The earthquake devastation in Haiti has been directly contributed to by the state of impoverishment in the country.
Obviously, general underdevelopment, poorly constructed buildings, congestion and a lack of disaster preparedness have a lot to do with the terrible figures of those injured and the dead in Haiti’s case.
Preacher Robertson mentioned ''pact with satan'' as a cause of current devastating tragedy of Haiti.
Did he mean pact with diabolical empires that has kept Haiti in penury and vulnerable to the ravages of nature and a heartless global capitalist regime?
Haiti’s slaves, most being indigenous Africans, defeated the French in a fight for independence in 1804 thus effectively becoming the first non-slave republic in the Americas.
Haiti’s liberation and the subsequent France reparation demands ensured Haiti never gained a solid economic footing.
Even worse, immediately after the 1804 revolution, the US refused to recognize Haiti because being a country that depended on slave labour it clearly couldn’t acknowledge a country of free slaves; thus Haiti was subjected to a devastating economic embargo by France and the US, sanctions that lasted 60 years and were only ended in 1863.
The US occupied and ruled Haiti by force from 1915 to 1934.
For 19 years, the US controlled customs in Haiti, collected taxes, and ran many governmental institutions.
It is not clear how many billions were bilked from Haiti by the US during this forced occupation.
From 1957 to 1986 Haiti was governed by US backed right wing despots "Papa Doc" and "Baby Doc" Duvalier, support for these dictators was premised on their supposed "anti-communist" leanings in total disregard to their cruelty and affront on the human rights of Haitians.
The Duvaliers’ corruption stacked up Haiti’s debts even further
IMF oppression - not a help
A little over 30 years ago Haiti was self sufficient in rice and sugar production.
Today the country has to import most of its rice as well as sugar, this is because Haiti was forced by the IMF and the World Bank to open its markets to the world allowing the US to dump millions of tons of US subsidized rice and sugar into Haiti’s markets hence putting local farmers out of business and consigning the country to being the third largest world market for US rice.
In 1991, Haiti got its first democratically elected president in the person of Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
In less than a year he was ousted by the CIA.
Curiously US-backed forces restored Aristide to power in 1994 under Pres Clinton, while starting another spell of US military occupation between 1994 and 2000.
Haiti is currently under UN occupation, has no formal army and Aristide has been banished to exile.
taken from :
How two criminal nations murdered 100,000 Haitians | The Smirking Chimp
my comment:
Great post!
The poverty, underdevelopment, violence in Haiti is a stunning reality in the face of a fact that Haiti is a US friend, with US economic and military presence and help.
Cuba is far and incomparably better off, and it is facing a total long term US economic embargo.
Perhaps wild capitalism cannot or will not help the nations to advance, develop, be free, independent and prosperous.
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