25, January 2010 Pat
Robertson and Haiti
It is a pity that Pat Robertson has chosen to sign a pact with the
devil by continuing his diatribe on gays, women’s rights, the separation of
church and state – and more recently
Haiti’s earthquake victims on its ‘un-Christian’ past. Even New York
Times conservative columnist, David Brooks blamed Haitians for being “progress
resistant.”
Brooks and Robertson would do well to reflect on France and the US’s
sordid historical roles in Haiti. First the French ran Haiti as a slave colony
robbing the land of its rich sources of coffee, sugar and tobacco. In an
incredible cruel twist of colonial exploitation, the French demanded
reparations from an impoverished ‘free’Haiti after its forces were expelled in
1804.
The US invaded Haiti in 1916 and continued the legacy of ‘colonial
exploitation’ by appointing unpopular proxy dictators ‘president for life’ François “Papa Doc” Duvalier, followed by his son
Jean-Claude Duvalier. Both rulers acquiesced to US demands to privatize its
state run industries and establish sweat shops to provide US corporations with
cheap imports.
It
is puzzling why Obama appointed former President Clinton and President Bush to
undertake the earthquake relief efforts when both were instrumental in undermining
Haiti’s democracy.
It
now behooves us help Haitians rebuild their devastated nation. As a start, let
us demand that the democratically elected exiled leader, President Aristide, be
allowed to return to his country. Finally, Haiti’s long term debt of $880
million should be forgiven.
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