Enthousiaste berichten in de media als Amerikaanse hulpverleners een paar mensen kunnen redden in de puinhopen op Haïti. Gigantische vliegtuigen landen met hulpgoederen. Een aantal kinderen kunnen versneld geadopteerd worden. Hulpverleners uit de hele wereld reizen naar Haïti. Mensen doneren geld. Dat moet dus een succes worden. Maar wat is de werkelijkheid?
MediaGlobal: "United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon emphasized the importance of the first 72 hours following the disaster. But already much of that crucial time has been spent attempting to assess the situation.
The widespread destruction of national and international power structures means the rebuilding process will need to be broad. It also means that the structures usually responsible for dealing with civilian emergencies have been unable to respond effectively.
Ninety-five percent of the victims who are rescued after major urban earthquakes around the planet are rescued by other victims.
With 3 million Haitians lacking food, the World Food Program has reached only 8000 individuals, and aims to increase their reach to 2 million within a month. The extent of destruction and the need to rebuild means that the call for water, food, and medical support will continue long after worldwide attention concerning the earthquake fades."
AlterNet: "Lacking outside support, civilians have worked communally to try to save their own families. Supplies were sent but many have yet to get out of the airport. Troops have not been assigned to help deliver water or guard medical facilities. There is a fear of the wrath of a people that are pissed off at hearing about aid and money donated, and then seeing nothing trickling down into their neighborhoods.
And there is a deeper fear -- a political fear. With President Aristide, the man the US considers too radical for its tastes, anxious to return, there is fear that a possible revolt against the lack of help could turn angry and political.
Hillary Clinton keeps telling the Haitians that we are their friends -- but many doubt it. They know that Aristide's Lavalas party is the most popular in Haiti and wants a more profound transformation than the US wants to allow. It had been banned from taking part in scheduled elections next month, that are likely to be canceled now. Haiti’s president Preval is weak and dependent on US largesse.
They also know that in the aftermath of earthquakes, like the one that rocked Manaqua, Nicaraga in the 1970s, there can be revolution. They don’t want that to happen in Haiti. They also know how volatile the country is, in part because of neglect by the West over the years.
The disaster planners have an agenda that goes beyond just saving lives. They want to use the crisis to rebuild Haiti along lines they support."
Naomi Klein: "Readers of the The Shock Doctrine know that the Heritage Foundation has been one of the leading advocates of exploiting disasters to push through their unpopular pro-corporate policies. From this document, they're at it again, not even waiting one day to use the devastating earthquake in Haiti to push for their so-called reforms. The following quote was hastily yanked by the Heritage Foundation and replaced with a more diplomatic quote, but their first instinct is revealing:
'In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake in Haiti earthquake offers opportunities to re-shape Haiti’s long-dysfunctional government and economy as well as to improve the public image of the United States in the region.'"
HeritageFoundation: "While on the ground in Haiti, the U.S. military can also interrupt the nightly flights of cocaine to Haiti and the Dominican Republic from the Venezuelan coast and counter the ongoing efforts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to destabilize the island of Hispaniola. This U.S. military presence, which should also include a large contingent of U.S. Coast Guard assets, can also prevent any large-scale movement by Haitians to take to the sea in dangerous and rickety watercraft to try to enter the U.S. illegally.
Meanwhile, the U.S. must be prepared to insist that the Haiti government work closely with the U.S. to insure that corruption does not infect the humanitarian assistance flowing to Haiti. Long-term reforms for Haitian democracy and its economy are also badly overdue. Congress should immediately begin work on a package of assistance, trade, and reconstruction efforts needed to put Haiti on its feet and open the way for deep and lasting democratic reforms."
Met andere woorden, de hulp is niet in eerste instantie bedoeld voor de bevolking, maar om de invloed van de VS te versterken en de Amerikaanse bedrijven te voorzien van opbouwcontracten. Disaster capitalism, zoals Naomi Klein zegt. Alle hulp die niet past in het Amerikaanse plan wordt afgewezen of moeilijk gemaakt.
Guardian: "A medical group today said one of its planes was turned away from Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, despite guarantees given by the UN and the US defence department."
Het is al vaker voorgekomen dat hulp niet bij de bevolking terecht kwam. En aan de heersende armoede werd nauwelijks iets gedaan. Erger nog, de armoede is een rechtstreeks gevolg van de Amerikaanse politiek en de VN.
GlobalResearch: "Haiti has a longstanding history of US military intervention and occupation going back to the beginning of the 20th Century. US interventionism has contributed to the destruction of Haiti's national economy and the impoverishment of its population.
The devastating earthquake is presented to World public opinion as the sole cause of the country's predicament.
A country has been destroyed, its infrastructure demolished. Its people precipitated into abysmal poverty and despair.
The US military has come to the rescue of an impoverished Nation. What is its Mandate?
Is it a Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?"
Greg Palast: "Bless the President for having rescue teams in the air almost immediately. That was President Olafur Grimsson of Iceland. On Wednesday, the AP reported that the President of the United States promised, 'The initial contingent of 2,000 Marines could be deployed to the quake-ravaged country within the next few days.' 'In a few days,' Mr. Obama?
There's no such thing as a 'natural' disaster. 200,000 Haitians have been slaughtered by slum housing and IMF 'austerity' plans."
WorldInternetNews: "The Guardian says that ever since Haitian slaves gained national independence, Western powers attempted to strangle its democracy and quash its prosperity.
De propagandamachine werkt overuren. Iedereen struikelt over mekaar om toch maar te laten zien hoe goed we zijn. Intussen verdient de hulpindustrie flink aan deze menselijke ellende, en de vraag is hoeveel van onze bijdragen echt naar de Haïtiaanse bevolking gaan. De goede-doelen-industrie zorgt goed voor zichzelf met riante salarissen, vertrekpremies en aandelen. Nederland is te laat geweest met hulp. Van jezelf op de borst kloppen word je niet beter. De noodtoestand bestond al veel eerder, bezorgd door de VS.