a1465: On EU sanctions (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Tttnhm@aol.com

Charles Arthur writes:

This item below is from a Christian Aid press release dated 23 March 2001 -
an old snip but still relevant today.


<At the end of January 2001 the European Union froze around 40 million
dollars of aid because of what it sees as the country’s lack of democracy.

The suspension of EU aid has been criticised in some quarters. Inette
Durandis, the general director for the development programme of the Methodist
Church of Haiti, a Christian Aid partner organisation said: "It’s not through
the application of economic sanctions that Haiti’s problems will be
overcome."

The crisis, she believes, is preventing the government from promoting the
country’s development. "Non-governmental organisations alone can’t do
development work, they need to work together with the state, but with the
current situation, the government is not in a position to bring together the
different actors who can help the country advance."

According to Innette Durandis Haiti’s problems stem from the fact that over
the last 200 years the ruling class has hung on to power at all costs and
failed to address the basic needs of the people. "The current violence," she
says, "is making an already catastrophic economic situation worse, and the
politicians who are quarrelling to gain access to power are blocking the
development of the country." >

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