Disclaimer: the following is the opinion of the author and not the official position of the IWW.
When the earthquake leveled much of Haiti, including the
Presidential Palace, it destroyed the capitalist state apparatus as well as
buildings and lives. In a country whose history includes bloody repression and
paramilitary death squads, all reports were that both the police and the
military had disappeared from the streets.
For several days, the US administration dithered,
uncertain of what to do. Then Obama announced the sending of troops to Haiti along
with the commitment of the miserly sum of $100 million in aid (one third less
than was spent on his inaugural ball). What is the purpose of those troops
there?
“Restoring Order”
The conservative Heritage Fund spelled it out: “We should rapidly
deploy sufficient US
military and civilian forces to help Haitians restore order in the capital of Port-au-Prince and in
surrounding areas,” they write on their
web site. They also clearly see the necessity of using the troops to
prevent the Cuban and Venezuelan regimes from increasing their influence in Haiti.
Nobody should be surprised if conflicts develop along these lines in Haiti.
Obama also carried out the Heritage Fund’s recommendation of
appointing Bill Clinton and George Bush to head up US initiatives in Haiti.
Clinton has a long
history of helping foster neo liberal policies there (low wages and
privatization) as well as having supported the coup against Aristide. Bush is
famed for his administration’s “relief” effort in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. The
failure to provide timely aid in Haiti
shows that the direction of efforts in New Orleans
was no mere accident, nor the product of the incompetence of one particularly
stupid US
president; it was the result of the policy of massive privatization. The fact
that these two are in their present position regarding Haiti shows
that nothing has changed.
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Saturday 10 January 2009