- 'The Vultures Circle Haiti at Every Opportunity, Natural or Man-Made': "[T]alk of sweatshops might seem more than a little garish the morning after such a disaster, but this was hardly the first time Haiti had been targeted for such 'sweatshop development' and foreign players are obviously eager to turn the exponential increase in the bitterness of Haitian existence into profitable lemonade." (We'll forgive Boychuk for poaching part of one of our headlines, and strongly encourage you to read the full version over at MRZine, or a Coles Notes version at The Georgia Straight)
- Speaking of sweatshops, on a recent episode of The Current, CBC caught up with a member of one of Haiti's wealthiest families, Clifford Apaid, heir apparent to his father, coup-plotter Andy's sweatshop empire (the Apaid's lost "six mansions" and two housekeepers in the earthquake). CBC gets us up to speed on the current state and possible future of Haiti's sweatshop sector. CBC's correspondent in Port au Prince, David Gutnick, also reports:
"[T]here is a lot of talk in the business community promoting a special kind of tax status for the industrial parks; companies could have things made in Haiti and then import them into the United States or Canada more cheaply. Would it bring more jobs here? Good jobs? It's all just speculation. And Haitian trade unions and human rights activists are watching this very closely." [CBC's The Current; note: we're not sure how much more "special" the tax status could get; see Boychuk above].
- 'Haiti: The Broken Wing': "More even than water, medicine, food and petrol, the people of Haiti need truth. They need donations of honesty from journalist whistleblowers willing to defy the self-imposed super-injunction on the complicity of their industry. They need journalists willing to break the silence, to defy the lie that only governments are to blame for the misery in our world." [MediaLens analysis via Dissident Voice]
- 'The Memory Hole: Haiti news coverage turns sublimely ridiculous': "American news producers and editors have long been masters of the Memory Hole, purposefully omitting the most relevant information in stories that would otherwise make the current regime look bad...Still, no one could have anticipated the soaring brazenness U.S. media would deploy while "covering" the invasion of Haiti." [Ted Rall, Boise Weekly]
- 'Anti-Brazil mobilisations grown in quake's wake': "Cornered and radicalised, a layer of Haitian society is taking advantage of the chaos in the wake of the earthquake to turn up the volume of their now six-year old demand – “Brazilians, go home!” [translated article from Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo, via Links]
- 'Haiti: the flood (Lavalas) to break occupation': "The obvious is now being stated daily from different angles and perspectives and supported by strong evidence. The occupation of Haiti for transnational Capital through the US and its allies is being implemented. Aid is a political, geo-strategic and military-terror tool with local and external impacts...Haiti is already free in the people of Haiti, hungry and abused as they are. The challenge is to let the flood pour out of there. Lavalas must flow beyond Haiti. We must gather and weave to let the flood flow." [Manuel Rozenthal for Media Coop]
- The Coalition to Oppose the Arms Trade has put together 'InvAID: The Militarization of Aid to Haiti,' a list of links to 100 articles in reverse chronological order. [COAT]
- Repudiating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: "The abduction and imposed exile of Haiti’s elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide by US forces in collusion with French and Canadian forces is a violation of Article 55 of the UN Charter which calls for “… the creation of conditions of stability and well-being which are necessary for peaceful and friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…” [Dissident Voice]
- 'Shedding light on Canada’s controversial part in Haiti’s history of poverty': "As positive and as necessary as foreign aid is to Haiti’s current state of emergency, I feel uneasy watching Canadians pat themselves on the back for a job well done without highlighting Canada’s controversial involvement in Haiti’s difficult past and questioning if Haiti’s long-term interests are really being considered." [York U Excalibur]
- 'The 'friends' of Haiti meet in Canada...with friends like these, who needs enemies?' [Anarkismo]
- A decent piece in a CanWest newspaper, 'France, U.S. condemned Haiti to poverty,' which, despite its upside, completely omits any reference to Canada's hand in Haiti's undermining. [Victoria Times Colonist]
- 'Haiti: Earthquakes and Neocolonialism': [Register Citizen]
- Bill Clinton is one step closer to becoming Haiti's new Proconsul: "The United Nations on Wednesday assigned former U.S. President Bill Clinton, now U.N. special envoy to Haiti, to coordinate international relief efforts in the earthquake-devastated country...After meeting U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who asked him to assume the new task, Clinton said he was "pleased to take on an expanded role in the recovery efforts" and would learn from disasters like the 2004 Asian tsunami...The former president would coordinate the work of U.N. agencies, government donors, private investors and non-governmental organizations, the United Nations said. Several diplomats said Clinton had strong backing from U.N. member states and was the right person for the job because he can combine his U.N. authority with his experience and connections in the U.S. government." [Washington Post]
- Switzerland's courts ordered $4.6 million returned to former brutal Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier, only to see the Swiss government place an immediate freeze on the funds, which they think should help aid efforts. [Toronto Star, note that reporter Olivia Ward can't help but spew misinformation in her obligatory tag line regarding exiled, overthrown President Aristide, who she says "resigned" in 2004, a claim later proven to be false.]
- Le Monde discusses debates over putting Haiti under de facto trusteeship. [Le Monde]
- 'Grieving Haitians demand Aristide return' [Morning Star]
- On Monday, the Globe and Mail's Peter Shawn Taylor, fondly referred to the colonial and bloody occupation of Haiti by U.S. Marines 1915-1934 as "a ‘golden' era of development and modernization" for the country. Joe Emersberger over at CMM had some choice words for Mr. Taylor; view the back and forth here.
- More corporate media reports about how Haitians are just incapable of governing themselves and, realizing this, just want the U.S. (and its "friends) to "take over." As the Miami Herald editors added, "Haitians might balk at surrendering any measure of sovereignty, but some sort of international authority must have a strong say in guiding the aid effort and making decisions about where the money goes and avoiding corruption."