BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 X-WR-CALNAME:www.indybay.org PRODID:-//indybay/ical// v1.0//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:Indybay-48363 SEQUENCE:48363 CREATED:20041007T005900Z DESCRIPTION:[also below: Kevin Pina on illegal U.S.-backed coup regime's exacerbation of tropical storm crisis] Report back from Haiti: presentation by members of a recent delegation which investigated prison conditions under the current illegal coup regime San Francisco educator Robert Roth longtime feminist activist Leslie Mullin Stanford PhD candidate Sasha Kramer (who will show her slides) Thursday October 7, 7pm The Kitchen 225 Potrero Avenue (between 15th and 16th Streets) San Francisco this event is a fundraiser for the entirely volunteer-run Haiti Action Committee admission: $5 to $50 sliding scale co-sponsored by Haiti Action Committee and War Resisters League/West For more information: 510-483-7481 http://www.haitiaction.net Since 1923 the War Resisters League has affirmed that war is a crime against humanity. We therefore are determined not to support any kind of war, international or civil, and to strive nonviolently for the removal of all the causes of war. ++++ The San Diego Union-Tribune http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040928/news_lz1e28pina.html Victims of the storms over Haiti By Kevin Pina September 28, 2004 A political storm hit northern Haiti long before Tropical Storm Jeanne came along. On March 20, Interim Prime Minister Gerard Latortue flew into Gonaives where a huge and boisterous crowd of thousands welcomed him. Latortue embraced gang elements and the former military that helped overthrow the democratic government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide as "freedom fighters." Since then, Latortue and his government have done little to take control of Haiti's third largest city and have allowed gang leaders like Buteur Metayer and Wilfort Ferdinand to run it like a private fiefdom. This has had serious consequences since Tropical Storm Jeanne arrived to stake her claim to Haiti's misery. An estimated 1,500 Haitians were killed, and more than 300,000 were left homeless after winds and rains from Tropical Storm Jeanne lashed the island nation over the weekend of Sept. 18 and 19. The political storm took many victims as well and left Haiti ill-prepared for the devastation brought about by Jeanne. One of its first victims was the Civil Protection Office following a rampage led by the "freedom fighters" against suspected Aristide supporters. This politically benign institution had been established in cooperation with the local municipal government by grants provided by the United States Agency for International Development and administered through the Pan American Development Foundation. PADF's own Web site confirms that, "PADF's emergency response and reconstruction efforts are complemented by community training in disaster preparedness. Mitigation training promotes the development of civil action plans that enable communities to identify priorities and reinforce key infrastructure. Last year, 23 local civil protection committees were formed, and over 5,000 people were trained in disaster awareness, leading to safer communities." Unfortunately, with Washington, Paris and Ottawa ushering in a man-made disaster with the destruction of constitutional authority in Haiti, all of the tax dollars USAID invested in preparing for natural disasters like Tropical Storm Jeanne were wasted as well. Tropical Storm Jeanne is exactly the type of disaster USAID and PADF's programs were set up to manage. There were components that monitored incoming tropical storms and provided an advanced warning and preparedness network designed to plan a response before disaster struck. Plans included advising communities in advance of approaching storms and preparing for them by storing large supplies of drinking water, food, medical supplies and portable tents for those displaced from their homes. When Tropical Storm Jeanne hit, these structures no longer existed and the trained and competent participants in the program had long been driven out of the area after their offices were pillaged and burned. Nowhere was this more evident than in Gonaives, where many associated with the Aristide government and the Lavalas Party were reportedly dragged through the streets and burned alive. Instead of reasserting control of the state and rebuilding the necessary infrastructure that was destroyed following the coup of Feb. 29, Latortue followed a policy of benign neglect and accommodation with thugs in the region that has led to needless death and suffering in the wake of Tropical Storm Jeanne. In all fairness, the fault does not lie entirely with the U.S.-installed government. The Bush administration shoulders much of the blame for the current situation with an ill-conceived regime change that has replaced what they considered a failed state with an even more failed state. The United Nations also bears a large responsibility for the armed gangs and elements of the former military currently hampering relief efforts in northern Haiti. Like Latortue's accommodation of the gangs in Gonaives, the U.N. forces have stood by while the former military has taken over several towns in the north. The official excuse of the United Nations has been that they do not have enough forces on the ground to challenge the former military from seizing control of the region. It seems that by the time there are enough forces in the region, they will wake up to find themselves bunkmates with the very people they claim to want to keep out of power. This does not bode well for the inhabitants of Port-au-Prince should a natural disaster ever strike the capital to combine with the current political disaster as it has in Gonaives. In the end, the United Nations and Latortue have become victims of their own failed policies and ultimately the failed policy of the Bush administration in Haiti. The ones who will suffer the most as a result of these failures are the very people they claim to have come to this island nation to help. The disregard for institutions destroyed during the latest regime change and the lack of planning and response for natural disasters is only a symptom of a political storm that is far from over in Haiti â•„ a storm that is being fed by poor political judgment. Sadly, this has resulted in more needless suffering for the people of Haiti during this latest crisis. Pina is an independent journalist and filmmaker. He is associate editor of the Black Commentator and currently resides in Haiti. \n https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/10/06/48363.php SUMMARY:Haiti report back LOCATION:The Kitchen, site of event, is on the 22 Fillmore bus line, Potrero and 16th St. stop URL:https://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2004/10/06/48363.php DTSTART:20041008T020000Z DTEND:20041008T040000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR