The U.S. is certainly not blameless in Haitis current straits. Inspired by slave-holding Southerners, we refused to recognize or trade with the state after it overthrew its French slave-owning overseers in 1804. We occupied the country, to disastrous results, from 1915 to 1934. We supported the horrible Duvalier regimes from the late 1950s to 1986. Haiti watchers will, surely, forever debate the pros and cons of US intervention during President Aristides two aborted terms. And theres that devastating embargo in the mid-1990s (which President Clinton now says he hated but had to do). Anybody who has spent time researching the various international efforts to help Haiti has a long list of grievances against USAID. But all that said, the current administration has made some promising moves.
Posted on: Sat, 30 Aug 2014 18:59:18 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015