US urged to stop Haiti rice subsidies
Cheap imported rice discourages farmers from growing their own, says Oxfam
A leading aid agency has called on the United States to stop subsidising American rice exports to Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, because it says the policy undermines local production of food.
Former US President Bill Clinton, one of the architects of the subsidies to US farmers - and who is now, paradoxically, the co-chair of Haiti's earthquake recovery Commission - is quoted by Oxfam as saying that the policy was "a mistake".
"It may have been good for some of my farmers in Arkansas, but it has not worked," said Mr Clinton, a frequent visitor to Haiti.
"I have to live every day with the consequences of the lost capacity to produce a rice crop in Haiti to feed those people, because of what I did."
The aid agency says the $434m (£274m) paid annually in domestic US rice subsidies is more than the total US aid to Haiti of $353m.
The Oxfam report said subsidies paid to American farmers meant the rice they export to Haiti - known locally as Riz Miami or "Miami Rice" - is cheaper than locally produced rice.
The foreign rice that is "dumped" in Haiti therefore exacerbates the rural-urban drift that has seen the population of the capital Port-au-Prince balloon out of control as farmers who cannot feed themselves move to the city in search of employment.
The city was built in colonial times to house a few hundred thousand people.
But it now has a population of an estimated three million - most living in badly-constructed blocks which crumbled in January's devastating earthquake, making at least a million people homeless.
More than 230,000 people were killed in the 7.0 magnitude earthquake, which was centred near Port-au-Prince.
Rural impactHaiti was encouraged by western countries to liberalise its economy in 1994. As it cut taxes on imports its own rice production plummeted.
Oxfam says food for aid should be bought in local markets wherever possible
In 1980, according to Oxfam, Haiti was virtually self sufficient in rice. But today it imports some 80% of its rice and 60% of its overall food supply.
"Trade liberalisation has exposed Haitian farmers to competition from subsidised US rice and made consumers vulnerable to volatile global food prices," said Oxfam.
The report says food aid can be another side to this problem.
In the month following the earthquake, for example, there was an international food aid "surge".
Although Oxfam says the aid was "unquestionably a necessity" because it reduced food prices and allowed people to eat, the price reductions also "negatively affected rural Haitians" who earn money from selling food to the cities and comprise the majority of the population.
The agency recommended that, wherever possible, food aid should be bought in local markets inside the country that is receiving the aid.
Oxfam also made numerous recommendations to the Haitian government aimed at reversing its historic bias favouring the elites in Port-au-Prince over the majority rural poor.
It said the government should:
- decentralise services away from the capital
- ensure that farmers have access to credit
- improve a land tenure system where most farmers have tiny parcels of land known as mouchwa - after the Creole word meaning "handkerchief-sized" - which they can be cheated out of by judges who award title to "whoever offers the biggest bribe"
The situation that Oxfam highlights is part of the bizarre relationship Haiti has with development aid donors and humanitarian workers.
Port-au-Prince is one of the aid capitals of the world.
By some estimates there are over 8,000 development charities working in the city - and almost every four-wheel drive vehicle you see on the streets there has the logo of an aid agency on its doors.
Yet the country remains mired in poverty. And many Haitians see the aid agencies primarily as sources of employment rather than as organisations that are making a difference in the long run.
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Bizarre Developments in HaitiSubmitted by Stephen Lendman on Sat, 2011-01-22 10:03 |
Bizarre Developments in Haiti - by Stephen Lendman
Three previous articles relate to this one, accessed through the following links:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/01/baby-doc-in-haiti.html
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/01/duvalier-in-dock.html
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2011/01/let-aristide-return.html
On January 20, Al Jazeera headlined, "Baby Doc wants Haiti presidency," saying:
Despite his 15-year reign of terror and current corruption, embezzlement, money laundering, and perhaps assassination charges, he "retains ambitions of returning to the presidency," according to one of his lawyers, Reynold George saying:
"He is a political man. Every political man has political ambitions." Asked if he wishes to return to power, George replied, "That is right. Because under this new constitution, and let me tell you I am one of the persons who wrote that constitution, he has the right to do so (under) two mandates. Two!"
When asked about charges against Duvalier, George cited the statute of limitations expiring in 2006, saying:
"I am a lawyer, not a racketeer. I have to go by the law. And I have just told you what the law says about accusations. You have to make them in due time. After ten years? Shut up!"
He added that Duvalier "has no intention of leaving Haiti. We want to answer all the requisitions of justice because we want to be cleared."
On January 20, Gervais Charles, another Duvalier lawyer, told Radio Canada that charges of crimes against humanity were invalid because "it is a principle that does not exist" in Haitian law. He also stressed that in 25 years of exile, no complaints were lodged against him.
Asked about Duvalier's arrest, Master Ronald Charles, Dean of the Bar of Jacmel, said doing so is illegal and arbitrary. Legal procedures weren't followed. "(G)overnment commissioner of Port-au-Prince, Master Augustus Aristides, after all the tests, had to issue a warrant before his arrest," adding that Haiti's 1987 Constitution doesn't recognize Duvalier's exile.
If so, it's also true for Aristide, but Charles stopped short of explaining. However, he said it's possible for Haitian authorities to issue proper complaints.
The Collaborative Haiti (CPH), a group of Quebec organizations and individual members in solidarity with Haiti's people denounced Duvalier's return, citing specific concerns including:
-- Haiti's lack of separation of powers;
-- poor security for judges, commissioners, police officers, victims, and witnesses; and
-- massive corruption infecting the entire state apparatus, besides others compromising Haiti's judicial system.
As a result, CPH wants a special independent tribunal established to try Duvalier, among other charges, for crimes against humanity for which he's indisputably guilty, regardless of what complicit lawyers say.
Prosecutions of Nazi, Japanese, and more recent war and crimes against humanity offenders weren't constrained by sovereign laws. Under international law, universal principles take precedence, especially for murder, genocide, and crimes or war and against humanity under the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity.
In addition, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Article 29 states crimes of war and against humanity "shall not be subject to any statute of limitations." Moreover, all crimes considered exceptionally grievous are included, including murder, and capital or first-degree murder (killing with intent or malice).
Clearly Duvalier's lawyers haven't checked the laws or don't wish to for obvious reasons. However, anyone can read and understand them.
Does Duvalier, in Fact, Seek Power?
On January 20, Miami Herald writer Jacqueline Charles headlined, "Duvalier: I have no presidential ambitions," saying:
He "disputed reports by one of his lawyers and a former government functionary (claiming) he had presidential ambitions." In a prepared statement, he said, "I formally deny all political statements, vague or otherwise that are attributed to me," stopping short of specifically denying he'll run for president, apparently permitted under Haiti's Constitution even for a former despot.
What's ahead is anyone's guess, but some issues are clear. Duvalier faces no serious prosecution threat. At most, he'll be hand-slapped, perhaps agree to return pennies on the dollars he stole, but be able to stay or leave as he wishes and remain free in luxury until all issues against him are resolved.
In a January 21 email, Law Professor Francis Boyle commented on his arrival, saying:
"No way Baby Doc could have returned without connivance/permission by Obama and Sarkozy. Obviously, they plan to reinstall (him) as Dictator and Front-Man. And Obama/Sarkozy have denied the right of President Aristide to return. But I am confident that the Haitians have such a great revolutionary tradition that they will find another Toussaint L'Overture to throw out Baby Doc/Obama/Sarkozy - just as they threw out Napoleon supported by Thomas Jefferson, the slave-owner. In that regard, Obama is a 'worthy' successor to Jefferson - denying the Haitians their Right to Self-Determination" as he did by refusing recognition, fearing US slaves also might seek freedom.
Other Developments
Al Jazeera reports that four Haitians, including a former UN spokeswoman for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Michele Montas, filed criminal charges of torture and other abuses against Duvalier with a Port-au-Prince prosecutor.
According to Montas:
"We have lodged lawsuits for arbitrary detention, exile, destruction of private property, torture and moral violation of civil and political rights. There are grounds not only to judge him for economic crimes but also for human rights abuses."
According to Amnesty International (AI):
"If true justice is to be done in Haiti, the Haitian authorities need to open a criminal investigation into Duvalier's responsibility for the multitude of human rights abuses that were committed under his rule including torture, arbitrary detentions, rape, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions."
However, chances for that are virtually nil. Boyle is right. Duvalier's arrival wasn't happenstance. It was arranged by allies in high places, notably in Washington with French complicity, for what precisely will unfold ahead. The rhetoric about charges lodged will mostly disappear. Duvalier came for a purpose relating to power politics, not to visit or be charged.
As for Aristide's returning, State Department spokesman PJ Crowley said it's the "last thing Haiti needs (with) its hands full dealing with the current ongoing election process. And we do not think that any actions by an individual at this point that can only bring divisiveness to Haitian society is helping Haiti move forward - expressly because the Haitian people need the emergence of a new government that they believe, and have confidence, can lead Haiti to a more prosperous future."
Acting Deputy State Department spokesman Mark Toner said focus should be on Haiti's future and resolving its election. Aristide "is not really part of that equation."
Of course, America fears Aristide's inspirational and stabilizing threat to destructive power, headquartered in Washington, using local and international satraps for enforcement.
Wishing only to return for health reasons and to help as a private citizen, his arrival would seem like the second coming for most Haitians who revere him and want him back. That's precisely why Washington prevented it since ousting him in February 2004.
Mid-January released WikiLeaks cables showed pressure exerted on Brazil in June 2005 to keep Aristide out. Then and now it headed the hated Blue Helmet occupiers Haitians want removed. Access the documents through the following links:
http://www.haiti-info.com/IMG/article_PDF/article_a5536.pdf
http://www.haiti-info.com/?WikiLeaks-US-Embassy-Cables-Haiti,5536
One portion showed President Lula da Silva's complicity, saying:
After US officials expressed "concerns" (read demands), "GOB (government of Brazil) officials made clear continued resolve to keep Aristide from returning to the country or exerting political influence, and reiterated Brazil's strategy that security, assistance and political dialogue should move in tandem as priorities in the international effort."
In other words, former President Lula, a supposed left of center leader and one time union leader, conspired against democracy for repressive occupation and denying Aristide his legal right of return as a Haitian citizen.
Washington pointedly "insiste(d) that all efforts must be made to keep (him) from returning to Haiti or influencing the political process...." Brazil agreed to help, Antonio de Agular Patriota, Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs of the Ministry of External Relations said:
"(T)he mere fact of Aristide's existence will always be problematic in terms of his influence on some elements of Haitian society, however much the international community works to isolate him. That said, the GOB had been encouraged by recent South African Government commitments to Brazil that the GSA would not allow Aristide to use his exile there to undertake political efforts. It always remains important to include in political dialogue those elements of Lavalas that are willing to 'leave Aristide behind them.' "
Obama embraces the same Bush agenda, flaunting international and US law, denying Haitians democratic freedoms, Aristide his right to return, and if Boyle is right, conspiring with France to reestablish Duvalier despotism, exacerbating Haiti's many other problems.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to 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.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/
>via: http://warisacrime.org/content/bizarre-developments-haiti?utm_source=twitterf...
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WikiLeaks points to US meddling in Haiti
US embassy cables reveal how anxious the US was to enlist Brazil to keep the deposed Jean-Bertrand Aristide out of Haiti
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- guardian.co.uk, Friday 21 January 2011 18.24 GMT
- Article history
Minustah's commander, Brazilian Army General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 2005. In January 2006, Bacellar was found shot dead on his balcony, after what his government described first as a 'firearm accident' and then as 'suicide'. Bacellar had earlier resisted calls to use his UN peacekeeping force to crack down on pro-Aristide rebels. Photograph: AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos
Confidential US diplomatic cables from 2005 and 2006 released this week by WikiLeaks reveal Washington's well-known obsession to keep exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide out of Haiti and Haitian affairs. (On Thursday, Aristide issued a public letter in which he reiterated "my readiness to leave today, tomorrow, at any time" from South Africa for Haiti, because the Haitian people "have never stopped calling for my return" and "for medical reasons", concerning his eyes.)
In a 8 June 2005 meeting of US Ambassador to Brazil John Danilovich, joined by his political counsellor (usually, the local CIA station chief), with then President Lula da Silva's international affairs adviser Marco Aurelio Garcia, we learn that:
"Ambassador and PolCouns ... stressed continued US G[overnment] insistence that all efforts must be made to keep Aristide from returning to Haiti or influencing the political process … [and that Washington was] increasingly concerned about a major deterioration in security, especially in Port au Prince."
The ambassador and his adviser were also anxious about "reestablishing [the] credibility" of the UN Mission to Stabilise Haiti (Minustah), as the UN occupation troops are called. The Americans reminded Garcia that then US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called "for firm Minustah action and the possibility that the US may be asked to send troops at some point".
Careful reading between the lines of the cable shows that Garcia was a bit taken aback by the Americans' "insistence"; he reassured the duo "that security is a critical component, but must move in tandem with", among other things, "an inclusive political process". Garcia also noted that "some elements of Lavalas [Aristide's political party] are willing to become involved in a constructive dialogue and should be encouraged", although there was "continued Brazilian resolve to keep Aristide from returning to the country or exerting political influence".
Aristide "does not fit in with a democratic political future" in Haiti, Garcia is quoted as saying. However, he was "cautious on the issue of introduction of US forces" into Haiti, and "would not be drawn into discussion".
The American duo then met on 10 June with Brazilian Under-Secretary for Political Affairs Antonio de Aguiar Patriota. They told him, and he acknowledged, that "Minustah has not been sufficiently robust." All this dismay was over the leadership of Brazilian General Augusto Heleno Ribeiro, then Minustah's military commander. Heleno had repeatedly voiced trepidation about causing unnecessary casualties and, more importantly, being hauled before an international court for war crimes. (At the time, there was an independent International Tribunal on Haitipreparing to hold hearings on the crimes committed by UN troops, Haitian police and paramilitaries during the 2004 coup and the runup to it.)
Less than a month after these meetings, on 5 July 2005, a browbeaten Heleno would lead Minustah's first deadly assault on the armed groups resisting the coup and occupation in Cité Soleil. Attacking in the middle of the night with helicopters, tanks and ground troops, the Brazilian-led operation fired tens of thousands of bullets and dropped bombs, killing and wounding many dozens of innocent civilians, including children and infants.
Later that month, Heleno was cycled out of Minustah and replaced by 57-year-old General Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar. Like Heleno, Bacellar was reluctant to use force in Haiti's shanty towns. But pressure from Washington for "robust" action continued, and in late December 2005, "Bacellar had tense meetings with UN and coup regime officials and the rightwing business elite," reported the Haiti Action Committee at the time:
"They reportedly put 'intense pressure' on the general, 'demanding that he intervene brutally in Cité Soleil,' according to AHP. This coincided with a pressure campaign by Chamber of Commerce head Reginald Boulos and sweatshop kingpin Andy Apaid, leader of Group 184 [the civic front that took part in the 2004 coup against Aristide]. Last week, Boulos and Apaid made strident calls in the media for a new UN crackdown on Cité Soleil."
On 6 January 2006, Minustah's then civilian chief, Chilean Juan Gabriel Valdès, said that UN troops would "occupy" Cité Soleil, which UN troops already surrounded.
"We are going to intervene in the coming days," Valdès said. "I think there'll be collateral damage but we have to impose our force, there is no other way."
But some UN officials said that Bacellar "had opposed Valdès' plan", according to Reuters. "The general had insisted that his job was to defend the Haitian constitution, but not to fight crime," the Independent of 9 January reported.
Then, on 7 January 2006, General Bacellar was found dead in his suite at Pétionville's deluxe Montana Hotel, a bullet through his head. He had been sitting in a chair on his balcony, apparently reading. Initially, Brazilian army officials called the shooting a "firearm accident". After a few days, they changed the official verdict to "suicide".
Four days later, US State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary Patrick Duddy met with Dominican President Leonel Fernandez, who "inquired about the circumstances surrounding the death" of Bacellar,another WikiLeaks-released cable reveals. Duddy said that it looked like suicide, but "Fernandez expressed skepticism. He had met General Bacellar; to him, suicide seemed unlikely for a professional of Bacellar´s caliber."
Fernandez suspected Bacellar had been assassinated by "a small group in Haiti dedicated to … creating chaos; [and] that this group had killed Minustah members in the past (a Canadian and a Jordanian, and now the Brazilian General) … The President said he knew of a case in which a Brazilian Minustah member had killed a sniper."
When Duddy asked who might be in this group, the only name Fernandez suggested was that of former soldier and police chief Guy Philippe, the Haitian anti-Aristide "rebel" leader in 2004. A former Dominican general, Nobles Espejo, told a March 2004 fact-finding delegation (on which I travelled) that Philippe's contras had been armed by the US. Philippe had staged guerrilla raids and then invaded Haiti from the Dominican Republic under Fernandez's predecessor, Hipòlito Mejia.
While Fernandez wouldn't rule out "an accidentally self-inflicted wound", the cable explains:
"He believes that the Brazilian government is calling the death a suicide in order to protect the mission from domestic criticism. A confirmed assassination would result in calls from the Brazilian populace for withdrawal from Haiti. Success in this mission is vital for President Lula of Brazil, because it is part of his master plan to obtain a permanent seat on the UN security council."
Fernandez's suspicions – if that's all they were – seem well-founded. It seems unlikely that a decorated army veteran, parachutist and instructor would be careless enough with a pistol to accidentally shoot himself in the head. Furthermore, Bacellar was a very religious man, with a wife and two children in Brazil. He had just returned to Haiti four days earlier from a Christmas visit home. Even if suicide cannot be ruled out, one would have expected such a man to leave behind a message of some sort.
Yet, according to the sources of Brazilian journalist Ana Maria Brambilla, Bacellar "did not display any signs of depression during his last days". He was accustomed, after "39 years of service, to pressure far worse than he had seen in his four months in Haiti," his military colleagues told the Independent.
According to the South African newspaper Beeld, "the latest reports in the Dominican media questioned the feasibility of suicide, as no bullet casing was found near the body … He would have been an easy target for a sniper." Most incongruously, Bacellar's T-shirt and boxer-clad body was reportedly found with a book on his lap, according to the Dominican daily El Nacional, as he had apparently been reading and relaxing in his underwear on his balcony when the urge to shoot himself came on.
Is it possible some interested party may have wanted to kill Bacellar for his reluctance to crack down on the rebellious shanty town of Cité Soleil? We can only hope that further documents from the WikiLeaks cache will discover the truth.