a834: British delegation makes solidarity visit to Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

British delegation makes solidarity visit to Haiti

Translated from French original (see below) by Charles
Arthur for the Haiti Support group

Port-au-Prince., 18 February 2002 [AlterPresse] ---
Last week, a delegation of nine British personalities,
organised by Oxfam GB, visited Haiti to witness at
first hand the effects of unequal terms of trade on
the poorest sectors of society. The delegation,
composed of pop star, Chris Martin, a pop
music promoter, and numerous journalists, was led by
Oxfam GB press officer, Lysbeth Holdoway.

On 17 February, before boarding her plane, Lysbeth
Holdoway told AlterPresse that the delegation had
visited coffee producers in the North and Artibonite
departments. "We were able to see how theinternational
trade rules effect Haiti", declared Holdoway.

The facts accumulated in the course of the visit will
be used in the international campaign around "the
unfair market and its impact on poor
countries" that the organisation will launch next
April. This campaign, that
will last three years, is necessary to permit workers
to benefit from the
fruits of their labour, added Holdoway.

One of the spokespeople for the campaign will be Chris
Martin, the singer from the group, Coldplay, whose
first album released two years ago has sold 5 million
copies. Martin says he is "impressed" by the courage
of the Haitian people. "Haiti is suffering from the
repercussions of a corrupt government and the unfair
terms imposed by the IMF and the World Bank", the
English singer told AlterPresse.

At his side was Emile Evis, one of the organisers of
the Glastonbury Festival which is attended by more
than 150,000 people each year, who said that she
realises the effects of Oxfam's interventions in spite
of the catastrophic
conditions.

During a farewell soirée in Pétionville on 17
February, Yolette Etienne,
Oxfam GB field officer in Haiti, praised this
"solidarity visit". She said,
"Solidarity is different from aid." A number of
well-known artists, among them guitarists Claude Carré
and Pierre Rigaud Chéry, the singer Théodore (Lolo)
Beaubrun Jr., and the painter Yolette Hazel, took part
in the soirée.

This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti
Support Group.

SEE THE HAITI SUPPORT GROUP WEB SITE:  <A
HREF="http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport";>http://www.gn.apc.org/haitisupport
</A>

The Haiti Support Group - solidarity with the Haitian
people's struggle for justice, participatory democracy
and equitable development, since 1992.

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