Why The US Owes Haiti Billions

A CNN crew spotted police stopping the two men Thursday afternoon. The CNN crew heard 4 gunshots while getting out of the car, saw 2 men on ground, shot in back. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/americas/01/21/haiti.police.shooting/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

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.

In 1804, when Haiti achieved its freedom from France in the world’s first successful slave revolution, the United States refused to recognize the country. The US continued to refuse recognition to Haiti for 60 more years. Why? Because the US continued to enslave millions of its own citizens and feared recognizing Haiti would encourage slave revolution in the US.

After the 1804 revolution, Haiti was the subject of a crippling economic embargo by France and the US. US sanctions lasted until 1863. France ultimately used its military power to force Haiti to pay reparations for the slaves who were freed. The reparations were 150 million francs. (France sold the entire Louisiana territory to the US for 80 million francs!)

Haiti was forced to borrow money from banks in France and the US to pay reparations to France. A major loan from the US to pay off the French was finally paid off in 1947. The current value of the money Haiti was forced to pay to French and US banks? Over $20 Billion – with a big B.

The US occupied and ruled Haiti by force from 1915 to 1934. President Woodrow Wilson sent troops to invade in 1915. Revolts by Haitians were put down by US military – killing over 2000 in one skirmish alone. For the next nineteen years, the US controlled customs in Haiti, collected taxes, and ran many governmental institutions. How many billions were siphoned off by the US during these 19 years?

From 1957 to 1986 Haiti was forced to live under US backed dictators “Papa Doc” and “Baby Doc” Duvlaier. The US supported these dictators economically and militarily because they did what the US wanted and were politically “anti-communist” - now translatable as against human rights for their people. Duvalier stole millions from Haiti and ran up hundreds of millions in debt that Haiti still owes. Ten thousand Haitians lost their lives. Estimates say that Haiti owes $1.3 billion in external debt and that 40% of that debt was run up by the US-backed Duvaliers.

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.

In 2002, the US stopped hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to Haiti which were to be used for, among other public projects like education, roads. These are the same roads which relief teams are having so much trouble navigating now!

In 2004, the US again destroyed democracy in Haiti when they supported the coup against Haiti’s elected President Aristide.

Haiti is even used for sexual recreation just like the old time plantations. Check the news carefully and you will find numerous stories of abuse of minors by missionaries, soldiers and charity workers. Plus there are the frequent sexual vacations taken to Haiti by people from the US and elsewhere. What is owed for that? What value would you put on it if it was your sisters and brothers?

US based corporations have for years been teaming up with Haitian elite to run sweatshops teeming with tens of thousands of Haitians who earn less than $2 a day.

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.

Bill is Legal Director for the Center for Constitutional Rights and a long-time Haiti human rights advocate. For more on the history of exploitation of Haiti by the US see: Paul Farmer, THE USES OF HAITI; Peter Hallward, DAMNING THE FLOOD; and Randall Robinson, AN UNBROKEN AGONY).

In common style, whether it is America, Europe or the Caribbean, we see that the police have a common tactic of slandering the victims of police violence.  They portray the victims as criminals to make them seem as if they deserved what they got even if it was a mistake.  In this way the police hope that their own crime won’t seem as bad.  But we here at Malcolm-Che see through the slander and lies, we hope you do too.  Brenton Smith was murdered in cold blood by the police, something the police wouldn’t even admit at first!  Then, after they admitted it was a policeman’s bullet that killed him, they implied the youth was involved in a robbery even though he was unarmed at the time of his murder!  How many more teens will be killed recklessly by police before something changes?!  Our solidarity really goes out to the family of Brenton Smith right now.  Please check out the family’s website at the bottom of the article.

Slain Teen’s Reputation Sullied By Police

Hector Smith, father of Brenton Smith; the teenager who died after being shot by police in July, attempts to comfort his mother at a press conference yesterday. (Photo/Torrell Glinton)

http://www.bahamasb2b.com/news/story.php?title=slain-teens-reputation-sullied-by-police-1

The bereaved family of slain teen Brenton Smith accused members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force of leaking “misinformation” in order to “sully” his character and muddy the circumstances surrounding the young man’s death.

These accusations were strongly denied by Commissioner of Police Reginald Ferguson.

The claim was made by the family’s attorney, Damian Gomez, at a press conference held yesterday to refute allegations that appeared in a recent tabloid article.

“What they are attempting to do is to create the impression that the late Brenton Smith was a criminal and (you) need not be concerned with how he came to his death.

“Even he had been a criminal, which we say he wasn’t, he was unarmed. No form of walkie-talkie or other form of communication was found on him - there’s absolutely no basis for believing that he had (anything) to do with the robbery whatsoever,” said Mr. Gomez at a press conference at Gibson and Co yesterday.

” … Public confidence in the police force is not engendered by the sullying of victims,” he added

But the commissioner said the argument had no factual basis.

“Why should we leak information like that? (The RBPF) made an official statement on the death of the boy and it was widely published in the media. There is no way we are connected to that rumour or whatever was reported (in the tabloid) and we have nothing to do with that statement,” he said during a brief interview yesterday.

He offered no further comment.

Mr Gomez also questioned the RBPF’s firearm training procedures. He claimed that the unarmed teen was shot at “nearly point blank range” as he cut through a popular shortcut which leads to the nearby City Market food store on Village Road.

He also dispelled early reports of a cross-fire between police and suspected armed robbers and claimed only one officer was in the area when Brenton was shot.

“There was a police jeep that passed Brenton Smith almost 300 feet away from where he came to be shot. He walked that distance, as he was turning his body to get into the property … The supermarket property. A police officer shouted ‘Freeze’ and immediately shot him.

“He was unarmed, he stumbled backwards, he fell, and ten minutes later he died,” Mr Gomez said, flanked by emotional members of the Smith family.

This information was gleaned through his firm’s independent investigation into the shooting, Mr Gomez said.

” … More care ought to be taken by police when discharging a firearm at a person … One has to wonder about the training of police officers,” he said.

The “traumatised” family wants an expedited coroner’s inquest into the youth’s death. They also want the officer in question to be removed from active duty pending the outcome of the inquest and will fight for criminal charges to be filed against anyone found culpable’ of Brenton’s death.

They also have plans to file a civil suit against the relevant agencies.

The 2008 graduate of St Augustine’s College - who family described as an ambitious teen - was shot around 8 pm on July, 9 and died a short time later.

Officers were on the lookout for two armed robbers who held up the food store a short time before Brenton was killed.

Police have acknowledged that a ballistics report revealed the teen was shot by a police service weapon.

They said the case was turned over to the Coroner’s Court, however, a date for the matter has not been scheduled.

Last week a tabloid reported that the teen was on bail for charges stemming from an alleged stabbing incident. Brenton was not convicted of any charges and his family maintains his innocence.

A website has been set up in his honour www.brentonhectorsmith.com and a special service will be held in the parking lot of City Market on Village Road tonight.

Rioting inmates refuse to be taken back to prison

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161484139

Martinique demonstrators celebrate end of strike

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jmweJ8SzMduOZH3iKJMPyKFo2Y5wD96U25J81

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators are marching and singing in the streets of Martinique after officials signed an agreement ending a monthlong strike on the French Caribbean island.

A crowd of about 20,000 people turned up Saturday to celebrate the resolution, which includes salary increases for low-wage earners. The pact matches an agreement that ended a 44-day strike on the sister French island of Guadeloupe on March 4.

Protesters have lifted blockades, and businesses have begun to reopen since negotiators reached the agreement on Wednesday. The general strike had turned violent as some protesters attacked business people and set cars on fire.

Martinique is the birth place of Franz Fanon, an inspirational freedom fighter against the French colonists during the Algerian war for independence. His name is invoked as an inspiration for such leaders as Malcolm X, Huey Newton and Dead Prez. We salute the people of Martinique for their courageous efforts to increase their meager standard of living. The militancy displayed is truly admirable.
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Martinique strike turns violent, mayor urges calm

FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique: A general strike in the French Caribbean island of Martinique turned violent on Friday as protesters clashed with business owners who organized their own peaceful protest.

Hundreds of police launched tear gas as protesters threw rocks and bottles and set cars and garbage bins on fire.

Martinique’s prefect, Ange Mancini, said four police officers were slightly injured. He asked residents to remain indoors.

Employers were confronted as they held a peaceful protest and asked Mancini to allow businesses to reopen. Protesters responded with roadblocks across Fort-de-France to halt the convoy of cars that stretched for several kilometers (miles).

Police said in a statement that a group of protesters marched toward the convoy and began to hit those inside the cars, which they also damaged.

“We were caught in a trap,” said Jean-Francois Hayot, a business union member who criticized police as slow to react. “There were people who were clobbered and their cars vandalized.”

Police said some business owners were slightly injured but did not have more details.

Union leaders called the protest against the strike a provocation by the business elites.

“Business owners and salaried employers who want to work do not have the right to protest!” said Juvenal Remir, president of Codema-Modef, a large agriculture union.

Strike negotiations were suspended for the day.

Union leaders blamed the chaos on the bekes, a minority group descendent of slaveholders that controls most of the economy.

“The provocation of the beke employers, in wanting to come to Fort-de-France, has produced these predictable effects and that translates into the same arrogance they express in the negotiations,” said Philippe Pierre-Charles, member of the CMDT union that represents hundreds workers.

An agreement reached earlier this week to raise workers’ pay by 200 euros (US$252) was not accepted by all unions. Discussions over farming, education and other issues are still ongoing.

In the nearby island of Guadeloupe, union leaders have agreed to suspend a 44-day-old strike as most of their demands continue to be met.

The strikes on both islands paralyzed the economy, closed schools and prompted thousands of tourists to cancel their vacations.

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/03/07/news/CB-French-Caribbean-Unrest.php