Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: gonaives, gustav, haiti, hurricane hannah, storm
If you’ve been a regular reader of this blog, you probably know that I don’t watch TV (much). Though, I’m fascinated by the box in the same way that moths are drawn to flames. My brain has been bludgeoned by Gustav coverage (and conventions that say absolutely *nothing* with any true meaning) and the apparent “success” of FEMA’s (and therefore Bush & Co.’s) “terrific” job in handling all of this new crazy weather.
Below, you will find an article that I wrote 4 years ago on Haiti shortly after Tropical Storm Jeanne had killed 1000+ Haitians. The news channels largely ignored the plight of the Haitians and focused on the 6 deaths that occurred in Florida from the same storm.
4 years later… nothing has changed. You’re shocked, I can tell…
Just thought that I’d repost this article and remind cyberspace that the cost of cheap t-shirts and Grand Marnier may rise shortly…
Where do Haitians get evacuated to?
Haiti: Poverty’s Abstract (originally published: Nov. 2004, Scene and Heard)
A Brief Contextual History in the Age of Disinformation
Although the foreign policy of any country must from time to time be adapted to changing circumstances, there are in it continuing threads which represent the ideals, as well as the interests, of a people. A knowledge of past policy is therefore of value not only to scholars who study and interpret Canadian history but also to those who seek a broader understanding than a knowledge of current events can provide.
- Paul Martin Sr., Former Secretary of State for External Affairs
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On February 29th 2004, The United States sponsored its third coup d’etat in as many years. With the approval of the international community, democratically elected Haitian president Jean Bertrand-Aristide was removed from office on the premise of restoring democracy and putting an end to government corruption.
Adding to the internal woes of the Haitian people, the country was devastated by Tropical Storm Jeanne in late September leaving an estimated 1,500 dead and another 1,250+ missing and presumed dead. Compare that number to the 6 fatalities in Florida from the very same storm, and you are left with some very difficult questions that do not lead to any hard or fast answers. To be sure, the environmental disaster visited upon a third world country by a single storm cannot be attributed to the policies imposed by foreign nations alone, but the two realities are not mutually exclusive.
Claude Lalande, a retired RCMP corporal who served as part of the Canadian-led UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti in 1995 stated, “The infrastructure was not there for them (the Haitian people) to progress.” Lalande spent six months in the impoverished country recruiting and monitoring the training of a new Haitian Police Force during Aristide’s restoration to power after his first ouster in 1991. “I left Haiti frustrated,” he said, “I was mad. I knew this country would not do well for itself.” Nearly ten years later, the country that Lalande worked so hard to assist has been pushed further into repression and widespread violence.
Writer-Researcher, Anthony Fenton, explained candidly, “‘Keeping the peace’ under the present circumstances means silencing Haiti’s majority political party, Family Lavalas, which is also the party of deposed President Jean Bertrand Aristide. Some 25,000 of these people are reportedly targeted for ‘pacification’ or ‘extermination’.”
Canada’s involvement in Haiti has surfaced in the mainstream media in terms of advertising Economic and Foreign aid packages. Fenton puts it in perspective by saying Canadian involvement goes “as far back as the 1950s when Canadian mining companies were exploring to see what was left of Haiti to plunder. By the end of the 1960s, Canada had established a good relationship with the brutal dictatorship of Papa Doc Duvalier, only to set up formal relations with his equally brutal son, Baby Doc, by 1973.”
Fenton continued: “In the more recent period leading up to Aristide’s overthrow, Canadian policy was in lockstep with that of the U.S. to the extent that Canada hosted a January 2003 meeting during which the very UN ‘tutelage’ that is underway in Haiti was discussed.”
Both Fenton and Lalande, each having witnessed the day-to-day Haitian reality firsthand, are sceptical of Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew’s recent statement that he doesn’t see much more to do in terms of additional aid. Lalande chalked it up to “a case of keeping head in sand”. Fenton on the other hand charged that, “Pettigrew will continue to play this game as it unfolds… History will judge them on this if the public is not able to in the present tense. Another reason Pettigrew says such things is due to the impunity that he enjoys; most Canadians haven’t a clue as toward what is really happening in Haiti, and are therefore in no position to challenge Pettigrew on such claims.”
Haiti has become a blueprint for Privatization and Policy-based lending. That blueprint can be seen across the globe today in countries that have been forced to accept loans at the expense of decision-making and self-determination. Loans are not only being paid with interest; they are lent with the demand of lowered tariffs and foreign control of natural resources. Haiti is not only the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere it is a brutal reflection of how we treat our poor.
Filed under: disinfo reporting, economy | Tags: china, haiti, human rights, media, tibet, u.s. debt
As you know, I’m all about the disclaimers…
*Disclaimer* – I’m not for human rights abuses, I’m against the television doing the thinking for us…
I’ve been having a real hard time with the coverage on the Beijing Olympics lately. I realize that it’s a “hot topic” and everyone is entitled to the view that CNN has given them, but I can’t take it anymore…
Of course, we all know that the coverage of China’s human rights abuses are in heavy rotation, and it’s probably not much of a stretch to suggest that it may be timed to coincide with the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing.
My question is: why are we supposed to care so much right now? The Olympics really aren’t a great vehicle for registering your discontent with a nation’s policies…I mean…how committed to the Tibetans plight will the at-home-viewing-public be after Spielberg unleashes the opening ceremony?
Forgive me, I’m sure there are a ton of reasons to care, but perhaps I should ask: why do we care specifically about how China conducts its business? I’ve been getting e-mail forwards and petitions for months now and I’m wondering, why China? Why now? Haven’t we figured out yet that our economy absolutely requires the Chinese government to conduct business exactly the way it has been?
You can’t produce cheaper-than-dirt-consumer-products without abusing someone’s rights…
Plus…(and this, to me, is the 800-pound gorilla sitting in the corner)…are we really sure that we want to stand up to a super-power like China (that has the death penalty and uses collagen from the dead in cosmetics!!), when we can’t even stand-up to our own governments and get *them* to enact policies that *actually* reflect our needs and wishes??
Why is Elvis Stojko leading a protest againt “the regime” in China? He says that “something needs to change”, but falls short of saying what that could/should be. (It should be noted that Elvis didn’t have any difficulty supporting the games in Salt Lake City after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan…I guess in fairness, we hadn’t heard about western soldiers or private military contractors torturing and killing innocent civilians yet).
Pacified, yes…peaceful???….I’m not so sure about that…
I suppose the idea that I have the hardest time wrapping my head around is this idea of Canada as a peace-loving nation. We always refer to ourselves as peaceful. Yet we’re a nation at war.
What is it about China at this time in history that makes people want to wear the same t-shirt at the same time?
Let’s put the “Big” in Bigoted!!
I can’t help but think that the anti-China campaign smacks of good ol’ racism. Yeah, I said it…racism.
Yes, they live differently than us. Yes, they look different than us. They eat different food and they speak different languages. But why the f*** are we marching in the streets, giving loads of press to the torch relay and talking about boycotting the Olympics based on Human Rights? What has changed in the last year? What is it precisely that the Chinese can do that will help us live our lives better over here (yoo hoo!! Over heeeeeere!!)…in Canada (the northern most part of the North American Union).
Even if you personally feel some Tibetan pain and want to send a message to the Chinese government….what would you do? What can you really do? (best of luck with your shopping…)
I sure as hell don’t know…I’m not even sure that boycotting Chinese goods makes any decent economic sense…
Oh….right…they’re the unofficial new economic super power that needs to be reckoned with. That’s why the media taps have been opened wide with stories about lead in the toys and human rights abuses against a group of people you don’t know anything about (Falun Gong…I’m heading right over to Wikipedia once I’ve finished posting…that’ll give me a reliable sense of what’s really happening…) and they’re all getting cars and wanting to get their hands on our oil. Chinese fuckers…..(sorry….I got whipped up in the anti-Chinese sentiment…)
“Hi, I’m the pot…you must be the kettle…”
It’s a wee bit of a double-standard, wouldn’t you agree?
The Dalai Lama himself has said that he supports the games. Of course, he doesn’t support the suppression of his people, but he’s not calling for a boycott of the games. He’s been dealing with this issue for his entire life. He’s doing well on the public relations front. I don’t personally know anyone who could describe the actual function of the Dalai Lama to me, (wikipedia….once I hit “post”, I’m telling you…), but he’s probably closer to Buddha than any of us, and that’s a good thing….(I’m assuming…)…
The Dalai Lama, by the way, was mentored by a former Nazi. This isn’t some kind of litigious statement, it’s a fact. I’m not saying that the Dalai Lama himself is a Nazi (he’s not, he’s Buddhist…which is the polar opposite of what Nazism is….at least the way I understand it…), but doesn’t it make you wonder why this fact doesn’t get any airplay, yet we’re paranoid about kids putting a Chinese-made toy in their mouth? (BTW, don’t buy anything anywhere if you’re afraid of Chinese-made goods).
I’m really not suggesting anything (don’t shoot the messenger if you hadn’t heard about the Dalai Lama’s mentor…played by Brad Pitt in the movie no less), but….I dunno….the Dalai Lama gets tutored by a former (we presume “former”, yes?….at least “former” by the time he was tutoring Tenzin Gyatso), a former sergeant in the SS. He was photographed with Hitler and everything. He’s says he was only there to teach skiing. It’s a difficult fact to come to terms with. The two just seem so….ideologically opposed to one another….you’d think that they’d never come in contact with each other. Ever. (weird shit happens I guess).
How do we know what we know?
The leaders of our countries won’t use the word “boycott”, because they understand that boycotting is an incredibly strong statement that draws a line in the sand. Usually, it’s a line between enemies. Elvis Stojko may say that he’s supporting the people of China, but I wonder….
I wonder….
Would the self-same people who are hoping against hope for nations around the world to boycott China, also support a boycott of the 2012 games in Vancouver?
Seriously, wouldn’t that be fair? We (Canada & the U.S.) boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Why? Because the Soviets had recently invaded Afghanistan and that’s a totally justifiable reason to boyco….wait a second…
We’re right, they’re wrong
…not only did the U.S. boycott those games in 1980, they were still counting Osama Bin Laden as an “ally”. Sure, the Soviets won all the gold medals that year, but we won Afghanistan from them.
A silver lining to every cloud, non?
If we’re going to get all hot under the collar about countries that violate human rights, employ the death penalty, suppress dissent and produce goods that aren’t fit for human consumption….do we really have to look on the other side of the planet to “deal with it”?
Really…if we want to “change something” about the way producers of cheap goods abuse the basic human rights of their labourers, or should we want to “send a message” to the governments that aid and abet (read: subsidize and protect) the businesses….if we really wanted to put an end to the persecution of the poor and disenfranchised, or the targeting those who have spiritual beliefs that differ from the power elite… couldn’t we look at the blood on our own hands in say…
Haiti?
I wonder if Elvis wears Gildan Activewear?
It’s not fair to expect that Elvis (or any of us for that fact), should know anything about the plight of Haitians (the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere), because it just doesn’t fit with the “optics” that those who control the press are looking for.
Ask a Canadian about their “responsibility to protect” Haiti, and you’ll probably get a confused stare.
Next time you’re standing in line at Wal-Mart, waiting for the 78-year old greeter to run a price check for the 18-year old clerk, ask yourself why you’re staging your own “mini boycott” of the Beijing Games and why exactly you’re going to start boycotting their products.
Unless of course the new issue of “In Touch” is in your aisle….in that case….just fuck it….read until that old bugger hobbles back with the *correct* price.
