"Our little region over here that has never bothered anyone..."
- Henry Stimson, U.S. Secretary of War
H A I T I
Hey! Ain't we s'posed to be the good guys?
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere! Why is that? Is it because they revolted in 1804 and won?
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"Our little region over here that has never bothered anyone..." - Henry Stimson, U.S. Secretary of War |
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H A I T I |
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Revolution Risk: VERY HIGH - They got nothin' to lose and they ain't gettin' nothin from U.S. Plutarchs, except the same crap we have given them for 200+ years!! We got some apologizin' to do!
Hey! Ain't we s'posed to be the good guys? |
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Pre 20th century: Colonized by the French. one of the richest of Caribbean colonies after the Arawak Indians were decimated, and very large numbers of African slaves were brought in to cut forests and grow sugar cane. The torture and atrocities dealt to the slaves led to the successful slave uprising in 1804. But this liberation shocked "civilized opinion" which feared that 'the virus of liberation might spread from "the first free nation of free men". Since this was dangerous to the slaves in the US, the US took the lead in isolating Haiti until 1862, when destinations were being sought for freed slaves. Haiti was also forced to pay France for its liberation.
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America's abuse of Haiti goes back to at least 1804, when slaves rebelled against their extremely cruel (even for then) treatment by French planatation owners. US marines occupied Haiti from 1915-1934, although direct US influence lasts to 1947. In September 1957 François Duvalier is elected president "Papa Doc" Duvalier was a murderous dictator backed (with a few reservations) by the US from 1964 to 1971. He was succeeded by his son Jean Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier from 1971 - 1986, who kept the tyranny going until he had to flee in 1986 due to revolutionary uprisings. Murders during their rule is estimated between 20,000 and 60,000 Haitians. Following Papa Doc Duvalier, the last in a long line of incredibly cruel dictators, Haiti finally had a chance to elect their own leader. 1991: Aristede was elected with 67% of the vote, The US backed a former world bank official, Marc Bazin. but he only got 14% of the vote. Aristede was able to do the following: he cut back on drug trafficking. He lowered the number of atrocities. The number of Haitians fleeing to the US slowed. The US set up alternative institutions to undermine Aristede's power. The first coup took place 6 months after Aristede took office. Marc Bazin became Prime Minister, with the ruling generals supporting him. These are the same generals who were behind much of the civilian torture. This included Emmanual Constant, a paramilitary leader and mass murderer who fled to the US. The US refused to extradite him back to Haiti. (Conjecture: bringing him to trial would reveal contacts between Haitian state terrorists and US Govt.) The OAS declared in embargo of Haiti due to the coup, which the US joined. Pres Bush I sent escaping refugees back to Haiti, which Candidate Clinton called "inhuman" and a violation of the Declaration of Human Rights, which the US claims to uphold. However, as president, Clinton imposed even harsher measures on Haitian refugees. Laws were changed to send back Haitians that asked for asylum affter they had reached the US. The extremist elements of the business community think the right answer is to slaughter everyone and hack them into pieces. The moderates think they should work in assembly plants for .10 / hr, if they make an impossible quota, so actually .05/hr. |
What are 'good guys' supposed to think about Haiti?
The Africans who were captured in Africa, brought across the ocean to be lifetime slaves for cruel French plantation owners had the gall to revolt. And they won. In 1804, freedom was a new idea, but what about now? Do we cluck our tongues and say those savages deserved what happened to them? That worked back in the day when skin color was a way to know 'who belonged' and who would never be able to... Do we support the capitalists who want cheap labor and a place that has few environmental regulations, like the baseball indusry who uses Haitians to dip baseballs in toxic binders banned in civilized countries? for .14 / hr? Do we support our present government which claims to be helping, but has done nothing in Haiti other than encourage more repression, either by stationing Marines there or by supporting the Duvaliers, or thwarting democratically elected nationalists, who might want to do things right.. Then when democracy might actually work, we sabotage Aristede to ensure that a patsy we like gets in. What the hell kind of people are we? We can't even justify our behavior as keeping the Soviet Union out of our hemisphere anymore', as we justified all those anti- |
| U.S.'s food is cheaper partially because of Haiti. But unless we buy something else from them, they will still be there at the bottom of the world labor scale. | If we really were 'good guys' we would figure out some way to use what was once a beautiiful island of Hispaniola to be a wonderful place to go, with houses underground so they are hurricane proof.
Maybe by the 22nd century...? |
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Recommendations: (If you have to do something, why not try these? Your methods haven't worked!)
Cancel Debt. Stop exporting food to US until everyone there has enough to eat. Encourage tax-free haven VAT that pays for communication infastructure; i.e. free phones, computers - first ones in schools, then the kids get them, the adults. All DNA-proof crimes are prosecuted and punished. (rape, murder, abuse) Hemp growing allowed. They got a lot of negative karma to burn off. |
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| Useful Links to learn more... | Road to US Intervention in Haiti |