The New York Times mentioned Haiti in their recent article about the impact of the economic crisis on Venezuela. President Hugo Chave of Venezuela, and other Latin American allies, have taken steps in past few years in a project to unify Latin America through ALBA, the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America, a trade agreement that emphasizes solidarity as a means of developing the participating nations of the region. Through this agreement, as the article notes, countries from Argentina to Cuba have received loans and/or priority prices for oil from Venezuela in order to help these countries avoid selling their souls to the international financial institutions (IFIs) like the IMF (International Monetary Fund). Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, is in need of assistance.
In the 1990s, the political party Fanmi Lavalas was founded with the leadership of then-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti and a firm anti-privatization platform as its base. The IFIs as well as the imperial influences in Haiti (US, France and Canada) did not like this and suspended humanitarian aid, and by 2004, a coup had been orchestrated to overthrow Aristide, who had been re-elected in 2000 with an overwhelming 91.6% of the vote.
The Haitian election was cause for concern, according to Bush, who faced a similar scandal in his own election, but it was no surprise to much of the international community, including the international group Global Women’s Strike, that such a large constituency supported the president. Haiti has a history of strong, decisive action; it was the first in the hemisphere to abolish slavery and achieve independence in 1804.
In 2007 President Chavez visited Haiti for the first time since his election in 1998. In front of a large crowd of Haitian, Venezuelan and Cuban spectators, Chavez spoke about the duty of his nation and the others in Latin America to the Haitian people for their leadership and support: “Bolivar came here and received the support of the people and of President Pétion, and was supplied with the weapons and soldiers that built the force that would go to Venezuela to liberate it once for all in 1817. All of this has to do with why I am here today. There is much history behind it. Today I feel I am paying part of our historic debt to Haiti. And I say this, after more than 8 years in government, this is the first time I visit Haiti. I should have come here earlier,” he said.
Cuba and Venezuela sponsored the construction of health centers as well as supplying doctors to staff them, and Venezuela also began to supply subsidized food and oil to the impoverished Haitian people. In 2009, despite the effects of the economic crisis, Venezuela will be giving $9 million to support the development of the rice industry in Haiti.
Haiti: in the Middle
As of right now, the U.S. and other countries, including France, Brazil and Bolivia, supply troops to the UN military forces MINUSTAH that act as the national police of Haiti. The U.S. has also been heavily influencing politics and culture in Haiti through “civil society” organizations, funded through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Republican Institute. These groups have been criticized abroad for supporting U.S. economic interests and repressing local popular movements through the media, military presence, and corporate investment. They have also paid proportionately very high salaries to organization employees, creating an odd dynamic as the wealthy are loyal to the US and identify with their standard of living rather than their own nation’s struggle.
In January 2009, however, a California Representative and 16 co-sponsors brought a bill, H. R. 417, to the House to supply a new form of aid to Haiti. The plan proposes an Exchange Program similar to the Peace Corps that would “assign qualified Haitian Americans and others to provide technical assistance to help Haiti improve in areas vital to its growth and development, which may include education, energy, environment, healthcare, infrastructure, security, transportation, and disaster preparedness.”
I’m as skeptical of this as many of you probably are, but there are several aspects that give me the slightest glimmer of hope: 1. “Individuals may participate in the Exchange Program for not longer than 27 months.” This to me eliminates the chances of corruption, as program participants don’t really have time to become embedded imperial bureacrats. And 2. “COMPENSATION- An individual who participates in the Exchange Program shall receive monthly compensation equal to the average monthly salary of such individual’s professional Haitian counterpart.” This stipulation is nice because often such employees receive the salary equal to the US counterpart in a country with a very different (in this case less expensive) cost of living, contradictory to their function in that country, as I mentioned earlier.
I’m particularly skeptical of this part: “Consultation With Haitian Civil Society Organizations- The democratically elected Government of Haiti should consult with Haitian civil society organizations to identify the needs and priorities of Haiti to outline the sectors or professional fields to which Exchange Program participants may provide technical assistance and the objectives to be achieved, including specific projects or programs.” These groups are also responsible for nominating individuals to hold these positions. As I mentioned earlier, the civil society groups that the U.S. tends to communicate with over these sorts of matters are usually of its own creation, US-funded and loyal to US interests.
Here are a few resources should you want to investigate Haiti and this further.
Letter from Global Women’s Strike to Bolivian President Evo Morales asking that he support Haiti, but not with military occupation
http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/Haiti/lettertoEvoMoralesMarch09.htm
The International Community and Haiti: Testing the Water or Sinking the Ship?
http://www.haitianalysis.com/international-relations
Chávez and Venezuela: Duty, not Charity, to Haiti
http://www.haitianalysis.com/2007/3/19/ch%C3%A1vez-and-venezuela-duty-not-charity-to-haiti
NY TImes: Venezuela’s Hope of More Sway Dims as Riches Dip
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/world/americas/20venez.html?_r=1
Full Text of Hr 417: Next Steps for Haiti Act of 2009
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-417
Leave us a comment letting us know if you think this signals a change in US policy toward our neighbors to the south or more of the same.
Que siga la lucha
Robyn
Gov Docs/Maps Assistant