Stories and News No. 1290
What to do when in a country more or less distant from us the population is in serious condition for the different reasons, from a civil war to a natural catastrophe, as well as a foreign invasion or a climatic tragedy such as drought or a flood is a very topical topic nowadays.
I invite you to reflect on it through a story, as usual inspired by true facts.
Once upon a time Haiti.
One of the many lands attacked and mortally wounded by that terrifying, cruel and sadistic monster named Colonialism.
So once upon a time the Spaniards, it is clear, also the French and, of course, the United States of America.
Once upon a time, during the years, a nation as vulnerable as it was fragile, made so even by those who strenuously defend their borders, that is to say, in a one or simply hypocritical way.
Let’s jump to 1915, the year of the Occupation by the most powerful neighbors, namely the USA. To bring peace and democracy, order and stability, as in the Handbook of the perfect cheater disguised as a skilled regularizer of the lives of others.
To bring, thanks to the facts, human rights violations and summary executions, lynchings in the public square and brutal killings, forced labor and torture for survivors, as well as the spread of the inevitable scourge of racism.
After two world wars, here comes the presumed peace of the Kingdom of never again, read as a childish fairy tale for adults made less and less credible by a Cold War that never was cold. Rather hot right into the bowels of the earth that divides and unites according to banking or oil interests.
Until 1994, the year of the coup d'état against that “honest gentleman” of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the prompt response by the Avengers in the real world. I am referring to the Operation "Uphold Democracy" orchestrated by the United States with Poland, Argentina and the support of the United Nations.
Again, to offer the usual gifts: democracy, order, security and freedom.
Translating it means asylum for previous torturers guilty of repeated violations of human rights, collaboration by the alleged saviors with the bloody Haitian armed forces, and finally leaving the poorest part of the population to their fate, focusing on the interests acquired thanks to the privatization plan economic prepared by the International Monetary Fund.
Ten years were enough for the United States, this time with the complicity of France, to pass from the role of those who intervene because of a coup d'état to those who organize one.
In fact, in 2004, under the direction of the USA, the rebels ousted Aristide himself, the president placed in office by the Americans ten years earlier.
And what is left in the hands of the Haitian people? The police who are responsible for illegal arrests and, in some cases, extrajudicial executions; the judicial system in disarray, while the most serious crimes go unpunished.
Despite the arrival of international military forces tasked with restoring a stable and safe environment, much of the country remains under the control of irregular armed groups. At the same time, the US continues to deny Haitians temporary protection on its territory. They intercept the refugees fleeing their country and repatriate them immediately, in a clear violation of international refugee protection.
Maybe at this point you would say: what is the story? Is it possible that there is no peace for these people? Wait a minute, because it's not over yet...
In 2010, if all of the above were not enough, the earthquake thought to further scourge lives and hopes.
But do not worry, or rather the opposite, because out there, beyond the borders that have some value only in one sense, there are them, the friends who come to save and help.
Result: 800,000 infected and nearly 10,000 dead due to cholera imported by United Nations peacekeepers, as well as continued abuse of Haitian women by UN peacekeepers.
So here we are today, 2022.
Last Friday the government formally authorized the prime minister, Ariel Henry, to request from abroad - which means above all the US - the dispatch of "specialized armed forces" with the aim of regaining control of Port-au-Prince., the capital, which has fallen prey to hundreds of gangs that infest the city.
At the same time, however, with the knowledge of the facts of those who work in the field and face the worst conditions of life in Haiti on a daily basis, there are those who do not agree with the choice of bringing in foreign soldiers once again: "Our immediate reaction, as a medical organization, is that this means more bullets, more injuries and more patients," said Benoît Vasseur, head of mission of Doctors Without Borders. "They come for years and things improve slightly, but then they go away and it's worse than when they first came," said a spokesman for another NGO. "Any sustainable solution to Haiti's problems must come from within."
Well, in light of what has been illustrated from the beginning, how can you blame them?
Perhaps the real problem is not only in the help itself, but also in those who undertake or are entrusted for the task. On the other hand, it is difficult for it to go well if he is one of the many responsible for the current state of affairs...
All this reminds me of another story, much more famous than mine, which ends with the desperate question of the protagonist: "Is there anyone else up there?"