Pierre Labossiere – Haiti Action Committee and Haiti Emergency Relief Fund
Sophia Zhang – Los Altos High School Haiti Solidarity Club
Paul George (Host) – Peninsula Peace and Justice Center director emeritus. Dissentment, Paul’s personal blog.
Produced by Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Palo Alto, CA
https://ppjc.onlinereach.pro https://www.facebook.com/penin.pjc/
Recorded at Midpen Media Center, Palo Alto, CA January 7, 2020
Ten years ago, on January 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti, already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Over 100,000 people were killed and nearly 3 million people were displaced.
In the intervening years, international relief and assistance has evolved into a de facto military occupation of Haiti by the United States and United Nations. These occupying powers have overseen four fraudulent and undemocratic presidential elections, where the majority party Lavalas, founded by former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has been banned from running candidates. At the same time, untold billions of dollars of relief aid has gone into the pockets of corrupt officials, instead of going to relieve suffering and aid with recovery.
In response, ordinary Haitians have risen up in massive protest of the corruption and lack of democracy. They have been met with enormous brutality and a return to the dark days of death squads.
Haiti still needs international support, but this time to rid the country of thieving and murdering government and business officials.
