8625: Lavalas Theft of Teleco Revenue (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: karioka9@cs.com

We have all heard the "rumors" about how Aristide and his wife have turned Haiti's long distance telephone service into a private cash cow that they milk mercilessly at the detriment of the country.  Now for the first time, the author of "International Telephone Traffic between North America and Haiti" (Corbett post #8575) has laid bare the mechanism of that corruption. Lavalas apologists always so quick to exclaim "... But there is no proof!" will have one less place to hide.  The line between naivete and political opportunism, at least in this one instance, is now sharply drawn.

How can anyone caution this kind of corruption in a country as poor as Haiti?  Back in the 1970s and early 1980s, the Black Studies establishment and the black cultural nationalists in this country (the US) would not take a stand against the dictatorship in Haiti because, in the political correctness of that time, they would not undermine "the strong black leadership" of the Duvaliers.  Translated in real terms, the niggerati of that period craved an invitation to the national palace in Port-au-Prince, which often meant some kind of import/export privilege.  White anthropologists, art dealers and assorted opportunists followed the same line.

Today, the Soup Joumou liberals and the solidarity establishment are in the same morally bankrupt situation.  They are in a good position to know that Aristide and his Lavalas crooks stole the May 2000 legislative and municipal elections, but they are in denial.  They are in a good position to probe the staggering corruption within the Lavalas regime, but they have already consecrated Aristide as Haiti's savior in their books and annual reports, and so they're not about to contradict themselves.  

Chamberlain's assessment of the O'Grady article is on the mark. The bit about Dame Eugenia Charles and "the multilateral largess sloshing around the globe" was especially laughable.  But a lot of the outrage on this list about O'Grady and the Wall Street Journal is phony.  So what if O'Grady is not a regular at the Oloffson bar or at the Holiday Inn in Port-au-Prince?  So what if the WSJ is a mouthpiece for the State Department? (Duh!)  Does that really invalidate the point she makes about Aristide's "Extortion practices" suffocating "the few productive sectors of the economy?"

Anonymous laid bare the mechanism of the disgusting Lavalas theft of Teleco revenue.  This is only the tip of the iceberg.  The Lavalas bosses now secure in their power are quite comfortable in flaunting their new fond riches.  How far off the mark is O'Grady when she writes that Aristide's sole incentive in negotiating with the Convergence local losers is the coveted $500 million of so-called international assistance?  $500 millions to be plundered by the Lavalas "big eaters," but that the people will have to repay penny after hard-earned penny. 

Haiti's "friends" need to take a hard look at what they're doing.  To the extent that they are propping up a new corrupt regime, they are not helping the people.

Daniel Simidor