Haiti

From Labor Exchange. Nelson Valdes I believe is a SOC professor at University of New Mexico:

"NELSON VALDES HAS
Some Thoughts on the So-Called Rescue Operation"

"First, the people who have been "rescued" and taken out of the country are the non-Haitians. That has been particularly the case with Europeans, Americans and tourists."

"Second, 4 days have gone by without any real distribution of medical supplies, food or water to the people who need them the most."

"What it all indicates is that there is a clear set of priorities and the Haitians do not seem to be the first in line. What is going on is that the rescuers seem to have a widespread fear of the poor and desperate black Haitian population. Yet, the Haitian people have been extraordinarily patient despite the fact that their whole world has collapsed around them. Supplies will be distributed ONLY when the people providing the assistance feel "secure." Thus, the troops, the police, the security,, the moving around the people providing "aid" [at some point in the future]."

"Interestingly, the people who are waiting have not been mobilized to work on their own behalf. Rather, they are treated as if they were children, with no one providing them with the tools to help themselves."

"This is outrageous. They are behaving as outsiders who do not trust the natives, moreover fear them despite the fact that they are dying, and they are hungry, thirsty, sick, homeless, lost, with no future and with most of their families gone or lost. The Haitian chief of police, like most people in positions of authority, are foreigners appointed by the United Nations."

"Meanwhile, the natural political leader of the Haitians -Jean-Bertrand Aristide is not permitted to enter his own country."

"In fact, the very person who ousted him -George W. Bush, has been appointed by President Obama to help "supervise" the "reconstruction" of Haiti. Meanwhile, for all intent and purposes there is no longer, except symbolically, a Haitian government. If the government did little before, now it is not there at all. The Dominican Republic's borders is also closed to the Haitians."

"Perhaps those in charge think that a few more thousand Haitians should die until their numbers are easier to control by those who have come to their "rescue"... Then the place will be "secured" and stability will be attained."

Meanwhile, the Haitians are to remain patient, without food or water or aid to rescue their friends and relatives. Haitians are not even informed as to what to expect or when.

"Meanwhile, US television has begun broadcasting about voodoo burials, et al. Of course, the US mass media has made the whole tragedy another narcissistic US story about how Americans handle disasters."

And this is Juan Gonzalez on Thursday (four days ago) on Democracy Now:

"President Obama, listening to him talking about that we’re doing military flyovers to assess the damage and prepare our aid. But while the United States is assessing the situation, there have all been reports that a China airplane, from halfway around the world in China, landed yesterday with supplies and equipment to help the people of Haiti. The Cuban foreign minister announced that Cuba has 400 people already in Haiti that have been working on a—medical people working on a mission. They’ve already set up two field hospitals and, just yesterday alone, treated 800 people. And Venezuela, President Chavez, sent a plane that landed last night with firefighters and medical personnel and other equipment. So these other countries are moving faster than we are here in the United States, even though we have these enormous resources."

And don't forget the history of Haiti. It's not a coincidence that Haiti was the the first Black nation-state--due to the most victorious slave rebellion in the Americas--and is the most (actively) impoverished country in the Western Hemisphere. Haiti's refusal to submit to imperial domination was never forgotten by the U.S. (Haiti's neocolonizer), France (Haiti's colonizer), other rich European countries, the G8, IMF, WTO, World Bank, and the structures of global power. Be wary of who is offering "aid."

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