An investigation by Mary Anastasia O'Grady shows U.S. political connections to corruption in Haiti (see a video here and the article here). I've personally been to Haiti twice and found the people to be hard working but destitute. When I saw the work ethic of may Haitians, I wondered why businesses can't come in and put these people to work and help their economy. The unemployment rate at the time was about 80% and the average wage was $2 per day.
I quickly saw that because of corruption in government, businesses would never get their profits from Haiti. As such, the Haitian people are suffering tremendously. In talking with many Haitians, I also found out that many of them believed that our government had wronged them in the past and it led to much of their troubles. This article confirms these beliefs and suggests that at least one of the individuals given responsibility for overseeing aid to Haiti was connected to this corruption: President Bill Clinton.
I don't claim to know all that has happened in Haiti over the years but this investigation suggests that U.S. politicians were behind some of the corruption that has crippled that country for decades. I am very troubled by the suffering that has existed in Haiti for decades and is only now in the spotlight with the January earthquake.
What I really wonder is how people can sleep at night knowing that they are taking money out of one of the poorest nations on earth where millions of orphans, widows and others are starving. How tragic.
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