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22 Jun 12
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06 May 08
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The roots of this phenomenon lie with a fundamental shift away from local production of food products toward importation of these basic essentials and higher profits for Haiti's wealthy elite. It really began in the 1980s and coincides with the "Reagan Revolution" in the United States and a foreign policy that placed emphasis on the "private sector" as the motor of society in providing opportunities for the poor majority.
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During that same period, a major transition occurred in Haiti. The Mevs, one of the wealthiest families in Haiti, bought the Haitian American Sugar Company, or HASCO, which had been one of the major sugar producers in the world.
The Mevs realized they would never be allowed to penetrate the U.S. market while it was controlled by the American company C&H Sugar, based in Hawaii. It made more economic sense for them to buy HASCO and sell off its equipment in exchange for positioning themselves as the major importer of sugar to Haiti.
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The real hypocrisy of this system comes into play when you realize the contribution to the recent "food riots" that led to the fall of Haitian Prime Minister Jacques-Edouard Alexis by the so-called Group of Friends of Haiti, the United Nations and Haiti's elite.
Haiti has never been a free market; it's a captive market of 8.5 million who have no choice who they purchase basic staples from. There is no competition, as the few families who control the import of rice and beans have never tolerated it.
They have historically resorted to violence, coups and corruption to protect their interests. Yet these are the same families who have benefited most from the intervention of the international community since the ouster of Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 29, 2004. Their profits have nearly doubled during this time period, and left the country vulnerable to the recent spike in international prices for staples such as rice and beans.
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Another element of hypocrisy in this system is that while countries like Haiti cannot tax imported rice and beans, Haiti's elite have partnered with large agribusinesses in places like California, Idaho and Montana--which receive large U.S. government subsidies to produce the same products at cheaper prices. So while the current system condemns import tariffs as a form of "protectionism," it allows large producers in the U.S. to receive subsidies to grow these products.
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So in reality, these so-called free-market capitalists are really competing over their share of these remittances, and not new wealth being generated in Haiti. Money that comes from thousands of Haitians living primarily in the U.S., Canada and Europe is then redistributed into the hands of a few families that control a monopoly on the importation of food, especially rice and beans.
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SINCE THE ouster of Aristide in February 2004, there have been regular protests demanding his return. They have never stopped, and I venture to say they will never stop. Foremost is the fact that this is the only Haitian president to truly resist the international system that began with Ronald Reagan.
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THE BRAZILIAN military is by its own nature and history a repressive force. One need not look further then its own history to confirm this. The Brazilians serve much the same role they play in their own country to repress the favelas. The only difference is that they use Haiti to whitewash their own brutal historical image internationally.
In Haiti, the Brazilians always shoot first, and detain without cause or warrant. Yet they wash their hands of responsibility for arresting thousands of Haitians, most of them incarcerated for political reasons without ever seeing a judge.
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RECENTLY, THE Economist and the head of the UN hailed the occupation of Haiti as a success story. But just like the U.S. occupation in Iraq, the opposite is the case. What do the world ruling elites mean when they say that the occupation has been a success?
I HAVE to use a benchmark to qualify your question. For me, the benchmark was the recent protests on February 29, 2008 that marked the fourth anniversary of Aristide's ouster. More than 10,000 people took to the streets throughout Haiti to demand his return from exile.
Given your earlier questions, you might now begin to understand why. Haiti's occupation after his ouster has been a complete failure. There has been no discernable improvement in the lot of the average Haitian--quite the contrary, their lot has descended into more poverty and misery.
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The most important act of solidarity is choosing whom you work with. They most closely reflect my own experiences and values for working in solidarity with grassroots organizations that are working to rebuild their lives following the ouster of Aristide and the brutal years of repression that followed. It is about creating an alternative to the NGO model of social engineering that allows for Haitians to lead in their own communities for sovereignty and economic and social justice.
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