This is the 197th diary since the earthquake in Haiti. This is the Justice, Not Charity! edition of the diary.
There is a realm of realistic presidential candidates that the ruling class deems acceptable. Meteor Blades certainly would not fit in the "acceptable" spectrum. It would be silly to believe that he could ever be elected for US' president. What does this have to do with Haiti?
Please see action alert below and take ten minutes to help Haiti.
Lavalas Movement: |
Haitians accomplished the unimaginable feat of electing a president who was really one of them. It is something we in the US have never done -- elect a grassroots president who continued fighting for the poor and oppressed regardless of political pressure. President Jean Bertrand Aristide became Haiti's first democratically elected president in 1991. I am wondering what it would be like if we accomplished the unimaginable and shifted the social and economic order of things here in the US only to have it stolen from us, twice? The 2004 coup was the second time Aristide was ousted from office by a US backed coup. (We Americans stopped concerning ourselves with our stolen 2000 election long ago, but then again it was only Gore who is a great person but firmly within the ruling class' accaptable political spectrum.)
SF Bay, "Haiti’s election circus continues, and Wyclef Jean won’t take no for an answer" here.
A demonstration election is a media event above all else. The media sell the election to taxpayers at home to show “progress” and justify spending the money for the occupation. They feature the election as BIG NEWS, when it’s really propaganda, a smokescreen for the harsh realities on the ground.
The Fanmi Lavalas (FL) remains Haiti's most popular political party despite quite literally being conspired against by the International Community (IC). Poor people dared to organize and vote for someone who would represent them, and the IC severely punished Haitians with brutal economic sanctions, paramilitary assaults, and disinformation campaigns for making the wrong choice at the ballot box. The enormity of the impact of haiti's 1991 election is daunting for both supporters and fierce opponents of the Lavalas Movement.
"Our rulers, notes Aristide's prime minister Yvon Neptune, still 'want a democracy without the people,' but rather than simply exclude them from politics today's goal is instead 'to reduce the people to puppets or clowns.'" (PXXXIII, Damming The Flood)
In my quest to understand why Haitians still so passionately care about Titid (the little Priest as his supporters affectionately call President Aristide) especially when they face so many other problems, I imagined having a president that actually represented me/us (Kossacks)? Although I don't have a poll to back this theory up, I am pretty sure that the vast majority of us would make great sacrifices to be able to vote for Meteor Blades for president. It would represent a shift in the social and economic power structure in the US. Imagine the kind of grassroots organizing it would require to upset the political status quo.
ISMAEL HOSSEIN-ZADEH, CounterPunch, "Race to the Bottom," here.
It is not surprising then that, instead of calling for bold expansionary policies of growth promotion and job creation, US and European government heads, their economic policy makers and the collusive corporate media are frequently calling for “tolerance” and “endurance” in the face of economic hardship, exhorting the unemployed and economically distressed that they “need to be patient” because, as President Obama has occasionally put it, “the road to economic recovery does not follow a straight line,” and that “it's going to take some time to fix it." (The President made this statement on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." Mr. Stephanopoulos obligingly spared the President the obvious question: “why is it, Mr. President, that fixing the enormously expensive problem of Wall Street gamblers did not take much time, but reviving the economy and creating jobs, which would take only a fraction of the cost of the Wall Street bailout, would take a long time?”)
In my scenario To further infuriate the political elite, let's say that MB refused to play by the typical Washington rules. He represented his base, fought for Net Neutrality and fair trade to the shock and horror of our political class. Now I am sure that Haiti experts have a better way of explaining this than I do. I was trying to understand the scope and significance of the Lavalas movement and the threat it represents to the IC.
President Meteor Blades would represent We the People -- the vast majority of US citizens that are suffering from declining wages and work conditions. It is difficult to imagine what that would be like. As a Us citizen (and kossack:-)) that is the closest comparison that I can think of to help understand what it would be like to be part of a popular movement, elect a President, give citizens a voice only to have the US elite and let's say Mexico, France and Canada oust MB from office not once but twice?
How far would our rulers go to crush our movement?
To induce Aristide to accept these things and to placate the army that had overthrown him the Bush and Clinton administrations had an equally simple strategy - they colluded in the killing of his supporters. All through the interminable negotiations between Aristide and Cedras, explains Allan Nairn, "the US had a very clear, systematic policy of supporting the forces of terror in Haiti while at the same time, back in Washington, twisting Aristide's arm. He had a gun to his head, figuratively, just as his supporters had guns to their heads literally. It was outright political extortion."(P48, Damming The Flood)
COHA that is called "The International Republican Institute: Promulgating Democracy of Another Variety"
Like other partners of the IRI, the HDP understands very well that in order to replace the unruly threat of "popular democracy" it's helpful to work in several constituencies at once. The values associated with "democratization," "pluralism" and "moderation" have for some time now been indistinguishable from those of the transnational elite, and are perfectly compatible with the preservation if not intensification of global inequalities. (P100, Damming The Flood)
I have been a loyal and dependable Democrat since I can remember. Yet the only Presidential candidate I voted for instead of just voting against the other guy was Barack Obama. (I won't get into what I think about his performance so far except to say, I am not sure that we know what he is up against with the powers that be.) It was an historic election. We in 2008 voted for the US's first African American President who won with an impressive 53% of the vote. I never thought of Obama as a liberal or even someone that would look out for my best interest. I thought and still think he was the best of the realistic choices we had for President. Imagine if we shifted the entire spectrum and Meteor Blades was President.
The austerity program that in the summer of 1994 Aristide was obliged to accept in exchange for an end to military rule and FRAPH intimidation was designed, in the words of one of the main authors of that program, to redistribute some wealth from the poor to the rich.(P54, Damming The Flood)
Action Alert: |
Action Alert: Election:
The International Community Should Support Prompt and Fair
Elections in Haiti. Fanmi Lavalas has the support of the largest percentage of the Haitian electorate and
elections that forbid their presence is essentially undemocratic and disenfranchising the choice of the vast
majority of Haitians (h/t ny brit expat). The US and International Community should not fund illegitimate elections.
It is like the Democratic Party being excluded from our upcoming midterm elections.
To stand in solidarity with Haiti at this crucial time, please contact US government officials, your local
senators, and representatives and tell them not to fund illegitimate elections that Lavalas must be allowed to
participate in free, democratic elections. The US should withhold aid for the elections unless the ban is lifted.
The ban on Lavalas in the upcoming elections must be revoked.
White House: 202-456-1111
Email at www.whitehouse.gov
US State Department: 202-647-4000
Congressional switchboard: 202-224-3121
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Additional Action Alerts:
TransAfrica Forum
Stand up and be counted (Partners in Health)
HAITI ACTION COMMITTEE ACTION ALERT
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti
Jubilee USA
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Let the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission (IHRC) know how they are doing. but please read this first.
Contact Us
We want to hear from you.
If you have general questions or comments, please email us at: info@cirh.ht
For press inquiries please contact: press@cirh.ht
Phone number: (509) 25 19 31 31
Mantra from Aristide's 1990 campaign:
"Alone we are weak, together we are strong; all together we are Lavalas, the flood [yon se`l nou feb, ansanm nou fo, ansanm nou se Lavalas]."
Aristide Damming The Flood, (pg. xxxiv)
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Be sure not to miss JDH's Summer Reading list.. Please take a couple of minutes to see/complete (takes 5 minutes) today's action alert directly below today's topic. Join us for today's news discussion and more.
Top Storiy: See comments for Today's News Update: |
TOP STORY:
Haiti’s election circus continues, and Wyclef Jean won’t take no for an answer.
Why? There’s a term for it. Instead of holding a free and fair election, where all parties, candidates and voters openly participate, this is a “demonstration election.”
As defined by Edward Herman and Frank Brodhead in their book, “Demonstration Elections,” the purpose of a demonstration election is to substitute the form of democracy for its substance, in order to prevent real grassroots democracy. Yes, the purpose of a demonstration election is to prevent grassroots democracy.
Internally Displaced Haitians Faced with Forced Expulsions and Looming Hurricanes will Beat Pots and Pans to Protest Horrific Conditions in Camps
The fifteen camps are calling for international solidarity according to their press release: “Tomorrow we will raise our hands in the air and call out loudly, sound the trumpet to wake up the authorities, unblock the cotton deafening their ears. We will make a concert of noise in the camps, strike and beat and sound the trumpet loudly to ask the Preval / Bel lerive government to respect our constitutional right to housing, food, health, school, work, water, electricity.”
“We refuse to participate in your election while under tarps, while being evicted from tents, without respect for our basic rights. We’re asking for houses, towhich we have a right. This is no gift, it is our right under article 22 of the March 29, 1987 Constitution, which guarantees the Haitian state provide decent lodgings to all its citizens.”
“The law is perfectly clear,” according to human rights attorney Mario Joseph. “There is a problem of political will and a problem of exclusion. The poor have been excluded from their land for years, and are now excluded from the process determining their rights to lodgings.”
Have Rich Countries Forgotten Haiti? Key Facts on International Assistance.
The UN Office of the Special Envoy for Haiti has been tracking international assistance (PDF) from the top 30 donors, and despite the dire situation on the ground and an immediate need for funding, billions have yet to be distributed. Not including debt relief, the top 22 donors pledged an amazing $2.6 billion just for fiscal year 2010, yet five months later, only 20 percent of this ($538.3 million) has been distributed. However, looking at where that money comes from reveals that few nations – and very few high-income countries at all – have contributed to this. Over $200 million of that total has come from multilateral organizations such as the IDB, World Bank and IMF. Among countries, the top three are Spain, which has distributed $126.3 million, Japan, with $56.7 million, and Brazil with $55 million. The United States, which pledged $898.4 million in 2010, has not distributed or even committed any money so far.
Catholic Church is Violating Rights of Internally Displaced People:
More than 1,200 families are under threat from the authority of the Catholic Church in Carrefour to abandon the space where they have been living since the January 12th earthquake. The Salesian school has a large camp for internally displaced people (IDPs), victims of Haiti’s earthquake. Threats of a forcible eviction began more than a month ago where the school’s administrators paid thugs to burn and destroy the tents of victims even though they have no other place to go.
Haitian history didn't begin after the earthquake
Kevin Pina/Latin Waves
Konstitisyon se papie, bayonet se fe
(The constitution is paper, bayonets are steel)
"I believe that IJDH, as small as it is, offers something important to Haitians who continue, amazingly, to believe in and struggle for genuine democracy and for human rights that are meant for all humans. To build a justice system that works for the Haitian poor rather than against them will require precisely the sort of pragmatic solidarity embraced by IJDH"
— Paul Farmer, Co-Founder, Partners in Health
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RELIABLE SOURCE ARTICLES:
Any articles that we missed? Please leave comment. Will revise the list soon. Any recommendations?
RELIABLE SOURCE ARTICLES:
Any articles that we missed? Please leave comment. Will revise the list soon. Any recommendations?
History
Aristide,
Agriculture,
Immigration,
Trade Policy,
Vulture Capitalism,
(will add more articles).
Video:
Brian Concannon and Paul Farmer Video, Change Haiti Can Believe In: here,
Haiti Dreaming for More Than $3 a day Watch, here: Life and Debt, here:
Edwidge Danticat on US immigration detentions 60 minutes, here: Jeremy Scahill on Democracy Now! responds to Clinton being appointed as UN envoy to Haiti, here: Reuters, here:The Tonton Macoutes (VSN) part 1/2, here.
US has always funded/trained/supported Haiti s biggest killers pt. 1 (end pt.1/beg. pt. 2)
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NEWS ORGANIZATIONS:
Al Jazeera English, here; AlterNet, here; BBC, here; Caribbean Net News, here;
CNN, here; COHA, here; Common Dreams.org, here: gaurdian. co.uk, here;
Huffington Post, here; IPS, here; MiamiHerald.com, here; NPR, here; ReliefWeb, here;
The Root, here; Reuters, here.; NewsNow: (Haiti), here; Upside Down World, here.
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Aid - Change?
Haitian history didn't begin after the earthquake. Kevin Pina/Latin Waves, here.
Haitian history didn't begin after the earthquake. Kevin Pina/Latin Waves, here.
IJDH, “We Became Garbage to Them,” here.
Nicole Lee, "Haiti: An Opportunity For A New Model," here.
Mark Schuller, "Falling through the cracks or unstable foundations?" here
IJDH, “Haitians in IDP Camps are living better now than before the earthquake? Are you kidding me?” here
Kim Ives, "Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction," here.
CIRH, Interim Haiti Recovery Commission here, Clinton & Bellerive co-chairs, 26 members 13 foreigners and 13 of Haiti's elite business people. One of which Reginald Boulos was a backer of both coups. Another memberGarry Lissade, the former lawyer for Cedras during the 1993 Governor's Island post-coup negotiations.
Mark Schuller, "Tectonic Shifts? The upcoming donors' conference for Haiti" here,
CounterPunch, "How NGOs are Profiting Off a Grave Situation: Haiti and the Aid Racket" here,
More Articles, here..
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Join us Sunday's for book day : Current book is Damming The Flood: Haiti, Aristide, And The Politics Of Containment, by Peter Hallward: Chapter 5: |
This is our book list so far:
Isabel Allende (h/t Deoliver47): Island Beneath the Sea, here;
Jean-Bertrand Aristide:: In the Parish of the Poor, here; Eyes of the Heart here;
Beverly Bell: Walking on Fire, here;
Edwidge Danticat: Brother, I'm Dying here; The Farming of Bones here; Krik? Krak! here; Breath, Eyes, Memory here;
Paul Farmer: The Uses of Haiti here; Partner To The Poor: A Paul Farmer Reader here; Getting Haiti Right This Time: The U.S. and the Coup here;
Peter Hallward: Damming The Flood here (2010 updated edition will be out soon. You can pre-order it now) here. h/ty NY brit expat published date is 11/30/10);
C.L.R. James: The Black Jacobins here, (h/t Deoliver47);
Erica James: Democratic Insecurities: Violence, Trauma, and Intervention in Haiti,here;
Tracy Kidder: Mountains Beyond Mountains here;
Maurice Lemoine: Bitter Sugar: Slaves Today in the Caribbean [1985] here;
Paule Marshall: The Chosen Place, The Timeless People here;
Randall Robinson, An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, From Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President, here;
Timothy T. Schwartz: Travesty in Haiti here;
Amy Wilentz: The Rainy Season - Haiti after Duvalier here;
IJDH, Summer Reading list: here.
PIH has a new website here; They have a recommended reading list here; a book list, links to websites with action alerts, and articles.
videos:
Aristide and the Endless Revolution here; Life and Debt here; The Agronomist here; Poto Mitan here.
Any suggestions? We are looking for books, articles, websites where we can get accurate information about Haiti. Please share any information.
I found one. The World Traveler - Haiti page.: This website has links to articles about Haiti and it has excerpts from books including The Uses of Haiti and Damming The Flood.
A note about ratings listed here: We have looked up all of the charities listed here and we've put ratings next to the ones that have actually been rated. It looks like this: (****/A). The number of stars (1-4) indicates the rating from Charity Navigator and is also a clickable link to a detailed review of that particular charity. The letter grade is from AIP and is explained here.
NGOs: |
The Aristide Foundation for Democracy (AFD) was created in 1996 by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide (the first democratically elected president of Haiti) with a simple principle in mind: "The promise of democracy can only be fulfilled if all sectors of Haitian society are able to actively participate in the democratic life of the nation." |
Haiti Emergency Relief Foundation (HERF):
Haiti’s grassroots movement – including labor unions, women’s groups, educators and human rights activists, support committees for political prisoners, and agricultural cooperatives – are funneling needed aid to those most hit by the earthquake. They are doing what they can – with the most limited of funds – to make a difference. Please take this chance to lend them your support. All donations to the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund will be forwarded to our partners on the ground to help them rebuild what has been destroyed.
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Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti:
Mission
We strive to work with the people of Haiti in their non-violent struggle for the consolidation of constitutional democracy, jus tice and human rights, by distributing objective and accurate information on human rights conditions in Haiti, pursuing legal cases, and cooperating with human rights and solidarity groups in Haiti and abroad.
IJDH draws on its founders’ internationally-acclaimed success accompanying Haiti’s poor majority in the fields of law, medicine and social justice activism. We seek the restoration of the rule of law and democracy in the short term, and work for the long-term sustainable change necessary to avert Haiti’s next crisis.
"IJDH is simply the most reliable source for information and analysis on human rights in
Haiti." — Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) |
Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti:
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L'Athletique D'Haiti:
“While many children and parents see the club as a way to make it to the Haitian National team and also as a route ?to college scholarships or professional teams outside of Haiti, there’s more to the program than sports. By encouraging youngsters from wealthier families to compete with those from the slums, Robert Duval is also chipping away at the barriers of long divided Haitian society. And as Duval points out, ‘Some of these kids have a lot of talent, not only for soccer. Maybe it’s school or music or writing poetry. But sports will lift them to the next level of life.’” ?- Finbar O’Reilly, National Post, Canada
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The Lambi Fund (****) is a secular non-profit nonprofit whose mission is "to assist the popular, democratic movement in Haiti. Its goal is to help strengthen civil society as a necessary foundation of democracy and development. The fund channels financial and other resources to community-based organizations that promote the social and economic empowerment of the Haitian people." They support "projects that embrace the following principles: non-violent, non-partisan, community-based, promoting the advancement of women, using education and training for empowerment, and promoting the overall democratic movement." |
Social Networking Efforts: |
New Media Advocacy Project
The New Media Advocacy Project combats poverty and human rights violations by using digital video, Internet social networking, and interactive media to strengthen social justice legal advocacy in courts, legislatures, and communities.
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Past diaries in this series: |
The World Traveler - Haiti page.: This website has links to articles about Haiti and it has excerpts from books including The Uses of Haiti and Damming The Flood.
Be sure to also see diaries by Bev Bell for informed ground-level information on Haiti's needs.
FishOutofWater takes a moment to explore the benefits of Partners in Health's commitment to solar powered health centers.
Meteor Blades points the way to a better and more sustainable future for Haitians in Haiti Could Use a New Deal.
As the MSM (in the United States) turns attention away from Haiti, Deoliver47 reminds us that things are not suddenly all better: Raining Disease and More Deaths.
For some good pre-earthquake background on Haiti, see Daisy Cutter's Book Review: "Damming the Flood" by Peter Hallward, pt 1. This diary was published in July 2008 and presents a history of Haiti up to 1999 using Hallward's book as a reference. Excellent.
ShelterBox:carolina stargazer is still watching the store. The next ShelterBox diary is planned for Tuesday morning, but activity in diary will be monitored until then. Matching funds are available.
Sunday is Haiti diary book day. Here is the Book List
UPCOMING DIARIES
Tuesday:
Thursday: RunawayRose
Sunday: allie123
If you would like to volunteer to contribute a diary to continue this series, please volunteer in the comments below. Norbrook has created a Google documents file with the source code for the first version of the diary with the NGO list. allie123 created a Google doc for the new series Justice, Not Charity. However, because we are cutting back to 2 or 3 diaries a week we will be adding a focus and new information to each diary now.
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The icons and March 13 formatting revision of this diary series are courtesy of the html artist known on Daily Kos as Pluto. The "Help Haiti" image at the top of the diary that has become the "logo" of this series is courtesy of AuntKat. Big thank you to swampus for maintaining the google doc for months.