9874: International Aid (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dr Allen <drallen@periogroup.com>

from JAAllen; RE: International Aid

The Black Caucus and a few highly paid foreign consultants are now in full
battle gear to help the current government of Haiti obtain funds from the
international community. It is indeed regrettable that the people of Haiti
are once more suffering because of our internal divisions.
This reminds me of the time when the same Black Caucus and the consultants
were on the other side helping to impose the most devastating embargo on
Haiti in order to forcefully return their benefactor/client, Aristide, to
power. I do not think that they have any moral standing in the crisis,
because when it served their purposes, the same politicians who now appear
to be so moved by the images of poverty from Haiti, never hesitated to cause
great harm to our nation with that criminal embargo. Some are even reported
to have benefited financially from the "operation". A friend who was present
in Carthagena told me that Aristide, who now speaks of economic terrorism,
at the time, went as far as recommending the imposition of a total embargo
on food and medicine on Haitians!
I was against the embargo of 91-94 because it was a crime against Haiti and
it was not the most efficient way of resolving the crisis. This time I am
also against withholding the funds already allocated because it is not
helping to solve the current crisis and has not forced the lavalas to the
negotiating table, as many believed. In both cases, it is asking the poor
people of Haiti to pay twice for situations they did not create.
If Aristide turns out to be the embezzler he is purported to be, he would
not be the first (or last) in our history or the only one in the region. At
the risk of enriching a few lavalas, I agree that the aid to Haiti is to be
released to help alleviate the suffering of so many. Some would think of
this as a naive position; I would in this case prefer to err on the side of
naiveté.
Although the pain caused by the non-disbursement of funds pales in
comparison to the effects of the criminal embargo of 91-94, any Haitian has
to be against both because they both contribute to the accelerated
pauperization of Haiti. When our GDP goes down, we all go down. The worst
crowd in my opinion is in the camp made of former Lavalas allies, now
enemies, who hold the dubious distinction of having supported both
enterprises for their shortsighted political interests.
Since we are now a semi-protectorate of the "friends-of-Haiti", thanks in
part to Aristide's tireless efforts (read blunders), we have lost the
ability to decide for ourselves and are doomed to be victims of one camp or
the other with support from abroad, for a small fee.
When will we learn that "le linge sale se lave en famille"? Maybe when and
if we ever become a family.
Joseph A. Allen DDS
Miami, FL