a664: BBC: Haiti has lost its right to vote in the UN; it has notpaid its annual contribution of 50,000 dollars. (Re: a655) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: amedard@gte.net

> 2. Haiti has lost its right to vote in the UN because the Haitian government
> has not paid its annual contribution of 50,000 dollars.

If the Haitian government can spend between 6m dollars and 9m dollars a year to
assure the security of President Aristide and his family, then it seems this $50,000
could have easily been paid.  I wonder if, for some reason, the right to vote was
intentionally forfeited for whatever reason.

Major sums of international aid never reach the people; they are, instead, often paid
to program-implementing employees of the very institutions allocating the funds.  Six
million -  nine million dollars is a quite a lot of money.  (Even investment interest
alone on that sum is substantial.)   If the annual 6m dollars and 9m dollars were
spent on improving the country (health care, education, public works, job creation
and whatever else Caricom, the Haiti Action Committee, etc. are demanding), I wonder
if all this outrageously expensive protection would be necessary.