New York Times against Donald Trump: The Haitian Pawn by Stanley Lucas

On December 24^, the New York Times ran an article alleging that President Trump characterized all Haitians as having AIDS. The incident supposedly happened during a White House meeting last June about immigration. After the publication White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders called the allegation “sad and scandalous”. However, the mere printing of the article in the New York Times – which it should be noted did not source its information – did damage to the Haitian community evoking memories of the 1983 witch hunt in which Haitians were characterized as having an abnormally high incidence of AIDS and were barred even from donating blood. Whether or not the comment was made, the NY Times article made Haiti a pawn to fit the political narrative.

Facts about AIDS

In 1983 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) unscientifically dubbed AIDS “4H” for the four groups they said were at risk: heroin users, hemophiliacs, homosexuals and Haitians. This classification remained until 1985 when the CDC was forced to change the name under pressure by thousands of Haitians marching on the Brooklyn Bridge supported by various sectors of American society including civil rights leaders.

Because of the CDC fabrication, Haitians were outcast worldwide, causing irreparable damages to Haiti’s citizens, economy and its tourism industry that was booming in the Caribbean. Later, it was discovered that patient zero who brought the AIDS virus to Haiti was from the United States.  

Today, AIDS is down more than two-thirds in Haiti. And, there is a higher prevalence of AIDS in Washington, DC than in Haiti.

Haiti, Viruses and Bacteria

The sad fact is that Haiti’s healthcare system is fragile and cannot withstand major diseases. The tolls are catastrophic. We were unable to handle the introduction of AIDS in the 1980s, swine flu from the U.S. in the 2000s, bird flu also from the U.S. in the early 2000s, or most recently the introduction of cholera by a UN peacekeeper in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake.

These diseases have done untold damage to the Haitian people and cost the economy $14 billion over 30 years.  More than 9,500 Haitians have died from the U.N. cholera, and more than 900,000 are infected. Haiti fought five years for the United Nations to acknowledge their responsibility in spreading the epidemic. Finally, when Secretary General Ban Ki-moon admitted the UN responsibility, the UN mission was quickly closed in an effort to dodge paying reparations to family of the victims and $1.4 billion needed to eradicate the bacteria. The incensed Haitian parliament has refused to vote to legalize the presence of the current UN mission MINUJUSTH. Secretary Antonio Gutteres is playing a game of cat and mouse and avoiding being clear on when the UN will meet its obligations in Haiti.

Haitians and Election of Donald Trump

In the history of U.S. elections, Donald Trump was the first presidential candidate to meet with the Haitian-American community in little Haiti, Miami, Florida in 2016. He promised to be their “greatest champion.” Frustrated by the management of the reconstruction after the January 12, 2010 and faulting the Clinton’s, Haitian-Americans voted massively for Donald Trump in Florida. They were one of the three constituencies who put Trump on top in Florida. For the first time in U.S. political history Haitian-Americans who traditionally vote 9-1 democrats reversed their votes.  Their loyalty was paid back when Trump reversed himself on TPS, ending the program for 59,000 Haitians and putting in jeopardy their 27,000 kids who are American Citizens and have never known Haiti. 

With the latest allegations of his views about the Haitian people all being AIDS patients, it begs the question about whether or not the Haitian community will turn out for Mr. Trump again in 2022. Groups are taking sides. A scathing op-ed in the Washington Post cites Trump’s track record in Charlottesville as evidence that the NY Times story fits within a pattern of anti-immigrant and racist behavior by the President. The Haitian Round Table has already taken the position that they will never again support Mr. Trump based on these allegations.

Haiti and the United States

The contributions of Haitians to the United States and the world date back to the Revolutionary War in which Haitian soldiers – who had only recently secured their freedom from slavery – fought side-by-side the Americans for their independence. When British soldiers wanted to reconquer the United States in 1812, Haitian President Alexandre Petion sent Haitian soldiers to the Battle of Chalmette (known as the battle of New Orleans) to protect the independence of the United States. And, by defeating Napoleon’s army in Haiti, Haitians forced the French to sell Louisiana to the United States doubling the size of the country. You scarcely find this history in U.S. textbooks, however. Haitians contribution to the U.S. – which also includes the founding of Chicago -- to the various professionals in every sector of American life, is undeniable. In contrast to the Administration, the Congress’s the support for Haiti has been bi-partisan.

For years both Republican and Democratic Presidents have done their best to support their oldest neighbor in the Caribbean. We take very seriously any allegations of racism or degradation of our proud history and people. We’ve helped build America – and stood for freedom throughout the world including providing passports for Jewish people fleeing Nazi Germany and soldiers and arms to Latin American revolutions. Yet, we should also seize the opportunity to reignite this cooperation – rather than tear it apart based on an emotional response to an unconfirmed oped. Let’s seize this opportunity to reassess our relationship and open a dialogue and restructure this bilateral relationship.

24 days after the closing of MINUSTAH the new U.N. Mission in Haiti MINUJUSTH still has no legal status

According to article 60 of the agreement signed with the United Nations and Haiti’s Executive Branch, the new U.N. mission in Haiti will have legal status when parliament ratifies the agreement. On October 23, Président Jovenel Moïse called both chambers in a special session for the ratification of the agreement.

But in parliament they are reticent to ratify the agreement for the following reasons :

1. There is a perception that the current Secretary General M. Antonio Gutteres is not forthcoming with the 9,000 families that have lost loved ones in the cholera epidemic caused by the UN. They have formally promised to pay raparations to them and nothing has been done. The Secretary General could have use the $40 million left over from the MINUSTAH budget to start the process while trying to find resources to fulfill his commitment. President Jovenel Moise in his speech in September 2017 at the 72nd General Assembly raised the issue but nobody paid attention.

2. The U.N. also did not fulfill its promise to provide financial assistance to Haitians to eradicate cholera.

3. Parliamentarians are also under pressure from their constituencies for the rapes committed by U.N soldiers commited against children, men and women and the manner in which they should have been held accountable.

4. The fact that a career employee of the U.N., Mamadou Diallo, pushed for the official inauguration of the mission without parliament’s prior approval has caused some serious political damages – and undermines Haitian institutions. How can a mission that is coming to help Haiti’s judicial reforms and the strengthening of institutions does not respect the constitution, the laws, the institutions of the country ? Or the articles of the agreement they have signed? Contrary to 2004, there is all three branches of government in place in 2017. These are the questions the parliamentarians are grappling with.

5. The fact that the U.N. is ignoring the formation of Haiti’s New Defense force has also struck a chord among Haitians. This is one of the top three issues important to the country according to various polls. The U.N. military commander in Haiti, Brazilian General Elito, has stated that the country needed an army to provide security and react against the various threats.

6. The consensue emerging is that if parliamentarian touch this agreement without any effort to address these ongoing issues, they will surely lose their next election, particulary those 10 senators who’s two years term expires on January 8, 2018.

The recent cooperation between Haiti and the U.N. through MINUSTAH has not been good. That mission has left a bad taste in the mouth of Haitians who fought for five years to force the U.N., with scientific proof, to admit that their soldiers were the source of the cholera epidemic. The country wants better cooperation with the U.N. Concrete actions from U.N. leadership is expected before moving forward. The editorial written by the Secretary General in the Miami Herald, while in good faith, was not written for Haitians and doesn’t move the ball forward in any way. Only concrete actions by the leadership of the U.N. will help them win hearts and minds in Haiti. The country deserves better.

Minustah's filthy record in Haiti by Yves Engler

Independent reports concur that the cholera outbreak that has killed 6,200 Haitians was caused by reckless sewage disposal by Minustah troops. Photograph: Ramon Espinosa/ AP/AP

The overwhelming evidence is that the UN force in Haiti caused the cholera that has killed thousands: a highly symbolic tragedy

How much is a Haitian life worth to the UN? Apparently, not even an apology.

On 6 August, a unit of the 12,000 member United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (Minustah) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/haiti based in the central plateau city of Hinche was caught dumping faeces and other waste in holes a few feet from a river where people bathe and drink. After complaints by locals and an investigation by journalists, city officials burned the waste near the Guayamouc river. The mayor of Hinche, André Renaud, criticised Minustah's flagrant disregard for the community's health and called for the expulsion of some foreign troops.

On 21 August, the UN was again accused of improper sewage disposal, 10 miles from Hinche.

As is their wont, Minustah officials simply deny dumping sewage. Last week, the UN released a statement claiming http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs//2011/db110907.doc.htm they had no reason to dump waste since the base in Hinche built a treatment plant and sewage disposal on 15 June.

"The United Nations Mission for Stabilisation in Haiti (Minustah) formally denies being responsible for the dumping of waste in Hinche or elsewhere in the territory of Haiti."

For anyone who has followed Minustah's operations this denial rings hollow. Ten months ago, reckless sewage disposal at the UN base near Mirebalais caused a devastating cholera outbreak (pdf) http://www.hks.harvard.edu/var/ezp_site/storage/fckeditor/file/pdfs/centers-programs/centers/cid/ssp/docs/documents/2011/Haiti_Cholera_WSJ_110504.pdf . In October 2010, a new deployment of Nepalese troops brought the water-borne disease to Haiti that has left 6,200 dead and more than 438,000 ill.

The back story to this affair http://www.thestar.com/haiti/health/article/884333--un-base-under-scrutiny-over-cholera-outbreak-in-haiti is that the waste company managing the base, Sanco Enterprises SA, disposed of faecal matter from the Nepalese troops in pits that seeped into the Artibonite River. Locals drank from the river, which is how the first Haitians became infected with cholera http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/cholera . Officials for the UN and the contractor have passed the blame back and forth: the former saying the contractor is responsible for the dump site; the latter saying the UN and a previous contractor established the "procedures" for waste management.

Despite a mountain of evidence collected from local and international researchers, the UN refuses to take responsibility for the cholera outbreak. A November investigation by prominent French epidemiologist, Renaud Piarroux, pointed to the Nepalese troops as the probable origin of the cholera strain, as did a study published by the journal of the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention http://www.cdc.gov/haiticholera/ and an investigation by Nepalese, Danish and Americans researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona http://www.tgen.org/news/index.cfm?pageid=57&newsid=1988 . Released last Tuesday, the latter study showed that the genomes of bacteria from Haitian cholera patients were virtually identical with those found in Nepal when the peacekeepers left their country in 2010.

A week ago, Minustah spokesperson Vincenzo Pugliese said the international organisation was aware of the new study but maintained that "we follow the recommendations of the report released by the group of experts appointed by the secretary general." That report refused to pinpoint any single source for the cholera outbreak, concluding it was caused by a "confluence of circumstances".

The debate over cholera's origin takes places as the disease continues to ravage the country. In June, the beginning of the rainy season, there were a shocking 1,800 new cases per day.

Despite the ongoing impact of cholera and widespread anger at Minustah over the issue, the UN's sewage disposal has been of little interest to the international media. Recently, the weekly Haiti Liberté published a picture of a UN vehicle dumping sewage into a river on its front page, but an English-language Google search found no reports in the global press about the criticism towards the international organisation's waste disposal (aside from passing mentions in the leftist San Francisco Bay View and Truthdig).

Media indifference to the UN's lax health standards is mirrored in the aid world. Supposedly concerned with Haitian well-being, the innumerable foreign NGOs working in Haiti have said little about Minustah's waste disposal and disregard for public health. In fact, when the cholera outbreak began, various international humanitarian organisations belittled those calling for an investigation into its source.

A few weeks after the outbreak, Médecins Sans Frontières' head of mission in Port-au-Prince, Stefano Zannini, told Montreal daily La Presse, "Our position is pragmatic: to have learnt the source at the beginning of the epidemic would not have saved more lives. To know today would have no impact either." For their part, Oxfam criticised those who protested the UN bringing a disease with no recorded history in Haiti. "If the country explodes in violence, then we will not be able to reach the people we need to", an Oxfam spokeswoman, Julie Schindall, told the Guardian after the outbreak http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/19/haiti-cholera-epidemic-protests .

Rather than support calls for greater accountability, the NGOs jumped to the UN's defence. Highly dependent on western government funding and political support, NGOs are overwhelmingly focused on a charitable model that fails to challenge the political or economic structures that cause the poverty and illness they seek to cure. But without political pressure, the practices that engender poverty and illness will continue, a point driven home with the UN's waste disposal and cholera. With no oversight, let alone penalty, Minustah will continue to dispose of waste however it sees fit.

So, how many Haitians must die before Minustah stops its dumping of sewage, reckless of public health? Besides immediately halting this dangerous practice, the force should apologise for introducing cholera to Haiti. And to make that apology meaningful, the UN should compensate Haitians by making the country cholera-free through massive investments in the country's sanitation and sewage systems.

For more see: Cholera in Haiti: Is the United Nations Mission trying to cover up the origin of the epidemic? By Stanley Lucas:  http://solutionshaiti.blogspot.com/2010/11/cholera-in-haiti-is-united-nations.html

DES MATIERES FECALES DE LA MINUSTAH DEVERSEES A NOUVEAU DANS LES RIVIERES D'HAITI

MINUSTAH : Des matières fécales déversées à nouveau dans des rivières

mardi 23 août 2011 http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article11428

Correspondance - Ronel Odatte

P-au-P, 23 aout 2011 [AlterPresse] --- Des matières fécales ont à nouveau été déversées dans les rivières du Plateau Central soulevant la grogne des habitants de la région, alors que la Mission des Nations Unies pour la Stabilisation d’Haïti (MINUSTAH) pointée dans l’affaire continue de nier toute responsabilité.

Une grande quantité de matières fécales a en effet été déversée sur une ligne de canalisation d’environ 15 mètres de long tôt dans la matinée du 21 août. Les déchets humains atteignent par cette canalisation la rivière Ahibon, qui se jette dans la rivière de Thomonde, affluent du fleuve Artibonite.

Le Fort Marmont (15 kilomètres de Hinche) est lui aussi souillé par ces déchets. Il s’agit de l’ancien lieu de prédilection de Charlemagne Péralte, héros et grande figure de la résistance haïtienne à l’occupation américaine (1915-1934).

Les habitants soutiennent qu’il s’agit de l’œuvre de la MINUSTAH qui a, selon eux, déversé un container rempli de matières fécales dans la canalisation. Des témoins rapportent avoir vu de leurs propres yeux dimanche à 4 heures 30 du matin, un camion de la MINUSTAH accomplir le méfait. Sur le moment, ils affirment avoir ignoré de quoi il s’agissait.

Des soldats de la MINUSTAH, accompagnés des agents de la police nationale qui étaient présents, ont démenti ces accusations. Un casque bleu indien a indiqué que « la MINUSTAH n’est impliquée ni de loin ni de près dans cet incident regrettable ».

Le 6 août des matières fécales avaient été déversées dans la rivière Guayamouc. Une communication de la MINUSTAH rejetant les allégations à propos de son implication dans cette opération a provoqué la furie des habitants.

Plusieurs dizaines de personnes ont manifesté le 21 août contre les casques bleus, les accusant de salir leur zone de résidence. Elles ont débloqué la circulation sur la route nationale #3, qui passe par Hinche.

La route n’a pu être débloquée qu’après une heure et demie de vives tensions, ponctuée par des coups de feu et des jets de pierre. Malgré le retour au calme les protestataires projettent d’organiser de nouvelles mobilisations jusqu’à ce que les militaires étrangers quittent le pays.

La crainte demeure également très vive dans la région. Se baigner dans la rivière Ahibon est une pratique courante, et son eau est consommée naturellement par les habitants.

« Maintenant tout le monde va être contaminé. Ce canal va drainer toutes ces matières fécales vers cette rivière qui nous est la plus proche (Ahibon), on est tous en danger », confient des habitants.

Des études scientifiques ont confirmé que l’épidémie de cholera est apparue dans le pays après que des matières fécales, en provenance d’une base de casques bleus népalais dans le Plateau Central, ont été déversées dans la nature. A date environ 6 mille personnes sont décédées du cholera.

Les autorités sanitaires du département du Centre ont fait état de 3200 cas de choléra entre juin et août 2011 dans la seule commune de Hinche.

Cenaré Philfrant, un dirigeant de l’organisation paysanne Mouvement Paysan de Papaye, se dit révolté devant ce qu’il qualifie de « méchanceté des forces onusiennes qui veulent à tout prix polluer notre environnement. Ils l’ont fait à Mirebalais, à Sully et aujourd’hui à Marmont », déplore t-il.

Cenaré Philfrant invite le président Michel Martelly à organiser le départ du contingent onusien responsable de cette opération.

Le président n’a jusqu’ici pas réagi aux faits enregistrés dans le Plateau Central. [ro kft gp apr 23/08/2011 12:00]

Des matières fécales déversées par la Minustah près d’une rivière à Hinche

mardi 9 août 2011 http://www.alterpresse.org/spip.php?article11380

Correspondance - Ronel Odatte

La population de la région du Plateau Central (est) réprouve les actes de la mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti (Minustah) qui a déversé en fin de semaine dernière des matières fécales prés de la rivière Guayamouc. Les autorités locales dénoncent ces pratiques, qualifiées de « vagabondage », moins d’un an après le déclenchement dans cette région de l’épidémie de choléra qui a déjà fait plus de 5000 morts à travers le pays.

Hinche, 9 août 2011 [AlterPresse] --- Les habitants du quartier de Sully à Hinche (est) sont en colère après que plusieurs camions de la mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti (Minustah) ont déversé, le 6 août 2011, des matières fécales dans des trous creusés à quelques mètres de la rivière Guayamouc.

Les riverains ont été alarmés, mais n’ont pas pu stopper l’opération, selon des témoignages recueillis sur place par AlterPresse.

Pour l’heure, c’est l’inquiétude qui règne, et personne ne veut emprunter la route menant vers cette partie du quartier de Sully, où les matières fécales dégagent une odeur nauséabonde.

Le maire de la ville, André Renard, qui s’est rendu sur les lieux en compagnie de plusieurs journalistes, n’a pas caché son indignation devant ce qu’il appelle « une atteinte à la dignité humaine ».

« Je réclame, une fois de plus, le départ du contingent népalais. Ce sont des porteurs de la bactérie Vibrio cholerae, ils viennent nous exterminer, il est temps qu’ils partent », ajoute-t-il.

André Renard exhorte la population a s’organiser en brigade de vigilance en vue d’empêcher toute action visant à utiliser leurs quartiers comme dépotoirs de matières fécales.

De son côté, le premier sénateur du Plateau Central, Franscisco Delacruz (Alternative), qualifie le déversement de matières fécales près de la rivière Guayamuc d’acte de « vagabondage ».

L’élu du centre se propose de s’entretenir avec les autorités compétentes de de l’organisation des Nations Unies (Onu) en vue de corriger cette situation.

Par ailleurs, des jeunes qui habitent le village Kiskeya (Hinche) demandent à lÉtat haïtien de prendre des dispositions pour débarrasser le sol national des forces étrangères. Ils menacent de créer des troubles, si leur voix n’est pas entendue.

Des membres de diverses organisations sociales, interrogés par AlterPresse, expriment leur réprobation des actes posés par la Minustah.

Pour eux, les forces onusiennes n’accordent pas d’importance à la vie des Haïtiens. Ils critiquent aussi l’attitude, apparemment insouciante, des responsables de l’État.

Jusqu’à dimanche dernier (7 août 2011), aucun responsable local de la Minustah ne s’était prononcé sur les actions reprochées à la force onusienne.

La thèse, selon laquelle les casques bleus népalais basés à Mirebalais (toujours dans le Plateau Central) ont importé en Haïti la souche de choléra, a été confirmée par des scientifiques, entre autres le Francais Renaud Piarroux.

L’argumentation - accusant la force onusienne dans la propagation du choléra en Haïti - est développée dans le numéro de juillet 2011 de la revue “Emerging infectious diseases”, une publication des centres nord-américains de contrôle et de prévention des maladies (Cdc).

Les scientifiques ont présenté des “preuves solides”, “suggérant fortement” l’implication d’un contingent de militaires onusiens, originaires du Népal, ayant contaminé une rivière haïtienne à cause des mesures sanitaires inappropriées sur leur base.

Mais cette thèse a été réfutée par la Minustah.

Dès octobre 2010, les riverains de la rivière de Mirebalais avaient pointé du doigt les militaires népalais dans l’introduction de l’épidémie du choléra, à partir de matières fécales jetées dans le fleuve de l’Artibonite qui traverse les départements géographiques du Centre et du Nord d’Haïti.

Il s’en était suivi plusieurs manifestations de protestations contre la force onusienne déployée en Haïti depuis juin 2011. [ro apr 09/08/2011 17:00]