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Haiti: A Creditor, Not a Debtor
If we are to believe the G-7 finance ministers, Haiti is on its way to getting something it has deserved for a very long time: full "forgiveness" of its foreign debt. In Port-au-Prince, Haitian economist Camille Chalmers has been watching these developments with cautious optimism. Debt cancellation is a good start, he told Al Jazeera English, but "It's time to go much further. We have to talk about reparations and restitution for the devastating consequences of debt." In this telling, the whole idea that Haiti is a debtor needs to be abandoned. Haiti, he argues, is a creditor-and it is we, in the West, who are deeply in arrears.
Our debt to Haiti stems from four main sources: slavery, the US occupation, dictatorship and climate change. These claims are not fantastical, nor are they merely rhetorical. They rest on multiple violations of legal norms and agreements. Here, far too briefly, are highlights of the Haiti case.
The Slavery Debt. When Haitians won their independence from France in 1804, they would have had every right to claim reparations from the powers that had profited from three centuries of stolen labor. France, however, was convinced that it was Haitians who had stolen the property of slave owners by refusing to work for free. So in 1825, with a flotilla of war ships stationed off the Haitian coast threatening to re-enslave the former colony, King Charles X came to collect: 90 million gold francs-ten times Haiti's annual revenue at the time. With no way to refuse, and no way to pay, the young nation was shackled to a debt that would take 122 years to pay off.
In 2003, Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, facing a crippling economic embargo, announced that Haiti would sue the French government over that long-ago heist. "Our argument," Aristide's former lawyer Ira Kurzban told me, "was that the contract was an invalid agreement because it was based on the threat of re-enslavement at a time when the international community regarded slavery as an evil." The French government was sufficiently concerned that it sent a mediator to Port-au-Prince to keep the case out of court. In the end, however, its problem was eliminated: while trial preparations were under way, Aristide was toppled from power. The lawsuit disappeared, but for many Haitians the reparations claim lives on.
The Dictatorship Debt.
From 1957 to 1986, Haiti was ruled by the defiantly kleptocratic
Duvalier regime. Unlike the French debt, the case against the Duvaliers
made it into several courts, which traced Haitian funds to an elaborate network of Swiss bank
Haitians, of course, are still waiting for their payback-but that was only the beginning of their losses. For more than two decades, the country's creditors insisted that Haitians honor the huge debts incurred by the Duvaliers, estimated at $844 million, much of it owed to institutions like the IMF and the World Bank. In debt service alone, Haitians have paid out tens of millions every year.
Was it legal for foreign lenders to collect on the Duvalier debts when so much of it was never spent in Haiti? Very likely not. As Cephas Lumina, the United Nations Independent Expert on foreign debt, put it to me, "the case of Haiti is one of the best examples of odious debt in the world. On that basis alone the debt should be unconditionally canceled."
But even if Haiti does see full debt cancellation (a big if), that does not extinguish its right to be compensated for illegal debts already collected.
The Climate Debt. Championed by several developing countries at the climate summit in Copenhagen, the case for climate debt is straightforward. Wealthy countries that have so spectacularly failed to address the climate crisis they caused owe a debt to the developing countries that have done little to cause the crisis but are disproportionately facing its effects. In short: the polluter pays. Haiti has a particularly compelling claim. Its contribution to climate change has been negligible; Haiti's per capita CO2 emissions are just 1 percent of US emissions. Yet Haiti is among the hardest hit countries-according to one index, only Somalia is more vulnerable to climate change.
Haiti's vulnerability to climate change is not only-or even mostly-because of geography. Yes, it faces increasingly heavy storms. But it is Haiti's weak infrastructure that turns challenges into disasters and disasters into full-fledged catastrophes. The earthquake, though not linked to climate change, is a prime example. And this is where all those illegal debt payments may yet extract their most devastating cost. Each payment to a foreign creditor was money not spent on a road, a school, an electrical line. And that same illegitimate debt empowered the IMF and World Bank to attach onerous conditions to each new loan, requiring Haiti to deregulate its economy and slash its public sector still further. Failure to comply was met with a punishing aid embargo from 2001 to '04, the death knell to Haiti's public sphere.
This history needs to be confronted now, because it threatens to repeat itself. Haiti's creditors are already using the desperate need for earthquake aid to push for a fivefold increase in garment-sector production, some of the most exploitative jobs in the country. Haitians have no status in these talks, because they are regarded as passive recipients of aid, not full and dignified participants in a process of redress and restitution.
A reckoning with the debts the world owes to Haiti would radically change this poisonous dynamic. This is where the real road to repair begins: by recognizing the right of Haitians to reparations.
The interview with economist Camille Chalmers was conducted by my partner Avi Lewis for an in-depth report that aired today on Al Jazeera English. The piece, Haiti: The Politics of Rebuilding, offers a deeply compelling portrait of a people who are brimming with ideas about how how to rebuild their country based on principles of sovereignty and equity -- far from the passive victims we have seen on so many other networks. It was produced by my former colleague Andréa Schmidt, one of the main researchers on The Shock Doctrine, and is crucial viewing for anyone concerned with avoiding a disaster capitalism redux in Haiti.
This column was first published in The Nation (www.thenation.com)
- Posted in
39 Comments so far
Show AllReparations for Haiti is an absolutely great idea but one highly unlikely to happen. It would be opening a Pandora's box. Although Haiti may be unique in many respects, it is not the only place or people deserving of reparations in the name of justice. Just think, all of the Americas, all of Africa, almost all of Asia, and even parts of Europe were all subjected to brutal colonialism and exploitation, some to the point of genocide.
The major European offenders, Britain, Spain, France and Portugal haven't got anywhere near enough money to repay even a fraction of the debt that is owed. Given the amount and the scope of such debt, it would be monetarily impossible. There are ongoing instances of neo-colonialism and exploitation that the term reparations doesn't even cover. Canceling the debts of all the current and former colonial, developing countries is a more reasonable and actually workable goal that won't be easy to achieve. Ending exploitation must be a concurrent goal.
4thefuture...
you PERFECTLY put in another brilliant way , and an elegantly succinct way, what Naomi Klein already emphatically and CLEARLY and unassailably described about the unbelievable DEBT that western colonials have to their former colonies all over the world.
that is exactly what I always have maintained, which I sometimes put another way:
IF the USA and other western nations of "prosperity" were to really have to pay back what they owe -- they would STILL be in the Middle Ages. ..or nothing more than the already Failing Empires and Economies such as Portugal and Italy warring against each other and destroying each other in their own greed.
what they did to China for instance in the 19th century is well-nigh unforgiveable, leading to consequences ALL throughout Southeast asia's destroyed and chaotic economies..
what they did to South America and North America is equally unforgivable
what they have done to the Middle East and Africa is beyond comprehension in its rapaciousness
but above all -- what is even more incomprehensible is the continuing HYPOCRISY.
No wonder Mr. Clinton's heart is broken. He's certainly smart enough to understand what he sees as well as feel guilt for his own part in it. I wonder if Mr. Obama put him in charge of rebuilding Haiti on purpose?
This is the first report about what is really going on in Haiti.
With hemp they would have their own material not only for their textile and garment industry but for building materials, fuel oil and biodegradable plastic.
With hemp plants they can rebuild the best and fastest with a future.
Nobody in the international business world is going to allow it. The people will have to do it themselves.
good points... you left out food too ;)
Americans need to be informed about what the British did to us after we won our independence. The claimed we owed a debt for the taking of British assets, our lands we fought for. It WAS the CAUSE of the War Of 1812. Our sailors were impressed as hostages for this debt and we paid it eventually. All Americans need to be aware we were treated just as the Haitians were.
Yeah.
The big difference, as nearly as I can reckon it, is that it was difficult and costly in 1812 to float little boats over to enforce the matter, and the difference between high and low-tech armies was greatly reduced before the repeating rifle.
>>90 million gold francs-ten times Haiti's annual revenue at the time.
I see denial, lies and obfuscation in regards to these capitalist outrages. The British paid over a million dollars in reparations to the US after the war of 1812. Extract your head from your posterior.
Ms Klein didn't go into detail about the affects of US occupation above, but that is just gasoline on the fire - but what a load of gasoline that would be.
As others have mentioned in this blog, once the US and other imperialist countries start doing the right thing and forgiving debt and then crediting countries with loss revenues due to their colonialism, the world's countries would be a more even owner of wealth.
Japan has given trillions in grant/loan reparations to China for it's invasions in the 1930's-1940's, most famous, Nanking. But America is far behind on its overthrow/invasion credit owed.
We can start with the Mexican War - did a few bucks given in the Treaty of Guadalupe for California, Arizona and other western States for that illegal invasion really seem fair - particularly when old Fuss and Feathers(General Winfield Scott) was sitting in Mexico City sabre rattling. A guy by the name of Lincoln didn't think so.
How about the 1899 Filipine War, where we promised the Filipino people sole governorship of those islands then took it back, even though without their help, we would not have defeated the Spanish in this theatre of the Spanish American War. According to the Filipinos, a million innocent civilians died in that American lie.
Dare we skip over the Iran overthrow in 1953 - Mossedeque, Guatamalan overthrow in 1954 - Guzman, Indonesian overthrow - Sukarno and the Chilean overthrow - Allende- in 1973(just to name a few), because all America did there was topple democratically elected rulers for American made despots, throwing those countries into quagmires. Only tens of thousands of innocent lives were lost and economies thrown into depressions thanks to America.
Lets skip to places where we really screwed up - Vietnam and Iraq - 4.5 million and 1 million deaths respectively, and complete ruination of those economies, lifestyles and cultures. And what were our reasons in these 'Wars' - to stop communism and find WMDs - both royal crocks.
Let's face it. If America paid back what it truly owed, we would be the lowest per capita GDP nation in the world - which is why we wont ever do it.
America the beautiful - land of the free and the brave - give me a break.
At this very moment Native American Lakota Elders are freezing to death for want of heat and blankets.
Do not forget 600,000 Cammodians, 350,000 Laotians.
The ouster of Sukarno resulted in a massacre of almost 1 million Indonesian "communists"
Reparations? I'd be happy if we stopped this imperialistic rampage we are currently engaged it. Crawl, walk, run. That said, your list plainly exposes the ugly path we are on as a society.
Thank you, Avi Lewis and thank you, Naomi Klein - for showing what reporting and journalism could be.
My cat, who is brilliant but does not really understand humans too well, say we should take the money we give to Israel and give to Haiti instead -- solve two big problems at once without costing any more at all.
Would your cat run for the Senate?
Profiting from the sufferings of others indebts the soul.
it reminds me of the saying:
"Conquest destroys not just the conquered but the conqueror".
fyi: check out this excellent article on Klein's website about Haiti, and the pushback on the IMF
http://www.naomiklein.org/articles/2010/02/theres-real-hope-haiti-and-its-not-what-youd-expect
With the heartlessness of Mr. Clinton towards Haiti over the decades now appearing as bright to our eyes as the midday sun in a dry parched heat wave, out of the hospital he comes with two new shunts in his heart so that the few remaining liberal followers will know he has a heart and that he needs tea and sympathy.
CLINTON and the ilk and USA going to haiti after this disaster is like the Coven of Vampires coming back to check if the victim has any more blood to suck.
This begins to address the issues that have long gone underground or at best to be denied. Specific details and deeper investigation into the patriarchal colonization and captialism are needed in this article.
Six Days in Haiti article of mine goes into more specific examples and presents a much needed inquiry: http://www.kolocollaboration.org/?item=18592
Gen Vaughan's Gift Economy is definitely another site of inforamtion from which to change the status quo and create a more compassionate valued global society.
There is one thing I would like to bring to attention and it has to do with President Bill Clinton. (Ms. Klein has written and spoken numerous times about his key role in the oppression of Haiti.) It was Clinton who "allowed" democratically elected President Aristede to return to power if he agreed to odius tariff reduction. This policy instituted the death of Haitian agriculture. The United States of America, in their infinite generosity, now was able to legally dump subsidized rice onto the Haitian market. The farmers in Haiti could not compete in this financial equation and thus were forced from their land to the cities, mostly Port au Prince. But Clinton and the IMF had a plan. The Haitians now had new employment opportunities working in brutal sweatshops for a dollar or two a day.
This collapse in self-sustaining and local agriculture led to far worse conditions that were manifested in astronomical rice prices. Last year there were verified reports that the people of Haiti were forced into a daily diet of mud and lard patties.
But there is hope, for the Man of Hope and Change, has appointed Bill "GATT is GREAT" Clinton with George "Katrina" Bush to oversee the rebuilding of Haiti. I am sure the Haitian people are all smiles thinking about what such a dynamic duo can do for them for this time around.
Six months from now, Haiti will be a distant memory. They'll still be eating mud pies for breakfast and capitalist swine will be piling more debt on these people.
Climate change will cancel everyone's debt.
Periodically, Direct your attention to NOAA/NWS site and clik on satellite observations/water vapor. Notice the symetrical, clean forms that weather systems are beginning to take.
All along, climate change has been advertised as more frequent and bigger storms---which no one has had a problem with. To that, I would add the descriptor, "more organized", which goes along with "stronger".
The patterns are becoming, as they say, "obvious to even the most casual observer".
The chart (IPCC/Gore ice core data, backed up by extensive info from other sources) shows historical reversals of the inter-glacial temp rises (macro-snow/ice), with the overall planetary temp staying about the same, then decreasing slowly into an ice age.
It's the severity of the reversal that we might be able to mitigate, but probably won't.
Regional weather is part of this process.
Only my opinion, though. Haven't heard much on MSM along this line...
Greed is the Creed
Debt is the Net.
CORP IS BORG
Haiti should be a CASE STUDY for a new, global, HUMANISTIC approach for once. America should very MUCH take over the country. In every way but MILITARILY. If ONLY to save these people, and THIS TIME, unlike Iraq, unlike Britain in India and countless other "humanitarian" examples, with the people's consent in each step in the process.
in my readings of history -- there were actually TWO instances of rulers that became benevolent towards those that were ruled.
1) Darius the First of Persia - 300 years before christ, i believe, had forcefully put together the first persian empire..although as I understand parts of history , being that Persia was like the "cross roads" of different kingdoms and empires - (in fact it is even today at the very middle of what is called the Legendary Silk Road between the far east and the near east) and was subject to being fought over and as the battlefield for competing powers...
the King , after conquering neighboring peoples - then issued an edict:
I paraphrase: saying:
Henceforth - the conquered lands and people have the RIGHT to become independent again, and rule themselves as they please, so long as they promise never again to assail Persia....others, if they so wish , can remain under the protection of Persia, and rule themselves as they also wish, so long as they keep the peace with persia.
the Stone Tablet considered perhaps the very first "human rights" or "constitution" still graces the Entrance Lobby of the United Nations today.
2) there was a young EMperor ASHOKA in ancient India - also around or before the time of Christ - who inherited the INdian Empire close to what it is today - from his father who solidified most of it.
this ashoka however grew up to be a very , very cruel and bloodthirsty ruler, taking pleasure in conquest of more provinces and kingdoms, and cutting off heads of victims in the hundreds and placing them on spikes on the battlefields...
until after yet another conquest - he found himself so EMPTY ...and he began to question himself. he traveled and began to hear of a preacher - (this was the Gautama Buddha) - and listened secretly...and began considering things. then he traveled around the country - be among the people..and asked them "how do you WANT to be ruled? how do you want to live"
alwasy getting the answer that people just wanted to be in peace and live decent lives and not too much more...
so he began using his Treasury to improve their conditions, education, roads, towns, agriculture, etc..and issued edicts - still written in still standing stone pillars all over India - giving "human rights" laws...
even extending it so far towards animals..encouraging people not to be cruel to them..and which - according to modern day indian anthropologists and historians and nature workers - was the real beginning of india's well-known ethics of noncruelty to animals.
and he also issued instructions that the spot where the Buddha preached was to be preserved and be a shrine.
then that Ashoka still could not relieve himself of his guilt..and so abandoned his throne ...and lived the rest of his life in a cave high up in the mountains, seeking atonement for his sins..and seeking "nirvana"
will the USA ever reach UP to THAT standard of atonement? it is probably not possible.
it is probably not only "fallen" from even ITS own Mythical "noble" claims - but never even came CLOSE...
much less to do what those earlier rulers did :
GIVE UP power even if they had the utter ability to maintain it ruthlessly if they wanted.
It's possible. And this is not another liberal pipe-dream although I am very much a neoliberal. It is possible, and how do we do it? Through NGO's, world groups, and PHYSICAL development. We BUILD this stuff, and use the donations to finance it. Schools, hospitals, etc. Then we leave.
CASE CLOSED. The difference between this approach, probably seemingly generalized, and past "empires" who disguished invasions with such things? This time the military....GOES BACK HOME.
unfortunately -- the US Military's ONLY purpose IS to "make the world safe for our Big Boss: our Supernationalistic Capitalism and our Cultural and Economic Assault..that is it's true purpose...to serve as the Muscle Enforcer of the Will of our Chamber of Commerce, Our Big Banks, Big Corporations, Big Finance..I was...you might say...the Chief High Class Muscle Enforcer for our Money and War Racket. Our Foreign Policy has nothing to do with Freedom, or justice or Humanitarian reasons..we are just Gangsters for Capitalism" .
General Smedley Butler. US Marines, 1933.
the Most highly decorated Us marine General in history, serving "for 30 years, i suspended my own conscience, knowing that what WE DO IS EVIL".
unfortunatly THAT IS the USA "military"...
it is written in its DNA from the very beginning starting with the Native Indians.
do you REALLY think a BEAST will suddenly become an Angel...just because it was possible over 2 thousand years ago from civilizations that had far, far, longer and greater histories , mistakes and corrections and philosophies?
the USA's ONLY philosophy ever was CONQUEST, and what John Perkins, former CIA "Economic Hitman" says:
"is a very , very vicious system of exploitation that dehumanizes and enslaves people everywhere...i was part of that project of empire of ours...when all else fails...that's when we send our ARMY..our foreign policy is DESIGNED to render weaker nations PERMANENTLY subjugated to our will and that of our chamber of commerce".
and in fact, when you say you are a "neo-liberal" -- that description has LONG been familiar to even the ordinary people in south america and the caribbean...LONG before it even became more commonly known in the USA after the "neo-cons" and the USA promoted "neo-liberalism"...and be more familiar as a notion IN the USA.
south americans had long known of it. ...because they always have experienced it for what it is:
a TROJAN HORSE bearing ILLwill towards them to turn them into "america's backyard" as a continuation of the "manifest destiny" and "monroe doctrine" of america as a global empire that General Smedley Butler also said:
"our foreign policy has ALWAYS been geared towards gathering as much of the world's resources unto ourselves at the expense of others".
THAT"s what US foreign policy is.
call it neo-liberal , neo-conservative, conservative, liberal,
they are all variations of the SAME "very, very vicious system of exploitation that dehumanizes and enslaves people everywhere" (John Perkins, CIA economic hitman 2004) whose "BIG BOSS is our supernationalistic Capitalism" (Smedley Butler, US marine general , 1933)
take a look at it - from the first europeans playing untrustworthy games upon the Native Indians, to the dehumanization and enslavement of "people everywhere" , such as the Indians and Africans to south americans, to the WAR of invasion for resources and land TODAY -- back to Haiti.
it's the SAME face of america - from begetting to maturity - from past to present and future as every intent shows ("Full spectrum Dominance..US MILITARY")
as ALBERT EINSTEIN said:
"Capitalism naturaly tends towards concentrating wealth and power unto a few private hands , while denying the wealth to the people and society at large that has created that wealth..not necessarily through open force, but by coercing the people to COMPLY with legalities created by capitalism...
I am convinced that this is the source of the EVIL..
the ONLY solution is SOCIALISM".
and that's from the man who would have found "economics" or "market forces" MUCH much easier to analyse than discovering
the most fundamental equation of Reality:
E=mc2.
An excellent assessment of the situation. The concentration of wealth in the hands of a few is mind boggling. Half the world's population lives on $2 a day or less. One billion are starving today. A small shift in the balance of wealth in this world could vastly improve the lives of billions of people. Yet we see a world heading in the opposite direction. When is enough enough?
Socialism is the solution. The problem is, how do we bring about a transformation in this country, the largest exporter of both neoliberal policies and war machine death. Who is willing to stand up to these sociopath political and business leaders? It isn't a simple matter of a king converting to Buddhism. We are the enablers of a society gone bad. How many of us are willing to risk food on the table, shelter over our heads in order to take up Buddha's path of right livelihood? We can't even stop using our Visa check cards.
"I am very much a neoliberal."
darkwraith-Then you are very much a part of the problem. Are you just trying to be ironic? Are you a troll? I really can't figure you out at all.
"Haiti should be a CASE STUDY for a new, global, HUMANISTIC approach for once."
There's nothing human about capitalist solutions to disasters. You epitomize what Naomi Klein writes about and damns.
Haiti needs reparations and debt forgiveness.
darkwraith, in the other thread, is someone who thinks that every young (college) person, spends their life partying, and can look forward to a > $100k per annum salary when they graduate.
Neoliberal describes darkwraith perfectly. Also, the problem with neoliberalism goes beyond just the capitalistic solutions. The problem with neoliberalism, is that neoliberals do believe that they have the right to bomb women and children, to conduct military invasions, to enact sanctions that hit hardest those that neoliberals claim to want to help, all in the name of humanity and freedom. The problem with neoliberalism is that neoliberals support the use of measures to promote freedom and humanism that fly in the face of the most basic and fundamental concepts of freedom and humanism.
Technology. An approach to democratic institutions. Schools. Hospitals. You want to tell me what is so wrong with this
neolibaral
approach then?
He doesn't sound very neoliberal to me. I don't think he knows what the word means.
Yeah, they also need permanant structures like housing, schools, hospitals, and if anything and IMF program that focusus on development. I am tired of this argument that NGO's and the Bretton Woods group are always the bad guy. Not only do some ppl need to take the initiative to build their own country up, if they won't, I say well then time for take over. It's not ignorance, its just common sense. I don't mean the military either. I mean literally walk in and start building. When do we get to this point? "Who is going to pay for it?" We won't have to if these countries have their own INDEPENDANT self-sufficient economies to break free from colonial legacy and dependencia. Frankly the IMF is TRYING to help them DO that.
Maybe you are a neoliberal. What is up with this "take over" nonsense. This country works very hard at destroying local economies and culture, sending the corporation in to rake up the resources and profits. They don't leave nickels behind to build a straw hut let alone a hospital. The IMF is nothing more than an economic muscle man that forces governments to hand over the goods or face economic sanctions from corporate fascist dons. If that doesn't work, the CIA goes in next, right wing militia movements mysteriously sprout up. You need to stop spouting and start alleviating the massive amount of ignorance you are displaying on this board.
If you think it is so easy to build a hospital in the third world, get your ass out there. Try and actually help people instead of raping and pillaging them.
Your comments about the IMF and CIA appear one-sided as well. As for the build the hospital, I would hope the U.S. will. Finally, as far as this "massive amount of ignorance?" Not at all, I would hope I would be bringing a fresh and unheard of response to perhaps cooled heads.
As I watched the Fault Line video, I thought, my goodness, the Haitians are fighting for the same things that Americans are: a livable wage, health care, RESPECT and local control. These are the same things that the long ago American workers of the industrial revolution and the labor movement fought for too.
Building your own LOCAL economy; what a good message for them, and ironically, the same message for us.
Seeing the collapsed building of the "palace" landmark was actually inspirational. Raze the imperialistic models and raise the value of humanity. Local government, "OF THE PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, AND FOR THE PEOPLE...." A great concept for the PEOPLE of Haiti, and maybe it would work here too.
How Ghastly! While watching this video- which wasn't that fast due to my internet connection- I was thinking.....
How horrible the Haiti deforestation has become! How are the masses to relocate to the forest when there is no forest left!
(Look at the comparison of the forest in Haiti compared to the Dominican Republic).
Hats off to Naomi for being the best journalist out there. Things are getting grim all over the USA, but we've seen nothing in comparison to this! I can still go to the local grocery store and buy fresh milk and bread with little problem. I'm afraid that Haiti is the future of America if we do not play our cards right! We are on the road to a total third world nation status. Make no mistake about it!!!
If only voodoo was effective. I'd have a table strewn with so many perforated and punctured likenesses of US military, corporate and government elite, they'd be falling on the floor, and would give new meaning to that odious phrase, "off the table."
Surprise !
American interest in Haiti and the new deployment of troops is more than likely about oil.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=17287
The Fateful Geological Prize Called Haiti
By F. William Engdahl
Global Research, January 30, 2010
excerpts:
Haiti, a new Saudi Arabia?
"The remarkable geography of Haiti and Cuba and the discovery of world-class oil reserves in the waters off Cuba lend credence to anecdotal accounts of major oil discoveries in several parts of Haitian territory. It also could explain why two Bush Presidents and now special UN Haiti Envoy Bill Clinton have made Haiti such a priority. As well, it could explain why Washington and its NGOs moved so quickly to remove-- twice-- the democratically elected President Aristide, whose economic program for Haiti included, among other items, proposals for developing Haitian natural resources for the benefit of the Haitian people."
"According to Marguerite Laurent ('Ezili Dantò') of the Haitian Lawyers’ Leadership Network, under the guise of emergency relief work, the US, France and Canada are engaged in a balkanization of the island for future mineral control. She reports rumors that Canada wants the North of Haiti where Canadian mining interests are already present. The US wants Port-au-Prince and the island of La Gonaive just offshore – an area identified in Aristide’s development book as having vast oil resources, and which is bitterly contested by France. She further states that China, with UN veto power over the de facto UN-occupied country, may have something to say against such a US-France-Canada carve up of the vast wealth of the nation."