative, wanted to have it all for another 15 years.But the government made a backroom deal with Jeffrey Prosser and his Innovative Communications Company. ICC is the owner of the telecommunications system in the U.S. Virgin Islands that is said to have made a fortune in questionable ways. Prosser promised to purchase BTL if the government would pass a few laws giving him a virtual monopoly.
Prosser failed to pay the money, and the government was left holding a note, accumulating interest daily. So Prosser’s ICC was ousted from the BTL board, the administration charging that because he didn’t pay up, he did not own the shares.
But Prosser did not go quietly. He went to federal court in Miami to get back his seats on the board of BTL. When the judge levied a contempt citation on the government of Belize in the amount of US$50,000 per day – “to get the prime minister’s attention” – news of all the backroom deals came to light.
[From the federal court link]
Attorney Barry Davidson said there are "serious diplomatic and Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act issues in regard to imposing a contempt fine on a foreign government." In addition, he said, the ruling is at odds with decisions by the Supreme Court of Belize. "Essentially, [U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro-Benages] is holding the Belizean government in contempt for acting in a manner consistent with its high court's own rulings," he said.
Where will Bu$hCo find some Christian-sponsored Boy Scouts to draft for the invasion of Belize? Someone will have to go there to arrest the government like Poppy Bu$h did to Panama in order to arrest Manuel Norriega, but all of the National Guard and the Reserves are already assigned elsewhere!
But I digress.
The BTL workers - living with poor working conditions and low wages - weren't too happy with the news that their government was on the take with one of the few assets Belize has:
Belize prime minister gets certificate of corruption
When last in office over five years earlier, the PUP had privatized the electric and telecommunications authorities. Since taking office this time, they have privatized the water authority, the port authority, the government printing office and the airport and contracted out the management of the prison.We do know that foreign companies now own our utilities – electricity by Canadians, water by British and South Africans. And many government ministers, their relatives and friends appear to be doing quite well. Though premium gas costs around US$5, they are running around in brand new SUVs.
In late January, when there seemed to be little left to sell and loans were coming due, the PUP passed a bill to hike taxes. They cut subsidies to schools and further delayed wage increases for public employees and teachers that had already been negotiated.
The people, with an alliance of unions and the chamber of commerce, went out on strike, closing schools and carrying on “slowdown” actions for over a week. Had the government collected the money from some of their “sacred cows,” the deficits would have been much decreased. But that didn’t happen.
The government claimed Belizeans could purchase BTL shares, and the BTL workers came forward with a proposal to do just that. So did others, including Lord Ashcroft – with his Carlisle Group and E-com. Ashcroft came up with funds to buy 25 percent of BTL shares. The government, while holding the money for the shares in one hand, “forgave” the $12-$15 million in back taxes that Ashcroft holdings owed. And Ashcroft promised to suspend proceedings in a London court over other BTL disputes.
The government claimed it had set aside 37 percent of the shares for the BTL workers. But with Prosser contesting 51 percent, Ashcroft owning 25 percent and the workers being promised 37 percent, the math did not work out. On Friday, after several meetings, BTL employees made a list of five demands.
And how did the Bu$hCo-style government of Belize respond to the demands of its workforce?
Army Troops, Police Patrol Belize After Week of Unrest
The officials say the demonstrations began last week in the nation's largest city, Belize City, when telephone workers went on strike. The protests escalated into anti-government unrest with calls for more action to address poverty, unemployment and crime.
In addition, the opposition party leader was arrested.
See? Might Makes Right - AGAIN!
We've wandered a long way from Haiti to make a point: Bu$hCo is VERY willing to act when there is corporate campaign contributor's profits at risk. Belize is the proof, especially considering that a Bu$hCo judge is taking on the role that belongs to the World Court in settling a dispute between a US corporation and a foreign nation in which that corporation has invested. Does US law not assert that any foreign investors are subject to our law for properties which lie within our borders?
As the response of the Belizians demonstrates, the stakes are high when there's little enough to go around. What of when there's almost nothing?
Dominican army repatriates 500 people to Haiti, some fire at soldiers
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic _ The Dominican army said it deported 500 illegal Haitian migrants Friday, some of whom fired at soldiers, but an advocacy group said legal residents and children born in the Dominican Republic were included in an indiscriminate roundup.The operation came after some Haitians allegedly hacked to death a Dominican man and gravely injured his wife with machetes Monday in Hatillo Palma de Montecristi, an agricultural center 270 kilometers northeast of Santo Domingo, the capital. Some Dominicans in the town went on a rampage in Haitian ghettos, setting blazes that razed dozens of shacks.
Soldiers regularly round up Haitians, who generally are darker skinned than mixed-race Dominicans, and truck them to the border. Haitians cross the border illegally, sometimes by bribing Dominican soldiers, to work on sugar cane and coffee plantations for meager wages.
The key to this situation is the phrase "generally are darker skinned than mixed-race Dominicans". once again, racism rears its ugly head!
But economically, this situation isn't too difficult to understand. The Dominicans are able to make (for them) decent wages in Puerto Rico, and the money they send home to relatives pays for the Haitians who work in their stead. The Haitians would do the same, except that they are a prime target of the selective enforcement of US immigration laws. As The Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center and the Women's Commission for Refugee Women & Children says in a report entitled "Securing Our Borders: Post-9/11 Scapegoating of Immigrants": ""President Bush's war on terrorism has transgressed into a war on immigrants, including those asylum seekers fleeing terror."
But hope dies hard when you have nothing left to lose. "What happened in 1994 could happen now," Printemps Belizaire, 37, told the Associated Press news agency. "We resisted and Aristide came back. We had hope with Aristide, but without him we have no hope."
Back before he was murdered, John F. Kennedy created what is arguably the best thing the United States ever did for the people of another nation - the Peace Corps. Before Lyndon Johnson began the corruption that transformed this altruistic progrram into an offshoot of the CIA, American citizens were taught how to lead the people of foreign lands in taking action to improve their lives with the resources they had on hand. Such is the case with this organization:
Strenthening Community with Soccer
The pandemic of HIV/AIDS knows no borders. This incurable yet easily preventable disease is claiming lives and fracturing families around the world. With a rate of infection at 5.6 percent, Haiti has the highest infection rate outside of Africa, and the island of Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic) is home to 80 percent of the reported HIV/AIDS cases in the Caribbean. Given the magnitude of this problem, it is not surprising that many feel powerless to make any positive change. But slowing the spread of the disease will not be found solely through the mass distribution of anti-retroviral medications; it can only be found through something much simpler: education.
The Beginning
In 2002 Jeff DeCelles, UVM class of 2003, went looking for a soccer game while studying at a small Catholic college in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Given baseball's stronghold on the athletic scene, the task was much harder than he initially expected. His search for a game brought him far outside of the city into the rice fields of rural Dominican Republic to a small Haitian village called Batey Libertad. In Batey Libertad he not only found a community with a passion for soccer he found a community that was impoverished and segregated from Dominican society.
The Premise
Grassroots Soccer is an international regional health organization that seeks to educate youth on the realities of HIV/AIDS using professional soccer players and other role models as teachers. Grassroots Soccer currently has programs in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Ethiopia where American soccer players and many African professional soccer players work with children from the ages of 10-14. This age is targeted because it is a time when children are old enough to have an understanding about sex yet young enough not to have engaged in sexual activity.In Africa, professional soccer players are the idolized heroes for most children and are highly effective in influencing children. Grassroots Soccer educators use soccer, other games, and roleplaying activities to provide children with a fun and active way to develop healthy decision-making skills. Why soccer? Soccer is already a rallying point for many communities suffering from poverty and high rates of infection. Integrating soccer into the education program provides a common ground with the children, it also makes the education fun.
Much better than sticking a gun in a kid's face, isn't it?
Something about this young man's efforts to use sports as an education and influence device has caught on - as this next article demonstrates:
St. Kitts assures minister of solid diplomatic ties
St. Kitts and Nevis will not be following the lead of several Caribbean neighbors who have established ties with China, Prime Minister Denzil Douglas indicated on Tuesday when he accepted a US$1.5 million grant from Taiwan to build a cricket stadium.Douglas praised relations with Taipei as "long and productive" as he toured the stadium's construction site with Taiwan Foreign Minister Mark Chen. "The friendship between our people provides a special basis for our own continued and mutually beneficial relationship," the Caribbean leader said.
Chen's visit comes four months after Grenada severed decades-long ties with Taiwan to recognize China, leaving Taiwan with only four allies in the Caribbean. The other three allies are Haiti, the Dominican Republic and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Chen was to head to St. Vincent later on Tuesday for a three-day visit.
Beijing and Taipei have used dollar diplomacy for decades to win over small Caribbean nations. In March, China signed agreements to help build new stadiums in Grenada and Dominica, which cut ties with Taiwan last year.
Chen presented Douglas with the third installment of a US$12 million grant to build a stadium in time for the 2007 Cricket World Cup, which will be hosted throughout the Caribbean. St. Kitts and Taiwan have had relations for 11 years, and Taiwan provides the Caribbean country with US$200,000 annually for medical equipment and scholarships.
Douglas asked for Taiwan's help in diversifying his country's agricultural sector after it stops producing sugar. St. Kitts decided in March to shut down its debt-ridden sugar industry after 300 years of production amid challenges at the WTO to preferential prices from EU countries. Taiwan could help "take agriculture in this country to a higher level," Douglas told Chen.
Such COULD be the way that Bu$hCo handles foreign influence.
BUT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
We send American lawyers, guns and corporate money to be used to pay American lawyers for guns the foreign people really don't need.
One would think that at some point, someone would take a look at our history and notice that this approach doesn't work well.
Finally, I discovered that someone already has:
Regime change
From the January 27, 2003 edition
In the past half century, US military boots have "hit the beach" several times to overthrow unfriendly powers from Panama to Afghanistan, from Haiti to Somalia. Short of outright seizure of territory, ousting a foreign government is the boldest intrusion one country can make on another. It sends tremors through the international order.Washington has not always committed its own troops to these tasks. US administrations have funded rebel insurgencies, organized military coups, and encouraged popular nonviolent uprisings to overthrow foreign regimes - most recently in Yugoslavia.
The United States has a full toolbox of nonviolent methods for bringing an unfriendly leader to heel: diplomatic pressure, economic sanctions, international boycotts, trade embargoes, and support for local political factions. But these tactics take time, and can produce limited results.
The focus on terrorism brings a clarity of purpose to the Bush administration that hasn't been seen in Washington foreign policymaking since the cold war. Time was, Latin America was the US "backyard," and the Monroe Doctrine was unambiguous: No foreign power would be allowed to gain a foothold in the region. That meant that any sign of Soviet influence - real or perceived - would be fought. Left-leaning governments in Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Grenada were targeted and all save Fidel Castro's regime fell to US-sponsored coups, rebellions, or outright invasions. Further afield, the fight against communist expansion led US troops into Korea and Vietnam.
Why is the US intervening?
Over the past decade, Washington has justified military interventions in Haiti, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Afghanistan on the grounds that human rights had to be defended and democracy promoted. In 1994, for example, the wave of Haitian boat people landing daily on the Florida coast prompted President Clinton to launch "Operation Restore Democracy" to reinstall elected President Bertrand Aristide, who had been overthrown in a military coup.
After initial success, democracy has not taken hold in Haiti - nor has it been in many of the places where America has intervened, says Minxin Pei, an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Aside from the post-World War II success stories - Germany, Japan, and Italy - "the US record of installing democracy is very dubious, with less than a 20 percent success rate," he adds. Most experts agree that the US record of building a democratic regime after ousting a leader is poor. Some scholars argue the US shouldn't be trying to transplant Jeffersonian democracy in Iraq or elsewhere. Grafting might be a better approach.
Panama, where US forces overthrew and captured Gen. Manuel Noriega in 1989, offers some parallels with Iraq: a dictator sitting on a strategic asset (in that case, a canal), who had previously enjoyed US support, falls afoul of Washington and defies the authorities there. General Noriega was also offered an exile deal but refused. Still, Panama, where America restored a relatively democratic regime, is a tiny, relatively homogenous country within the US sphere of influence.
"First, you have to ask what the basic unit of politics is," says John Hulsman, a senior policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. "In Afghanistan, it's the tribe. You can't have a successful central government without including a tribal role. In Iraq, you have three groups that must be part of any government. If you take the top-down approach - bringing in viceroys from abroad, trying to impose a new government on the masses - that's not going to work."
Timeline: US record of regime change
While far from the only country that intervenes in other countries' affairs, the US has a long history of seeking to change unfriendly governments abroad. Here is a selection of major US interventions - direct and indirect - since World War II.1953: Iran
Iranian President Mohammad Mossadegh is ousted by a coup organized and directed by the CIA with help from British Intelli- gence. He's tried in a military court and sentenced to death, a sentence later commuted to three years in jail and lifetime house arrest. The US-friendly shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, is returned to power and rules until Islamic fundamentalists drive him into exile in 1979. [SAVAK]
1954: Guatemala
A CIA-organized coup topples the nationalist reformist government of Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz in favor of a military government that suppresses opposition until the return of democracy in 1986. Civil war effectively continues until 1996.
1960: Congo
African nationalist leader Patrice Lumumba, elected in June 1960 as the first prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is assassinated following a US/Belgian-organized coup designed to remove the Soviet-backed government. Succession by Mobutu Sese Seko ushers in 32 years of dictatorial and corrupt rule.
1961: Cuba
The US-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs fails. The US earlier broke off relations with Cuba after Fidel Castro took power and nationalized along Soviet lines. Cuba declared itself Marxist-Leninist, and the US responded by instituting an economic and political blockade more or less in place to this day. Castro remains in power.
1965: Dominican Republic
US military forces invade the Dominican Republic after a coup returns to power ousted president Juan Bosch. Fearful of another Cuba-style Communist takeover, the US supports Joaquin Balaguer who is elected president and serves intermittent terms until 1996.
1973: Chile
The CIA secretly funds a coup against Marxist President Salvador Allende which brings Gen. Augusto Pinochet to power for 17 years.
1983: Grenada
The Reagan Administration mounts an invasion of Grenada, with token backing from several Caribbean states, to depose Prime Minister Maurice Bishop, the charismatic leader of the socialist National Jewel Movement. The US viewed Bishop's growing links with Castro's Cuba as a threat. In his place, the US establishes and aids a friendlier administration.
1986: Philippines
The US encourages a presidential election, which President Ferdinand Marcos attempts to steal. The results are disputed, and Army commanders led by Gen. Fidel Ramos back Corazon Aquino, widow of assassinated ex-Liberal Party leader Benigno Aquino. The US pressures Marcos to accept exile in Hawaii. In 1992, Ramos is elected president, and the US withdraws from its military bases in the Philippines.
1986: Libya
US bombers attack Libya, killing 101, but missing their intended target: Arab nationalist leader Col. Muammar Qaddafi, who first seized power in a 1969 revolution. Parts of Qaddafi's Tripoli compound are destroyed. Two years later, when a Pan Am airliner explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, the US and Britain allege Libyan complicity; one suspect is convicted (in 2001) of the bombing.
1989: Panama
US military forces invade Panama and its ruler, Gen. Manuel António Noriega, is arrested and flown to the US to stand trial for smuggling drugs. In his place, Guillermo Endara, who won an earlier election, is installed as constitutional president. The country makes a relatively successful transition to democracy, though elected leaders' economic reforms prove unpopular.
1992: Somalia
American troops lead A UN peacekeeping force but begin withdrawing a year later after a failed attempt to capture warlord Gen. Mohamed Farah Aidid leaves 18 US soldiers dead.
1994: Haiti
A military regime relinquishes power in the face of an imminent US invasion; US forces land peacefully in Haiti to oversee a transition to civilian government. Jean-Bertrand Aristide returns to power.
1999: Yugoslavia
President Slobodan Milosevic's policies of "ethnic cleansing" precipitate a mass exodus from Kosovo. NATO begins an aerial bombing of Yugoslavia. In October 2000, Milosevic is ousted in a popular uprising and extradited to face charges of war crimes.
2001: Afganistan
A US-led invasion topples the Taliban government after it refuses to detain suspects or provide information regarding recent terrorist attacks on the US. The country's interim president, Hamid Karzai is later chosen by a tribal council to lead a semi-democratic government. But lawlessness and chaos still reign outside the capital, Kabul.
This article predates the Invasion of Iraq or else it would have been included as well.
I stated earlier that hope dies hard when you have nothing left. In some cases, hope dies hard when you have a lot - as Wyclef Jean demonstrates:
Wyclef Jean Says Haiti Too Divided
Concluding a visit to his native Haiti, hip-hop star Wyclef Jean said the Caribbean country is too divided and violent to hold credible elections. "Unless there is some form of heavy national dialogue where there is security and people feel safe, it's going to be hard to go through with a really positive election," the 32-year-old singer told The Associated Press on Thursday.Haiti's Parliament became powerless last year when a failure to hold elections because of instability left legislative seats empty.
Jean visited Haiti this week to launch Yele Haiti -- a development foundation for education, the environment, entrepreneurship and health. Jean said a dialogue including businessmen, gang leaders and politicians is essential in addressing recent violence that has been plaguing Haiti's capital, forcing him to postpone a "concert for peace" planned for last month.
The singer said he's trying to find a safe place to hold a concert in the summer.
Similar in nature to the example of Edward James Olmos on the third day of the LA Riot of 1992, that effort to hold a concert in a dangerous land demonstrates more hope than anything else I've read on Haiti today. I hope he can influence his countrymen to allow this concert to happen. It's for the good of all.
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