2 in US guilty of bribes for Haiti phone contracts

[Robbien]

Source: AP



MIAMI -- Two Miami men have pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for paying more than $1 million in bribes to Haitian officials to secure telephone contracts in that country.

Fifty-one-year-old Juan Diaz entered his plea Friday in federal court. Antonio Perez, also 51, pleaded guilty last month. Both face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Court records show the men bribed Haitian officials so their companies could win contracts with Haiti's state-owned telecommunications company. There was also an illegal side deal that gave the companies better rates and other advantages.

The conspiracy operated from 2001 through 2003. U.S. prosecutors said much of the evidence was gathered by Haitian authorities.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/AP/story/1050559.html

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Court documents did not include the companies either man worked for, and a DOJ spokesman declined to name the companies.

Haitian officials get to live a life of luxury. These two made a bundle on the side deals. The telecom companies made a fortune off the better rates.

Meanwhile Haitian children eat cookies made of mud.

[Old Coot]

1. In many countries paying bribes is just a cost of doing business.

If you don't pay, you don't get the contract.

Just a fact of life.

[Robbien]

2. It is only a fact of life because

rich companies/people toss around tons of money at poor country politicians. The rich are the ones who set up the system.

If there weren't bribe givers, there wouldn't be bribe takers.

[Bacchus39]

3. well lets not forget about the officials who won't give a contract, or the police

who will ask for a bribe to excuse an infraction real or imagine, or from officials so that they actually do their duty.

it works both ways.

[Robbien]

4. If there is corruption at the top

Then all the officials down the line believe corruption is an acceptable way of doing business.

And corruption at the top almost always starts with the rich elite.

[lostnfound]

5. This one may well be blameable on George W Bush.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide was kidnapped and "escorted" to the Central African Republic, under the pretense that he was "resigning". His crime was that he cared about the poor people in his country and tried to have a government that supported them. This was intolerable to the crony capitalists and corrupt criminals in the Bush administration, so that helped a two bit thug surround Aristide and his government, while pretending they had nothing to do with it. What proceeded was the slaughter of thousands of low-level Lavalas (Aristide's party) leaders throughout the country. So once again, Haiti was returned to its "rightful owners", the plantation owners.

In many countries, bribe-based government is installed and preferred by Western elites. It makes the leaders more controllable and the exploitation of its resources more profitable.