In the wake of the Haitian earthquake, the world is mobilizing to supply aid to this, the poorest nation in the western hemisphere.
Tremendous loss of life is expected as the quake decimated the poorly constructed buildings of the capital Port-Au Prince and the rambling shanty towns that spread across the city's hills.
80 percent of the population that inhabited the devastated area before the earthquake, lived in absolute poverty. Recent threads on OLO have alluded to the desperate plight of Haitians and the terrible toll that globalization has exacted upon this nation.
Organizations such as the IMF, WTO and the World Bank - to name a few - have been chipping away for years at Haitian self-sufficiency and self-determination.
Haiti's experience as the victim of globalization's absolute indifference to the interests of developing nations is stark indeed.
As the recipient of various loans from the above organizations, Haiti has been forced to open up its markets and become competitive with richer nations. As a result, its pig, rice and sugar industries have been destroyed.
Years of interference have also resulted in deforestation on a massive scale, loss of habitat and bio-diversity leading to a consequent inability for locals to support themselves in even the most basic of subsistence techniques.
The poor and dispossessed have simply migrated to the capital and hopelessness.
In the wake of the earthquake, many will watch intently to see if some modicum of autonomy and pride can be restored to the Haitian people - they won't be holding their breath.

Poirot, yes indeed, the earthquake in Haiti is a very sad story.
It sounds like the US, as a direct neighbour, will do all it can
to assist. Many other countries have agreed to give a hand too.

As to you blaming globalistation etc for all that poverty, you have
claimed that before on another thread. I read the link at the time,
but was too busy at work to respond.

In fact just yesterday, I heard on the radio that the World Bank
had forgiven 1 billion $ of Haiti's debts last year.

Your link was a mumbo jumbo confusion of politics/economics, rather
then a proper analysis. Fact is that globalisation/ trade has
lifted hundreds of millions out of poverty.

Agriculatural subsidies/dumping of agricultural products by the
US/EU has little to do with economics, everything to do with politics.

Politicians in those countries want to buy their seats and stay in
office, they do it by buying votes. Not only third world farmers
suffer from all that dumping, Aussie farmers suffer too. Don't
blame globalisation for that, blame rich country politicians.

Haiti has other problems. For a start, one of the highest birthrates
on the planet. 5 kids on average, only a small % use modern
family planning (its a Catholic country), so they breed like rabbits.
They wont' get out of poverty whilst they do that.

http://newsecuritybeat.blogspot.com/2009/04/hardship-in-haiti-family-planning-and.html

.

Yabby,

You are correct that the IMF and the World Bank cancelled some of Haiti's debt last year. A program that was implemented around 1997 for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries, or HIPC, saw fit to omit Haiti until 2006, and then made it jump through years of macroeconomic reform hoops and structural reforms before finally cancelling around two thirds of its debt last year. Debt accrued after 2004 was not cancelled.

The following links offer further analysis of Haiti's road to debt relief and IMF and World Bank programs for debt relief.

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/haiti.debt.relief.2007.12.pdf

http://www.globalissues.org/article/3/structural-adjustment-a-major-cause-of-poverty

Apologies - here is the first link above again.

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/haiti_debt_relief_2007_12.pdf

What I would like to know is if anyone keeps tabs on which countries are giving aid, either physical or monetary.

I know we are and others have been mentioned. The USA is giving a lot, as they do in other catastrophes, France, Canada, Caribean nations, Brazil, Japan, China, are some I have heard of.

What about other nations? There could be many I have missed but why do we not hear. What about the oil rich countries, do they not give aid to others or do we not hear and if we do not hear, why?

Last night I googled the Tele in UK and there was no mention of them giving aid, but an appeal is underway so people can give. In all the stories about Haiti there was no mention of UK government aid.

Can anyone provide information on the above matters?

there has been/trade embargo's.. on the hate-ians..
and massive payments to the former french colinisers...to buy back their freedom..

but slaves they are...and slaves they shall remain...
as ever new masters control their shattles/slaves/fiefdoms/franchise

we have here..a perfect egsample of colinisations fruits...
here..the un was in charge...

it has been run as a personal fiefdom..for hundreds of years...this same thing is occuring globally...

welcome to your kids future

we are run by international banking cartels...who have looted a nations rights to create it's own money/intrest free..and made govts lend from the ursurors..at intrest...

this nessitates ever increasing taxes..on the people/
mainly the poor...as the rich/foreigners dont pay taxes...indeed can leverage tax egsemptions..to attract industry../read pitance labour/workers/rent paying/pay-as you earn/wage-slaves

its a lovelly system...
you install a constitution...that forms a govt..

[the constitution is supposed to regulate trade/commerce..government powers...laws..by which THEY.. will be bound..BUT..thanks to clever lawyers..calling us persons/..put us../..under their acts

[but its a lie]..a constitution/binds those..who seek govt constituted advantages/under the act/under the con....not its people...but..thats where lawyers come in..

[most polititions are..or were lawyers...

they empower thugs/to police/statuted..incomerevenue..producing laws...that are enforced by thugs..loving to abuse others[police/soldiers]...beuro-roc-rats..[on huge pensions]..

or ngo-s/diplo-mats...who control outside spending..on temporary assistance/...keeping their..cash/only..please..in house..but creating obligation's..and..permanent bondage..

and in time..a failing fiefdom..then the coliniser hides behind the law[and trade embargo's]..or takes their pension/offshore...lol

via lawyer's.../now judges..who judge statuted-crime..by threat and force/deception..get it yet?

http://www.worldfreemansociety.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=1327

Banjo,

Here is a link to guardian.co.uk where you will find a list of donor countries. The World Bank is also listed as contributing, although it is supplying an emergency loan and not a donation.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/jan/14/haiti-quake-aid-pledges-country-donations

Poirot, I read your links.

Haiti's problems are far greater then the "evil capitalists/world
bank/IMF"

In the past, the country has been given huge amounts of aid, but
the fact remains that a country can't go from poverty to prosperity,
based on charity donations.

Tourism is a great industry for the West Indies, not so for Haiti,
because with so much crime and lawlessness, tourists stay away,
not willing to be mugged as part of their holidays.

Prosperty is not a god given right, its an opportunity for those
who want to take it and there is enough evidence that it can be
achieved with sound economic and legal policies. Without
capital investment, it simply won't happen and people won't invest,
if there is no functioning rule of law, or if their assets are
likely to be expropriated or stolen.

Rather then blaming those "evil capitalists" for everything,
perhaps you should ask yourself why other countries in the West
Indies are doing quite well in comparison to Haiti.

Poirot,
Thanks for that link, I will check again later to see if is being updated.

It is now about 5 days since the quake and I notice an absense of many countries, including the oil rich countries such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. if small countries such as NZ, Belgum and Sth Korea can give aid, I wonder why others do not. Worth noting.

Yabby,

The following link (my last on this subject, I promise) may provide further insight into Haiti's struggles for self-determination. A comparison between Haiti and other Caribbean nations should take into account the amount of intervention that has been thrust upon the Haitian people.

http://soc.hfac.uh.edu/artman/publish/article_94.shtml

Poirot, I read your link, which sounds to me that it is more
about your own political viewpoint, then anything else.

So I found a more objective source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti

Parts of Port-au-Prince are considered the "most dangerous
place on earth".

After reading the wiki history, I can only conclude that whilst
many nations did indeed interfere in Haiti affairs, much of their
poverty is in fact self inflicted. Most of the trees were cut
down as firewood, for an ever increasing population.

Perhaps some real family planning is long overdue in Haiti and
if in future their violence continues as in the past, it will
remain a disfunctional and poverty stricken country. All very
sad but true.

Dear Poirot,

I read an interesting article on Haiti - in this
Saturday's, (16th January, 2010) Insight section,
of Melbourne's - The Age, newspaper, written by
Jon Henley.

In it he describes how the country and its capital
city 'find themselves straddling the major fault
line between North America and Caribbean tectonic
plates'. And if that's not enough Haiti is also
' positioned plumb on the region's principal hurricane
track,' which in consecutive years has not only
killed people but devastated 70 percent of Haiti's
agricultural land. Haiti has also -
fallen victim to calamitous
flooding in 2002, 2003, (twice), 2006 and 2007.

Haiti is apparently a country which is a constant
and heart-rending site of recurring catastrophe.

Alex von Tunzelmann, a historian and writer working
on a book about Haiti, says:

"Haiti has had slavery, revolution, debt, deforestation,
corruption, exploitation, and violence... Now it has
poverty, illiteracy, overcrowding, no infrastructure,
environmental disaster and large areas without the rule
of law."

And that was before the earthquake.

As Jon Henley points out -
" This is a catastrophe beyond our worst imagination."

Unfortunately nobody is coming up with what's to be
done to solve the problem of Haiti. All we're being
told is that Haiti is impacted by natural disasters
much more than some of its neighbours - that the
infrastructure is so poor that the Government can't
control all its territory - but no one is suggesting
ways to improve things.

The title of your thread Poirot is very apt - it is very much -
'The Tragedy of Haiti.'

Dear Foxy,

Thank you for summing up so eloquently.
As always, you manage to inject a little balance into the discussion.

My colleagues at the Sahana Software Foundation have created the "Haiti 2010 Sahana Disaster Response Portal", with feeds from relief agencies and software to help coordinate the relief effort for the earthquake: http://haiti.sahanafoundation.org/

Sahana is an free open source disaster management system originally set up by the Sri Lanka government and IT industry after the Indian Ocean tsunami.

You can see it right here. Australia is not Melbourne and Sydney. They ignore the plunder of their own lands. Foreign companies polluting Indigenous soil, invading Indigenous lands and leaving behind a trail of poverty. If Australia is to be responsible for the welfare of traditional owners then we must ban foreign ownership of our resources and allow more of the riches to flow through to their communities.

If we cannot see it here then we will surely be blind to same fate of others. The current economy is not based where the money is, it is remotely controlled from major cities well distanced away with all the comforts indecency allows.