Haiti 2010-2012:  News, History and Dynamics    

Haiti 7.0 Earthquake Caught On Tape:   Clip 1 | Clip 2 | Clip 3 | Haiti News Summaries
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Exposé: "Haiti: Two Years After The Earthquake ... Less Than 1% Went To The Haitians" "And, like the grains of rice aboard, the dollars mount into the hundreds of millions; even billions. According to some reports, the United States government, American individuals, families and humanitarian groups donated approximately $3 billion. That’s just from America with a total of something like $12 billion coming from all donor nations for funds to be disbursed. Still, somehow, no one seems quite sure precisely how many grains — or dollars — we’re talking about. The accounting seems to have a sliding scale that can move hundreds of millions of dollars one way or another. At the time of publication, President Bill Clinton, the UN Special Envoy to Haiti and the co-chair of overseeing the nation’s re-construction for the last two years, hasn’t responded to repeated requests by GlobalPost regarding specific aid and cash donation figures. [...] “In the end,” says Robert Fatton Jr., professor of government and foreign affairs at the University of Virginia and a son of and authority on contemporary Haiti, “if you read the reports — the UN Report and so on — you’ll see that actual Haitians got less than 1 percent of all the American money pledged.” In other words, Fatton explained, “99 percent of [the US money 'spent' went back to the US military, the State Department, NGOs and contractors. The money was clearly intended for Haiti, but it ended up returning to the same place it came from.”"  Note: So, Bush, Clinton and all the other scam artists took everyone for a ride with the FAKE 'concern' for Haitians. In fact, it became crystal clear that extraction of natural resources is the primary goal ... the very existence of the Haitian people is problematic to them.  "2 Years After Quake, 500,000 Homeless in Haiti"   

"Haiti And The International Aid Scam" [04/28/11] "Corruption takes many forms, and if the United States seems like it has less of it than many developing countries, this is partly because we have legalised so much of it. Election campaign contributions are only the most costly and debilitating form: a legalised bribery that, for example, gives the pharmaceutical and insurance companies a veto over healthcare policy and generally hollows out our limited form of democracy. This legalisation of corruption reached a new milestone last December when one Lewis Lucke, a long-time US Agency for International Development (USAID) official turned influence-peddler, sued a consortium of firms operating in Haiti for $492,000, for breach of contract. As Lucke would have it (sorry!), he was promised $30,000 a month, plus incentives, to use his influence to secure contracts for these nice fellas. He got them $20m worth of contracts, but they cut him off after two months. The defendants in the case are Ashbritt, a US contractor with a questionable track record, and the GB Group, one of the largest Haitian conglomerates. Together, they formed the Haiti Recovery Group, which they incorporated in the Cayman Islands, to bid on reconstruction contracts. [...]"  

"Haiti's Cholera 'To Be Far Worse'" [03/16/11] "The cholera epidemic affecting Haiti looks set to be far worse than officials had thought, experts fear. Rather than affecting a predicted 400,000 people, the diarrhoeal disease could strike nearly twice as many as this, latest estimates suggest. Aid efforts will need ramping up, US researchers told The Lancet journal. The World Health Organization says everything possible is being done to contain the disease and warns that modelling estimates can be inaccurate. Before last year's devastating earthquake on the Caribbean island, no cases of cholera had been seen on Haiti for more than a century. The bacterial disease is spread from person-to-person through contaminated food and water.  [...] "Latest figures show there have been 252,640 cases and 4,672 deaths as of 10 March 2011."  Note: There seems to be evidence that this strain was 'seeded' there after the earthquake. 

"Haiti Cholera Vaccine Plan Splits Experts" [01/19/11] "Opinion is divided over how to tackle the disease in Haiti. [...]"  Note: By the time they actually 'attempt' anything ... the population will have largely expired, making way for acquisition of oil, gas, gold and mineral wealth to begin without all those 'annoying minions' around. Why does Haiti have the 4th largest US embassy? Because it is a US strategic asset. See the 'Haiti' link at the top of this panel, and see how long this UN-seeded cholera (preventable disease) fiasco has been going on.

"Baby Doc arrested in Haiti" [01/19/11] "Extraordinary drama unfolded Tuesday in Port-au-Prince as charges were filed against former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier, government sources told CNN. It was not immediately clear what the charges were. A judge will have 30 days to investigate and decide whether the charges merit moving... [...]"  

"'Baby Doc' Duvalier back in Haiti after long exile" [01/17/11] " Former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned Sunday to Haiti nearly 25 years after a popular uprising against his brutal dictatorship forced him into exile, a surprising and perplexing move that comes as his country struggles with a political crisis and the stalled effort to recover from last year's earthquake. [...]"  Note:  Just what the country needs .... a dictator ... perhaps they will kill him this time and make it stick.

Commentary: "Aid as a Trojan Horse. On the First Anniversary of the Haiti Earthquake" [01/13/11] "Between 1963 to 1972, for example, Haiti enjoyed an economic renaissance as it buzzed with the activities of small entrepeneurs. The Kennedy administration had cut off all aid to Haiti in 1963 so as to bring Francois Duvalier to heel. The short doctor with heavy-rimmed glasses turned out to be a rather complicated dictator: keenly intolerant of dissent but fiercely nationalistic. He had come to prominence in Haiti as a leader of the 1940’s negritude (black pride) movement that succeeded the U.S. occupation. He was nobody’s boy and afraid of no one. Haiti thrived with style and panache during this decade that merely continued its earlier isolation as the world’s first black republic. A community that was sustainable, tolerant, and harmonious with its gods had been forged, with none of the starkness associated with sustainability projects. Haiti brimmed with laughter, flavor, music, and color. Things dear to the Haitian soul were valued -- things that could not be bought. Anacaona’s descendants lived there, and their life’s purpose was self realization and the creation of art. This was the Haiti in which I grew up. In the Haiti of the 60’s and 70’s, everything a poor Haitian ate, touched, or wore was Haitian made. I was poor, but I lacked for nothing. My family of ten was supported mostly by one woman who, for the most part, traded her skills as a beautician for the skills of other small entrepeneurs. For the rest, she used the local currency: the Haitian gourde. [...]"  Related: "Haiti's year of sorrow"  Video clip [1:07] "It's been a year since a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti's capitol bringing misery and death along with it. NBC's Mara Schiavocampo is back in Port-au-Prince and takes a look at efforts to rebuild the country and lives. (Nightly News) [...]"  

Documentary: "Battle for Haiti"  PBS Frontline Presentation [01/13/11]   Video clip [55:11]

"Disaster doctors may be using the wrong drugs" [12/25/10] "Study of Haiti earthquake victims shows most wounds infected with Gram-negative, not Gram-positive, bacteria. According to an Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) rapid-response team, a large proportion of the wounds treated at their field hospital in Haiti were infected with Gram-negative pathogens. These bacteria are largely ignored in current recommendations on drug treatment for disaster victims. Staining with the dye crystal violet is widely used to differentiate bacteria into two types — Gram-positive and Gram-negative — in a procedure developed in the nineteenth century by Hans Christian Gram. Crucially, drugs that are effective against one type of bacteria may not work against the other. [...]"  

"More on Haiti’s Raging Cholera, Electoral Fraud and Deportation" [12/23/10] "Haitians remains plagued by a perfect storm combination of earthquake devastation, crushing poverty, raging cholera, electoral fraud, exploitation, persecution, Obama-ordered deportations, and world indifference to their plight, with few exceptions like Cuba and Venezuela.  Post-quake, their aid was some of the first to arrive. After cholera struck, Chavez sent a Ministry of Health team with medications, intravenous drips and rehydration tablets. He promised more as needed for "our Haitian brothers and sisters (exploited) by savage capitalism and imperialism." Since 1998, Cuba's had hundreds of doctors, nurses, and other medical specialists in Haiti to help. Post-quake, it sent more, and after cholera struck, more still with supplies to set up new facilities and deliver heroic services under the most adverse conditions, including in hard to reach rural areas.  [...]"  Related: "Angry Haitian mobs lynch 45 ‘witches’ over cholera outbreak" [12/23/10] "Angry Haitian mobs have lynched at least 45 people in recent weeks, accusing them of spreading a cholera outbreak that has killed over 2,500 people across the country, officials said Wednesday. The number included at least 14 suspected sorcerers previously known to have been lynched in the far southwestern region of Grand'Anse as local people feared they were spreading cholera with a magical substance. The area has been largely spared by the outbreak. [...]"  Note:  Another minionesque dynamic ...  

"Hope for Haiti as stockpile of cholera vaccine found … but it will still take months to deliver" [12/20/10] "The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) hopes to start a cholera vaccination programme in Haiti by April – but says it must first boost and fund production of the vaccine itself ... [...]"  Note: They're in no rush to stem minion deaths ... already more then 100,000 are affected.

"US ends ban on deportations to Haiti despite cholera outbreak" [12/14/10] "In spite of flaring violence and a massive, ever-growing cholera outbreak, the United States has lifted a ban on deporting Haitians, drawing criticism from human rights groups. Deportations had been stayed since shortly after the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake in which an estimated 300,000 died and as many as 1 million were left homeless. [...]"  

"Haitian cholera strain called deadlier" [12/11/10] "The cholera strain devastating Haiti carries a mutation that makes it more intense and could allow it to spread further, U.S. researchers say. [...]"  Note:  This seems like a test of a 'weaponized' version of cholera. 

"Haiti cholera: UN peacekeepers to blame, report says" [12/09/10] "Epidemiologist Renaud Piarroux conducted research in Haiti on behalf of the French and Haitian governments. The cholera epidemic has killed 2120 people, and nearly 100,000 cases have been treated, according to the Haitian government. The report by Mr Piarroux found that the source of the outbreak was a Nepalese peacekeeping base, whose toilets contaminated the Artibonite river, according to a copy seen by the Associated Press news agency. [...]"  "Haiti Explodes In Anger"  [2:32]   Related:  "Protesters in Haiti attack UN peacekeepers in cholera backlash" 

Haitians Barricading Streets With Coffins: Cholera Spreads to Dominican Republic - One Case in Florida [11/20/10] [9:26] "Protests are continuing in Haiti over the cholera outbreak that has now killed more than 1,100 people and infected some 17,000. On Wednesday, residents in the city of Cap-Haitien clashed with U.N. troops for the third consecutive day. Crowds have taken to the streets expressing anger at the Haitian government and the United Nations for failing to contain the disease. Democracy Now! goes to Cap-Haitien to speak with independent journalist Ansel Herz. [...]"   

"Cholera strain may last years in Haiti" [11/20/10] "Not only do Haitians have little or no immunity to fight a disease that has been absent from Haiti for at least 50 years, "this strain of cholera seems to be more virulent than normal strains", US official Thomas Adams told reporters.  Manoj Menon, the Center for Disease Control liaison for the US cholera response, said health officials could not rule out rumours that poor sanitation at a UN peacekeeping compound caused the outbreak. With more than 1100 Haitians now dead and more than 18,000 taken ill, it is difficult to know how many more people will die from or contract the disease, Menon added. "We will likely never know where this came from," he said, pointing out the difficulties in pinpointing the source of the disease. [...]" 

"Anti-UN protests spread as Haitians die without aid" [11/20/10] "Protests against United Nations troops have spread to the capital of Port-au-Prince Thursday as growing numbers of Haitians die of cholera in the absence of significant aid from the UN or other relief agencies. [...]"  Note: So much for the big sympathy push by former presidents after the earthquake, and all the hoopla. The minions will expire ... and the gold, oil and minerals will be left. Related: "Anti-UN protests spread to Haiti capital" [11/19/10] "Like cholera itself, Haiti's protests against the United Nations spread Thursday to the capital, Port-au-Prince, as angry people took to the streets demanding the global body get out of their country. Similar demonstrations erupted earlier this week in the northern coastal city of Cap-Haitien after assertions that U.N. peacekeepers from Nepal were responsible for starting the cholera outbreak that has claimed more than 1,100 lives and spread to eight of the nation's 10 departments. The United Nations has denied that its forces were responsible for the outbreak. In Port-au-Prince on Thursday, a planned protest began peacefully in the center of the city but turned violent as it moved toward the presidential palace, with one woman overcome by tear gas, witnesses said. [...]"  

"Cholera clashes spread in Haiti" [11/19/10] "Protests linked to Haiti's cholera epidemic spread to the capital Port-au-Prince, as experts say the country is vulnerable to further outbreaks. [...]"  Related:  "Genocide in Haiti" Axis of Logic [11/19/10] "The UN and 42 NGOs are asking to be paid $607 dollars for every Haitian to be contaminated with cholera. That’s right. The exact numbers are 164 million dollars for 270,000 Haitians to be contaminated. Do the math. There is money in cholera. The 270K Haitians estimate comes, not from serious epidemiological information, but a back of the envelope extrapolation from Peru of the 1990’s to Haiti of today by Dr. Jon Andrus of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). His explanation follows:  ”To give some historical context: the cholera epidemic that began in Peru in 1991 spread to some 16 other countries throughout the hemisphere, from Argentina to Canada, with cases even reported in Montreal and New York City. In Peru alone, it produced more than 650,000 cases over six years. "At the time, Peru's population was about two-and-a-half times larger than today's Haitian population. Extrapolating from Peru's experience, one might expect upwards of 270,000 cases if Haiti's epidemic continues for several years, as did Peru's.”  In other words, on November 9th, Mr. Andrus of the PAHO divided 650,000 by 2.5 and gave a press conference about it. Mainstream news organizations all over the world copied, without question, the PAHO statement that the world could expect over 270,000 cases of cholera in Haiti. The news reminded no one that PAHO belongs to the UN. Why is the UN so certain that 270,000 Haitians will become infected with cholera? [...] An Epidemic to Spare the Rich. Cholera is often labeled a “disease of the poor”. Indeed one would be hard put to find a better tool for harming the poor but not the rich. No foreigner in Haiti will die of cholera, and not a single wealthy Haitian will die of cholera. One may be sure of this. This is because the water supplies of the wealthy and poor of Haiti have been independent of each other for years. So have the food supplies. Foreigners and wealthy Haitians buy their foods and water from supermarkets, whereas poor Haitians get their food, when they can, from local vendors. In the past, poor Haitians collected their water from natural sources and then boiled it, but since the earthquake of January 12th, impoverished Haitians have been trained to accept bottled water from US troops, MINUSTAH troops (UN troops), USAID, various NGOs, and every brand of religious fanatic who wants to eradicate Voodoo from the earth." Cholera Is Not Bubonic Plague. Mr. Andrus’ statement about the spread of cholera in Peru is disingenuous. There is no reason why cholera infections should spread rapidly, as if caused by physical contact like typhoid, or aerosols like the common cold. Cholera infections principally come from tainted water and, to a lesser degree, from foods that came in contact with tainted water. The cholera bacteria are easily killed by heat (boiling) or acid (vinegar in foods). The so-called Peruvian epidemic started in 1991 not only in Peru, but also in the bordering countries Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, and several other central American countries. [...]"  

Nine Months After the Quake – a Million Haitians Slowly Dying [10/13/10] "Haiti looks like the quake could have been last month. I visited Port-au-Prince shortly after the quake and much of the destruction then looks the same nine months later. The Associated Press reports only 2 percent of the rubble has been removed and only 13,000 temporary shelters have been constructed. Not a single cent of the US aid pledged for rebuilding has arrived in Haiti. In the last few days the US pledged it would put up 10 percent of the billion dollars in reconstruction aid promised. Only 15 percent of the aid pledged by countries and organizations around the world has reached the country so far. With other human rights advocates from CCR, MADRE, CUNY Law School, BAI and the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, I am huddled under faded, gray tarps stamped US Aid. Blue tarps are staked into the ground as walls. This is not even the hot season. but the weather reports the heat index is 115. [...]"  Note:  All the 'hoopla' back then ... was all a scam. Related:  Life in Devastated Haiti – Stephen Lendman

After 9 Months, Only 2% of Haitian Rubble Cleared [09/16/10] "Nine months after Haiti's devastating earthquake, conditions in Port-au-Prince don't seem to have changed much. Rubble is still strewn around the city, among blown-open slabs of sidewalk and teetering half-destroyed buildings. Only about 2% of the 33 million cubic yards of debris strewn about by the disaster has been cleared. "There's not a master plan," a UN official tells the AP. [...]"   

Haiti's Disaster Capitalists Swoop In [09/15/10] "Refugee evictions, private land grabs, disaster capitalism—you can't tell the story of Haiti without all this. Eight months after the earthquake, many of the 1.7 million Haitians living under tattered tarps in squalid squatter camps around Port-au-Prince are being forced to abandon the tent cities they've set up on privately owned land. Meanwhile, businesses—eager to slurp up the spoils of disaster—are swooping in to score major paydays by moving the refugees to new camps, some set to operate as industrial work zones. And there's no one stopping it.  In March, Haitian landowners and police authorities began kicking displaced Haitians out of their makeshift cities at the behest of the owners of the land on which the camps sat. International Action Ties, a grassroots community development agency working in Haiti, says authorities are regularly flushing out the camps. The International Organization for Migration, which heads up the international aid response to the quake, has been unable to prevent expulsions and has been relegated to playing mediator between landowners and camp occupants. A recent IAT report provides a vivid blow-by-blow of expulsions by Haitian police in the communes of Delmas and Cité Soleil: bulldozers demolishing flimsy shelters, policemen swinging batons and shooting their guns in the air, and several cases of sexual assault. IAT skewers the Haitian government and UN system, and blasts the aid community for not defending the refugees (for more, read this report from July).  And there's a twist: It's not even clear these landowners officially own the property that the displaced people are being expelled from. Murky titling laws have plagued Haiti since its early days, clouding landowners' claims with ambiguity and contributing to the country's current catastrophe.  Post-colonial Haiti's first ruler, Jean-Jacques Dessaline,  [...]"  

IMF cancels Haiti debt, approves new $60 million loan [07/23/10] "International Monetary Fund member countries on Wednesday canceled the $268 million debt Haiti owed to the IMF and approved a new loan worth $60 million to boost international reserves in the earthquake-hit nation. [...]"  

Misery and Despair Plague Haitians [07/15/10] "Six months after Haiti’s January 12 quake, inadequate relief has arrived, numerous accounts calling conditions hellish, unsanitary and unsafe – New York Times writer Deborah Sontag’s July 10 article for one, headlined, “In Haiti, the Displaced Are Left Clinging to the Edge,” saying: Conditions around Port-au-Prince “contain a spectrum of circumstances: precarious, neglected encampments; planned tent cities (with poor sanitation); debris-strewn neighborhoods, (and only) 28,000 of the 1.5 million (or more) displaced moved into new homes,” the affected areas “a tableau of life in the ruins.” Oxfam’s Julie Schindall said “Everywhere I go, people ask me ‘When will we get out of this camp?’ ” She doesn’t know so can’t say. In her July 3 article, Montreal Gazette writer Sue Montgomery headlined, “Haiti’s camps of despair,” saying “life in Haiti’s 1,300 camps is crowded, unsanitary and increasingly dangerous, (an ongoing) miserable, boring existence….proper housing (and pre-quake conditions) years away” at best. [...]"  Note: All the big 'hoopla' and military presence, Relief Campaigns with Bush and Clinton, promises made world over ..... and it amounts to Z E R O ... let the minions die and whither .... never again will anyone EVER beLIEve them.

While Haitians Starve, Warehouses Full Of Food Go To Waste [07/14/10] "At an orphanage in Haiti, children sleep on the floor, and their pantry contains only a few cans of beans left. Though the children smile as they sit through their daily classes, trouble is on the way. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who filed a report from this orphanage, was stunned to learn that there were nearby warehouses full of food and supplies that had not yet been distributed, some of it dating back to January. Nearly all of this food had been purchased in previous months by donor contributions. He interviewed Eric Klein from Can-Do, an organization that provides relief to emergency populations. Klein was able to load a truck full of beans and other food from the warehouse and drive it just a few miles down the road to the orphanage. [...]"  Note: This was the LAST TIME people will be suckered into donating funds for some 'disaster relief'. Imagine the 'call for funds' that will come relative to this latest BP incident. 

No Plan For Permanently Housing the 1.9 Million Haitians Who Lost Their Homes in the Quake [07/13/10] Video clip "AMY GOODMAN: We’re here in Haiti, on the six month anniversary of the January 12th earthquake. It’s July 12th and we’ve gone out about 7 miles from Port-au-Prince, between Morne Cabrit and Titayene. These are two famous dumping grounds, killing grounds, that through the Duvalier years and then again during the first coup against President Aristide, 1991 to 1994, people’s bodies would be dumped, between the mountains and a ways down the road. I am joined by Beverly Bell, she’s taken us here. She’s with "Another World" and she is a fellow with the Institute for Policy Studies. Beverly, tell us about where we are right now. BEVERLY BELL: We are in one of the hottest parts of this whole side of Haiti. I was here today at high noon and the crushed white gravel that is underfoot in this camp is just blinding and the heat is shocking. And this is where about 10,000 people have been relocated after they were sent away from another camp in Port-au- Prince. About one in seven has been left homeless and displaced from the January 12th earthquake, and most of them have created temporary housing. Now, six months later, in the middle of earthquake season, the government’s response, that is, the Haitian government and the U.S. government as well as the United Nations, has been this—has been to move people from one set of temporary housing, plastic tarps that are damaged in the wind and the rains, to another set of temporary housing. And there is absolutely no plan anywhere in the country for permanent housing for the 1.9 million people who are left victims. [...]" 

Deadbeat Donors: Less Than 2 Percent Of Funds Pledged To Rebuild Haiti Have Been Received [07/13/10] "After the January 12 earthquake in Haiti, Western leaders announced bold blueprints for building a "New Haiti." This reconstruction, they emphasized, would be "Haitian-led," based firmly on the principle of respect for "Haitian sovereignty" and carried out through "full and continued participation" by Haitians, "consistent with the vision of the Haitian people and government." At the March 31 International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti at the UN headquarters in NYC, nearly 10 billion dollars were pledged for Haiti's recovery. Nicholas Sarkozy -- the first French president to visit Haiti since the latter won its independence from French colonial rule -- proclaimed during his historic February 2010 trip to Port-au-Prince, "International aid must be massive and be there for the long term."  [...]"  Note: I guess all that 'kindness and concern' was, of course, a lie. No one want to bail out a nation of minions with no future. Ironically, the people who pledged don't know they don't have much of a 'future' either. The planetary spirit (for whom the minions are an experience) ironically has the last laugh when it comes to these buffoons.

Video: As donations dry up, desperation prevails in Haiti [07/13/10] "Six months after the massive earthquake devastated Haiti, Port-au-Prince is a pile of rubble where the1.5 million people still homeless are asking: What happened to the world's good intentions? NBC's Robert Bazell reports. (Nightly News) [...]"   

Haiti’s New Earthquake – Haitian Farmers Leery of Monsanto’s Largesse [07/04/10] "Haitian farmers are worried that giant transnational corporations like Monsanto are attempting to gain a larger foothold in the local economy under the guise of earthquake relief and rebuilding.  “Seeds represent a kind of right to life,” peasant leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste told IPS. “That’s why we have a problem today with Monsanto and all the multinationals who sell seeds. Seeds and water are the common patrimony of humanity.” Earlier this month, in the central square of Hinche, an agricultural town in Haiti’s Plateau Central region, a mass of small farmers wearing red shirts and straw hats burned a symbolic quantity of hybrid corn seed donated to Haiti by the U.S. agricultural-technology giant. They called on farmers to burn any Monsanto seeds already distributed, and demanded that the government reject further shipments. The actions in Hinche (pronounced “ansh”) were spearheaded by the Mouvman Peyizan Papay, a regional peasant movement that claims 50,000 members, and the national coalition of some 200,000 members to which it belongs. Despite divisions among Haitian peasant organizations, several of the most important groups joined together to participate. Jean-Baptiste has led the MPP since 1973 and plays a major role in the international peasant movement. “Our primary goal is to defend peasant agriculture,” he said, “an organic agriculture that respects the environment and fights against its degradation. We defend native seeds and the rights of peasants on their land.” [...]"   

Growing Protests As UN Attacks Haitian Refugee Camp [06/14/10] "Last week, the United Nations peacekeeping mission fired tear gas and rubber bullets into a crowded refugee camp, leaving at least six hospitalized and others suffering respiratory problems. Citizen organizations plan demonstrations for today, the sixth anniversary of the U.N. armed presence in Haiti. The march is part of growing protests against the military forces which have amassed in Haiti since the January 12 earthquake and the lack of attention to displaced people’s needs. [...]"     

Haiti in Waiting: Only 1 out of 50 donor countries has fulfilled the pledge of aid in six months [06/06/10] "Haiti’s president has called on leaders from Europe and the Americas to keep their promises of aid for the Caribbean country as it struggles to rebuild from the January’s devastating earthquake.  Speaking at a donor conference in the neighboring Dominican Republic on Wednesday, Rene Preval said that the nation faced an “immense challenge” to rebuild. According to aid experts, Haiti needs about $11.5bn for its anticipated decade-long rebuilding effort. But so far, Haitian government officials say, only Brazil has delivered its entire aid pledge of $55m. [...]" With a good degree of exasperation, Haiti’s president has been forced to remind the international community that only Brazil has paid in full on its promised aid following the earthquake that devastated the country in January. None of the other 50-plus donor countries have fulfilled their aid pledges nearly six months after the quake that killed more than 250,000 people and devastated the country’s infrastructure. Haiti needs an estimated $11.5 billion over the next decade to rebuild, and is relying on international aid efforts for much of that.  Note:  The US swept in to protect mining interests for gold and oil deposits ... and then left the country as messed up as they found it ...

In Haiti, the Rains and Repression Start in Earnest [06/04/10] "Depiste all the donors conferences and talk of elections, little has changed in the past five months for Haiti’s homeless and dispossessed, apart from the start of the heavy rains and an increasing repression of their freedom of speech and assembly. On Sunday May 30th, the Nippes (southwest) region of Haiti was inundated for several hours. Although no lives were lost, many roads were blocked, and thousands of small dwellings were washed away by the floods. In several towns, the water-treatment systems are inoperative. Other cities at high risk of flooding during the coming months are Léogâne, Croix-des-Bouquets, Cabaret, Petit-Goâve and Port-au-Prince. [...]"   

Outside Haiti’s National Palace, U.N. Troops’ Clash with Frustrated Students Spills into Camps  [05/27/10] "United Nations peacekeeping troops responded to a rock-throwing demonstration by university students Monday evening with a barrage of tear gas and rubber bullets in the area around Haiti's National Palace, sending masses of displaced Haitians running out of tent camps into the streets, according to witnesses. " [...]"   

Haitian Farmers Resist GM Crops, Environmental Destruction [05/26/10] "...This interview predated the news that Monsanto has donated 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds to Haiti. For Jean-Baptiste's and the MPP's response, see "Haitian Farmers Commit to Burning Monsanto Seeds."  [...]"  

Preparing Haiti for Exploitation and Plunder [05/03/10] "Over 15 weeks post-quake, Haiti’s imperial takeover is proceeding. It began straightaway after the calamity, Haitians victimized by denied aid, appalling repression, and now dispossession of their land, homes, and communities. More on that below. Haiti lacked sovereignty throughout its history. Post-quake, it has even less, its people more than ever in jeopardy with imperial plans to gravely harm them, perhaps exterminate hundreds of thousands through neglect or other means. [...]"  

For $10 Billion in "Promises", Haiti Surrenders its Sovereignty [04/27/10] "It was fitting that the Mar. 31 "International Donors Conference Towards a New Future for Haiti" was held in the Trusteeship Council at the United Nations headquarters in New York. At the event, Haitian President René Préval in effect turned over the keys to Haiti to a consortium of foreign banks and governments, which will decide how (to use the conference's principal slogan) to "build back better" the country devastated by the Jan. 12 earthquake. This "better" Haiti envisions some 25,000 farmers providing Coca-Cola with mangos for a new Odwalla brand drink, 100,000 workers assembling clothing and electronics for the U.S. market in sweatshops under HOPE II legislation, and thousands more finding jobs as guides, waiters, cleaners and drivers when Haiti becomes a new tourist destination. ..."  

Mercenaries circling Haiti [04/23/10] "A Haiti conference was held in Miami last month for private military and security companies to showcase their services to governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the earthquake devastated country of Haiti.  On their website for the Haiti conference, the trade group IPOA (ironically called the International Peace Operations Association until recently) lists 11 companies advertising security services explicitly for Haiti. Even though guns are illegal to buy or sell in Haiti, many companies brag of their heavy duty military experience. Triple Canopy, a private military company with extensive security operations in Iraq and Israel, is advertising for business in Haiti. According to human rights activist and investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, Triple Canopy took over the Xe/Blackwater security contract in Iraq in 2009. Scahill reports on a number of bloody incidents involving Triple Canopy, including one where a team leader told his group, “I want to kill somebody today … because I am going on vacation tomorrow.” Another company seeking work is EODT Technology  ..."   

Unthinkable? Curb aid in Haiti [03/28/10] "Long before the earthquake hit, much of Haiti was run not by its government but by NGOs ..."   

Senior Haitian Leader: 'In Three Months, Haiti Will Explode' [03/26/10] "The early onset of the rainy season is now bringing muck, filth, and mudslide danger to the makeshift tarp-and-tent dwellings of 1.3 million homeless stuck in the rubble in Port-au-Prince and the other towns in the earthquake zone across southern Haiti. "In three months, Haiti will explode," was the evaluation this week, by a senior Haitian leader, of the impossible situation for his countrymen, in which there is no mass evacuation, no Army Corps of Engineers-style emergency- nor rebuilding-measures towards rescuing the helpless and establishing a nation. ..."  

Clinton Family Pockets Haiti Assets in Telephone Company Privatization [03/15/10] "A Black Agenda Radio interview by Glen Ford ...Backed by the might of the United States military and their own official positions, the Clinton power couple plus brother-in-law have muscled themselves into the Haitian telephone monopoly. This cozy public-private partnership poses huge conflicts of interest, says Paul Pumphrey, of Brothers and Sisters International – and robs the Haitian people of hundreds of millions in revenues a year. " MP3 Audio  

Two Months After Haiti Quake: Obama Refuses To Relocate The Vulnerable; Invites Mass Death [03/15/10] "As of March 12, the two-month anniversary of the Haiti earthquake, the refusal of President Obama to conduct large-scale relocation to safe ground, for the 1.3 million people in the greater Port-au-Prince quake zone — now facing the coming rainy season's floods and disease — constitutes a death sentence for hundreds of thousands. Obama must be impeached or resign. ..."  

Haitian president at White House: US military occupation to continue [03/14/10] "Obama indicated during the press conference that the US military presence in Haiti would continue indefinitely, saying, "America’s commitment to Haiti’s recovery and reconstruction must endure and will endure." While some US troops have been withdrawn from the country, 10,000 remain in or near Haiti, half of them on the mainland, the other half stationed offshore. ..." 

Mercenaries Circling Haiti  by Bill Quigley [03/05/10] "On March 9 and 10, there will be a Haiti conference in Miami for private military and security companies to showcase their services to governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working in the earthquake-devastated country. On their web site for the Haiti conference, the trade group IPOA (ironically called the International Peace Operations Association until recently) lists 11 companies advertising security services explicitly for Haiti. Even though guns are illegal to buy or sell in Haiti, many companies brag of their heavy-duty military experience. Triple Canopy, a private military company with extensive security operations in Iraq and Israel, is advertising for business in Haiti. According to human rights activist and investigative reporter Jeremy Scahill, Triple Canopy took over the Xe/Blackwater security contract in Iraq in 2009. Scahill reported on a number of bloody incidents involving Triple Canopy including one where a team leader told his group, "I want to kill somebody today ... because I am going on vacation tomorrow." ..."    

HAITI: Private Contractors 'Like Vultures Coming to Grab the Loot'  [02/23/10] "Critics are concerned that private military contractors are positioning themselves at the centre of an emerging "shock doctrine" for earthquake-ravaged Haiti. Next month, a prominent umbrella organisation for private military and logistic corporations, the International Peace Operations Association (IPOA), is co-organising a "Haiti summit" which aims to bring together "leading officials" for "private consultations with attending contractors and investors" in Miami, Florida. Dubbed the "mercenary trade association" by journalist Jeremy Scahill, author of "Blackwater: the Rise of the World' Most Powerful Mercenary Army", the IPOA wasted no time setting up a "Haiti Earthquake Support" page on its website following the Jan. 12 earthquake that devastated the Caribbean country. ~~~ Likewise, the private military contractor, Raidon Tactics, has at least 30 former U.S. Special Operations soldiers on the ground, where they have been guarding aid convoys and providing security for "news agencies," according to a Raidon employee who told IPS his company received over 1,000 phone calls in response to an ad posting "for open positions for Static Security Positions and Mobile Security Positions" in Haiti. Just over a week following the earthquake, the IPOA teamed up with Global Investment Summits (GIS), a UK-based private company that specialises in bringing private contractors and government officials from "emerging post-conflict countries" together, to host an "Afghanistan Reconstruction Summit", in Istanbul, Turkey. It was there, says IPOA's director Doug Brooks, that the idea for the Haiti summit was hatched "over beers". ..."   

Haiti: One Of The Undeveloped Mineral Wealth Treasures On The Planet [02/23/10] "Here Engdahl talks with Paul Jay of The Real News, says that geophysics suggest there could be massive oil and mineral deposits in Haiti, and that the US may be motivated by the desire to strategically deny oil deposits in Haiti to the rest of the world. ..."   

UN calls on world to collect $1.44 bln for quake-hit Haiti [02/19/10] "The United Nations has called on the international society to collect $1.44 billion in aid for Haiti, which was hit by devastating quake last month. ..."  Note: Yeah, that's the solution (wink, wink)

USAID Steers No-Bid Haiti Contract to 'Politically Connected' Firm of Bill Clinton Friend [02/17/10] "USAID's latest no-bid contract, worth close to $100,000, was awarded on Jan. 18 to the GlobalOptions Group for work in earthquake-stricken Haiti, where Clinton is the U.N. special envoy and is helping to lead private fundraising efforts.  Described as an "integrated risk management" firm, GlobalOptions is headquartered in Manhattan's Rockefeller Plaza and boasts 10 offices across the U.S. The GlobalOptions subsidiary that executed the contract is James Lee Witt Associates (JLWA), the "emergency preparedness and management" consulting firm founded by the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under President Clinton.  While heading up JLWA, Witt is also a registered lobbyist, headquartered in Washington, D.C. Among his clients are the city of Little Rock, Ark., and its airport commission, from which JLWA received at least $120,000 last year; Allstate; and telecommunications giant Sprint Nextel.  ..."   

Canada to build Haitian government base [02/17/10] "Canada will spend $12 million to provide the Haitian government with a temporary base after last month's earthquake, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said. ..."  Note: The Canadians also have big gold mining contracts going on in Haiti. 

Haiti: A Creditor, Not a Debtor [02/14/10] "This history needs to be confronted now, because it threatens to repeat itself. Haiti's creditors are already using the desperate need for earthquake aid to push for a fivefold increase in garment-sector production, some of the most exploitative jobs in the country. Haitians have no status in these talks, because they are regarded as passive recipients of aid, not full and dignified participants in a process of redress and restitution. A reckoning with the debts the world owes to Haiti would radically change this poisonous dynamic. This is where the real road to repair begins: by recognizing the right of Haitians to reparations. ..." 

The secret behind the Rush of The International Mining Companies to Haiti [02/13/10]   VIDEO [34:07]  "Canadian CKUT Radio from Montreal host Chris Scott interviews Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network (HLLN) on Haitian resources and the secret behind the rush of international mining companies to Haiti taking advantage of the Chaos and lack of legislation and a strong government. ..."   

The "Shock Doctrine" for Haiti [02/10/10] "ONE MONTH after the devastating earthquake, Haiti continues to suffer under apocalyptic conditions. ..."   

Mass vaccination planned in Haiti, death toll continues way up [02/09/10] "As fear for post-disaster epidemics haunts, doctors from some countries and international organizations are orchestrating vaccination efforts against diseases that may spread in the tent cities of quake-hit Haiti. ..."   Note: Anything to disable the remaining population faster.

Haiti and Media Censorship [02/08/10] ".... Haiti, Aristide, and ideology: .... It’s a good thing the Haitian government did virtually nothing to help its people following the earthquake; otherwise it would have been condemned as “socialist” by Fox News, Sarah Palin, the teabaggers, and other right-thinking Americans. The last/only Haitian leader strongly committed to putting the welfare of the Haitian people before that of the domestic and international financial mafia was President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Being of a socialist persuasion, Aristide was, naturally, kept from power by the United States — twice; first by Bill Clinton, then by George W. Bush, the two men appointed by President Obama to head the earthquake relief effort. Naturally. ...The massive US military deployment to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake has been criticized in various quarters as more of an occupation than a relief mission, with the airport in the capital city now an American military base, and with American forces blocking various aid missions from entering the country in order, apparently, to serve Washington’s own logistical agenda. But the large military presence can also serve to facilitate two items on Washington’s political agenda — preventing Haitians from trying to emigrate by sea to the United States and keeping a lid on the numerous supporters of Aristide lest they threaten to take power once again ......That which can not be spoken: ..... “The purpose of terrorism is to provoke an overreaction,” writes Fareed Zakaria, a leading American foreign-policy pundit, editor of Newsweek magazine’s international edition, and Washington Post columnist, referring to the “underwear bomber”, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and his failed attempt to blow up a US airliner on Christmas day. “Its real aim is not to kill the hundreds of people directly targeted but to sow fear in the rest of the population. Terrorism is an unusual military tactic in that it depends on the response of the onlookers. If we are not terrorized, then the attack didn’t work. Alas, this one worked very well.”  Is that not odd? That an individual would try to take the lives of hundreds of people, including his own, primarily to “provoke an overreaction”, or to “sow fear”? Was there not any kind of deep-seated grievance or resentment with anything or anyone American being expressed? No perceived wrong he wished to make right? Nothing he sought to obtain revenge for? Why is the United States the most common target of terrorists? Such questions were not even hinted at in Zakaria’s article. At a White House press briefing concerning the same failed terrorist attack, conducted by Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security John Brennan, veteran reporter Helen Thomas raised a question: .....   It works the same all over the world. In the period of the 1950s to the 1980s in Latin America, in response to a long string of hateful Washington policies, there were countless acts of terrorism against US diplomatic and military targets as well as the offices of US corporations ...."   

Ron Paul on the US military takeover of Haiti [02/08/10] VIDEO [2:36]    

U.S. Military No Where to be Found in Port-au-Prince [02/04/10] "I have been driving all week around Port-au-Prince taking photos of the destroyed homes and buildings and as I've gone from one end of this city to the other, the US is military is only found at the airport - nice and secured behind those gates. Meanwhile, the UN and its white Jeeps are driving all around this city, but I haven't seen them stop at any particular location to give food or water. Where is all the aid going, if any? Michel David Stephan is a 22-year-old Haitian university student who has not been able to continue his studies because the campus has been badly damaged. I asked him what he thought of the UN. "We call them 'tourists' because they don't do nothing," Stephan told me. I also asked Stephan what he thought of the US military. ..."  

Haiti:  Cost Dispute Halts Airlift of Injured Haiti Quake Victims [02/01/10] "The United States has suspended its medical evacuations of critically injured Haitian earthquake victims until a dispute over who will pay for their care is settled, military officials said Friday. The military flights carrying Haitians with spinal cord injuries, burns and other serious wounds, ended on Wednesday after Gov. Charlie Crist of Florida formally asked the federal government to shoulder some of the cost of the care. Hospitals in Florida have treated more than 500 earthquake victims so far ..."  Note: Yes, they do have their priorities, don't they, and spirit, no matter what 'mode' spirit is in, is not one of them. Related: Russia to send two more aid planes to quake-hit Haiti

Baptist Do-Gooders in Trouble in Haiti [02/01/10] "Call it vigilante relief work or kidnapping, 10 American Baptists are in jail in Port-au-Prince after attempting to take 33 children out of Haiti in what they claim was an effort to “do the right thing ..."  

The Fateful Geological Prize Called Haiti [01/31/10] "Behind the smoke, rubble and unending drama of human tragedy in the hapless Caribbean country, a drama is in full play for control of what geophysicists believe may be one of the world’s richest zones for hydrocarbons-oil and gas outside the Middle East, possibly orders of magnitude greater than that of nearby Venezuela. Haiti, and the larger island of Hispaniola of which it is a part, has the geological fate that it straddles one of the world’s most active geological zones, where the deepwater plates of three huge structures relentlessly rub against one another—the intersection of the North American, South American and Caribbean tectonic plates. Below the ocean and the waters of the Caribbean, these plates consist of an oceanic crust some 3 to 6 miles thick, floating atop an adjacent mantle. Haiti also lies at the edge of the region known as the Bermuda Triangle, a vast area in the Caribbean subject to bizarre and unexplained disturbances. This vast mass of underwater plates are in constant motion, rubbing against each other along lines analogous to cracks in a broken porcelain vase that has been reglued. The earth’s tectonic plates typically move at a rate 50 to 100 mm annually in relation to one another, and are the origin of earthquakes and of volcanoes. The regions of convergence of such plates are also areas where vast volumes of oil and gas can be pushed upwards from the Earth’s mantle. The geophysics surrounding the convergence of the three plates that run more or less directly beneath Port-au-Prince make the region prone to earthquakes such as the one that struck Haiti with devastating ferocity on January 12. ..."   

Haiti arrests 10 US citizens for child smuggling [01/31/10] "The Haitian police have arrested 10 US citizens after they tried to take 33 Haitian children out of the earthquake-stricken nation. ..."   

The Fateful Geological Prize Called Haiti [01/30/10] "Behind the smoke, rubble and unending drama of human tragedy in the hapless Caribbean country, a drama is in full play for control of what geophysicists believe may be one of the world’s richest zones for hydrocarbons-oil and gas outside the Middle East, possibly orders of magnitude greater than that of nearby Venezuela. ..."  

99 Percent of 'Haitian Aid' Money Doesn't Go To Haitians [01/28/10] "Less than a penny of each dollar the U.S. is spending on earthquake relief in Haiti is going in the form of cash to the Haitian government, according to an Associated Press review of relief efforts. Two weeks after President Obama announced an initial $100 million for Haiti earthquake relief, U.S. government spending on the disaster has nearly quadrupled to $379 million, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced Wednesday. That's about $1.25 each from everyone in the United States. Each American dollar roughly breaks down like this: 42 cents for disaster assistance, 33 cents for U.S. military aid, nine cents for food, nine cents to transport the food, five cents for paying Haitian survivors for recovery efforts, just less than one cent to the Haitian government, and about half a cent to the Dominican Republic. The U.S. government money is part of close to $2 billion in relief aid flowing into Haiti – almost all of it managed by organizations other than the Haitian government, which has been struggling to re-establish its authority since the quake. On Wednesday, a defensive President Rene Preval acknowledged his country's reputation for graft, but said aid money isn't lining the pockets of government officials. "There's a perception of corruption, but I would like to tell the Haitian people that the Haitian government has not seen one penny of all the money that has been raised – millions are being made on the right, millions on the left, it's all going to the NGOs (nongovernmental organizations)" Preval said, speaking in Creole at a news conference. Relief experts say it would be a mistake to send too much direct cash to the Haitian government, which was already unstable before the quake and routinely included on lists of the world's most corrupt countries. ..."  

Commentary:  Haiti and the seismic weapon  [01/28/10] "The controversy that followed the publication on our website of an article entertaining the possibility that the earthquake in Haiti was caused artificially, calls for clarification. Yes, seismic weapons do exist and the United States, among others, have them. Yes, the U.S. military forces were pre-positionned to be deployed to the island. These facts are not conclusive in themselves but they certainly warrant heightened scrutiny into this matter. ......  One of our collaborators attempted to trace the origin of the allegation regarding the possible artificial causes of the earthquake in Haiti. He was concerned that the whole thing might have been a hoax launched by a certain David Booth (alias Sorcha Faal), which then penetrated government circles throughout the world. In the end, we are not sure exactly who is behind the allegation, but what we know for certain is that this issue is being heatedly discussed at the highest level in several countries in Latin America, Eastern Europe and Asia. As editor-in-chief of Voltaire Network, I made the decision to research and translate the dispatch from VivéTv, which had been disseminated as a communiqué on the website of the Communications Ministry of Venezuela, and to publish it together with the related video from Russia Today, preceded by the remark: "Oddly enough, the Venezuelan channel designates the Russian Army as the source of these claims whereas the Russian channel attributes them to President Chávez." While these elements were faithfully relayed by numerous newspapers, especially in the Middle East, they were distorted by the Atlanticist media which chose to reflect Sorcha Faal’s article. Faal pulled certain fragments from the VivéTv text, and by adding inverted commas put them into Hugo Chávez’s mouth. What was initially intended as a working hypothesis has been converted into the Government’s position. Some of these media outlets went so far as to completely fabricate the context in which President Chávez expressed himself, pointedly implying that the President and his audience suffer from acute anti-american frenzy and that Voltaire Network shares the same ailment. But instead of yielding to this manipulation, let us go deeper into this hypothesis ....."  

Inside A Failed State - Haiti [01/27/10] VIDEO [22:45]  "Just over a year ago Haiti was last hit by disaster. It was brought to its knees by a series of hurricanes that left the struggling country in turmoil. Perpetually in a state of collapse, even without the disasters. In late 2008 Haiti is lashed by powerful storms, leaving many dead. That disaster resonates today. Its like we have no government, a passer-by remarks. I dont understand how the average Haitian survives, says Joel Bortoue from the UN. Little could they know in just over a year it would happen again, this time killing the UNs top official and many others. ..."   Related: Kidnap Capital - Haiti   VIDEO   "March 2006. Haiti has become a failed state where the only growth industry is kidnapping. Millions live in fear of thuggish gangs who carry out the dirty work of the country's politicians.  ..."  

UN Troops Pepper Spray Starving Haitians [01/27/10] "A daily aid hand-out in front of the collapsed National Palace turned into a chaotic scramble as some 18 United Nations peacekeepers attempted to contain 4,000 desperately hungry Haitians. ..."  Note:  That was their first miscalculation, and it won't be their last. Eighteen people trying to contain 4,000 ...

US Navy has anchored one of its secret prisons in Haitian waters [01/27/10] "While the deployment of 10000 US troops in Haiti has been qualified by a number of Latin American political leaders as an invasion and occupation under the guise of a humanitarian relief operation, the arrival of the USS Bataan in Haiti raises even more questions. Over recent years, this amphibious assault ship has been converted into a floating secret prison, forming part of the CIA network of "black sites" used for so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques". The ship’s flat hold bottom, designed to accommodate troops for disembarkment, has been equipped with cages. Prisoners are subjected to the same experiments as in Guantánamo. Having denied it for a long time, the Pentagon eventually acknowledged that the USS Bataan had in fact been used as a prison in December 2001, but that it recovered its normal functions as of January 2002, an allegation which is contested by numerous specialists who claim that it continued to operate as a prison off shore. It appears highly unlikely that the prisoners were taken to another location after the earthquake and that the ship was overhauled to allow for the transportation of troops. Ref:   Le secret de Guantánamo (The secret behind Guantánamo), by Thierry Meyssan, Voltaire Network; 28 October 2009. ..."   

Focus on Haiti: Washington's Militarized Takeover [01/26/10] "Haiti is no stranger to adversity and anguish - over 500 years of severe oppression, slavery, despotism, colonization, reparations, embargoes, sanctions, deep poverty, starvation, unrepayable debt, and natural calamities from destructive hurricanes to a dozen magnitude 7.0 or greater Caribbean region earthquakes in the past 500 years. The last major one was in 1946 at 8.1 in the adjacent Dominican Republic, also striking Haiti. Earlier catastrophic ones were in 1751 and 1770, both devastating Port-au-Prince, and the 1842 one destroying Cap-Haitien in the north. ..."  

Opinion: Chavez and the Russian Fleet: U.S. Used “Earthquake Weapon” On Haiti [01/25/10] "Earlier this week, a Spanish newspaper quoted Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez as saying the U.S. Navy caused the Haiti earthquake with a tectonic weapon. The Venezuelan media reported that the earthquake “may be associated with the project called HAARP, a system that can generate violent and unexpected changes in climate,” Press TV reported on January 21. ...Chavez cited a report from Russia’s Northern Fleet. According to the report, the U.S. Navy made a mistake with a secret “earthquake weapon” and the result was the Haitian earthquake. The Russians believe the intended target was Iran. “Though Russian Northern Fleets’ report was not confirmed by official sources, the comments attracted special attention in some US and Russian media outlets including Fox news and Russia Today,” writes Pragmatic Witness blog. “Russia Today’s report said that Moscow has also been accused of possessing and utilizing such weapons. ...... In 1997, former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen made the following statement: Others [terrorists] are engaging even in an eco-type of terrorism whereby they can alter the climate, set off earthquakes, volcanoes remotely through the use of electromagnetic waves… So there are plenty of ingenious minds out there that are at work finding ways in which they can wreak terror upon other nations…It’s real, and that’s the reason why we have to intensify our [counterterrorism] efforts. Cohen was talking about longitudinal EM wave interferometers (LWI) technology (also known as “Tesla howitzers”). LWI waves can effortlessly pass through the ocean and earth. Experts claim LWI waves can in fact pass through the earth and emerge on the other side. The United States and Russia have possessed this technology for decades. Cohen would have you believe it is a technology that only terrorists would use. It depends on who you would call a terrorist. In 1966, Professor Gordon J. F. MacDonald, associate director of the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics at the University of California, Los Angeles, was a member of the President’s Science Advisory Committee. MacDonald published papers on the use of environmental-control technologies for military purposes, including “earthquake engineering” (he also wrote about weather manipulation, climate modification, polar ice cap melting or destabilization, ozone depletion techniques). “The revealed secrets surprised legislators,” writes Dr. Nick Begich. “Would an inquiry into the state of the art of electromagnetic manipulation surprise lawmakers today? They may find out that technologies developed out of the HAARP experiments in Alaska could deliver on Gordon MacDonald’s vision because leading-edge scientists are describing global weather as not only air pressure and thermal systems, but also as an electrical system. ......"   Related: History Channel Confirms HAARP Technologies Can Generate Large Artificial Earthquakes [01/23/10] VIDEO [10:32]    Related: Hugo Chavez: US 'Tectonic Weapon' Caused Haiti Quake [01/23/10] VIDEO [0:41]    Note: We'll see. 

Did mining and oil drilling trigger the Haiti earthquake? [01/25/10] "Did the mining of Haiti’s riches since 2004 GW Bush regime change cause the earthquake? The idea that human activity can cause seismic activity is widely accepted in the scientific community. ...From what I’ve read, drilling deep into the earth digging and mining may trigger earthquakes. And, drilling either for fossil fuels or renewable energy exploration may cause earthquakes. Both geophysicists and oilmen agree that natural-gas drilling trigger earthquakes. One oilman stated that “there is not the slightest doubt” that gas production caused the temblors.” (See, At Fault: Does Drilling Cause Earthquakes?). According to a New York Times report drilling for oil sets off earthquakes. A drilling project near San Francisco and a similar project in Basel, Switzerland were shut down over concerns they trigger damaging earthquakes. Both diggings involved fracturing hard rock more than two miles deep....."  

Haiti Occupation Army [01/24/10] VIDEO [3:09]  "Haiti earthquake aid, or USA army occupation - Al Jazeera TV reports Sunday 17 January 2010. Every country that richer than Haiti is trying to help, but only American government is sending armed occupation forces to build more bases, and never pull out. Karachi-based charity worker, Abdul Sattar Edhi, pledged cash as former US president George Bush ordered. Food rots and cash disappears without traceable accountability. Pakistan has also pledged to send others relief items. Other Muslim and Arab countries are sending cash or kind. Most countries are helping in any way they can, a lot more than what six billion people see, hear or read in the anti-Muslim media. Many Muslim-Arab states and charities gave America billions dollars after the recent, Katrina, hurricane. Many other Muslim countries provided aid relief, including: Indonesia, Turkey, Iran, Morocco, Jordan, Islam Relief USA/UK, Muslim Aid, etc. But, by a remarkable coincident, Muslims countries, where USA imposed and sustained despots, and has occupation army, have donated almost nothing ..."  Note: Very Good video clip

Interview: Haiti: Bonanza for Foreign Mining Companies  [01/23/10] ".... Well, technically with regards to mining, there is this thing called the Bureau of Mines [and Energy] and its under the Ministry of Public Works in Haiti. But what folks have to understand is the history of what's been going on with respect to Haiti. Between 1991 and 1994 there was a Coup d'Etat. 1991 was the first Coup d'etat against President Jean Betrand Aristide and in those times, foreign companies, whenever, during Coup d'Etats they get lots of concessions and so forth. In terms of Haitian mineral rights and gold and bauxite, all the various minerals of Haiti. I mean people don't think of those things about Haiti. And this is one of those things my organization wants folks to understand. That the UN is not in Haiti, the US is not in Haiti, Canadians are not in Haiti for humanitarian goals or because they care about Haitian rights. There is an economic track. ... Haiti has various sites, especially in the North, where in terms of Canadian companies, we are talking about St. Genevieve, we are talking about Eurasian Minerals, we are talking about right now the new one which is called Majescor. Those are the three we are aware of. That doesn't mean there are not others. But around the 1970s and 1980s there was a survey[s] -[1975 - Kennecott Exploration/1978 - Penarroya Exploration], a geological survey done by the UNDP [1983 - The United Nations Development Program], and they actually also put together a document [for the Haitian government] with respect to what is available in these areas. In these areas now that are being mined by Eurasian Minerals; that are being mined by St. Genevieve up in the Trou du Nord up in the North and Northeast of Haiti. These companies, specifically St. Genevieve, came into Haiti in 1997 and that was under the Lavalas government of President Preval. And they got a [minimum] 25 year contract. Now, when they got that contract with regards to Haiti this was during a time when the grassroots had their voice. They knew what the resources were in Haiti and they felt entitled to share in the profits. We have information on what St. Genevieve was talking about. You know, the Aristide government was not amenable to what Genevieve was doing in Haiti.  ..."    

Analysis:  Why Is The US Military Occupying Four Airports In Haiti? [01/23/10] "The United States is now operating at four airports to ferry aid and relief supplies to quake-devastated Haiti, a senior US military commander said Thursday. ..." 

Elderly and mentally disabled survivors of a home outside Port-au-Prince abandoned by former caretakers and left to rot in own waste [01/23/10] Note: Sad.  

Haiti 2010: An Unwelcome Katrina Redux [01/22/10] "President Obama's response to the tragedy in Haiti has been robust in military deployment and puny in what the Haitians need most: food; first responders and their specialized equipment; doctors and medical facilities and equipment; and engineers, heavy equipment, and heavy movers. Sadly, President Obama is dispatching Presidents Bush and Clinton, and thousands of Marines and U.S. soldiers. By contrast, Cuba has over 400 doctors on the ground and is sending in more; Cubans, Argentinians, Icelanders, Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, and many others are already on the ground working--saving lives and treating the injured. Senegal has offered land to Haitians willing to relocate to Africa. The United States, on the day after the tragedy struck, confirmed that an entire Marine Expeditionary Force was being considered "to help restore order," when the "disorder" had been caused by an earthquake striking Haiti; not since 1751, 1770, 1842, 1860, and 1887 had Haiti experienced an earthquake. But, I remember the bogus reports of chaos and violence the led to the deployment of military assets, including Blackwater, in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. One Katrina survivor noted that the people needed food and shelter and the U.S. government sent men with guns. Much to my disquiet, it seems, here we go again. From the very beginning, U.S. assistance to Haiti has looked to me more like an invasion than a humanitarian relief operation. On Day Two of the tragedy, a C-130 plane with a military assessment team landed in Haiti, with the rest of the team expected to land soon thereafter. The stated purpose of this team was to determine what military resources were needed. ..."  

Profiting From Haiti's Crisis: Disaster Capitalism in Washington's Backyard [01/22/10] "US corporations, private mercenaries, Washington and the International Monetary fund are using the crisis in Haiti to make a profit, promote unpopular neoliberal policies, and extend military and economic control over the Haitian people. ..."   

CARICOM blocked as US takes control of Haiti airport [01/22/10] "The Caribbean Community's emergency aid mission to Haiti, comprising Heads of Government and leading technical officials, failed to secure permission Friday to land at that devastated country's airport, now under the control of the United States. Consequently the CARICOM 'assessment mission' that was to determine priority humanitarian needs resulting from the mind-boggling earthquake disaster of Haiti last Tuesday, had to travel back from Jamaica to their respective home destinations. On Griday afternoon the US State Department confirmed signing two 'Memoranda of Understanding' with the Government of Haiti that made 'official that the United States is in charge of all inbound and outbound flights and aid off-loading.. ..."   

Scahill on mercenaries: Haitians don’t need ‘more unaccountable people with guns’ [01/22/10] "Private security firms are already eying earthquake-stricken Haiti as a potential source of lucrative contracts. Author Jeremy Scahill believes, however, that "the last thing Haitians need [is] yet more unaccountable people with guns in their country." Scahill, the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army, told MSNBC's Rachael Maddow on Wednesday that many of the companies trying to peddle their services in Haiti are "nobodies [who] saw a moment to make a buck ... but some of the kingpins of the mercenary industry, like Dyncorp and Triple Canopy, are hiring right now, guys for deployment in Haiti." "A month from now, when reconstruction starts happening, we're going to see more of these companies coming into Haiti," Scahill cautioned. "And there's going to be serious questions about who overseas them, what law do they fall under." "We have to look at the whole disaster profiteering industry," continued Scahill. "There has to be some rule of law, and if there's one thing these companies are known for around the world, it's operating in a lawless environment." The private security companies have deep roots in Haiti. In an article in this week's Nation, Scahill writes, "In 1994, private US forces, such as DynCorp, became a staple of US operations in the country following the overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide by CIA-backed death squads. When President Bush invaded Iraq, his administration radically expanded that program and turned it into the privatized paramilitary force it is today." ..."    

US Forces in Haiti to Grow to 20,000 [01/22/10] "Roughly 20,000 U.S. troops will be supporting relief efforts in Haiti by Jan. 24, military officials said, adding to the 13,000-strong American force currently there. Comprising the force will be the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 82nd Airborne Division's 2nd Brigade and thousands of other troops operating afloat off the Haitian coast and on shore, distributing provisions, assisting in medical operations and helping to maintain security. Some 2,200 Marines of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit are slated to arrive within 48 hours, military officials said. "The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit is a huge part of enabling us to extend our reach to places around the country that may need our assistance but we just haven't been there yet," Army Lt. Gen. P.K. Keen, the top U.S. commander in Haiti, said on The Pentagon Channel today.  ..."   

Delayed medical treatment costing lives in Haiti [01/22/10]  VIDEO [3:49]  Note:  They WANT the minions to die.

Haiti: US Ships Blockade Coast to Thwart Exodus to America [01/21/10] "US officials have drawn up emergency plans to cope with a mass migration crisis and have cleared spaces in detention or reception centres, including the Navy base at Cuba's Guantanamo Bay. The unprecedented air, land and sea operation, dubbed "Vigilant Sentry", was launched as a senior US official compared Haiti's destruction to the aftermath of nuclear warfare. "It is the same as if an atomic bomb had been exploded," said Kenneth Merten, America's ambassador to Port-au-Prince, as officials estimated the numbers of those killed by last weeks earthquake to over 200,000. As well as providing emergency supplies and medical aid, the USS Carl Vinson, along with a ring of other navy and coast guard vessels, is acting as a deterrent to Haitians who might be driven to make the 681 mile sea crossing to Miami. "The goal is to interdict them at sea and repatriate them," said the US Coast Guard Commander Christopher O'Neil. ..."  

Are We in Haiti because of Oil? [01/22/10] "Once I observed the mass-murder posse of Team Obama, Bush and Clinton begin circling the wagons and the rapid US militarization of Port au Prince, including the occupation of the Presidential Palace, to the tune of now almost 10,000 US boots on the ground, I began to get suspicious. Call me crazy. I know of the sad history of Haiti imposed upon the tiny former slave nation by one imperial power after the next. But when I see 10,000 American soldiers descend upon a nation in less than a week, my radar flies into the red zone. ..."   

Haiti Oil and Other Resources page Note: Click on the link for a real, penetrating look at one of the reasons the US is in Haiti all the time. Very good resource.

Map of mining resources in Haiti and showing 5 oil sites, from the "White Book" of Fanmi Lavalas [01/22/10] Note:   Related:  Strategic Gold-Copper Property in Haiti (2009) "Majescor Resources Inc. ("Majescor" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: MJX) is pleased to report that it has signed an agreement (the "Agreement") with SIMACT Alliance Copper Gold Inc. ("SIMACT") and its principal shareholders (the "Principals") whereby the Company will acquire a 10% interest in SIMACT, as well an option to acquire the remaining 90% interest. SIMACT and SOMINE SIMACT is a Montreal-based private company headed by a group of Canadian financiers and Haitian-American developers. The alliance aims to promote sustainable mineral development initiatives in Haiti by creating synergies between the Canadian financial and mining communities and the North American Haitian Diaspora. ..." Source |  Haiti's Riches: Interview with Ezili Dantò on Mining in Haiti   Note:  Another economic reason for the ouster of President Aristide and UN occupation. 

Haiti:  Larger Oil Reserves Than Venezuela Says Scientists [01/20/10] "Haiti Has Huge Resources of Gold and Iridium Says Former Dominican Petroleum Refinery President Leopoldo Espaillat Nanita, it is ironic that Bill Clinton and George Soros have been talking about rebuilding Haiti's infrastructure and starting business ventures in the country. Perhaps Clinton, Soros and many other globalists have confirmed that these oil, gold, uranium, zyconium and iridium deposits DO exist in the Haiti and they want to gain control at the expense of the Haitian people. ...I have heard rumors that Haiti has vast oil reserves -- and that the globalists want these reserves. However, the globalists cannot get the reserves, because the oil belongs to the Haitian people. So the globalists do not allow the Haitians to exploit the oil reserves, because it would allow the Haitian people to prosper. It would allow the Haitians to build proper infrastructure, so that 7.0 earthquakes do not have such a devastating effect. The article below is translated from French (read the original here) using Google, so it may not be 100% translated and of course verify whether these scientists are to believed. Nevertheless, as I stated in my previous article Haiti Has Huge Resources of Gold and Iridium Says Former Dominican Petroleum Refinery President Leopoldo Espaillat Nanita, it is ironic that Bill Clinton and George Soros have been talking about rebuilding Haiti's infrastructure and starting business ventures in the country. Perhaps Clinton, Soros and many other globalists have confirmed that these oil, gold, uranium, zyconium and iridium deposits DO exist in the Haiti and they want to gain control at the expense of the Haitian people: ... Reference:  Haiti is full of oil say Daniel and Ginette Mathurin  Translated from French:  "Scientists Daniel and Ginette Mathurin indicate that under Haitian soil it is rich in oil ... "We have identified 20 sites Oil, launches Daniel Mathurin stating that 5 of them are considered very important by practitioners and policies. The Central Plateau, including the region of Thomond, the plain of the cul-de-sac and the bay of Port-au-Prince are filled with oil, he said, adding that Haiti's oil reserves are larger than those of Venezuela. An Olympic pool compared to a glass of water that is the comparison to show the importance of oil Haitian compared to those of Venezuela, "he explains. Venezuela is one of the world's largest producers of oil. Daniel Mathurin reveals that investigations of several previous governments have allowed to verify the existence of these large deposits of oil. It reminds a document of Lavalas party to power in 2004, had specified the number of sites in Haiti hydrocarbons. According to Daniel et Ginette Mathurin, the lake region, with cities like Thomazeau and Cornillon, contains large deposits of oil. Asked about the non- exploitation of these sites, Ginette Mathurin said that these deposits are declared strategic reserves of the United States of America. While stating his incomprehension of such a situation, it reminds that the Caribbean is considered the backyard of the United States. But Daniel and Ginette Mathurin indicate that the U.S. government in 2005 authorized the use of strategic reserves of the United States. This door must be used by the Haitian political négiciations to launch with U.S. companies with a view to exploiting these deposits adds Daniel Mathurin. Experts argue that the government acted Jean Claude Duvalier had verified the existence of a major oilfield in the bay of Port-au-Prince shortly before its fall. Moreover, Daniel et Ginette Mathurin show that uranium 238 and 235 and the deposit zyconium exist in several regions including in Jacmel. Uranium is used in nuclear reactors to produce electrical energy. ..."  Note:  Well, now this adds to the need for an explanation, doesn't it?    

New 6.1-quake hits Haiti, people flee into streets [01/20/10] "A strong earthquake struck Haiti on Wednesday morning, shaking buildings and sending screaming people running into the streets only eight days after the country's capital was devastated by a previous quake ..."  

Haiti: Coincidental "Pentagon Disaster Relief Exercise for Haiti" Went 'Live' After Earthquake Hit [01/19/10] "On Monday, Jean Demay, DISA's technical manager for the agency's Transnational Information Sharing Cooperation project, happened to be at the headquarters of the U.S. Southern Command in Miami preparing for a test of the system in a scenario that involved providing relief to Haiti in the wake of a hurricane. After the earthquake hit on Tuesday, Demay said SOUTHCOM decided to go live with the system. On Wednesday, DISA opened up its All Partners Access Network, supported by the Transnational Information Sharing Cooperation project, to any organization supporting Haiti relief efforts. ..." Washington shuts door on Haitian refugees   "The Obama administration has taken extraordinary measures to prevent desperate Haitians from entering the US since a January 12 earthquake devastated the Caribbean nation, killing an estimated 200,000, making at least 1.5 million homeless, and orphaning 1 million children. The effort to bar Haitians from entering the US—including the wounded seeking medical treatment— illustrates that the priority of the US-led intervention is not to save lives, but to establish military control over the population. Five US Coast Guard ships have joined US Navy vessels deployed off Haiti’s coast—not to deliver food, water, and medicine to the sick and dying, but to stop any Haitians who might attempt to escape. ..."  

Haitians Will Go Extinct [01/20/10] "The situation in Haiti is far worse than we could imagine, even before the quake of January 12. Some scientists now report that the earthquake in Haiti reveals that country as the miner’s canary of ecological collapse, a modern-day Easter Island. The term that scientists are using is ‘Overshoot,’ meaning that the population has far surpassed any hope of the environment sustaining them. According to a report in Energy Bulletin, Haiti has ten times the population density of the United States, and the highest density in the Western Hemisphere. To reach that density the United States would have to be crowded with 2.7 billion additional residents. What we are witnessing in the wake of the most recent disaster, they argue, is not the devastating impact of a mere earth quake, but the impact of a crisis in an environment where the energy needs of a population have surpassed the ability of the environment in which they are living to sustain that need. The situation has reached a virtually irreversible slide into extinction: 97% of the land has been stripped bare of trees. As a result, flood waters inundate towns and wash away roads at such a rate that houses and roads are washed away again before they can be completely rebuilt. A similar video report by the New York Times, indicates that the environment in Haiti has degraded to the point that it will be unable to sustain human life by 2020.  ..."  

Haiti facing even more powerful quakes in the future  [01/18/10] "Haiti and its neighbors must prepare themselves for more massive quakes after the devastating tremors this week increased pressure along a lengthy fault line, scientists warned Friday. Paul Mann, a senior research scientist at the Institute for Geophysics at the University of Texas at Austin, warned that just because the rebuilding process had started people shouldn't assume the risk was over. ..... "This fault system is hundreds of kilometers long and the segment that ruptured to form this ear quake is only 80 kilometers long," Mann said in a telephone interview. ... Adding to the danger is the fact that the segment which broke was not among those closest to Port-au-Prince. And there is a second fault system in the north of Haiti which extends to the Dominican Republic which has not ruptured in 800 years and has built up sufficient pressure for a 7.5 magnitude quake. "The question is when are those going to rupture," Mann said, adding that it is very difficult to predict "whether or not that's going to happen next week or 100 years." Eric Calais, a French geophysicist who works at Purdue University in Indiana, is among those trying to assess the danger.  He had warned Haitian officials years ago of dangerous pressure in the fault which caused this week's devastating quake, but little could be done to reinforce the desperately poor nation's weak buildings. ... In March 2008 he and Mann presented a paper showing that the fault had built up sufficient pressure to cause a 7.2 magnitude quake. "It's very important for Port-au-Prince to rebuild properly," he added. "There are other segments of that fault that could rupture in the future.""  Note: Port-au-Prince and all the cities were slums for nature in people suits. That won't be different later, no matter how much they claim to pour into this country.

Haiti Earthquake Caught On Tape [01/24/10] VIDEO   [2:50]  " Some of the images are grainy but the horror is clear. Videos recorded during the moments when an earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince, Haiti, are punctuated by screams of terror -- and followed by wails of despair. ..."   

Minion Mass Death Event:  7.0 Quake hits Haiti -  Largest Earthquake in Over 200 Years [01/13/10] "The strongest earthquake in more than 200 years rocked Haiti on Tuesday, collapsing a hospital where people screamed for help and heavily damaging the National Palace, U.N. peacekeeper headquarters and other buildings. U.S. officials reported bodies in the streets and an aid official described "total disaster and chaos." United Nations officials said a large number of U.N. personnel were unaccounted for. Communications were widely disrupted, making it impossible to get a full picture of damage as powerful aftershocks shook a desperately poor country where many buildings are flimsy. Electricity was out in some places. Karel Zelenka, a Catholic Relief Services representative in Port-au-Prince, told U.S. colleagues before phone service failed that "there must be thousands of people dead," according to a spokeswoman for the aid  ...the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 and was centered about 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said. It had a depth of 5 miles (8 kilometers). It was the largest quake recorded in the area and the first major one since a magnitude-6.7 temblor in 1984, USGS analyst Dale Grant said."