Tragedies and Crimes of Haiti
(French and USA policies)
.> a tragedy that grew from crime. It's an unspeakable crime what's been done to Haiti. Long ago it was a rich country. It was stripped of its wealth by France, The US has backed terror there over the years. Haitian people were living on the brink of survival. When you're that poor, your only chance for getting out of it is to be great. You can't behave like a mere mortal, or you'll fall. You will die. And for a period in the early, late 80s, early 90s, Haitians really achieved political greatness. They put together a popular movement that brought down Baby Doc Duvalier. They thwarted designs in what they thought was a fixed election. An election, instead, that brought Aristide to power with two-thirds of the vote. They tried to push a popular platform that would raise the minimum wage and redistribute the wealth to the poor.
.> Historically, the US had backed oppressive forces in Haiti for centuries. France plundered the wealth of Haiti. After that, when there wasn't much left, even though there wasn't much left to plunder, the US backed a series of repressive regimes. Under the Duvaliers, through Israel, the US funded massive military and intelligence aid. And after Baby Doc Duvalier was brought down by a popular uprising, the US continued to back the paramilitary forces. Starting around 1989, the US Defense Intelligence Agency encouraged the formation of FRAPH, essentially a terrorist group.
.> ... many of the officials whom Clinton was claiming to be fighting, were actually his employees, and if at that time, Clinton had simply cut them off, completely ended their support, the Haitian public itself most likely could have brought down the coup regime without a US occupation.
.> The larger crime, though, that helped to create this was the way that a few miles from Miami Beach, you have one of the poorest countries in the world, a place that has been stripped of its wealth where people live on less than $500 a year. That shouldn't be tolerated. There should be a massive transfer of wealth to Haiti from the rich countries that benefited from the old wealth of Haiti. And the law should be enforced. Criminals like Jodel Chamblain should be prosecuted and jailed. So should the first Bush, so should President Clinton for backing them over the years. And then maybe you can create a situation where Haitians don't have to be great to have a chance at survival, and they can make mistakes like everybody else and still lead a decent life.
.> Allan Nairn, a veteran investigative journalist, he was in Haiti during the 1991-94 coup and broke a number of stories that proved the direct links between US intelligence agencies and Haitian paramilitary death squads. Among the stories he broke was that the head of FRAPH, Emmanuel "Toto" Constant, was on the payroll of the Defense Intelligence Agency...
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https://thirdworldtraveler.com/Haiti/Different_Coup_Nairn_GHRTT.html #
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