Haiti is calling for international assistance. (Or rather the Acting Prime Minister with no legitimate authority who has been implicated in his predecessor's death is calling)Again.
It is very true that the entire world has been against Haiti since her founding in 1804. True also that the US was the main force that executed the barricade and extracted the reparations to France via CitiBank. And again true that the UN troops brought cholera with them the last time they came.
True also that the US still appears deathly afraid of #Cuba and all that it seems to represent even though Cuba imports 80% of its food. #Russian flags are flying in the protests in the streets of Port au Prince. The lefty keyboard warriors, safely tucked behind their desks in NYC, San Francisco, London, are happily tweeting and podcasting and filing stories for The Guardian. They could not, of course, do so from #Cuba or #Russia where internet access is denied.
So we hear cries for "A Haitian Led Solution" - from all sorts of folks - mostly in English, though.
And by that is meant the group who organized what is called "The Montana Accord". They did this over a period of years - by going around the country side, listening to groups on the ground, getting their signatures... although... it is not actually known HOW many people were actually IN any group or whether or not ANY of the people in Any group actually understood what they were signing or agreeing to or anything whatsoever.
Nevertheless - an effort to be applauded. An effort at Forming A Democracy.
We seem to have fallen into a Very Old Trap. We are AFRAID of the Poor. Afraid of some sort of Slave Revolt. Afraid of the Shining Path.. Afraid of Liberation Theology. with its "preferential option for the poor"
OMGoddess - spare us from the Jesuits, right?
We are almost FORTY YEARS On from that. Things have changed.
Is the United States Really STILL so terrified of "Communism?"
Have we yet discovered that Free Trade Zones that pay less than $5 a day may not be "Hope for Haiti?" For a good laugh - read this
Bill Clinton repented on his plan to ship in US subsidized rice but we still ship it, right?
Are We -- The United States -
So Committed to Keeping the Developing World
UN-Developed so that we can EXPLOIT their resources
(as is most certainly believed)
Such an Imperial Power?
(Face it - Americans are not good at Imperialism. Our only real attempt has been Puerto Rico and no one can call that a success, right?)
So Are We Gonna Just Invade and Install a New Bunch of NeoLiberal Puppets AGAIN??????
The World Bank has just closed its office in Port Au Prince.
The Peace Corps pulled out in 2005.
These things ought to tell us something, right?
But rather than actually sitting down and speaking with the one leader of the most organized gangs, the G9, BBQ, Jimmy Cherizier, the International Community appears to think that sanctions on him will work.
As if he some bank account in the Cayman Islands?
Although, I am sure that plenty of the folks that have paid him probably do. There is a copy of a list sent to Jovenel #Moise before his death of suspected arms traffickers who most likely DO have foreign assets.
The newly authorized and sorta-almost-formed Haitian "army" is being trained in groups of 30 in Mexico with the stand-by plan of just a few - say a battalion of 22,000 US troops - as a backup. The Bahamas has offered to send troops. Canada has already sent in tanks.
Think that will be enough to subdue 8 or 9 million poor people? For how long?
What is most likely to happen is that BBQ will be shot or extradited to serve out his life in a US prison. Those who actually paid for his protection will pay OTHER gangs, such as the 400 Wazo . There is no shortage of gangs in Haiti.
The problem... as it always seems to be.... in Haiti as elsewhere -- is that one group does not want to sit down with another. The Montana Group does not want to sit down with the DeFacto PM Henry.
No one wants to sit down with BBQ. Except there actually is one Canadian official who HAS offered.
And BBQ has a peace plan - (original here ) one in which all the gangs lay down their arms. An interim government is formed.... elections... etc...
Now SITTING DOWN and TALKING
MAKES Sense
Just as it did in Northern Ireland
And Vietnam
And South Africa
And throughout Africa
Sitting and Talking
With
Perhaps
Help
From
Before Anyone Is Killed?
There are 10 Million People in Haiti
Almost all of them are Very Poor
None of What is happening now is their fault.
Sit Down with #BBQ and TALK PEACE
