West to blame for Haiti's present plight

I say this because knowledge of this small country's history should be vital to our understanding and response to the tragedy of the earthquake. Thousands of Haitians have been murdered over the years so that corporations, primarily from the US, can take over all the natural resources and virtually enslave the population.

The island where both Haiti and the Dominican Republic are located was called Hispaniola by the explorer Christopher Columbus. In 1492, when Columbus and his crew came ashore, the Arawak people greeted them bearing food, water and gifts.

Columbus wrote in his log: "They brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for glass beads and hawks' bills. They willingly traded everything they owned. They do not bear arms and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves … They would make fine servants. With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do what we want."

In two years, half of the 250,000 Arawaks on Haiti were dead. In 1552, 60 years after the discovery, less than 200 Arawak were left.

Since Europeans had disdain for physical labour and having killed nearly the entire population, they kidnapped Africans and brought them to Haiti to work on new plantations from the early 1500s. Haitians today are descendants of African slaves, not the Arawak who were all murdered.

France took Haiti from the Spanish in 1697 and continued the economy. One could say that if it were not for the wealth France extracted from Haiti, it would be an impoverished nation today. By the 1700s the slave population was 450,000 and the white-master population was about 40,000. The slaves rebelled in 1790 and on January 1, 1804, they won independence.

France immediately dispatched its navy to Haiti and with the support of other European colonies in the region extorted financial reparation to replace the bounty lost to the revolution.

Haiti was forced to make these payments until the late 19th century. At that point, life for Haitians worsened due to US interest in extracting wealth and enslaving the population. Between 1849 and 1913, US Navy ships invaded Haiti 24 times to "protect American lives and property". What contributed greatly to the behaviour of the US and European countries was extreme racism in the formulating of foreign and domestic policy.

Just as the original peoples of the Western Hemisphere were considered non-humans, so were the dark-skinned people of Haiti.

For 20 years the US ruled Haiti, opening it for corporate seizing of lands and building factories for export goods. When the troops left Haiti in 1935, the National Guard took over the operation of government dutifully carrying out the orders of the white masters in Washington. What followed was terror-filled years with various puppet governments operating as the well-paid, well-fed puppets of the US elite.

This group included the notorious criminal Duvalier family, embodied by Papa Doc Duvalier and then his son Baby Doc Duvalier. The Duvaliers employed an army of killers to keep the population subdued and compliant. Needless to say they enjoyed the support and admiration of the US government and corporate elite.

Of course, excesses can trouble even the most craven among us, and in 1986 Baby Doc Duvalier was driven out of Haiti to a luxurious lifestyle in France until he died.

In 1990, elections were held in Haiti for the first time since it gained independence in 1804. The US-backed candidate, former World Bank official Marc Bazin, got 14 per cent, while Jean-Bertrand Aristide, a priest from a small rural community, won 67 per cent.

Immediately after his election, the CIA through USAid [Agency for International Development], the National Endowment for Democracy and other US government and non-government institutions overthrew the Aristide government in a span of only five months.

The criminals placed in charge of Haiti turned out to be so brutal that then-US president Bill Clinton was forced to send in Marines to "restore order" and bring back Aristide.

However, Aristide was forced to submit to the economic dictates of the neo-liberal economic model enforced by the IMF and the World Bank. He returned in 1994 and the Haitian people rejoiced.

He broke his promise by challenging the US government's "free market" economics. This he did by raising the minimum wage from 10 cents [Bt3.30] an hour to 25 cents. He also began a campaign to bring back the money France had extracted in the form of reparations.

The US conveniently had war games scheduled with the Dominican Republic and when the games were over left behind some 10,000-15,000 M16 rifles, which found their way into the hands of the thugs that Clinton had to remove. The thugs began a campaign of terror.

This was easy to do since Aristide had disbanded the army and the police had few weapons, no match for the M16s of the US proxy army. Aristide had asked the US to help supply the police with appropriate weapons, but Washington refused to comply.

The thugs eventually reached the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and stopped by order of their de-facto US military commanders. General Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, told Aristide: "Leave or we will watch you die." Aristide refused to leave and was kidnapped by US Marines at 2am on February 29, 2004. With assistance from France and Canada, Aristide was exiled to Africa, where is today.

Canada, the US and France arranged for a UN peacekeeping force, which subsequently banned Aristide's party from participating in elections. This move disenfranchised about 80 to 90 per cent of the voters.

This is the story of Haiti - a story of state-sponsored terrorism, economic devastation and ultimate corporate control. This story accounts for why so many people have died.

People have been driven from rural areas to seek work in American-owned factories in the cities only because the US was able to dump rice at a price cheaper than it cost the Haitian farmer to grow and harvest. So many have died due to unsafe construction of homes, hospitals and schools - all built using unsafe, substandard building materials.

We must all demand 100-per-cent transparency in all aid money received and spent in Haiti; no land is to be stolen for future development; above all else we must insist the return of Aristide, who is loved by the people of Haiti. His return will give the people one thing money can't buy - hope.

MICHAEL PIRSCH

BANGKOK

A fair way to deal with politicians' assets

Thaksin's assets-seizure case points to the glaring failure of our system to prevent conflicts of interest between politicians and the rest of the country. For example, he denies that his government's approval for a soft loan of Bt4 billion to buy telecom systems from Shin Satellite had anything to do with him, despite his family's control of that company. And, yet, he might be right.

On the other hand, I am most cynical of his claim that his children and others were the actual decision-makers of Shin shares held in their names, given that to my knowledge, the defence declined to present proof that his children possessed any licences or other evidence of expertise in security analysis.

I propose that upon taking public office, an elected politician be required to put all shares of any company listed in Thailand owned by themselves, their spouses or children with a private fund manager of their choosing. The portfolio shall be made public, but its performance shall be made equal to that of SET Index from the day of taking office to 24 months after leaving office, when the shares will be returned to him, with no additions to or withdrawals from the portfolio in the interim. Any undeclared shares, or those given to non-relatives, like drivers, maids, or guards shall be deemed to have been donated to the state.

BURIN KANTABUTRA

R&D will be key factor under CAFTA regulations

Re: "China-Asean FTA good for Thailand, says Dhanin", Business, January 12, 2010.

I would like to applaud Dhanin Chearavanont for his statement on the China-Asean free-trade relationship being good for Thailand. Such a statement from a high-profile individual will help build investors' confidence in the region. I am aware Charoen Pokphand is one of many private sector groups which places emphasis on research and development collaboration with relevant ministries such as biotec, science and technology, and agriculture. Research and development will play a key factor in the success of local exporters operating under China-Asean FTA regulations.

RAMJITTI INDARAPRASIRT

PATHUM THANI