Haiti recovery bogged down 6 months after quake

[cory777]

Source: AP

CORAIL-CESSELESSE, Haiti – The sun was beating down on the rocky cactus plain when men with machetes came for Menmen Villase, nine months pregnant, shoved her onto her bulging stomach and sliced up the plastic tarp that sheltered her and her four children.

The family was one of thousands of earthquake homeless who had come to this Manhattan-sized stretch of disused sugarcane land between the sea and barren mountains north of Port-au-Prince, seeking refuge from overflowing camps in the city.

But this real estate is earmarked for building a new Haiti. Villase had walked into one of the fights over land, rooted in Haiti's history of slavery, occupation and upheaval, that have bedeviled recovery in the six months since the earthquake leveled much of the capital and killed as many as 300,000 people.

The government, already weak before the magnitude-7 quake and still hobbled by its aftermath, is trying to build anew in places like Corail-Cesselesse, a nearly empty swath of land that begins about 15 kilometers (9 miles) north of the capital. But the effort is paralyzed by disorganization, bitter rivalries and private deals being struck behind its back.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100711/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_six_months_after_2

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For more articles on Haiti and other breaking news check out - http://senselessworld-cory.blogspot.com/

[old mark]

1. I guess all the TV camera crews went elsewhere, so Haiti no longer exists...rec. nt

[EFerrari]

3. What happened to Bush and Clinton?

[old mark]

7. Clinton went to save Blanche Lincoln by union bashing - Bush I follows the cameras. nt

[EFerrari]

14. Check out what Sean Penn is doing:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x547337

The rest is bullshit and was always going to be bullshit.

[IcyPeas]

15. Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta will be there again next week

heard sanjay gupta announcing this the other day.

[mbperrin]

2. No one really believed they were going to do anything for the people

of Haiti, did they? Really? I mean, millions raised and there's not even blue tarps for everyone, forget tents or actual construction.

The ruling class there and their US buds pocketed it, as usual.

[EFerrari]

4. We all saw this coming. But at least so far

the people are fighting off Monsanto trying to take advantage of their destitution.

[skoalyman]

5. K&R

[laughingliberal]

6. Kick & R for visibility

[maryf]

8. ditto, nt

[Jennicut]

9. A weak central govt., people terrorizing each other, the Red Cross sits on it's money.

Says it does not want to dump money in projects that go no where. How about doing anything? Pathetic on their part.
The women and girls of Haiti are getting the worst of it, unprotected by the violence.

[nodehopper]

24. this is why it is better to donate to organizations like Partners in Health than the Red Cross

because, unfortunately, what you wrote is often true for Red Cross--it sits on the money--or rapidly moves to a different emergency. Long-term organizations truly in partnership with local communities are the best bet for getting the job done.

[Jazzgirl]

10. Kickin' and reckin' because people have forgotten Haiti.

This is so sad. I knew this would happen when I saw press releases where all these business people from all over were meeting to discuss "economic opportunities" for Haiti's reconstruction. I saw all the native Haitians being pushed out of the urban areas. Remember New Orleans? Same deal, different country.

[lunatica]

11. Squalor and centuries of neglect don't get fixed overnight

Especially when the effects are made much worse by a deadly disaster that wipes out the only existing ruling fabric. Unfortunately this is no surprise, and even worse it was practically guaranteed to happen. It's impossible under the best of circumstances as it is.

[mbperrin]

12. And yet, strangely, Japan, a defeated country which had been atom-bombed,

began building high rise buildings in 1948 on the site of the bombing.

The "ruling fabric" in Haiti isn't wiped out or even stressed - they're pocketing the money as usual and doing fine.

Incomprehensible that anyone could think that even blue tarps couldn't be handed out by now, instead of the few around being confiscated.

[webcam]

13. Not so strange really

The Allies, mainly the U.S. under Gen. Douglas MacArthur, occupied Japan for 7 years after the 1945 surrender. Read The Emperor's General by James Webb or any of the bio's of MacArthur. The US military ruled and rebuilt Japan with an iron hand.

Can you imagine the caterwauling if we were to do anything like that with Haiti today?

[EFerrari]

17. Have we been at war with Haiti?

[old mark]

18. Hell, no - if we had they would be rich by now, like Germany, Japan and Iraq...nt

[mbperrin]

20. Since about 1804, when we refused to recognize a free black state, for

fear it would rile up Southern slaves.

Here's a pretty good synopsis of our mostly disgraceful conduct since then:

http://soc.hfac.uh.edu/artman/publish/article_94.shtml

[EFerrari]

25. And you would be 100% correct.

Can you stream video? Here's a great lecture by John Bracey about Haiti, given shortly after the earthquake.

[mbperrin]

19. If we were to do anything like actually rebuild? No, I imagine many

good-hearted people around the world would welcome it. Of course, the banksters and other thieves would bemoan it.

Very familiar with MacArthur; I teach US and World History. And our history in Haiti isn't exactly our finest work.

[EFerrari]

16. Centuries of attacks on Haitian democracy by France and the US,

not squalor or neglect, is the problem here. And add Canada to that list.

[mbperrin]

21. Yes, thanks. War on Haitians has been going on and continues, just

not by name.

[cutlassmama]

22. supposedly only 10% of the $$$ promised has reached Haiti.

[Jkid]

23. What happened to the rest? (nt)

[Green_Lantern]

26. I wonder how much of the aid money goes to wealthy landowners..

And not those who really need it.