12548: FULL Text of Cong. Towns before US Congress on Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: MKarshan@aol.com

HAITI -- HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS (Extensions of Remarks - July 09, 2002)

[Page: E1219]
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HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS
OF NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Tuesday, July 9, 2002

Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, as our Nation turns its focus toward a full-scale
battle against worldwide terrorism, there are some international human rights
issues that are evading the scope of U.S. policymakers. This should be of
great concern to those in this country who have long been concerned
with the welfare of all humanity, be it in Asia, Africa, or in the Caribbean.
Unbeknownst to many in this country, one of the hungriest and most neglected
nations in the world lies not only in this hemisphere, but also in our own
Caribbean backyard. The situation in Haiti is worsening by the day while
international financial institutions refuse to provide
development assistance, and the role of the U.S. is still unclear. What is
certain is that a double standard has been created regarding Haiti, and that
rather than being helped, the population is being further driven into the
ground.
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Andrew Blandford, Research Associate at the Washington-based Council on
Hemispheric Affairs (COHA), has recently authored a press memorandum entitled
``As Catastrophe Approaches in Haiti, the U.S. Continues to Block
International Loans.'' This important analysis, which was released on June
13, will shortly appear in a revised form in the upcoming issue of that
organization's estimable biweekly publication, The Washington Report on the
Hemisphere. Blandford's research findings spotlight the developing Haitian
tragedy and examine the role played by units of our own government in
orchestrating the withholding of over $500 millon in loans and grants to our
poverty-stricken neighbors.

Following weeks of floods and increased potable water shortages in Haiti,
residents are forced to spend, on average, nearly a tenth of their meager
U.S. $1 a day income on such a fundamental staple as water. As a result of
its scarcity and inflated price, less than half of Haiti's population
consumes potable water, compounding the nation's abysmal health standards.
Over 4% of Haiti's populace is infected with HIV/AIDS while only 1 in 10,000
has access to a physician.

The sanctions against Haiti include the withholding of a $146 million loan
from the Inter-American Development Bank that was intended to fund education,
healthcare and infrastructure projects. Because the IDB loans have already
been approved, we have the ironic situation where Haiti must continue to pay
interest on money it does not receive. While U.S. dollars
flow in record amounts to such undemocratic nations as Saudi Arabia and
Pakistan, our Caribbean neighbors live in abject poverty. We must recognize
the injustice of withholding, international development assistance to a
country previously ruled by the U.S.-supported Duvalier family dictatorship
which distorted the country's institutions while running up record debts.

COHA researcher Blandford calls for action through the passage of H.C.R. 382,
sponsored by our colleague Representative Barbara Lee and the Congressional
Black Caucus. This resolution would urge the President to end
the virtual embargo on development assistance to Haiti. Consequently, the
article is of great relevance since the need to constructively engage Haiti
is likely to grow in importance in the coming months, given the precedent
for Haitian refugees to attempt to escape to Florida by means of a perilous
sea passage when famine and destitution become unbearable at home, even
though they face automatic interdiction and are forced to return to the
island.

AS CATASTROPHE APPROACHES IN HAITI, THE U.S. CONTINUES TO BLOCK
INTERNATIONAL LOANS
Less than a decade after the United States triumphantly pronounced the
restoration of democracy in Haiti with the return of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide, the international community has financially repudiated the island
nation. Only two years before its bicentennial, the unrest which has
characterized much of Haiti's two centuries of independence has returned to
the poverty-stricken nation. A loose and disparate opposition coalition of
mainly tiny rightist factions, the Democratic Convergence, due to its tight
links to conservative Washington powerbrokers, has been able to undermine the
Aristide administration both abroad and at home.


THE DEVELOPING HAITIAN TRAGEDY
In recent weeks, in addition to Haiti's routine political and economic woes,
its populace has been forced to spend, on average, nearly a tenth of their
meager U.S. $1 a day income on water alone due to a lethal shortage of
supplies. Because of its scarcity and price inflation, less than half of
Haiti's population consumes potable water.

Dr. Paul Farmer, a Harvard medical professor and director of Haiti's
celebrated Zanmi Lasante clinic, notes the close connection between
contaminated water and the cataclysmic HIV epidemic that affects 4% of the
island's population. Dr. Farmer has of late witnessed the number of untreated
patients in Haiti multiply at an unprecedented pace: ``I had
worried about 60-70,000 patients for the year. Now it'll likely be well over
120,000. The blocked $146 million in IDB [Inter-American Development Bank]
loans are for health, water, and education. It's insane for the richest
country in the world to hold up financing of these projects in one of the
poorest.'' Dr. Farmer's invaluable role in spearheading the battle against
AIDS, nevertheless, is thus far a losing effort. Currently there is only one
physician for every 10,000 Haitians. The Pan-American Heath Organization's
director, George Alleyne, laments that 74 Haitian babies die per every 1,000
live births and that life expectancy on the island is among the lowest in the
Americas. To him the cause is clear: ``It is poverty.''


THE U.S. ROLE IN HAITI'S PLIGHT
Due to the U.S. Treasury Department's virtual veto power over the IDB, a low
interest loan of $54 million meant to improve Haiti's access to clean water
cannot be disbursed, despite the fact that the bank's charter specifically
forbids such political meddling. The IDB claims that no loans can be sent to
Haiti because the country is in arrears, but the State Department has made it
clear that international pressure will be removed only when the strict
demands on the U.S. agenda are met. At June's OAS General Assembly in
Barbados, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell asserted that Haiti needs the
assistance of the international  financial community ..... but it is
difficult to provide that kind of aid until there is political stability.''

Despite Aristide's democratic authenticity, the Convergence's provocations
have effectively cut off international resources to Haiti while billions of
U.S. dollars flow to authoritarian nations such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

In January 2001, Ira Kurzban, the Aristide administration's general counsel
in the U.S., claimed that the IRI facilitated the allocation of $3 million of
NED funds to the Convergence. Shortly thereafter, in a February 2 article,
The Washington Post substantiated the IRI's connection to the origins of the
Convergence. In effect, the IRI has arranged for the Convergence to have a de
facto veto power over Aristide's constitutional mandate.

The Convergence essentially delivered an ultimatum to the Haitian president
when it called for the annulment of the results of the May 2000 election,
which its leaders insisted were flawed. Aristide agreed over a year ago to
fire the seven senators whose votes were contested and to move up the
elections despite the fact that an American delegation led by Congressman
John Conyers (D-MI) of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) witnessed the
balloting and characterized it as ``the democratic process working,
exceptionally well.'' The Convergence, however, still stonewalls
negotiations, choosing instead to advance its policy of economic asphyxiation
of the government.

The Republican leadership argues that USAID already delivers sufficient
funding to Haiti. According to remarks made by Secretary of State Powell, the
U.S. only provided $73 million in aid last year for emergency rations,but
this figure will be slashed to $20 million for Fiscal Year 2002.
Moreover, a USAID official in Haiti recently told visitors ``79 cents of
every USAID dollar worldwide is actually spent in the U.S.''


THE OAS-SPONSORED NEGOTIATIONS
A total of $500 million in approved international loans and grants have been
withheld as a result of demands made by Aristide's political enemies that a
consensus be reached between the democratically-based Aristide administration
and the Convergence's questionable bona fides. Few analysts
see any grounds for optimism as an OAS negotiation team is in the country on
its twentieth visit in an attempt to produce a peace accord. Like Aristide,
the OAS has been unable to accomplish its goal due to a lack of political and
financial assets. Section nineteen of the OAS Inter-American Commission
on Human Rights Report specifically cites a lack of resources as the leading
cause behind Haiti's inefficient judicial institutions and the OAS has
displayed a particular lack of ability to operate independent of State
Department dictates.

At a June 28 Haiti Symposium in Washington, the leader of the OAS peace
initiative, Assistant Secretary General Luigi Einaudi, fresh from the island,
agreed that it is now ``the absolute critical time'' to move forward and set
a deadline for negotiations. This step would thwart the
Convergence's strategy of issuing perpetual ultimatums. Einaudi stressed,
``There is not one nation--certainly not one of the 34 in the OAS--which
disputes Aristide's presidency.'' The problem, as he explained it, is that
the international community will not sign onto the process of renewing
development support until Aristide and his administration's opposition reach
an agreement. ``I hate sanctions,'' Einaudi griped, ``they're easy to put on
and hard to take off.''

Since a consensus in Haiti is far from assured, representative Barbara Lee
(D-CA) and the CBC introduced in April H.C.R. 382, ``New Partnership for
Haiti,'' which calls for an end to U.S.-influenced sanctions on the island,
regardless of the Convergence's obstinacy. However, while the resolution
remains stalled in committee, and with Congress sharply divided along party
lines, it is doubtful whether the legislation will reach the House floor.

Furthermore, Haitian advocacy groups stress that a resumption of
international development assistance is only the first step in addressing
Haiti's dire condition. Once the Haitian government is able to establish its
authority and marshals the necessary resources, It will have to begin to
create solid institutions and reform its judicial process in order to
effectively serve the nation.


END