14718: Blanchet: Fw: Haiti's govt spokesman writes US spokesperson in Haiti re: Sanctions (AHP) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>


> AHP February 4, 2003 3:30 PM
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> The Office of the Director of Communication of the Ministry of Culture
writes
> to Ms. Trunzo on the question of economic sanctions
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Port-au-Prince, February 4, 2003 -(AHP)- The Office of the Director of
> Communication of the Minister of Culture and Communication sent an open
> letter Monday to Ms. Judith Trunzo, Public Affairs Officer of the American
> Embassy, following her note published January 29, 2003, in the Haitian
daily
> newspaper "Le Nouvelliste" relating to the question of sanctions imposed
> against Haiti.
>
> According to the Ministry's communications office, Mme Trunzo has tried to
> convince people that the Haitian government has no grounds to protest the
> attitude of the international community toward the Haitian people.
>
> The Communications Directorate believes that Ms. Trunzo is apparently
> perplexed by the fact that, from her country's cultural perspective,
charity
> has the same value as cooperation.
>
> The letter written by the communications office denounced the fact that
the
> country has been deprived of $500 million due to the enormous pressure
> exerted by the United States on international financial institutions that
had
> signed loan agreements with Haiti.
>
> According to officials from the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the
> Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has been violating its own statutes
by
> going along with the urging of the U.S. government, now that the excuse
has
> been eliminated that the IDB was waiting for the Haitian Parliament to
ratify
> these loan agreements.
>
> The Ministry of Culture and Communication recalls that the $56 million in
aid
> to which Ms. Trunzo was referring in the Nouvelliste article have not been
> destined for Haiti because the donor institutions have decided entirely on
> their own how much of these funds are to be allocated to specific
projects,
> as well as where the funds end up and the choice of direct or indirect
> beneficiaries of the projects set up by USAID.
>
> The communications office reproaches USAID for "serving as a cover for a
> planned policy of strangulation... or of utilizing these funds, in large
> part, to support associations and organizations which, strangely, happen
to
> be, almost all, part of the political opposition".
>
> Commenting that it would be interesting if USAID were to publish, in full
> transparency, the list of direct beneficiaries of its generosity, the
Office
> of Communication of the Ministry of Culture indicates that one would find
out
> in a hurry that there exists a strong correlation between this list and
that
> of the associations which comprise the "Group of 184 associations"
purporting
> to be from civil society that has surfaced recently claiming to be an
> authorized representative of the Haitian nation.
>
> The office of Communications asks whether this coincidence is a new
strategy
> for interference, a thinly-disguised support for political groups which
are
> still refusing to admit their true intentions and a financial resource for
> politicians who can thus afford to dedicate most of their time to drafting
> resolutions and organizing press conferences.
>
> According to the open letter, the Haitian people will now understand
better
> the reasons for the repeated failure the OAS in its efforts to resolve the
> crisis, thanks to the revelation of the partisan and political involvement
of
> those who have been presenting themselves as facilitators.
>
> The letter goes on to say that the government will simply content itself
with
> pointing out that these $56 million spent during the last fiscal year
> constitutes a major decrease in programs carried out by USAID under the
> dictatorial regimes of Jean-Claude Duvalier and his cohorts.
>
> "Will the American Administration have an increasingly difficult time
> accepting the disastrous consequences upon the environment, health,
> education, and nutrition for the most needy sectors arising from its
policy
> of sanctions and ostracism" the Ministry of Culture's Directorate of
> Communication wonders, asking whom they are trying to convince that
democracy
> is under greater threat in Haiti than anywhere else.
>
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