Haiti: They Need Solidarity Not Soldiers!

[polly7]

By Joao pedro Stedile

Friday, April 05, 2013

People live in extreme poverty, lacking food and material goods. Things were made worse after the earthquake on January 2010, which killed thousands of people and destroyed almost the entire city of Port-au-Prince. But the people stand tall with dignity, united by their culture, the Creole language, which is spoken only there, and Vudu (equivalent to our Candomblé), practiced by almost everyone, while maintaining a religious syncretism, in style: Catholic Mass on Sundays and Thursdays in the yard.

In rural areas, there are no schools. 70% of the population lives in rural areas. Illiteracy reaches 65% of the population. There is no electricity in the countryside, only in Port-au-Prince. There are only three paved national highways. And there is no drinking water. Everyone needs to buy clean water, at international prices.

Last year, for the first time in its history, there was a cholera epidemic which killed hundreds of people. The medieval disease was brought over by [UN] troops from Nepal, who dumped their sewage in the main river of the country. Would any international tribunal be prepared to sue the United Nations for those deaths?

Over 65% of all food is imported or comes in the form of donations, which suits a black business bourgeoisie, who exploits the population.

Full Article: http://www.zcommunications.org/haiti-they-need-solidarity-not-soldiers-by-joao-pedro-stedile

[4Q2u2]

1. That is why Sea Bees were invented

The new water well systems are being used for training in China Lake, Port Hueneme, Calif., and Gulfport, Miss., and will be used to drill wells in the Horn of Africa and Iraq. Most recently, Seabee teams have drilled water wells in Pohnpei, Peru, Guatemala, Venezuela, Haiti, and Horn of Africa. Six additional T2W water well systems are planned to be added to the Seabee inventory over the next two years.



We not only get infrastructure back to the people. We make sure it goes to the people and not the Black market. You want to make a difference send in the Bee's. Best in the World.

[ocpagu]

2. Very nice article by Stedile. Thank you.

I totally agree, that last thing they need now are soldiers pointing their guns.

I believe Dilma really intends to withdraw Brazilian troops from Haiti, it's one of the issues that were discussed during the 2010 elections and her ministers gave several statements pointing to this direction:

"As one of his first measures in office, Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim plans to conclude Brazil's participation in the notorious United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Various sectors of the Brazilian government, including Brazil's Ministry of Foreign Affairs agree with Mr. Amorim, who says that the important thing now is to formulate an exit strategy.

Amorim was sworn in on Thursday August 4th and only took office the following Monday, but as early as Saturday he held a meeting at the Presidential Palace with Brazil's Army commanders and Joint Chiefs of Staff to discuss a possible draw down of the troops. According to one participant in this meeting, there was a "convergence of opinion" about the Brazilian troops."

http://brazzil.com/component/content/article/235-august-2011/10512-haitis-brazilian-led-occupation-force-might-leave-soon-good-riddance.html

A more recent official statement released by the government:

"In the resolution, the organization determined a 15% reduction in the military contingent maintained by 19 countries in Haiti. The total number of personnel working on the reintegration of the country will fall from 7,340 to 6,270 in 2013. In the case of Brazil, the idea is to reduce the contingent to 1,418 men as of the next exchange (18th). The decision, however, will be the responsibility of MINUSTAH itself and talks on the issue are already taking place. The number of members of the Police Force will also be reduced from 3,241 to 2,601 men."

http://www.brasil.gov.br/news/history/2012/11/08/military-begins-replacing-brazilian-troops-in-haiti/newsitem_view?set_language=en

Interesting information in the article: "And the social movements of La Via Campesina Brazil, with very limited resources, have maintained a permanent brigade of volunteers for more than 6 years in Haiti, who are developing projects in agriculture, cisterns and education."

I have the impression that the small organizations with very limited resources are always those who really make the difference. Giant government aid agencies and some giant NGOs (with obscure funding) generally don't have much to present, even claiming to invest hundreds of millions. I wonder what they're doing with all that money...