Two Haitis
Following both US mainstream coverage of the relief efforts in Haiti and coverage through international and independent outlets is a confusing experience. All agree that the US, in command of relief efforts in Haiti, has taken charge of the Port Au Prince airport, put several thousand, has put as many as ten thousand troops on the ground to secure the disaster area before allowing any aid to enter, and placed a air carrier off shore days before the the hospital ship arrived. It is clear that every day help is delayed, thousands of people buried in the rubble die, thousands with injuries die of infections and blood loss, thousands of babies and elderly and weak are at risk due to lack of water and food.
The mainstream press is reporting significant security measures to address serious security concerns. There are concerns that the people will riot, that aid workers will be assaulted, that victims of the quake will be subject to violence from other victims. News that the jail had collapsed, releasing the prisoners, raised concerns that violent felons would be running amuck and attacking both citizens and aid workers. There were concerns about looting. Images are conjured of angry mobs fighting for crumbs and attacking would-be benefactors. Though primary aid facilities were delayed for days by damage to infrastructure and security concerns, air drops were not allowed due to safety concerns. It was further explained that air-drops would not be effective because the strong would not share with the weak. Angry men would take the resources and leave the women and children to die.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera showed footage of dazed and shocked people sitting on piles of rubble that once housed their families. A woman is wailing and crying for help in the ruins. Men dig in the rubble, calling for survivors. Men walk in groups carrying the wounded on pallets and in their arms, looking for help. They show a mob of people digging through the rubble of a collapsed supermarket looking for food and water, while armed UN Peacekeepers stand by, ambivalent. It has been days since the earthquake and these people have yet to receive any assistance. The Western Media “call this looting”, the commentator says, “but I call survival”.
The news reports that there is a jam up at the airport. Doctors. Without Borders complains that the plane carrying their portable field hospital has been turned away 5 times. Several hundred Cuban Doctors are already in Haiti to train Haitian Medical personnel. They have a treatment center already up and running. The planes bringing more doctors and supplies from Cuba are turned back. America is running the show and Americans don’t associate with Cubans. A week passes before any significant amount of heavy equipment arrives. Time is running out, we are told. Already, many Haitians have listened to the cries of their loved ones under the rubble fade and die. For them, time ran out days ago, while the military will still arriving.
Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! arrived in Haiti with a young producer and a camera woman five days after the quake. She finds little aid has been distributed, and there is no violence. She and her crew walk around the city without any security. They don’t need any. They go to the main hospital in Port Au Prince, where there are thousands of people waiting outside the gate. They push through the crowd, and are admitted without event. There are American soldiers there with guns big enough to have tripod attached. A young man in uniform tells Amy that they aren’t going to use those weapons. Inside, the doctor tells Amy that the military arrived only a half hour before she did. He also says that they have thousands of patients waiting. They are doing amputations one after another without anaesthesia and pain killers, and they will soon be out of antibiotics. But today they are hopeful. Resources have come in to set up a triage center. The doctor, a white man from the US, says that he lives nearby, and has seen no violence whatsoever. He says that people are helping one another. There is no security problem.
Last night Al Jazeera interviews Doctors with Doctors Without Borders, who are finally setting up their field hospital, several days behind schedule. They are frustrated, but relieved. They are working hard. They interview a spokesperson for Mercy Corps. She says that the emphasis on security will help Haiti in the long run. After all, if even one aid worker were harmed, all the NGOs would likely pull out and go home. US aid would be withdrawn. Aid is finally trickling in. But many have yet to see it. On PBS, a couple of days ago, I heard an expert say that Haiti was beginning to show signs of progress before the earthquake. Al Jazeera has statistics that contradict that assessment. At the airport, they speak to a man loading bottled water on a truck. Where is it going? It’s going to the US Embassy. Maybe it will be distributed from there. The spokeswoman for Mercy Corps said that it is too complicated to distribute aid to where the victims are. The best strategy is to set up their distribution points where it is convenient, then wait for the people to come to them.
So is Haiti on the verge of serious violence or are shocked victims behaving in a peaceful and helpful manner? It appears that those on the ground haven’t seen the predicted insecurity and violence despite that fact that related fears have delayed aid by days and increased the pain and suffering of the people. This is the time of the War on Terror. The War on Terror is actually, a huge campaign of fear mongering and incitement to terror. The American people live in an increasingly dense fog of fear that undermines our personal and social empowerment. At the same time, more and more, the military is the only tool, the only program our government is willing to support. No matter if we pay our taxes or no, we are broke. Only the Military is funded. No matter the needs of the Haitians, the military is the only force available to send to their aid. The negative is perception of the ‘scary’ Hatians is racist. But it is also just more of the same fear mongering that we are continually immersed in day and night.
There is talk about a new beginning in Haiti, a chance to rebuild. Much of that talk sounds like the gentrification program in post Katrina New Orleans. With 10,000 soldiers on the ground, what are the odds that a peaceful, localized, Haiti centric development program will emerge. As for those of us on the mainland. What are our chances of change? If we don’t come up for air, not much better than the Haitians. That’s the price. We allow our government to support a militarized, global imperialism that abuses and others with impunity, and our own prospects go down the tubes with theirs. It’s time to give up the pretense of civilization and develop an awareness of our humanity. It’s time to accept that we are all vulnerable all the time. If we see that, then we can begin to work together to make our lives better. Perhaps it’s time for a post civilization socialization, before it’s too late.