Essential The Official Contemporary Haitian Geopolitics/Event thread

[Scientific Playa]

Mod edit: Posts split from other thread.

i have reservations bout this visit..... but just posting the news


French President to Make Rare Visit to Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — May 12, 2015, 12:45 AM ET
By DAVID McFADDEN Associated Press

French leader Francois Hollande on Tuesday will make the second visit ever by a sitting president of France to its once prized possession of Haiti, where bountiful resources and brutal plantation slavery made it the European nation's most profitable colony some 250 years ago.

For Haiti's government and business community, Hollande's visit with a delegation of French ministers and executives is a welcome opportunity to encourage more investment and highlight progress made since a devastating 2010 earthquake obliterated much of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. Over the last week, the French leader has been touring the region, stopping in French Caribbean islands and Cuba, where he said his country would be a "faithful ally" as Havana reforms its centrally planned economy.

But for some citizens of impoverished Haiti, Hollande's visit is reminding them of the debilitating costs of the country's successful slave revolt for independence. In 1825, crippled by an international embargo enforced by French warships, Haiti agreed to pay France an "independence debt" of 150 million gold francs to compensate colonists for their losses of land and slaves. It was later reduced to 90 million gold coins.

"We Haitians know that a big reason why we are suffering today is because we were forced to pay France for our freedom. If we were not punished for our independence long ago we would have had a better time," Jean-Marc Bouchet said on a dusty, unpaved street in Port-au-Prince.

The slave uprising when it was territory known as St. Domingue secured Haiti's independence from France in 1804 and transformed it into world's first black republic. But the debt to France crippled the Caribbean nation, which did not finish paying off the indemnity to French and American banks until 1947.

Over the years, French administrations have acknowledged the historic wrong of slavery in Haiti and other former colonies. In 2001, the French government recognized the slave trade as a crime against humanity. And during the first visit to Haiti by a sitting French president, Nicolas Sarkozy spoke about the "wounds of colonization" during a five-hour visit to Haiti a few weeks after the 2010 quake.

But French leaders, like those of other former colonial powers, have consistently dismissed assertions that they needed to pay any kind of financial debt. With an eye on the old grievance, France cancelled all of Haiti's $77 million debt during Sarkozy's administration.

On Sunday, Hollande acknowledged his country's historic role in the Atlantic slave trade as he helped inaugurate a $93 million slavery memorial in Guadeloupe.

"France is able to look at its own history because France is a great nation that is afraid of nothing, especially not afraid of itself," he said in the French island.

During that visit, Hollande also made mention of France's "debt" to Haiti, but French officials stressed that he was referring to a "moral debt," not a financial one. They say it echoes comments he made in 2013 when Hollande said France's "debt" to Africa "cannot be the subject of a transaction."

The campaign to win reparations from France was a cornerstone of the second administration of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. France dismissed Aristide's demands.

Two years ago, leaders of more than a dozen Caribbean countries launched an effort to seek compensation from France, Britain and the Netherlands for what they say is the lingering legacy of the Atlantic slave trade.

 

[mson]

Just want to highlight a Haitian American car designer named Ralph Gilles. Not exactly history. But nonetheless.

The cult of Ralph: Chrysler's Ralph Gilles - Canadian Business - Your Source For Business News

Longtime Chrysler car designer Ralph Gilles promoted to global role

 

[PikaDaDon]

 

[mson]

Haitians helping Europeans.

Haitians helped the United States in the Revolutionary War.

Haitians helped Simon Bolivar liberate most of South America from Spain.


.....and they turned their collective backs on Haiti in return. Yay....

I think Chavez gave Haiti free oil. I don't feel like looking it up right now.

 

[Lord Scion]

I think Chavez gave Haiti free oil. I don't feel like looking it up right now.

Yea, you are right. Hugo Chavez built nuclear power plants in Haiti, funded Danny Glovers (in development hell) film about Touissant L'Overture, and gave Haiti free oil. Every thing he did for Haiti he says was because of what Haiti did for them way back in the 19th Century.

I was more speaking of the freshly liberated South American countries leaving Haiti out of the first meeting of independent nations back in the late 19th century. Saying the country was "too uncivilized" or something along the terms. smh

 

[mson]

Yea, you are right. Hugo Chavez built nuclear power plants in Haiti, funded Danny Glovers (in development hell) film about Touissant L'Overture, and gave Haiti free oil. Every thing he did for Haiti he says was because of what Haiti did for them way back in the 19th Century.

I was more speaking of the freshly liberated South American countries leaving Haiti out of the first meeting of independent nations back in the late 19th century. Saying the country was "too uncivilized" or something along the terms. smh

I got you. Although I don't think those power plants were nuclear.

In the case of Haiti, Hugo Chavez often said that PetroCaribe and other aid was given “to repay the historic debt that Venezuela owes the Haitian people.” Haiti was the first nation of Latin America, gaining its independence in 1804. In the 19th century’s first example of international solidarity, Haitian revolutionary leaders like Jean-Jacques Dessalines and Alexandre Pétion provided Francisco de Miranda and Simon Bolivar, South America’s “Great Liberator,” with guns, ships, and printing presses to carry out the anti-colonial struggle on the continent.

Hugo Chavez' legacy in Haiti and Latin America | venezuelanalysis.com


AP Interview: Haiti leader says Venezuela aid key

 

[BigMan]

Thats shy i fuq with Chavez. MADURO nah

 

[loyola llothta]

I think Chavez gave Haiti free oil. I don't feel like looking it up right now.

Didnt the U.S intervene. Also it was leaks about the Clinton in haiti



Also they in haiti for gold(the west. America)

 

[loyola llothta]

Role of Hillary CClinton's brother in Hait Gold

A man walks with a horse close to the guardhouse of VCS Mining, which mines gold in Haiti and has raised controversy by naming Tony Rodham, brother of Hillary Rodham Clinton, to its board. (Andres Martinez Casares/For The Washington Post)

MORNE BOSSA, Haiti — Drive down the rutted dirt road a couple of miles to the guardhouse, then hike 15 minutes up to the overgrown hilltop, and there it is: a piece of 3 1/2 -inch-wide PVC pipe sticking out of the ground.

This is what, at least for the time being, a gold mine looks like.

It also has become a potentially problematic issue for Hillary Rodham Clinton as she considers a second presidential run, after it was revealed this month that in 2013, one of her brothers was added to the advisory board of the company that owns the mine.

Tony Rodham’s involvement with the mine, which has become a source of controversy in Haiti because of concern about potential environmental damage and the belief that the project will primarily benefit foreign investors, was first revealed in publicity about an upcoming book on the Clintons by author Peter Schweizer.

In interviews with The Washington Post, both Rodham and the chief executive of Delaware-based VCS Mining said they were introduced at a meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative — an offshoot of the Clinton Foundation that critics have long alleged invites a blurring of its charitable mission with the business interests of Bill and Hillary Clinton and their corporate donors.

VCS minng has been taking samples via this piece of PVC pipe sticking out of the ground on a hillside in Morne Bossa, Haiti. (Andres Martinez Casares/For The Washington Post)


Asked whether he attends CGI meetings to explore personal business opportunities, Rodham responded, “No, I go to see old friends. But you never know what can happen.”

All sides deny that the Clintons had any role in Rodham’s appointment to the VCS advisory board.

Rodham said he has not been involved in any other deals through connections made at CGI. He said that he has never spoken to his sister or her husband about the Haiti project and that he does not think VCS chief executive and president Angelo Viard, a Democratic donor, approached him because of his family ties. Rodham declined to say who introduced him to Viard; Viard said he could not remember.

“I’m a very accomplished person in my own right,” Rodham said. He said his work with the company is to try to find investors, which he said has been challenging because of a lack of interest in Haiti.

“I raise money for a lot of people,” he said. “That’s what I basically do.”

former repo man, prison guard and private detective, has long been a source of controversy for the Clintons. Among other things, he and his brother, Hugh, caused consternation in the Clinton White House in 1999 for trying to operate a hazelnut-processing business in the Republic of Georgia with political opponents of the Georgian president, who was a U.S. ally at the time.

[Tony Rodham linked to Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe ]

VCS Mining’s collected samples of rocks are bagged on the hillside in Morne Bossa. (Andres Martinez Casares/For The Washington Post)

Viard said that he paid to become a member of CGI so he could attend two of the organization’s meetings, and that he met Rodham at a gathering in 2012. (Foundation officials said Viard paid a $20,000 membership fee in 2013.)

“You try to be a member so you can meet people in the same industry,” Viard said. He said he attended CGI as “a pure marketing operation.”

He said he ultimately stopped attending CGI meetings after realizing that they were largely designed for charities to mingle with possible donors. He said he thinks commitments made at CGI have done a lot of good in the developing world.

Rodham joined the board in October 2013, nine months after Hillary Clinton stepped down as secretary of state. Viard said he put Rodham on the board not because of his family connections, but because he worked for a firm, Gulf Coast Funds Management, that had access to investors.

Viard said that he and Rodham never discussed the Clintons, and that he never talked to the Clintons about Rodham. A spokesman for the Clinton Foundation said that Bill Clinton does not know Viard, and a spokesman for Hillary Clinton said she also does not know him.

In December 2012, VCS won one of the first two gold-mining permits the Haitian government had issued in more than 50 years. The project was immediately slammed by members of the Haitian Senate, who called it a potential environmental disaster and “a waste of resources.” The backlash caused the government to put the permits on hold.

Viard stressed that Rodham was not involved in the effort to win the permit from the Haitian government, which was granted months before Rodham joined the board.

He said Rodham was compensated with stock options that will not vest unless the project is a success. He said Rodham has not landed any investors, adding, “It sounds like people were not interested in Haiti.”

Rodham confirmed that he has received stock options in VCS and that they have not yet vested, saying, “Never seen ’em.”

“I’m just trying to help him out a little bit. If it ever accomplishes anything, great,” Rodham said of Viard, adding that the people of Haiti “got a bad deal” — saddled with poverty and then hit in 2010 by a devastating earthquake — and that he hoped the gold mine could help the country recover.

The Clintons have been longtime advocates for development in Haiti, especially since the earthquake. Bill Clinton, as the United Nations’ special envoy to the nation, and Hillary Clinton, as secretary of state, were primary forces in the emergency relief response and later efforts to create long-term development plans for the ravaged country.

But the Clintons’ image in Haiti has slipped in recent months as Haitians increasingly complain that Clinton-backed projects have often helped the country’s elite and international business investors more than they have helped poor Haitians.

Defenders of the Clintons call such criticism untrue and unfair and largely pressed by the Clintons’ political enemies. They argue that Clinton-funded programs have brought millions of dollars in investment to Haiti and have created jobs for thousands of Haitians.

But news that a Clinton family member is helping the mining company attract more foreign investors has deepened suspicion.

“Rodham is an independent guy, but this is tricky; it’s not a good sign for him to be
on the board of a mining company here in Haiti,” said Leslie Voltaire, a former Haitian government official who worked closely with the Clintons after the earthquake. “The Clintons are seen as being in power here. You have to be very cautious that your family does not intervene in business here.”

Jean-Max Bellerive, a former prime minister and a potential presidential candidate in elections expected this year, joined the VCS advisory board at the same time as Rodham.

When the mine permit was suspended in early 2013, Bellerive said, Viard hired him for $8,000 to help him understand Haitian governmental procedures, as well as to introduce him to Haitian senators and advise him on how to persuade them to support the mine project.

Bellerive said that Viard offered compensation when he joined the advisory board a few months later, but that he refused it. He said he had mixed feelings about the project because he was worried about potential environmental damage and unsure whether the Haitian government was equipped to regulate such a complex enterprise.

He said he hoped that by joining the board, he would help ensure that the project was handled “responsibly.” But he said he has had “close to zero” involvement with it.

Bellerive said he was comfortable with his decision to join VCS, but thinks Rodham made a mistake.

“If I was Tony Rodham, I would not have been on the board,” he said. “He knows he did nothing illegal, but it has a high political price for his sister.”

 

[GoldTeef]

 

[Lord Scion]

Is it safe to travel to Haiti? - Lonely Planet

(The article in summary, fukk what the media feeds you, the gang violence in he worst parts of Port au Prince =\= all of Haiti)

My American born ass will probably never see Haiti in person .

I'm trying to see my fams origins in Cap-Haitien

Check out the beautiful scenery in Jacmel

Hike to Sans Souci Palace

Play in the beautiful waterfalls

fukk my lack of certs

 

[OfTheCross]

Is it safe to travel to Haiti? - Lonely Planet

(The article in summary, fukk what the media feeds you, the gang violence in he worst parts of Port au Prince =\= all of Haiti)

My American born ass will probably never see Haiti in person .

I'm trying to see my fams origins in Cap-Haitien

Check out the beautiful scenery in Jacmel

Hike to Sans Souci Palace

Play in the beautiful waterfalls

fukk my lack of certs

I'm sure you can save up $2000 bucks in a year or two, breh

 

[newarkhiphop]

Is it safe to travel to Haiti? - Lonely Planet

(The article in summary, fukk what the media feeds you, the gang violence in he worst parts of Port au Prince =\= all of Haiti)

My American born ass will probably never see Haiti in person .

I'm trying to see my fams origins in Cap-Haitien

Check out the beautiful scenery in Jacmel

Hike to Sans Souci Palace

Play in the beautiful waterfalls

fukk my lack of certs

Why not it's a fairly cheap trip

 

[intruder]

Is it safe to travel to Haiti? - Lonely Planet

(The article in summary, fukk what the media feeds you, the gang violence in he worst parts of Port au Prince =\= all of Haiti)

My American born ass will probably never see Haiti in person .

I'm trying to see my fams origins in Cap-Haitien

Check out the beautiful scenery in Jacmel

Hike to Sans Souci Palace

Play in the beautiful waterfalls

fukk my lack of certs

Yu should also visit southern Haiti.
Camp-Perrin during fete champetre festival be like
Honeys at the beach in Port-Salut be like

My girl always harassing me to go to Haiti with me but i cant take her, brehs. Too much trouble to get into

 

[ZoeGod]

You know it's sad I never went to Haiti. My parents always say the crime is out of control. My pops last went to Haiti in 99 and mom's went to Haiti in 2009. I will go once my money is straight. Also remember all the crimes are in Port Aug Prince. But outside PAP isn't bad. Like where my father is from Aug Caves is safe. I want to go during kanaval fete champagne. It's fukked up many of the Diaspora have been in Montreal, Bosoton, Miami and NYC longer they been in Haiti.