1. In the aftermath of the devastating earthquake: Everything you need to know about Haiti, but that the media have hidden!
2. Medieval methods, yet in the 21st Century: The crazy economic policy of Latvia
3. The extension of the Canadian Parliament: Not a valid excuse to let Omar Khadr rot in the hole!
4. Welcome to 2010: International Year of Biodiversity
the ravages of neoliberalism HAITI
The 7.0 quake was so devastating in Haiti because it hit an urban extremely poor and overpopulated
houses built on each other, made even the hands of poor
And the accumulation of many years of underdevelopment and political chaos has meant that the Haitian government was unable to answer such a disaster
Let me explain why so Haitians, 2 to 4 million, live in the area of Port-au-Prince
It is largely the result of policies of the United States, according to their development model for poor countries
From 1957 to 1971, Haitians lived under the shadow of Papa Doc Duvalier
A brutal dictator who had the full support of the U.S. because he was seen as a reliable anti-communist
After his death, his son Jean-Claude Baby Doc became president for life at age 19, he ruled the country until he was overthrown in 1986
was during the years 1970 and 1980, Baby Doc and Washington, and investors have the capital Port-au-Prince on the way to what became the city January 12, 2010
After the crowning of baby doc, they started their plan to make Taiwan the Caribbean Haiti
Haiti has been ordered to abandon its agrarian past and develop a sector Robust manufacturing, export-oriented
From the perspective of the World Bank and Washington, Haiti was the perfect candidate for the neo-liberal experiment: privatization, tax changes that benefit the wealthy, deregulation, cuts in social programs
The masses of poor could well be forced into jobs that bordered slavery
But we had plans for the rural also
Not only Haitian cities would become export bases, but the Haitian agriculture would be profoundly transformed into export product to open world markets, also
Open Market, which means open dumping of U.S. agricultural surpluses, heavily subsidized
Forcing Haitian peasants who could not hold on to migrate to cities, especially Port-au-Prince where manufacturing jobs would be created
But there was never enough for everyone
And the slums began to sprout like mushrooms
And to meet the housing needs of displaced peasants, buildings cheap and fast were erected, even on top of each other
Along the way, planners American and Haitian elite have decided that the development plan did not work too well in Haiti so they abandoned
But the consequences, they remain to this day
COLONIALISM IN HAITI
The U.S. and France have worked hard to break Haiti for two centuries, Canada is a more recent practice ...
These countries therefore need huge sums in Haiti ... and certainly not charity
Obama promised $ 100 million in aid after the earthquake ...
to put things in perspective, a couple of Kentucky won the lottery for $ 140M during the holidays
No, U.S. $ billions are Haitians
is that Uncle Sam has used Haiti as a plantation during its entire history
Washington has bled the country's economy since the slaves are freed them to form their own republic
The U.S. invaded Haiti repeatedly and openly supported dictators who have abused the people
and used the country to its economic advantage, ruined its roads, its agriculture and reverse democratically elected politicians
In 1804, when Haiti was ripped his freedom from the hands of France, the first successful slave revolution in the world, the U.S. refused to recognize the sovereignty of the new country
Washington has continued in its refusal Recognition for 60 years after that
All because there were millions of slaves in the U.S. ... it was feared that would recognize Haiti's encouraged to do likewise
After the 1804 revolution, Haiti was embargoed by the savage U.S. and France
The U.S. sanctions lasted until 1863
France has ultimately used its military force to compel Haiti to pay reparations for freed slaves ... at a cost of 150 million francs
Haiti was forced to borrow money to banks American and French pay for it, a major loan was finally repaid in 1947 ...
With the current value, its reimbursements to banks totaled $ 20 billion
The U.S. invaded and occupied Haiti from 1915 to 1934 killing thousands of people
For 19 years, the U.S. controlled the borders of Haiti, collected taxes and sales taxes, led several government institutions
It begs the question: how many billions the U.S. has been sucking in Haiti during these 19 years? We do not know
not forget the Duvalier father and son dictators who have stolen millions and have earned hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that Haiti must always
In fact, Haiti is still $ 1.3 billion debt External, 40% of that debt comes from the foul Duvalier
Thirty years ago, Haiti imported no rice ... now, thanks imposed the doctrine of neoliberalism, Haiti imports all its rice
Haiti has been the capital of the Caribbean cane sugar product to be imported now, too ...
All because institutions overall financial dominated by the U.S. forced Haiti to open their markets to the world
Then, the U.S. threw millions of tons of rice and sugar heavily subsidized on Haiti, destroying the agrarian sector of the coup Haitian
In 2002, U.S. have prevented hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to come Haiti, the funds that were to be used for public projects such as education and roads
The same routes that rescue teams have as much trouble navigating at the time that I speak
In 2004, the U.S. has even destroyed democracy in Haiti, when they supported the coup against the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
U.S. companies have agreed with the Haitian elite to fill the sweatshops of tens of thousands of Haitians who earned less than $ 2 per day
The Haitian people have resisted both although the evil military and economic power since independence from U.S.
Like all of us, Haitians make their own mistakes, too, of course
But it is the foreign states that have forced Haitians to pay the biggest price: Death, debt and abuse.
DISGUISED ATTACK ON HELP: HAITI
The need for international assistance to Haiti is without doubt extremely urgent
But the usual models of assistance in Haiti in need of serious change if the you want to prevent the current catastrophe becomes worse
Because that what I see and hear in our media everywhere is that, once again, Canada is conspicuous by his generosity and compassion for Haiti
Must be careful, because this reminds me of generosity to that which we bragged when our government directly help overthrow the elected government of Haiti in 2004
The Haitian struggle for independence and decolonization is still running, two centuries after the declaration of independence
And forever It was common practice to pass the attacks on aid to Haiti
And now more than ever, it is important to disentangle the true practice of using, say, criminal
assistance was justified for one of the greatest crimes of Canada's foreign policy of the last decade
The coup of 2004 was one of the worst attacks against a rich poor country
This intervention was preceded by years of instability and foreign
February 29, 2004, Marines occupied the presidential palace and forced President Aristide into exile in South Africa, where he remains
Canadian Troops have secured the airport from which he was forced to leave the country
Then a presidential term that would end in 2006 was violently cut
Among the alleged crimes of Aristide was the construction of a legal case for France to repay the payment extorted by France in the 19th century as compensation for lost slaves in Haiti's independence
The equivalent of 21.7 billion has now been reimbursed for decades
Dikta Aristide was also resistant to the IMF and its structural adjustment program in exchange additional loans
After the coup, paramilitary forces known for their use of torture and extrajudicial killings have targeted the main political party of the poor that led to Aristide's party Lavalas
In At that time, in 2004, I was deeply shocked by the message of our mass media that it had all turned into a gesture of charity to help poor Haitians who can not do anything for themselves ... blindly following the main message of the Liberal government of Paul Martin
During the summer of 2004, the Canadian military has opened the way for involvement of police units from Canada, especially Quebec, Montreal
While funding the installation of the puppet government of Gerard Latortue
Who were all violently suppressed the movement which demanded the return of ousted president was
a period of mass imprisonment without courts, prisons filled with political prisoners
The round of destabilization and repression was an exclamation point over a long period of underdevelopment imposed
What made that we found in this time of terrible tragedy, before institutions of sovereignty infirm, putting the fate of Haiti once again into the hands of those who raped for two centuries
The danger is that these countries use the current crisis to increase their control over Haiti is real
And yet, I mean day after day since last Tuesday comments like:
Ah, that poor blacks who do not know how to deal with government and themselves
is not only absolutely racist to say that, but those who say and believe demonstrates their total ignorance of the history of Haiti and the role of aggressor played by France, the United States and Canada
ECONOMIC POLICY OF THE WILD LATVIA
All the signs of global recession are still present in the small republic of Latvia, Eastern Europe
Emigration is growing rapidly
Latvia has reached World Record history by losing 24% of its economy in just two years
The IMF predicts another very bad year in 2010, with a GNP will decline by another 4%
This will make a 30% drop in three years, surpassing the U.S. decline during the Great Depression from 1929 to 1933
Latvia is an extreme case, pensions were brutally cut, affecting mainly the poor, and we can not even estimate the long-term damage on the education system which has seen its budget cut as deeply
Nevertheless, the Government of Latvia will continue with its tax policy known as pro-cyclical, that is to say focused its efforts in macroeconomic next wave in the manner that it breaks
What is the opposite of what the world governments who prefer since last year to stimulate their economies with policies against so-called cyclic to accelerate recovery from the global depression
Pro-cyclical logic goes as follows: Latvia has a fixed exchange rate with the euro, and the government does not want that to change, so for 0.7 euro a Lat ... making it an overvalued currency
An overvalued exchange rate hurts a country's exports by making them more expensive and encourages imports by making them artificially cheap
But there is a bigger problem that this trade imbalance : the government's failure to adopt policies that lift the economy out of recession using the tax tool, monetary policy rate currencies
The Central Bank of Latvia can not implement policies expansionary monetary, for fear of the fixed rate with the euro disappear
And the only way to lower the value of their currency to the international to do so in real terms ... which means lowering wages and prices, pushing the country further down
In other words, the production of Latvia can become more competitive internationally if prices and wages are lowered while keeping the international currency with the Euro set
Although on paper, a student of economics would tell me that all this is correct, it is extremely difficult to achieve ... because this way is equivalent to proceed to cure the disease by killing the patient!
Unemployment exceeds 22% in Latvia, and despite the worldwide decline of GNP, the real exchange rate has not budged
Bearing is fixed, overvalued also creates uncertainty which cuts cause investment and capital flight
The IMF forecasts that 1.5 billion euros this year will leave Latvia
Still, the government says it does not have the choice to keep the anchor with the euro ... the alternative is worse, they say, the loss of the fixed rate would cause rampant inflation because import prices increase
And since 85% of Latvia's loans are in euros, greater fear is that a devaluation would cause bankruptcies
But this fear of inflation are greatly exaggerated ... anyway the biggest threat to economic recovery is deflation, a decline in the price index which increases the weight of public debt
A devaluation would help solve these problems
It makes no sense continue to shrink the economy of Latvia, with no end in sight to the recession, just to maintain a fixed exchange rate
Argentina has tried the same from 1998 to 2002, suffering its worst recession in history and growing 42% of households below the poverty
After the devaluation, a remarkable recovery took place with 60% growth in just 6 years
still the same, the Economy of Latvia will be even smaller in 2014 than in 2006 ... and a public debt of 90% of GNP
Where did this brilliant economic policy? Well, European governments themselves, who advance money on loan to Latvia
banks of Austria, Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands, France has hundreds of billions of euro loan to Europe Central and Eastern
Devaluation in Latvia could trigger the same in Lithuania, Estonia and Bulgaria
Increasing the number of bankruptcies on bad loans that these banks have done over the region in recent years crazy bubble hypergonflée
With its purely short-term financial, preventing Latvia to boost its economy, to invest in social programs ... within a generation, Western Europe will then be a much more serious problem in the hands
THE EXTENSION OF THE PARLIAMENT AND OMAR KHADR
Decision to extend the parliament was made inter alia in order to avoid additional questions about the scandal of torture of Afghan prisoners
Recall that the House of Commons will be closed until March, after the Olympics
The most surprising in this debate is that the detainee is held without ties to the broader issue of Canada's role in the occupation of Afghanistan
The war itself is a scandal
Torture is not a stain on our supposed humanitarian intervention in Afghanistan
torture and other violations of civil liberties are a tool of imperialist domination, what the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan, two wars in which Canada has contributed
The case of child soldier Omar Khadr illustrates the close ties between war, torture and empire
Khadr, a Canadian citizen, was 15 when he was severely wounded by a special unit of the U.S. Army on the house where his father lived, supposedly a member or supporter of al-Qaida ...
The young Khadr was charged with war crimes and murder for having, supposedly forever, throwing a grenade that killed a member of Delta Force commandos
He then declared an enemy combatant and subject to the processes of a military court where he was denied his basic rights
Khadr's lawyer argued that the U.S. military had manipulated reports on the events of the day in question in order to trap
Khadr was also learned that Khadr would have narrowly escaped from a summary execution on the day of his capture after he was shot twice at close range in the back
It does is not uncommon that special forces are accused of this kind of extra-judicial killings
So for the past seven years, Khadr has been kept in a black hole, especially in Guantanamo, Cuba
Obama's promise to close the prison has not been held, and Khadr did not appear about to regain his freedom
it will eventually be transferred identical to a prison in Illinois where his court will be held
Were it happens, it will be the first time in history that a child soldier will be tried for war crimes
two different governments were left to rot and Khadr we will probably leave be transferred to Illinois
All this, without regret Conservatives who ignore requests Repeated Canadian courts for the repatriation of a Canadian citizen
Why? Well because it's part of an ideology, that of the permanent war economy, one where the oil barons and arms manufacturers are pushing their politicians puppets to expand and maintain an empire paid by the public, and profits remain still and always privatized.
2010: INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF BIODIVERSITY
Welcome to 2010, the International Year of Biodiversity
Despite the trend to be green everywhere, to look better and better feel we have hardly slowed down the pace at which we are destroying the ecosystems of the planet
We eat more fish in danger of extinction and we still do clear cutting of tropical forests and closer home: Lights
We love nature more than ever, apparently, but as soon as economic interests are threatened, our instincts dominating
back I came across the case of a project in Wales in UK to exterminate badgers, burrowing animals in the gene Groundhog
The Assembly of Wales announced last week its intention to reduce the population of badgers in a non-selective, but pro-active as they say in the west of Wales
That means the elimination of species, starting with babies who are born in May
is that badgers carry with them bacteria that causes bovine tuberculosis
The purpose of the experiment phase is to see if the number cows with the disease will be reduced by the elimination of badgers
And if it works, the method will be applied elsewhere
Except that science said that this experience is a total waste of time and money
In 2007, after nine years of research, the Independent Scientific Group on Cattle TB sent its final report to the government of the United Kingdom
report that says black white that culling badgers does not contribute significantly to the control of bovine tuberculosis in GB
And instead of removing the disease seems to kill badgers spread
Where experience has already been conducted, the levels infection increased by 20%
is that culling badgers changes behavior
They travel and mingle with others to benefit, either to escape the massacre and to investigate the ecological space opened by the disappearance of neighbors
In the end, costs were down 40 times higher than the profits
But the elite agricultural and veterinary countries gall seems to believe, contrary to scientific evidence, that the way to solve the problem of bovine TB is to control the population of badgers
Science even says that governments should instead make sure how the herds of cattle are kept and moved and tested, but it falls on deaf ears
All this has jump my British hero, the great George Monbiot, who said that the Welsh experience has nothing to do with science and everything to do with pressure from lobbyists from the beef industry has lost the reason
The only way that the killing may be work of exterminating the entire badger population of the united kingdom
This is a great proof that all the industries that cowardly to admit it or not, says Monbiot, aimed not only a monopoly market but also a monoculture, c'east ie the domination of a natural or cultural landscape
If we let it, the industry in the capitalist market economy does not tolerate deviance ... seeking to reduce all experience in synthetic content, tailored
In this international year of biodiversity is more important than ever to keep that in mind
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