Why the US Owes Haiti Billions...

[maryf]

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/01/17-6

Why the US Owes Haiti Billions – The Briefest History

by Bill Quigley

Why does the US owe Haiti Billions? Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State, stated his foreign policy view as the "Pottery Barn rule." That is - "if you break it, you own it."

The US has worked to break Haiti for over 200 years. We owe Haiti. Not charity. We owe Haiti as a matter of justice. Reparations. And not the $100 million promised by President Obama either - that is Powerball money. The US owes Haiti Billions - with a big B.

The US has worked for centuries to break Haiti. The US has used Haiti like a plantation. The US helped bleed the country economically since it freed itself, repeatedly invaded the country militarily, supported dictators who abused the people, used the country as a dumping ground for our own economic advantage, ruined their roads and agriculture, and toppled popularly elected officials. The US has even used Haiti like the old plantation owner and slipped over there repeatedly for sexual recreation.

Here is the briefest history of some of the major US efforts to break Haiti:

<snip>

Thirty years ago Haiti imported no rice. Today Haiti imports nearly all its rice. Though Haiti was the sugar growing capital of the Caribbean, it now imports sugar as well. Why? The US and the US dominated world financial institutions - the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank - forced Haiti to open its markets to the world. Then the US dumped millions of tons of US subsidized rice and sugar into Haiti - undercutting their farmers and ruining Haitian agriculture. By ruining Haitian agriculture, the US has forced Haiti into becoming the third largest world market for US rice. Good for US farmers, bad for Haiti.

<snip> {I chose one out of many please read entire article at link}

The Haitian people have resisted the economic and military power of the US and others ever since their independence. Like all of us, Haitians made their own mistakes as well. But US power has forced Haitians to pay great prices - deaths, debt and abuse.

It is time for the people of the US to join with Haitians and reverse the course of US-Haitian relations.

This brief history shows why the US owes Haiti Billions - with a big B. This is not charity. This is justice. This is reparations. The current crisis is an opportunity for people in the US to own up to our country's history of dominating Haiti and to make a truly just response.

(For more on the history of exploitation of Haiti by the US see: Paul Farmer, The Uses of Haiti; Peter Hallward, Damming the Flood; and Randall Robinson, An Unbroken Agony)

[Chulanowa]

1. Cancelling whatever dumbfuck unrecced

and adding a kick, too

[maryf]

3. Thank you!!

Folks are afraid to know the truth sometimes...

[flvegan]

2. ...and off to the Greatest with you!

[maryf]

4. Hopefully I stay!

This is important history...

[leftstreet]

5. K&R

Thanks for posting this

[HysteryDiagnosis]

6. Kicked and recommended for being the truth... thank you for

posting this. Our collective amnesia needs medical attention.

[sabrina 1]

7. Another rec for the truth which it seems, is not always

welcome here by so-called progressives.

The U.S. can probably never repay the people of Haiti for their criminal intervention in that country's history, but it would be nice if this tragedy prompted the world to make sure that U.S. policies begin to change and that we stay out of their business unless it is to actually do something to help them achieve what they've always wanted, which is their independence. But with the Bushes et al still being given access to the affairs of Haiti, I wouldn't count on it.

[Raster]

26. True progressives are are becoming a rarity on DU. With every little centrist step DU takes,

more progressives fall by the wayside. The GLBT contingent has been purged. The feminist faction has been purged. The anti-war peace bloc endures bullshit every day.

[inna]

8. KR +9

:kick:

[naaman fletcher]

9. Sounds to me like France owes Haiti, if anyone.

[kestrel91316]

11. Them, too.

[EFerrari]

16. Aristide's fate was sealed when he brought up the question of reparations

from France.

[flamingdem]

10. We owe them big time thank dios that Obama knows this nt

[happy_liberal]

12. K&R

and that money needs to go to Haitians to rebuild their own country...not Halliburton

[sharesunited]

13. Impossible. Entrenched kleptocracy. They are a basket case.

They need an appointed guardian like a disabled person would have.

But who can be trusted?

[maryf]

14. Who indeed?

It'd be nice if they'd let Aristide back to try to help with this...though trying to survive is forgivable

[maryf]

23. Kleptocracy

Kleptomania is to steal not for economic advantage but to satisfy another need. As these folks truly need food, water, and vitals, private property should be suspended and "stealing" considered fine when that property includes human necessities...

I realized my post above may have been misconstrued, maybe this clarifies where I'm coming from. (actually I'm for abolishing most private property anyway...)

[EFerrari]

17. And their kleptos have been nurtured by ours for two hundred years.

See how it works?

[maryf]

24. Thanks

Your point is perfect here.

[Cal Carpenter]

25. That sounds awfully paternalistic

You'd be 'disabled' too if you had the shit beat out of you for a couple centuries...

[EmeraldCityGrl]

15. K&R

[Jennicut]

18. What worries me is politicians and people simply forgetting about Haiti after the

media images are gone. We helped screw this country up so that when a natural disaster came, it was only compounded.

[maryf]

19. I worry too, we have very poor attention spans..nt

[Odin2005]

20. Elites in slave-owning countries were scarred shitless by the Haitian Revolution.

Many rich slave-owners in the South were determined to make sure Haiti was constantly screwed lest their slaves got any bright ideas.

[maryf]

21. Elites are scared whenever the people realize

how powerful the strength of their numbers are.

[maryf]

22. morning bump for truth, nt

[Greyhound]

27. Not us, the families and corporations built from the theft of Haitian resources.

Although since we've already paid for this huge military, I'd favor using it to enforce the reparations.
:evilgrin:
:kick: & R

[maryf]

28. Hate to waste, huh?

Thanks!

[Mudoria]

29. The author is free to cut a personal check anytime he feels the need..

[maryf]

30. Done...

on my part, author I don't know, You?