28667: Simidor (comment) Re: 28626: Durban : On Grupo M's Alleged Closing (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From : Daniel Simidor <danielsimidor@yahoo.com>

Lance Durban?s reputation as a capitalist boss in
Haiti is that of a decent chap who treats his workers
relatively well, not that of a bottom feeder.  His
bitter attack against Batay Ouvriye now has me
wondering: Is Durban still fighting old ideological
demons, or are there more personal stakes involved
here?  With the passing of the HOPE Act possibly down
the road, Batay Ouvriye?s successes in organizing
Haitian sweatshop workers become a major pain in the
ass for would-be investors.  All that is
straightforward stuff in spite of Durban?s detour in
Vivi Michel.

What makes less sense is the Lavalas acharnement
(relentless pursuit) against Batay Ouvriye -- unless
of course one takes Sprague?s revelations that Batay
Ouvriye is really a CIA front seriously.  And even
that wouldn?t answer the question of what is Lavalas
anyway?

Then again, Lavalas hates Batay Ouvriye because Batay
Ouvriye shows them for what they are: enemies of the
working class who betrayed the country?s basic
interest in selling out to the Dominican ruling class
in Maribahoux.  What went down in Guacimal in 2002
made that betrayal quite obvious.  Aristide?s secret
deal with Grupo M apparently made no provision for
collective bargaining, if the Grupo M bosses would
sooner bolt than pay their workers what is still not
the equivalent of the minimum wage under Baby Doc (3
US dollars for a day?s work).  I say screw Grupo M and
their Lavalas accomplices!

Instead of bottom feeders and sweatshops that
contribute practically nothing in terms of sustainable
growth, why not envision such things as import
substitution, investing in agriculture and a higher
ratio of capital and equipment versus labor, that are
more conducive to economic development?  The new
Preval/Alexis regime wants to borrow as much as $5.4
billion from international lenders over the next five
years.  But without cleaning their Augean stables,
guess where all that money would end?  In the Vivi
Michel enclave, building more million-dollar mansions...

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