Latest update April 24th, 2026 12:40 AM
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THE US AND HAITI
The United States is up to its own imperial mischief in Haiti. Given the lack of an effective government in that country ever since the earthquake of last week, it was surprising to learn that the US had signed Memoranda of Understanding with what exists as the Haitian government so as to facilitate the assistance that the US proposes to send to that country.
Among the assistance package is the deployment of US troops, an ominous signal considering the past US interventionist policies in that country and the fact that the US could have proposed instead of ask CARICOM governments to send a peace keeping force to help stabilise law and order.
The Haitian government has limited choices. The direness of the situation of the ground makes it impossible to protest the terms and conditions under which critical US aid and assistance will flow. Much of this help will obviously be channeled through the battery of Non- governmental organisations which have been working in Haiti for years.
And you can bet that US troops are there not just to ensure the safety of the aid workers and the delivery of the humanitarian aid. They are also there to ensure that Haiti does not become a hot bed of future unrest, something that could evaporate the neo-liberal medicine to which that country has been subjected to following US connivance in the removal of the now former democratically elected President of Haiti who was forced into exile in Haiti and who wishes to return home to help his people. You can bet that his request will not be tolerated by the Americans.
If the Americans are serious about helping the people of Haiti, they have to strip themselves of their traditional imperial gowns. They have to demonstrate that they are willing to help Haiti, not by imposing solutions but by helping the people of that country through this difficult phase and afterwards to allow the people of that country to decide on their own recovery.
Possible solutions can be proposed but in the final analysis, it is the people of Haiti who have to assume to decide their own destiny. The people of Haiti need space and resources to be able to assert their right to self-determination and the US can help. Not by sending troops, but by assisting the people of that country to decide on the way forward.
Since the earthquake, a number of useful ideas have emerged from various sources of just how the US and other countries can help create the right environment for the reconstruction of Haiti. Among the suggestions made is for the external debt of Haiti to be written off. The rich countries of the West should do this immediately as they did years ago with the debt of the countries of Central America when their economies were decimated by a hurricane.
Haiti must begin its recovery free of debt, including the debt to banks such as the Inter- American Development Bank. Debt has always been used as big stick to keep governments in line. This approach needs to be jettisoned. In the case of Haiti, all its debt including multilateral debt should be written off thereby giving that country a debt- free start.
Bill Quigley of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti has suggested that the Obama administration allow Haitians in the United States to work. Remittances from Haitians working in the US constituted a significant form of transfers to that country and helped to support thousands of families. Such support is going to be even more vital given the destruction wrought by last week’s earthquake.
The US therefore should slacken its immigration requirements and allow those Haitians within the United States who are not yet legal residents to be granted work permits so that they can help to send back money for the families. The US does not need to grant legal status to these illegal aliens from Haiti; they just need to grant work permits that would allow these persons to work in the United States for a period of five years.
Finally, the US should consider a special trade deal that would for a period of five years allow all tariff- free entry to all Haitian exports to the US. The Europeans should also consider this option as a means of helping the people of that country get through the aftermath of the earthquake.
These are far much better than guns and rhetoric.
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