‘Long live Putin!’ Haiti opposition protesters burn US flag, demand Russian intervention
As the poorest Caribbean state descends into chaos caused by the corruption of its elites, protesters on the streets are calling for help from a man who has never set foot in the country – Vladimir Putin.
“Down with Americans, long live Putin!” chanted around 200 demonstrators in the capital Port-au-Prince on Friday, some holding up printouts with the face of the Russian president.
Protesters burned the American flag as criticism of the links between Washington and the unpopular government of President Jovenel Moise. They called Moise, elected in 2016, a US-installed puppet, who is surviving due to US reluctance to exert international pressure.
This symbolizes a complete divorce from the Americans. We have suffered enough of their occupation, this cannot go on,” the protester who set the flag on fire, calling himself Bronson, told AFP.
Looting & deadly clashes
It is tempting to treat the small-scale demonstration as a comically eccentric sideshow, but the protest has helped draw international attention to a spiraling crisis that is anything but funny.
Since February 7, the low-built but densely settled Port-au-Prince, which has still not fully recovered from the devastating 2010 earthquake, has been rocked by near-constant flash demonstrations demanding the resignation of the government.
Barricades have blocked off key roads, and both private businesses and public institutions such as schools have been operating intermittently. As supplies of food, drinking water and fuel have dwindled, looting has become commonplace.
Police have repeatedly used tear gas and ammunition to disperse demonstrators, who have the president’s residence as one of their targets, alongside international embassies. At least six people have died in clashes. Major Western countries have told their citizens to leave, while over 100 Canadian tourists had to undergo emergency evacuation.
Stolen charity
The crisis was sparked by revelations of years-long misappropriation resulting in losses of $2 billion from the discounted oil program Venezuela developed for the island nation in the aftermath of the earthquake, which killed over 100,000 people. Hence, its namecheck between the more obvious powers, though perhaps as the only nation in the region with an even more severe street crisis, it is hardly in a position to monitor Haitian officials.
In any case, the sum is trivial by international standards – the US spendsabout $2 billion of its defense budget every 24 hours – it is significant in a country where nearly two-thirds of the 11 million population live on less than $2.50 a day.
After a week of conspicuous silence, Moise and Prime Minister Jean Henry Ceant have addressed the public. In a speech broadcast at the weekend, Ceant blamed inequality, poor governance and corruption as the long-term problems, but urged protesters to avoid violence, and specifically condemned the US flag-burning.
But whether that will be enough to win actual backing rather than words of support from Washington for the embattled government – Trump famously listed Haiti on his alleged roll of “shithole countries” – is less clear. The US provided valuable aid and refugee shelter in 2010 but has little interest in bankrolling a distinctly non-strategic ally with few precious resources. Meanwhile the economy remains totally dependent on exports to the US – which constitute 90 percent of the total – and remittances from America comprise a large proportion of GDP.
So for all the full-hearted SOS signals for Moscow and Beijing, who have less contentious opportunities closer to their doorstep, the fate of Haiti for better or worse, will remain entwined with that of the United States.
https://www.rt.com/news/451673-haiti-putin-burning-us-flag/
Haiti govt summons US official to explain Trump’s ‘s***hole’ remark – report
The Haitian government has reportedly summoned a US official to explain why President Donald Trump used obscene language in relation to several nations, including Haiti, El Salvador and some African countries.
At a meeting in the Oval Office on Thursday, the US leader reportedly asked why so many people from those countries come to America. Paul Altidor, Haiti's ambassador to the United States, told NBC News contributor Yamiche Alcindor that he and the Haitian government "vehemently condemn" Trump's comments, noting that they were obviously “based on stereotypes.”
Either the president has been misinformed or he is miseducated,” Altidor said. “Haitians fought along US soldiers in the revolutionary war and we continue to be great contributors to American society,” he added.
According to Alcindor, Ambassador Paul Altidor also said that his country’s embassy in DC has heard from “many US citizens” of Haitian ancestry who are demanding an apology, and has formally summoned a US official to explain Trump’s comments.
The social media community, several Democratic lawmakers among them, came down on Trump like a ton of bricks, denouncing his comments as racist. Illinois state Sen. Kwame Raoul, whose Haitian parents immigrated to the US in the 1950s, said: “I don't think there's any apologizing out of this.
“He’s demonstrated himself to be unfit, unknowledgeable about the history of this country and the history of contributions that immigrants, particularly Haitian immigrants, have made to this country,” the Chicago Democrat added. “It makes me embarrassed to have this guy as the president of my country.''
Farah Larrieux, a Haitian immigrant in Miami who represents a national alliance of people like her who have been granted protections against deportation after natural disasters in their nations, said Trump’s “s***hole”comments are simply “beyond politics.”
“The guy has no respect for anyone. I am trying not to cry… I can't understand how someone goes from making a statement in Little Haiti saying ‘I want to be the biggest champion of Haiti’ to calling Haiti a ‘s***hole.’ It makes me sick.''
Djenane Gourgue of the Haitian-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida said people spend “too much time commenting or watching or being pissed off at what Mr Trump says. That's what he does well…'' he said. “Those words cannot affect me… He's just being a bully.”
US President Donald Trump apparently denied the reported comments later on Twitter, stating that “the language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used.” He wrote that the ‘toughest’ thing at the meeting was the “outlandish proposal” made by a bipartisan group on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Trump later insisted that he “never said anything derogatory about Haitians other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country.”
https://www.rt.com/usa/415677-haiti-trump-remark-explanation/