21169: Marina: Post # 7276 - Repost re: discussion about Corruption in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Marina <marinawus@yahoo.com>

To All:

When someone states on this listserv that they did not
read about asset accumulation during the LAVALAS
government, I found that I needed to go back in my
archives and post below illustrates some of the issues
discussed on this list.

The following post was sent to the list on Friday
March 9, 2001 and concerns a person that has played an
important role in the former administration of Haiti.

_________________________________________
Fri, 9 Mar 2001 01:45:14 -0600 (CST)

> Please post anonymously. Thank you.
>
> +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> 1. The sender of Post 7265 should be commended for
> showing us a "kinder and gentler" side of Gladys
> Lauture. After all, her vilification on this list
> (including my own in Post 7199) started to resemble
> a
> one-sided and incredibly unfair smear campaign.
>
> Unfortunately, this vigourous defense of Lauture's
> Christian (or more narrowly, Catholic) values raises
> more questions than it answers:
>
> a. Is the Laboratoire she owns on the Champ de Mars
> the source of her fortune? Is this what allowed her
> to buy shares in Banque Intercontinentale (formerly
> Bank of Boston), for example, with Dr. Boulos? I
> seriously doubt it.
>
> b. But if the answer is yes, can the funds generated
> by this business venture explain of all the alleged
> charities and social works she supports or funds?
>
c. What does an "old family with strong Christian
and charitable traditions" mean? Don't we all have a
long family line?  Do Christians have a monopoly on
charity and good moral values? Or could this be an
oblique reference to the alleged "liste des 200
familles", those "elite" families that have
"controlled" Haiti since its independence and managed
to screw 95% of the population for almost 200 years?
>
> d. What are the "other" lucrative businesses (apart
> from the Laboratoire) that have given her the means
> to be so charitable? I may not be an insider, but I
> thought that if such businesses existed, some
> relatively well-connected people on this list would
> have cited these ventures by now.
>
> e. Why hasn't the writer of Post 7265 unequivocally
> repudiated of all the previous information that
> detailed Lauture's misdeeds? In other words, can
> anyone on this list state with a good conscience
> that
> Lauture did not perform any of the alleged irregular
> transactions that have been attributed to her in
> this
> forum?
>
> f. Citing her as very close to the Haitian Catholic
> Church is no reference. This is the same church that
> used to forbid my classmates and me from speaking
> Creole at school decades ago (I guess I am betraying
> my age bracket with this tidbit), that tried to
> destroy all elements of Vodoun in the 1940's and
> became the moral authors of unspeakable acts in the
> process, that steadfastly allied itself with the
> upper classes and completely ignored the masses
until the beginning of the "Ti Legliz" movement, just
to mention a few charitable acts of said church. This
is the same CATHOLIC church that tried last year to
shove a $72 million electricity deal down the
government's throat through its affiliate investment
company, with a built-in 25% profit margin. And the
Preval administration almost went for it! Could
Lauture
have been connected to this deal? I am not sure.
>
> g. How much has she actually donated to all the
> causes listed in the post? How does that compare to
the wealth she has amassed? And how much of her wealth
was acquired while she was Michelle B. Duvalier's best
> friend? How does she explain her extremely close
> friendship with this rapacious woman?
>
> 2. To be fair to Lauture, it is necessary that the
> public (and not so public) unethical acts of many
> male powerbrokers, especially some in the past 5
years, be brought forth. Otherwise, the negative posts
on Lauture - which I am assuming were predominantly
> penned by men - would smack of nothing more than
> misogyny. At this point, I am too disgusted with all
> that happened to start listing some of the great
> deals that others have engineered. But let me at
least cite the names of some offenders:
> + Fred Joseph - former Minister of Finance and
> Economie
> + Harry Cean - Directeur General of CONATEL
> + Julio Cadet - former Directeur General of TELECO
> (a Lauture protege)
>
> On second thought, Cean deserves special mention for
> having done the following:
> + provided to Haitel a number of licenses for which
> they never paid much in exchange for a small number
> of shares in the company ... meanwhile blocking all
> competitors from obtaining similar licenses.
> Conflict of interest!
> + managed to hire close to 10 of his relatives at
> Conatel, including the director of accounting  and
> key advisors (a sister and half-brothers with
different surnames, so no red flags were raised.)
> + paid cash for a gas station that cost about
> $600,000 on the Route du Nord and that is managed by
a brother.
> Now what is a Directeur General's salary again?
> + of course, is a partner in the "activity du jour"
> also known as the Retiremnent Fund for Haitian
> Politicians: long-distance call bypass, which allows
> him to undermine Teleco's long-distance monopoly
> while building a comfortable nest egg.
>
Enough for today. Let someone else finish the task
of exposing so-called technocrats like Joseph and Cean
who have basically turned their backs on the people
and made Duvalier-era shenanigans look like child's
play. Is this what I bargained for when I voted
Lavalas in 1990, cheered for the return in 1994, and
voted for Preval (yes I was one of the few)? No, but
I remain hopeful that President Aristide will correct
all the misdeeds that were performed by opportunists
disguised as Lavalas in the future.




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