Haiti: here we go again

Looks like the long-suffering people of Haiti are in for more suffering.

Haiti was the only slave state where the slaves liberated themselves. Every place else, white folks freed the slaves. In Haiti, they actually had a revolution. That was around the turn of the century. The 18th century.

The colonial masters have been extracting vengeance ever since. Haiti has been non-stop subjugated and systemically looted for over two hundred years now. 

After all that help, they still can't get their shit together!

Canada has a particularly shameful legacy in Haiti. How long have we been "aiding" Haiti by training their police? And what is the result? And why do we never talk about our complicity in overthrowing the democratically elected Aristide? 

What's left of the puppet government is now formally asking for help from the puppet-masters. Be sure it will come soon.

The yoke of subjugation must be restored.

10,000 NGOs rub their hands in glee as disaster flattens Haiti yet again

Yup, there's another tsunami of relief money heading to Haiti! Billions upon billions will be flooding into that benighted land in the coming months.

Luckily, Haiti has the NGO infrastructure in place to absorb all that money. There's at least 10,000 NGOs on the ground to soak up all that cash. In fact, some estimates put the NGO count at over 16,000.

No matter how you look at it, there are more do-gooders on the ground in Haiti than anywhere else on the planet. The question is, are they doing any good?

Or are they just cashing in?

The results of NGO do-gooderism in past disasters have been less than impressive. You've had all the A-list superstars from Bill Clinton to Bono to Sean Penn helping Haiti, and Haiti is still totally fucked. With billions of dollars on offer and stalwarts like Bono and Bill and Penn steering the ship, wouldn't you think we'd be seeing some positive results by now?

Nope. Haiti just moves from one disaster to the next. In between, we in the Nations of Virtue sometimes have to intervene to prevent the Haitian populace from electing some wild-eyed socialist like that Aristide guy.

Like, what the fuck is he all about?... giving Haiti over to Haitians?

That is some crazy shit!

No wonder they need 10,000 NGOs... and the US military to hook him off stage every time he gets too close to the levers of power.

Operation Uphold Democracy

Back in the mid-nineties the democratically elected President of Haiti was giving some of the big dogs the willies. A lot of scary talk about power to the people and land-redistribution and so forth. Put a bit of a scare into the usual crooks who have been having their way with Haiti for two hundred years.

Aristide had to go. So the US and Canada invaded to save the country from democracy. The name chosen for this operation was over-ripe with irony; Operation Uphold Democracy.

What sticks in my mind to this day is a scene the television cameras captured as the US Marines were sweeping into Port-au-Prince. The Marines aren't battling a resistance or cleaning up terror nests, they're trucking away garbage from the streets of Port-au-Prince. The camera focuses on a middle aged woman, who proclaims her joy at the invasion.

"You have no idea how long we have waited for someone to clean up this garbage."

Obviously Haitians are capable of clearing their own garbage off the streets. But you'd never guess that from watching this particular newscast.

That's the image we like to present of the people we loot and plunder. So helpless they can't even take care of their garbage.

How can we ever expect them to govern themselves?