Solidarity with Haiti protest US Embassy Dublin

by Paul O'Carr Fri Feb 26, 2010 20:31

The call for all international troops to leave Haiti is, at best, misguided.

At the moment, there are military forces from countries as diverse as Brazil, the US, Canada, Argentina, and some African countries in Haiti. They were helping to keep the peace before the earthquake (as part of the MINUSTAH force mandated by the UN Security Council), and they are even more necessary than ever in the aftermath of the earthquake, where the potential for looting and large-scale rioting remains high due to the devastation inflicted upon the Haitian Government and its institutions, including the national police force and the army. The Governments which sent additional troops after the earthquake - most of whom do not form part of MINUSTAH - have made clear that they are there for humanitarian purposes only, and are working closely with the UN, NGOs and others. Can anyone point to one single example of those troops doing anything which exceeds that mandate? I, for one, have not heard of any criticisms.

It is foolish, foolhardy and utterly misinformed to call for them to leave, as this would surely lead to chaos. More importantly, they are there at the request of the Haitian President and his Government and therefore have every right to be there. Who are we from the comforts of Ireland to pretend to know better than the democratically-elected President of Haiti. Better that people stop trying to mask their general anti-US sentiment, and not hijack the Haitian catastrophe to that end. It's really quite pathetic.

by Marc S Fri Feb 26, 2010 22:13

Great to see you folks in front of the US embassy - you seem really well organised with yr banners etc. I see a banner from LASC there - happy to see that - I seem to remember they did some pretty good work on Haiti around the time of the coup a few years back. Sadly as the last post shows there is a crying need for some intelligent analysis on the situation in Haiti.

I seem to rememer photoes of bloody corpses of dozens of supporters of the democratically elected government of Aristide who were killed by UN troops including Brazilians. The LASC website probably has something on this still. Sadly a UN mandate does not ensure that the interests of the majority population are served best by a military occupation. But I don't want to be labelled anti-American - if anyone thinks it is wrong to oppose a bloody coup and the toppling of a democratic government, just because it was organised and carried out by the US government, well, they need to look again at their values and at what has actually happened in the real world as opposed to their media-inspired fantasy.

The earthquake was terrible, and if the troops are helping and doing a good job, fair play to them. But looking at the big picture, a key reason people perish in such numbers when earthquake strikes a poor country is a lack of infrastructure and bad buildings, growing from the poverty the country has been kept in for 200 years, with international relations playing a big part in this, and with military occupation as the primary tool. And lets tell the truth, the US government (not the American peoples who are by and large positive and generous spirited) have constantly interfered in Haitian affairs (and across the whole of Latin America) to nip democracy in the bud and keep the majority in poverty. So I think it is not unreasonable to call for an end to foreign military occupation there.

As for the point about calling for this from the comfort of Ireland, well, I seemed to see a fair few Haitians there. I think they have a right to an opinion on their country. Actually I think everyone has a right and a duty to look at why children die of hunger each day and the root cause of Haiti's problems may not be as far removed as we would like to think from the root causes of some of our own problems.

I saw disaster capitalism referenced in the video - the use of crises to push through unpopular changes which benefit weathy concerns (many of them based in Europe and, yes, the USA!)- is in evidence in Haiti as after the Tsunami a few years ago in Asia, and after the many bloody coups in Latin America throughout the 70's and 80's. It has created misery and death for many millions. Is it anti-american to express concern about this? Are the Latin Americans somehow less American than their brothers and sisters in North America? Or is it that the poor are somehow less human?

As for the looting, how much evidence is there that Port au Prince will descend into a blood bath without the threat of weapons to hold the people back? From the perspective of reporters holed up in the best hotel in town and only let out for 3 hours a day with security guards hovering, no doubt it is a very frightening place. But there was little violence in the city as a whole considering people were starving and their kids dying.

I say top credit to the protestors for doing their best to alert the public to what is really happening and shame on the previous poster for criticising in such a facile and really uninformed way.

by dara - HSI (personal capacity) Tue Mar 02, 2010 12:18

It is farcical to suggest that the Haitian political process is democratic. The continued exclusion and repression of Fanmi Lavalas, the country's most popular political party, with the collusion of the state, UN and domestic capitalists clearly disproves this assertion. Elections were scheduled to take place on Feb 28 2010, but these have been indefinitely postponed, with Lavalas once again excluded.

If you are particularly concerned about democratically-elected presidents, you should call for the return of Aristide, who was abducted in 2004 by US marines.