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COMMENTARY:Haiti's Cholera Epidemic Sparks OutrageWednesday, 17 November 2010 ![]() Cap Haitien, where protests have turned violent, has been badly affected by the epidemic [Al Jazeera]
The entire country is affected, including the densely crowded capital, Port-au-Prince, with up to 1.5 million in makeshift accommodations on city streets and wherever they found space, living in the open.
In early November, thousands of Haitians rallied for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return and presidential hopeful Jean-Henry Ceant in the November 28 elections, one rigged by banning 14 political parties, including Fanmi Lavalas, by far the most popular. Ceant founded Aimer Haiti (Love Haiti), "a movement uniting and integrating human-centered (principles) and committed to the pursuit of the ideals of unity, solidarity and fraternity to build a new Haiti on the basis of shared responsibility, social justice, peace and economic progress for all." He's also a notaire (notary), businessman, community leader and philanthropist, the only candidate most Haitians support, whether or not he'll deliver on promises if elected. Aristide did, Preval for a while, then sold out the public that backed him. Given Washington's iron fist and no shyness using it, populist governments everywhere are at risk, especially in deeply impoverished countries like Haiti. For now, a raging cholera epidemic takes top concern, officially causing over 1,000 deaths and around 15,000 hospitalizations. However, these figures way understate the true crisis, one or more estimates believing the true count is several-fold. On November 14, Operational Biosurveillance said it confirmed statistics of up to 400% undercounting.
Disturbingly, the entire country is affected, including the densely crowded capital, Port-au-Prince, with up to 1.5 million in makeshift accommodations on city streets and wherever they found space, living in the open under dismal sanitation conditions. On November 14, New York Times writer Randal Archibold headlined, "Cholera Deaths Up in Haiti, With Worst to Come," saying:
The true potential minimally exceeds a million, eventually causing many thousands of deaths, preventable because cholera is easily treated if done properly on time. However, little Western aid was provided, virtually nothing from Washington despite over $1.1 billion pledged. Also, Haiti's medical infrastructure is woefully inadequate, besides poor sanitation and most Haitians having no access to clean drinking water. Overall since the January earthquake, Washington obstructed what little aid arrived. Then cholera and Hurricane Tomas flooding, making conditions on the ground worse than ever, indifferent rich nations doing little to help. Haitians finally reacted, riots erupting in Cap-Haitien on Haiti's north coast. On November 16, Al Jazeera headlined, "Haiti cholera protests turns violent," saying:
Al Jazeera's Cath Turner said the situation was "brewing for a while, (evident by) tense relations" between MINUSTAH and local people. "Back in August, a 16-year old boy was found dead - he was hanging from a tree." Haitians believe UN troops killed him. Its paramilitaries have terrorized Haiti since arriving in 2004 to support a coup d'etat regime after US marines kidnapped Aristide in February 2004, then forcibly flew him to the Central African Republic. He's now in South Africa in exile, wanting to return. On orders from Washington, the Preval government prevents it. In a recent interview he said:
Haitians demonstrate often for his return, his presence alone badly wanted, his spirit a way to infuse hope for better governance and conditions, what's so far sorely lacking. The Cap Haitien protests are unsurprising, among others expressing outrage for lack of government and UN aid. For also failing to contain the cholera outbreak. The more it spreads, the greater the anger. On November 15, Haitian Truth.org reported that:
Incoming aircraft were diverted. UN vehicles were being burned. Haitians demanded removal of UN troops. They fired tear gas at demonstrators. MINUSTAH's airport headquarters was burned. People say stop the election. Help children. On November 16, Reuters also reported clashes in Cap Haitien, a local businessman saying: "The whole city is blocked, businesses and schools have closed, cars have been burned. It's chaos here." Demonstrators set fire to the Pont Neuf police station. Al Jazeera's Cath Turner said protests so far are:
Since arriving in 2004, they've been hated. They're not peacekeepers. They're belligerent occupiers, reigning terror on ordinary Haitians. From Port-au-Prince, independent journalist Ansel Herz said two Cap Haitien police stations were on fire. "Protests were (also) reported in....Hinche and Gonaives...." Scattered outbreaks have also occurred in other parts of the country, including in Port-au-Prince near the presidential palace. Potentially they may break out anywhere, given the level of frustration and anger over desperate conditions and inadequate aid, especially by the UN and rich nations able to provide it.
The soaring need far outstrips the ability to serve it. In light of a fast-spreading crisis and inadequate outside aid, expect growing anger as the death and illness toll mounts. It's Haiti's latest cross to bear, a country beset by centuries of oppression, occupation, exploitation, neglect, deep poverty, and now cholera - an imperial epidemic likely to claim many thousands of lives, perhaps willfully targeted for removal, President Aristide, among others, saying "evidence strongly suggests" that the Asian cholera strain was imported. Why not, given America's longstanding depopulation agenda, a model Henry Kissinger presented in his 1974 National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM 200). Shaped by Rockefeller interests, it was a plan to cull unwanted, unneeded, "useless eaters" by various means, including coercive methods, withholding disaster relief, and spreading deadly diseases that kill. Haiti's now feeling the sting. ![]() Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His blog is sjlendman.blogspot.com. Listen to Lendman's cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. Mr. Lendman's stories are republished in the Baltimore Chronicle with permission of the author. Copyright © 2010 The Baltimore News Network. All rights reserved.
Republication or redistribution of Baltimore Chronicle content is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent. Baltimore News Network, Inc., sponsor of this web site, is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed in stories posted on this web site are the authors' own. This story was published on November 17, 2010. |
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