This is the 194th diary since the earthquake in Haiti. The first diary was by Dallasdoc and previous diaries are linked below. This is the Justice, Not Charity! edition of the diary. I am writing these book diaries because from my concern about Haiti after the earthquake I became shocked by the truth of Haiti’s history and what really is needed to help the Haitians. I have learned so much reading about it’s history and the prevailing distortions that I’ve taken on this project to educate myself and share what I’ve been reading with interested people here on Daily Kos.
I’ve included a lot of names of people and organizations in this diary because these names come up in the news a lot and I hope it will help us all determine who is credible and who is a propagandist.
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.
Join us Sunday's for book day : Current book is Damming The Flood: Haiti, Aristide, And The Politics Of Containment, by Peter Hallward: Chapter 4 Pt 2:
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Chapter 4: 2000-03: Investing in Pluralism:
Quick Background
In the first half of the chapter we learned about how the US used an elaborate set up of front organizations to funnel money to anti-Aristide groups, while simultaneously starving the Aristide administration of promised aid money. The USAID was used as a tool to funnel money to organizations such as International Foundation for Election systems (IFES) and International Republican Institute (IRI), which in turn funneled the money to anti-Aristide groups. We saw the US launch a grassroots disinformation campaign, and using aid money as incentive, recruit groups from a cross section of Haiti's civil society. For part one of chapter for click here.
Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly and Fox and Friends are EVERYWHERE!
What if 99% of our television and radio outlets were owned by FOX (NewsCorps) including all of the fifty most influential outlets? Imagine that! That is how it is in Haiti. In Haiti the target of the smear campaign was President Aristide and the Lavalas movement. It is important to acknowledge the power of the Lavalas movement and Aristide, because despite this gigantic smear campaign Aristide remains Haiti's most popular politician, by far!
The monopolization of media outlets in the decade since the first coup was one of the elites’ biggest accomplishments. It would prove invaluable in the smear campaign. The elite were prepared for Aristide's return. By 2000 they had already established a negative narrative that the press would pound into the public consciousness.
But I am getting ahead of myself. It is important, first, to understand how the US used tax payers’ money to smear Haiti's first democratically elected President.
The Convergence Democratique (CD) had little to no real power. This group of USAID-funded organizations was ruled by the US. They just happened to share interests with the US and International Community (IC), which were focused upon exploiting and oppressing poor people. When the CD was unwilling to compromise with President Aristide It gave US officials like, Secretary Powell, an opportunity to look moderate even though the US controlled the CD and was calling the shots. If the US had wanted a compromise, there would have been a compromise between the Lavalas government and the Lavalas opposition. However at a meeting in Meech Lake Canada, the US, France and Canada had already decided that the ousting of Aristide was the only acceptable outcome.
The USAID funded virtually all of the anti-Aristide organizations. To give the appearance of legitimacy the US used an extremely convoluted method of funneling money through various organizations. Between 2000-2004 the Bush administration further convoluted financial distribution by sub-contracting part of its disinformation campaign to "neutral" Canada. France and the European union were also backers of various groups that were in the CD and Group 184 (G184). For the groups to have legitimacy, it was necessary to hide the fact that all the organizations were US or IC funded.
Under the guise of balancing Lavalas "propaganda," the Bush administration used IFES and IRI to fund anti-Lavalas journalist and media groups. Since 1991 Haiti's morally repugnant elite (MRE) had been purchasing Haiti's "independent" media outlets. The Boulos family owned the right wing newspaper and a large radio station. Andy Apaid is also connected to the media establishment. Of the 25 radio and newspaper outlets, 20 were owned by members of the G184, and they had been spreading anti-Lavalas propaganda since 1991 after the first coup. There were 50 radio stations in Port-au-Prince, and all of the important ones were anti-Aristide. "By 2003 most independent newspapers and radio stations were either members or associates of the G184, and the most powerful of them belonged to the bitterly partisan National Association of Haitian Media (ANMH), an organization of elite media owners that stood high on the list of IRI grantees." (P108) Towards the end of 2003 the ANMH banned President Aristide from all of their stations.
The media constantly repeated claims that Aristide was corrupt, was a dictator and an illegitimate President: he had only gained power because his supporters ( referred to as bandits) were used to intimidate people into voting for him. It is worth recounting a comment by Karl Rove:
We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort f out. We're history's actors... and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.
Ron Suskind, New York Times, October 17, 2004
This is part of the "sensitization" process discussed in the first half of the chapter. The US and the elite owned and or funded media outlets would all repeat similar anti-Lavalas propaganda. The media outlets would continually report outrageous and false accusations about President Aristide. As the accusations became more familiar to the public, the accusations would continue to be repeated by numerous outlets, so they gained legitimacy. The media would also elevate the status and power of the unelectable Opposition Parties. All of the Lavalas Opposition Parties combined could not get more than 15% of the vote. The media would claim that anti-Lavalas Demonstrations, where maybe 100 showed up—that there were tens of thousands of anti-government protesters.
To make matters worse for the majority of Haitians, in addition to being bombarded with anti-Aristide media, there was a high level of illiteracy and limited mobility due to neglect of public infrastructure. Haiti's elite began using media outlets to smear the Lavalas movement in 1991 after the first coup. By the lead up to the second coup, virtually all Haitian media outlets were owned by the anti-Aristide elite and received funding from the US.
US policy officials were aware of the need to control the media in order for their anti-Lavalas disinformation campaign to take hold. In 1993, a security guard at the US embassy in Haiti leaked a document that states the need for the US to use media outlets to counteract the Lavalas message. The security guard was murdered a few days after he leaked the document. The US, France, the EU and Canada all used the media to run broad, viscous and effect smear campaigns.
No story was too far-fetched, so long as the appropriate "bandits" were responsible. Student demonstrations were given sinister injections by police, Aristide had sacrificed children i a vaudou ceremony, Lavalas kidnappers had torn out the eyes of a baby ... Though no such students, children or babies ever materialized, the independent media faithfully reported an endless stream of such fictions as fact. During these same years, as Haiti Progres points out, "a media campaign was also launched in the United States to split the Haitian community and to undermine the support of the Congressional Black Caucus" and other pro-Lavalas advocacy groups. Radio stations like Vision 2000 provided additional programming for sympathetic stations in Florida and New York. In these same states, US ambassador Curran became a regular voice on anti-Aristide radio, as did still more independent analysts from the Haiti Democracy Project. "Here's the way it works," Kevin Pina explains: "Metropole reports a fabrication; Ap and RFI pick it up for their wire services, then Kiskeya and others report it agin in Haiti backed by the credibility of the international press. The politive feedback loop of disinformation for the opposition in now complete." (P.111)
The New York Times’ role in spreading US propaganda about Haiti was in line with its role in spreading US propaganda about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. It was used to spread the disinformation campaign to US liberals. And based on comments here in Daily Kos, they were extremely effective. Most foreign policy reporters aren't experts on the countries they cover. When the international press visited Haiti, they mostly stayed at one of two elite Hotels. They relied on members of Haiti's elite for stories.
Most international correspondents know very little about Haiti and tend to spend a large part of their very occasional visits to the country at just one or two media-friendly elite hotels -- hotels which during the crisis of 2003-04 were literally staked out by Evans Paul, Andy Apaid and a whole team of other talking heads from G184 and the CD. It is scarcely possible to find an article about Haiti during Aristide's second administration in newspapers like the New York Times, the Guardian, La Monde or Liberation that doesn't emphasize its apparent corruption, autocracy and complicity in the abuse of human rights. Confronted by a sustained string of allegations along these lines, the causal consumer of mainstream commentary was encouraged to believe that what was at stake had nothing to do with a protracted battle between a poor majority and a wealthy elite but was instead just a convoluted free-for-all in which both sides were equally at fault. Rather than a political battle of principals and priorities, the fight for Haiti became just another instance of the petty corruption and mass victimization that is widely assumed to characterize public life beyond the heavily guarded confines of western democracy. Rather than conditioned by radical class polarization or the mechanics of systematic exploitation, Aristide's demise has most often figured as yet another demonstration of perhaps the most consistent theme of the profoundly racist first-world commentary on the island: that poor non-white people remain incapable of governing themselves. (P 111 Damming The Flood)
HDP members as well as And Apaid and others are rgularly quoted by US media. Because of the propaganda, it is often hard to determine what to believe. I included many more names in last weeks’ diary to help people determine for themselves what information is credible..
Here is one of many articles that quotes a member of HDP:
Blurring the line? Quotes HDP as if reputable source?
Miami Herald, "Wyclef Jean can't run for president," here.
As the intrigue continued into the night, a somber Jean had held firm to his belief that he would be on the final list of candidates allowed to compete in the Nov. 28 presidential ballot, based on his conversation with Haitian President René Préval.
Most experts don't expect this election season will be peaceful.
``Will there be violence? Yes,'' said James Morrell, a longtime Haiti observer and executive director of the Haiti Democracy Project in Washington, D.C. ``The question is how strong and widespread.''
Already, Pétionville and other neighborhoods in the hills above Port-au-Prince have been the site of kidnappings, the United Nations and others say.
They add that some political figures are tapping gang leaders to instigate unrest and to carry out abductions to collect money to hire street protesters.
Join us Sunday's for book day : Current book is Damming The Flood: Haiti, Aristide, And The Politics Of Containment, by Peter Hallward: Chapter 4 Pt 2:
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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):
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.
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"The Haitian people are asking not for charity, but for justice."
The Uses of Haiti last paragraph pg. 307
"What, then is to be done? Speaking of events since the 1991 coup, Noam Chomsky has noted that "honest commentary would place all of this in the context of our unwavering opposition to freedom and human rights in Haiti for no less than 200 years." The first order of business, for citizens of the United States, might be a candid and careful assessment of our ruinous policies towards Haiti. Remorse is not a very fashionable sentiment. But for many, old-fashioned penitence might be the first step towards a new solidarity, a pragmatic solidarity that could supplant both our malignant policies of the past and the well -meaning but unfocused charity that does not respond to Haitian aspirations. The Haitian people are asking not for charity, but for justice."
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tout moun se moun —
(every human being is a human being) |
Action Alert:
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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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Mantra from Aristide's 1990 campaign:
"Alone we are week, 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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Top Story: See comments for Today's News Update:
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TOP STORY:
NYT, "Wyclef Jean Says He’ll Challenge Election Ruling," here:
Even with such brevity (and a capital “R”), Mr. Jean actually revealed the central conflict of his candidacy: When faced with a choice between charismatic celebrity and strict loyalty to laws that limit outside influence, which would Haiti choose?
Friday’s ruling seemed to indicate the latter. An election council spokesman, Richardson Dumel, said Sunday that there was no legal mechanism for contesting an election eligibility decision.
Reuters, "Wyclef not on Haiti candidates list-electoral source," here.
Roger Annis, Letter to CBC Vancouver, August 18, 2010, here.
To give an example, Haiti is headed towards a flawed presidential national election on November 28 in which its largest and most representative political party, the Fanmi Lavalas of deposed president Jean-Bertrand Aristide has been banned by the unconstitutional electoral authority. Nowhere is this news reported in Canada. How can Haiti rebuild without a representative and effective president and national government? What is the purpose of holding a national election if it will only increase division and tension within the country, not to speak of deepening class conflict? Why are Canada and other big powers in Haiti supporting such a flawed process?
Kim Yves, "IHRC Finally Meets," here.
La deuxième réunion de la CIRH, le mardi 17 août 2010 à l’hôtel Karibe de Pétion-Ville
On Aug. 17, just hours before it was to make public the offi cial list of presidential candidate disqualifi cations, Haiti’s nine-member Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) postponed the announcement until Friday, Aug. 20.
"Dye mon, gen mon."
Translation: Beyond the mountain is another mountain.
(A proverb of both patience and the recognition of how difficult life in Haiti is.)
ijdh:
"Anyone interested in democracy and rights has reason to be interested in Haiti. Over two centuries ago, Haitians challenged the notions of human rights taking root in Europe and the nascent United States, insisting that all people are human and that slavery could have no place in any republic worthy of the name. This was the beginning of the modern human rights movement."
— Paul Farmer, Co-Founder, Partners in Health
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Video:
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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. |
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.
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Aid - Change?
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
Bev Bell interview, "Making money from the earthquake in Haiti" listen here
IJDH, "Challenges Facing Haiti’s Justice Sector: Prepared for Congressional Briefing" here
Kim Ives, "Land Ownership at the Crux of Haiti's Stalled Reconstruction," here.
Kim Ives talks about it with Amy Goodman on Democracy Now!, 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,
HOPE legislation Summary of HOPE legislation here: This is the same trade policy that we usually have to force Haiti to accept. But now we art told to celebrate it as an accomplishment? When did sweatshops become reason to celebrate?
CounterPunch, "How NGOs are Profiting Off a Grave Situation: Haiti and the Aid Racket" here,
Democracy Now!, "Humanitarian Aid, New Colonialism?" here
More Articles, here..
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Please Support IJDH:
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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, justice 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)
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Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti: |
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Past diaries in this series:
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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: RunawayRose
Thursday: **Open**
Sunday: allie123 book diary
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.