Credit:  Wikipedia / VOA Public Domain /  Flaming tires seen early on February 11, 2019, in the streets of Hinche in the center of Haiti during protests against the ruling government. 

By Gary Raynaldo      DIPLOMATIC  TIMES

While most of the media have been fixated on the “corruption and poverty” in Venezuela,  a massive scandal involving allegations that the government of Haiti embezzled some $4 Billion intended for social programs and infrastructure in the poverty-stricken Caribbean nation has mostly gone unreported.  The $4 Billion is nearly half of Haiti’s economy for 2017.  During the past four months, hundreds of thousands of Haitians have taken to the streets to demand the resignation of President Jovenel Moïse.  And it is a known fact that the people of Haiti are far more poorer that Venezuelans can imagine. Sixty percent of Haitians live below the poverty line, the inflation rate has climbed near 20 percent and violent crime has surged. But yet there is no US effort to assist the Haitian people to overthrow the corrupt president as there is in Venezuela.  Now why is that?  Many say it is because the US supports current Haiti President  Moïse because, unlike Venezuela President Nicholas Maduro, he has allowed American business interests to have their way in the Caribbean nation. The history of US-Haiti relations has centered on the goal of making sure the nation’s  leadership remains firmly aligned with US interests.  As example,  for decades, the US provided money, weapons and troops to sustain the corrupt, authoritarian regime of Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc’  Duvalier in Haiti, even after gross human rights abuses were well known. Duvalier’s father, Francois  ‘Papa Doc’  Duvalier, was even worse, but enjoyed the unwavering support of the US.

The ongoing PetroCaribe scandal involves Haiti receiving oil from Venezuela on  a deferred payment plan. Money saved from the deferred payments for oil, reportedly some $4 Billion, was supposed to be used on social programmes and infrastructure improvements in Haiti. But recent investigations show that the money was embezzled. Protests have been occurring off and on for months, and the most recent outbreak of protests that began in June occurred after another investigation into the scandal specifically cited the involvement of President Moïse, which he has denied in the past.  Moïse say he has no intentions of stepping down, and there has been no US call for military action against his government.

Haiti Radio Journalist  Pétion Rospide  Shot and Killed After Reporting On Anti-Corruption Protests 

Credit: (Radio Sans Fin)  Radio journalist Pétion Rospide was shot dead while driving home on June 10, 2019.

“Haitian authorities should conduct a swift and comprehensive investigation into the killing of journalist Pétion Rospide and ensure those responsible are brought to justice.”

-the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Rospide, an anchor for the privately owned radio station Radio Sans Fin, was shot dead on June 10, while driving to his home in Portail Léogane, an area in the capital Port-au-Prince, according to media reports. At the time, he was driving a car owned by Radio Sans Fin that clearly featured the name of the station, Israel Jacky Cantave, Radio Sans Fin’s director of information and programming, told CPJ.

Haiti  is ranked 161 of 180 countries on watchdog group Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions index and questions have also been raised about the destination of up to $13 billion in international aid sent to the country after its 2010 earthquake. The World Bank says corruption is a fundamental cause of Haiti’s staggering levels of poverty.

Credit: Wikipedia /   Former Haiti president Jean-Claude and  wife Michèle Duvalier en route to the airport to flee the country, 7 February 1986, after Haitians rise up and overthrow the corrupt Duvalier dictatorship. 

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