=?x-unknown?q?25781=3A_Arthur_=28comment=29_Haiti=E2~=40~Y_s_in?==?x-unknown?q?come_distribution_is_highly_skewed_=28fwd=29?=

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Charles Arthur writes:

Dare I say that it seems to me that the abysmal wave of violence and
kidnapping suits those in positions of power rather well in that it means they can
concentrate on this and ignore the following:

"An estimated 76 percent of the population lives below the poverty line (on
less than US$2 a day) and 55 percent in extreme poverty (on less than US$1 a
day). Haitiâ s income distribution is highly skewed, with the poorest 20 percent
of the population accounting for 1.5 percent of incomes and the wealthiest 20
percent for 68 percent." (source: the International Monetary Fund, June 2005)

Maybe I have missed it but I haven't seen the Fanmi Lavalas, the Group of 184
or the traditional political parties saying anything about the above issues.
It also seems to me that the whole 2000-2004 dispute about the May 2000
elections was a rather good distraction from having to address the appalling poverty
and massive disparity in wealth, and that suited the Fanmi Lavalas and the
Democratic Convergence rather well too.