Haiti,

FLASH BACK

This was composed after the earthquake in Haiti, but for some reason I did not post it.  In the wake of what is going on today in Haiti it is being posted.

Today is how many days after the shock of a 7.0 Earthquake in Haiti, the poorest county in this hemisphere? Today listening to Amy Goodman, and Kim Ives on "Democracy Now" interview Hatian victims of the earth quake it made me cry. Cry for the Hatian people, yes, but more for a country that is the greatest perpetrator of violence that the World has ever seen. That country is my country the US.

We have turned away planes filled with food, medicine, doctors, and other volunteers to give priority to the military. Haiti needs not an army with guns, but one with compassion, shovels, bull dozers, and other heavy equipment. Its people need medical attention, food, water, housing, sanitary facilities.

What a slap in the face was Obama's appointment of Bush, and Clinton to be special envoys for the AID. Like the tens of millions that we aided Haiti with during Papa Doc, and Baby Docs administration. They pocketed most of it. They were real SOBs, but they were our SOBs.

This country planned what Haiti would be like. Remember we were there from 1915 until 1933. General Smedley Butler led the troops. The General sat in front of Congress and said "War is a racket". He was what he referred to as a thug for corporations. Corporations which have just yesterday been granted more power in the election process in this country by the Supreme Court. Our government wanted to drive the people off the land and into the cities where they could be exploited as cheap labor. Only 50,000 lived in Port O'Prince in the 50's. Subsidized US rice flooded the Hatian market and drove the rice farmers off their land.

Pigs were exported to Haiti,and they ruined the hog farming. The pigs that we sent were not well suited to the area, but they just about destroyed the native pigs.
When Clinton was in office his buddy Tyson got to send in chickens that drove the chicken farmers off their land.

Then a young priest had enough. His name was Jean Bertrand Aristede, and he formed the Lavallas Party, which means the flood. The ton ton macoutes, which were Papa, and Baby Docs thugs were replaced by Frapp. (Frapp in Creole means slap) They terrorize the people with summary executions with guns, machetes,etc. The people over came this as they elected Aristede. The election was overwhelming in his favor. That so called great humanitarian Jimmy Carter tried to ger Aristede not to run. I believe that the US spent $20,000,000 to defeat Aristede, but it was to no avail. The Hatian people no fear, and unlike American people they face it with courage, and determination that they ain't gonna let nobody turn them around.

Nine months and Daddy Bush had Aristede repalced with Col. Cedras and his army. I missed a meeting here in the states with Aristede when he was here in exile, and I am to this day very regretful of that. At that time I joined Haiti Solidarity North East, and they have meetings out of St. Patrick's in Jersey City, NJ. I believe that it is the second Tuesday of the month.

Aristede was sent back by President Clinton probably more to prevent a successful rebellion that anything else. He was sent back to do the rich man's bidding. He refused, but had to act cautiously. His time in exile was considered the time of his presidency. He was later replaced by at that time his associate Preval. When Preval's