THE HANDSTAND

FEBRUARY-MARCH2010

Re: Haiti and Natural Resources (Haiti has Gold, Oil, NG, etc.)

Oil in Haiti - Economic Reasons for the UN/US occupation


Oil in Haiti and Oil Refinery - an old notion for Fort Liberte as a transshipment terminal for US supertankers - Another economic reason for the ouster of President Aristide and current UN occupation (Haiti's Riches:Interview with Ezili Dantò on Mining in Haiti)

Located in the North-Eastern part of Haiti and abounding with tourist sites, Fort-Liberté is a city where the first declaration of Haiti's independence took place on November 29, 1803. It has one of the most captivating historical sites in the area called Fort Dauphin known today as Fort-Liberté. This fort was built around 1731 under the command of Louis XV, king of France, and its ruins are the greatest evidences of its genius designers who chose the most strategic point to built it in order to fight off upcoming invaders.

In addition to its architectural charm, it overlooks a splendid bay of turquoise seawater, which sparkles under the bright rays of the tropical sun.

There is evidence that the United States found oil in Haiti decades ago and due to the geopolitical circumstances and big business interests of that era made the decision to keep Haitian oil in reserve for when Middle Eastern oil had dried up. This is detailed by Dr. Georges Michel in an article dated March 27, 2004 outlining the history of oil explorations and oil reserves in Haiti and in the research of Dr. Ginette and Daniel Mathurin.

There is also good evidence that these very same big US oil companies and their inter-related monopolies of engineering and defense contractors made plans, decades ago, to use Haiti's deep water ports either for oil refineries or to develop oil tank farm sites or depots where crude oil could be stored and later transferred to small tankers to serve U.S. and Caribbean ports. This is detailed in a paper about the Dunn Plantation at Fort Liberte in Haiti.

Ezili's HLLN underlines these two papers on Haiti's oil resources and the works of Dr. Ginette and Daniel Mathurin in order to provide a view one will not find in the mainstream media nor anywhere else as to the economic and strategic reasons the US has constructed its fifth largest embassy in the world - fifth only besides the US embassy in China, Iraq, Iran and Germany - in tiny Haiti, post the 2004 Haiti Bush regime change.

The facts outlined in the Dunn Plantation and Georges Michel papers, considered together, reasonably unveil part of the hidden reasons UN Special Envoy to Haiti, Bill Clinton, is giving the UN occupation a facelift so that its troops stay in Haiti for the duration.

Ezili's HLLN has consistently maintained, since the beginning of the 2004 Bush regime change in Haiti, that the 2004 US invasion of Haiti used UN troops as its military proxy to avoid the charge of imperialism and racism. We have also consistently maintained that the UN/US invasion and occupation of Haiti is not about protecting Haitian rights, security, stability or long-term domestic development but about returning the Washington Chimeres/[gangsters] - the traditional Haitian Oligarchs - to power, establishing free trade not fair trade, the Chicago-boys' death plan, neoliberal policies, keeping the minimum wage at slave wage levels, plundering Haiti's natural resources and riches, not to mention using the location benefit that Haiti lies between Cuba and Venezuela. Two countries the US has unsuccessfuly orchestrated regime changes in and continues to pursue. In the Dunn Plantation and Georges Michel papers, we find and deploy further details as to why the US is in Haiti with this attempted Bill Clinton facelift to the UN's continued occupations.

For, no matter the disguise or media spins it's also about Haiti's oil reserves, and about securing Haiti's deep-water ports as transshipment location for oil or for tank sites to store crude oil without interference from a democratic government beholden to its informed population's welfare. (See Reynold's deep water port in Miragoane/NIPDEVCO property- scroll to photos in middle of the page.)

In Haiti, between 1994 to 2004 when the people had a voice in government, there was an intense grassroots movement to figure out how to exploit Haiti's resources. There was a plan, where in the book "Investing In People: Lavalas White Book under the direction of Jean-Betrand Aristide (Investir Dans L'Humain), the Haitian majority "were not only told where the resources were, but that -- they did not have the skills and technology to actually extract the gold, to extract the oil."

The Aristide/Lavalas plan, as I've articulated in the Haiti's Riches Interview, was "to engage in some sort of private/public partnership. Where both the Haitian people's interest would be taken care of and of course the private interest would take their profits. But I think it was around that time we had St. Genevieve saying they did not like the Haitian government. Obviously, they didn't like this plan. They don't like the Haitian people to know where their resources are. But in this book, it was the first time in Haitian history, it was written in Kreyòl and in French. And there was a national discussion all over the radio in Haiti with respect to all these various resources of Haiti, where they were located, and how the Haitian government was intending on trying to build sustainable development through those resources. So that's what you had before the 2004 Bush regime change/Coup D'etat in Haiti. With the Coup D'etat now, though the people know where these resources are because this book exists, they don't know who these foreign companies are. What they're profit margins are. What the environmental protection rules and regulations to protect them are. Many folks, for instance, in the North talk about losing their property, having people come in with guns and taking over their property. So that's where we are." (Haiti's Riches: Interview with Ezili Dantò on Mining in Haiti.)

The mainstream media, owned by the multinational companies fleecing Haiti, certainly won't lay out for public consumption that the UN/US invasion and occupation of Haiti is to secure Haiti's oil, strategic position, cheap labor, deep water ports, mineral resources (iridium, gold, copper, uranium, diamond, gas reserves)��, lands, waterfronts, offshore resources for privatization or the exclusive use of the world's wealthy oligarchs and US big oil monopolies. (See, Map showing some of Haiti's mining and mineral wealth, including five oil sites in Haiti; Oil in Haiti by Dr. Georges Michel; Excerpt from the Dunn Plantation paper; Haiti is full of oil, say Ginette and Daniel Mathurin; There is a multinational conspiracy to illegally take the mineral resources of the Haitian people: Espaillat Nanita revealed that in Haiti there are huge resources of gold and other minerals, and Is UN proxy occupation of Haiti masking US securing oil/gas reserves from Haiti).

In fact, the current Haitian authority-under-the-US/UN-occupation that is in charge of regulating exploration licenses and mining in Haiti does not explain, in any relevant or systematic manner, to the Haitian majority about the companies buying up, post 2004, Haiti's deep water ports, what their profit shares with the Haitian nation are, where are the accounting of said shares owed to the people of Haiti, nor explain the environmental effects of the massive excavations of Haiti's mountains and waters going on right now. Instead, the Director of Mining in Haiti blithely maintains that "further research will be necessary to confirm the existence of oil in Haiti."

In an excerpt taken from the article posted Oct 9, 2000 by Bob Perdue entitled "Lonnie Dunn, third owner of the Dauphin plantation," we learn that:

"On November 8, 1973, Martha C. Carbone, American Embassy, Port-au-Prince, sent a letter to the Office of Fuels and Energy, Department of State, in which she stated that the Government of Haiti "...had before it proposals from eight different groups to establish a trans-shipment port for petroleum in one or more of the Haitian deep water ports. Some of the projects include construction of a refinery...." She further commented that the Embassy was acquainted with three firms: Ingram Corporation of New Orleans, Southern California Gas Company and Williams Chemical Corporation of Florida.. (According to John Moseley, the New Orleans company was probably "Ingraham", not Ingram.)

In the November 6, 1972 issue of Oil and Gas Journal, Leo B. Aalund commented in his article "Vast Flight of Refining Capacity from U.S. Looms",.: "Finally, 'Baby Doc' Duvalier's Haiti is participating with a group that wants to build a transshipment terminal off Fort Liberte, Haiti". One of the proposals referred to by Carbone was undoubtedly submitted by Dunn interests.

Additionally, we learn from this article that "Lonnie Dunn who owned the Dauphin plantation "planned to straighten and widen the entrance to the [Fort Liberte] bay so that super tankers could be brought in and the cargo distributed to smaller tankers for transfer to U.S. and Caribbean ports that could not accommodate large ships..." (Photo of Fort Liberte, Haiti).

We've put on the Ezili's HLLN website the other relevant portions of this paper that talks about the corporate eye the US has had, for decades, on Fort Liberte in Haiti as an ideal deep water port for the multinationals to establish an oil refinery.

In the 50s and 60s there was little need for Haiti's ports or oil as the Middle Eastern monopoly was gushing dollars galore. No need for these oil monopolies to undercut themselves by putting more oil on the market to cut their profits. Manipulated scarcity thy name is profit! or, did I mean capitalism?

But the oil embargo of the 70s, the advent of OPEC, the rise of the Venezuelan factor, the Gulf Crisis followed by the Iraq war for oil, all has made Haiti a better bet for the three-piece suits and their military mercernaries called "Western governments", yep, a way easier place to pillage and plunder behind the "bringing democracy" or "humanitarian aid" public covers.

Serendipitously with Haiti's 2004 Bush-the-son Regime Change, a follow up to the 1991 Bush-the-father's military coup, we find, flurries of Congressional "discussions" about off-shore drillings in preparation, perhaps, to the eventual "revelation" as written in the Dunn paper years ago, that "there is a need for supertankers that require deep-water ports which are not readily available along the U.S. East Coast - nor ...welcome...for environmental and other consideration will (not) permit the construction of domestic refinery capacity on the scale that will be required."

Occidental side of the Fort

Despite being renovated by ISPAN in the mid' 1990, it is now in a very bad shape. All the balls and most of the canons have been stolen along with most of the cut stones paving its alleys and imported from Nantes, France. They were quite simply stolen by people not fully aware of their illegal act. Moreover, many holes within the fort enclosure are a potential threat to the preservation of the Fort in case of rain.


We underline that Haiti is an ideal dumping ground for the US/Canada/France and now Brazil, because environmental, human rights and health issues and other considerations in the US and in these other countries, would probably not permit the construction of domestic refinery capacity on the scale that new explorations of oil in this hemisphere will required. So, why not pick the most militarily defenseless country in the Western Hemisphere and dot it with such unsafe initiatives behind a UN multi-national "humanitarian" mask and fatherly Bill Clinton's snowy white hair and smiling face?

It is relevant to note here that most of Haiti's major deep water ports have been privatized since the Bush 2004 regime change in Haiti. It is also relevant to note here what I wrote last year in the piece titled Is the UN military proxy occupation of Haiti masking US securing oil/gas reserves from Haiti: "If there's substantial oil and gas reserves in Haiti, the US/Euro genocide and crimes against the Haitian population has not yet begun. Ayisyen leve zye nou anwo, kenbe red. Nou fèk komanse goumen. (Read again, John Maxwell's Is there oil in Haiti.)

The revelations of Dr. Georges Michel and the Dunn Plantation papers seem to positively answer the question that there is substantail oil reserves in Haiti. And our Ezili Dantò Witness Project information is that it's indeed being tapped and contracted out, but not for the benefit of Haitians or Haiti's authentic development. That's why there was a need to marginalize the Haitian masses through the ouster of Haiti's democratically elected Aristide government and put in the UN guns and UN occupation that today masks the US/Euros' (with a piece to the new power that is Brazil) securing Haiti's oil and gas reserves and other mineral riches such as gold, copper, diamond and underwater treasures. (Majescor and SACG Discover a New Copper-Gold in Haiti, Oct. 6, 2009; See, Haiti's Riches and There is a multinational conspiracy to illegally take the mineral resources of the Haitian people: Espaillat Nanita revealed that in Haiti there are huge resources of gold and other minerals.)

Today, the US and Euros say they are happy with Haiti's "security gains" and "stable" government. To wit: the last elections the US/UN presided over in Haiti excluded Haiti's majority party from participation. Haiti's jails are filled, indefinitely detained without trial or hearings, since 2004, with thousands upon thousands of community organizers, poor civilians and political dissenters that the UN/US label "gangsters." Site Soley has been "pacified." There are more NGOs and charitable organizations - about 10,000 - in Haiti then in any where in the world since 2004 and the Haitian people are a million times worst off than they were before this US/NGO civilization (otherwise also known as the "International Community") and their thugs, thieves and corporate death squads came and disenfranchised nine million blacks. Food prices are so high, some resort to eating dirt in the form of cookies to assuage Clorox hunger.

Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, the head of Haiti's largest human rights organization was disappeared in 2007 in UN occupied Haiti with no investigation done. Between 2004 and 2006 under the Western occupation, first by the US Marines then the UN multinational troops headed by Brazil, from 14,000 to 20,000 Haitians, mostly who opposed the occupation and regime change, were slaughtered with total impunity. More Haitian children are out of school today in 2009 than before the US/NGO "civilization" came post 2004. Under the US-imposed Boca Raton regime ,Haiti's Supreme Court was fired and brand new and paid-for judges, without any Constitutional authority inherited from the people of Haiti's mandate, took the place of the legitimate judges and law officers and are still metering out paid-for rulings in 2009 under the UN occupation and international community's tutelage.

And, as a matter of power, privilege, inequity and the violence of neocolonialism, white-sex abusers and pedophiles are having a hay day and human trafficking of Haiti children are at an all-time high. It is no revelation that in the stakes of corruption in Haiti or in Africa that a great many of the foreign NGOs along with their bourgeois/elite/pastors/priests and others are destroying poor children's life with absolute impunity while being painted as "saints" in their press back home the better to raise more funds to masturbate on Black pain some more.

Yet, Special UN Envoy, Bill Clinton, tells us "I am serving the next two years as a US Special Envoy to Haiti...This is the best chance in my lifetime that Haitians have ever had to escape the chains of their past..." The former President added, "If Haiti pulls out of this it will be in no small measure because of the efforts of non-governmental organizations."

What that means is perhaps this is the Haitian subcontractors, ruling oligarchs and US/Euro military industrial complexes' best chance to finally impose their chains on Haiti for good. Tap Haiti's oil, keep it so poor it will be grateful for slave wages at sweatshops. Let sexual tourism and the white sex-abusers do as they will. Transfer quickly more Haiti properties to foreigners and render the "good" Haitians as maids, butlers and servants in US/Euro-owned Haiti tourist resorts like the rest of the Caribbean. Militarize Haiti so that dissent is not possible even as a thought. That's perhaps UN Envoy, Bill Clinton's "best chance in my lifetime" scenario for Haiti. Nothing else makes sense. (See, HLLN comment on new IMF figures indicating Haiti is no longer the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and Does the Western economic calculation of wealth fit Haiti -fit Dessalines idea of wealth distribution?NO! and Comparing crime, poverty and violence in the rest of the Hemisphere to Haiti and Pointing Guns at Starving Haitians: Violent Haiti is a myth and The Western vs the Real Narrative on Haiti and No other national group anywhere in the world sends more money home than Haitians living abroad.)

Iridium is a bright silvery-white metal, with a slight yellowish cast.

Iridium is a bright silvery-white metal, with a slight yellowish cast.


Haiti's Gold, Copper, Uranium 225 and 238 and the world’s largest supply of a rare mineral used in building spacecraft-iridium.

By Tyson B-


In barely a week the U.S. government has dispatched to Haiti almost 12,000 troops, multiple C-140 airships, military assessment teams, an aircraft carrier, marine transport ship, and unmanned reconnaissance drones. Furthermore, the Pentagon has announced the re-routing of 3 Persian Gulf bound naval vessels with another 4,000 troops as well as stating that it is considering sending an entire Marine regiment to the Island nation also. Although the news of such a large military force occupying the nation has gone relatively unnoticed compared to aid efforts, people and nations are slowly starting to raise eyebrows with France, Bolivia and Venezuela publicly criticizing the US, claiming it is occupying the nation under the false humanitarian aid pretense.

President of Bolivia Evo Morales told reporters at the presidential palace on January 20th that -

"The United States cannot use a natural disaster to militarily occupy Haiti,"

President Chavez of Venezuela on his weekly television show stated that "I read that 3,000 soldiers are arriving, Marines armed as if they were going to war. There is not a shortage of guns there, my God. Doctors, medicine, fuel, field hospitals, that’s what the United States should send." Chavez said "They are occupying Haiti undercover."

"On top of that, you don't see them in the streets. Are they picking up bodies? ... Are they looking for the injured? You don't see them. I haven't seen them. Where are they?"

Haitian student Wilson Guillaume, had this to say-

"I haven't seen them distributing food in the center of the city, where the people need urgently water, food and medicine. This seems more like an occupation,"

When people think of Haiti, they picture a troubled nation plagued with extreme poverty rates, high illiteracy rates, multiple coup’s, government corruption and the highest AIDS rate in the western hemisphere. They picture a nation that relies almost completely on the aid of industrialized nations and private benefactors. What they don’t picture though is a nation potentially sitting on an oil field dwarfing Venezuela’s which is the largest exporter of oil in the western hemisphere, a country teeming with precious metals such as Gold, Copper, Uranium 225 and 238, which can be used to power nuclear reactors and the world’s largest supply of a rare mineral used in building spacecraft-iridium. They don’t picture a nation that has been visited by multiple Canadian and American firms in regards to mining these precious metals and that according to scientists, a nation whose oil field in comparison to Venezuela is like comparing a swimming pool to a glass of water.

Right about now you are probably re-reading that last paragraph and asking yourself a few fundamental questions- Where is the proof for these astounding claims and If this is indeed true, why is Haiti so poor and why haven’t they capitalized on their natural resource wealth. Well, the answer to the first question is rather easily proven but the answers to the second and third questions are rather complicated and involve some digging, no pun intended. But none-the-less I am fully willing to break down the complications and attempt to offer some clarification on my claims.



Is Haiti literally sitting on a (black) gold mine?


Firstly, let me approach the question of the accuracy of my claims regarding the untapped natural resources of Haiti. Since at least 1908, it has been known within Haiti itself that large untapped oil supplies do indeed exist within the nation. Maps were drawn up by Alexander Poujol and Henry Thomasset that showed a major oil reserve near the mouth of the Thomonde river and according to Dr. Georges Michel, the land on the Dominican Republic side, which is geologically similar to Haiti, was in the 1950’s being drilled for oil and producing 60,000 barrels of oil a day with their primitive technology.  Dr. Michel goes on to state that during the 1950’s, the Knappen-Tippen-Abbet company conducted drillings throughout Haiti, claiming that the drillings were “extremely promising and beyond expectation”.

Now one might ask now...why didn’t they drill then? Well, the answer is simple. At the time, oil was nowhere near as valuable as it is today and was at the time thought to be almost limitless in scope due to Middle Eastern oil field quantities. Oil was trading for little more than a dollar a barrel at the time and there was no need to start the drilling process from scratch when oil was already plentiful in other regions throughout the world. It simply wasn’t economically feasible to drill in Haiti and make a profit yet. Instead of tapping these resources in Haiti, the company decided to use the wells in the future if needed and went about marking the wells, documenting their locations and then cementing them closed for future usage. Furthermore, naturally to protect their future investment they kept the discovery of oil in Haiti quiet so as not to spur any attention to the region.

 



Now fast forward 20 years to 1972, when in the November 6th, 1972 issue of Oil and Gas Journal, writer Leo B. Aalund stated within his article that “Finally, Baby Doc Duvalier’s Haiti is participating with a group that wants to build a transshipment terminal off Fort Liberte, Haiti”. Apparently there had been discussions between American interests and Haitian developers to turn Haiti into a refinery, with deep water ports for Oil Supertankers. An engineering study was conducted by Brown & Root co. to provide a cost estimate for a dredger to widen the entrance to Fort Liberte Bay. The plan was to widen the bay in order to accommodate Supertankers that could then ship the oil to smaller vessels anchored within the outer lying deep water ports.

On November 8th, 1973, Martha Carbine of the American Embassy in Haiti, sent a letter to the U.S. Office of Fuels and Energy that stated that “Haiti has before it proposals from eight different groups to establish a trans-shipment port for petroleum in one or more of Haiti’s deep water ports and some of the projects include construction of an oil refinery as well.” In response, George Bennsky, director of the Office of Fuels and energy stated “U.S. Policy heavily favors deep water ports in our own waters rather than non U.S. locations. There is however some doubt whether environmental and other considerations will permit the construction of domestic refinery capacity on the scale that would be required”. Basically he is stating that at the present time we would rather use our own deep water ports but would be interested in building refineries in Haiti as there would be no environmental laws preventing them from performing.

Now go forward another 20 years to 2008 with Scientist Daniel Mathurin stating that “We have identified 20 oil sites” within Haiti. He goes onto say that the oil fields of Haiti are more important than Venezuela and that comparing the two is like comparing a swimming pool to a glass of water, with Haiti being the swimming pool. When asked why those oil fields werent being excavated, Dr. Mathurin stated that “these deposits are declared strategic reserves of The United States of America”. Then in November of 2009, the former president of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery, a Leopolda Espaillat Nanita, claimed that Haiti “shares with the Dominican Republic gold deposits, oil, and iridium” and that these resources could be used to pay off its foreign debt with ease.  It has now become apparent that Haiti certainly has in its possession large amounts of untapped oil and as I will now explain large deposits of precious metals as well.

In April of 2009, Marketwire made the following announcement-“ Majescor Resources Inc. ("Majescor" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: MJX) is pleased to report that it has signed an agreement (the "Agreement") with SIMACT Alliance Copper Gold Inc. ("SIMACT") and its principal shareholders (the "Principals") whereby the Company will acquire a 10% interest in SIMACT” The CEO of Majescor goes on to state that “"Majescor has an established, ten-year long tradition of exploring emerging mineral districts. The deal with SIMACT and its Principals offers a new and unique opportunity for the Company to participate in the evaluation and development of a key property located in the prospective Massif-du-Nord volcanic complex of north-east Haiti.

We believe that the time is right to invest in Haiti and in projects with gold and copper potential. Gold has remained a steady commodity in this economic downturn while copper has just hit a 6-month high. Not only does the SOMINE Property contain three historical copper and gold occurrences, the mineral rights of which are secured under a mining convention with the State, but it is surrounded by ground recently acquired by Eurasian Minerals Inc. and partner Newmont Ventures Ltd. Majescor intends to fast-track the development of the SOMINE Property through further quantification of the three known prospects and the drill testing of new geological targets and ground showings."

So now it becomes apparent that Gold and Copper deposits are apparently within Haiti but in what quantities? Well, the terms of agreement between Majescor and SIMACT should hint at the substantial amount expected to be discovered as the TOA states that-

“Furthermore, in the event that within a period of two years following the exercise of the Option, a NI 43-101 technical report (the "Report") prepared by an independent and accredited reputable engineering or geological consulting firm determines indicated mineral resources on the SOMINE Property to be between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 ounces of gold, or its equivalent in copper, Majescor shall, within 30 days of the report, issue an additional 3,000,000 common treasury shares to current SIMACT shareholders. In the event that the indicated mineral resources on the SOMINE Property are determined by the Report to be equal to or greater than 2,000,000 ounces of gold or its equivalent in copper, Majescor shall, within 30 days of the Report and in addition to the 3,000,000 common shares mentioned hereinabove, issue another 3,000,000 common treasury shares to current SIMACT shareholders. These additional issuances of common shares will also be subject to all required corporate and regulatory approvals.”

Yes, that’s 1 or 2 million ounces of gold or copper and currently gold is trading for $1,100 an ounce and copper trading for $3 per pound, a six month high. So now we have scientific proof of large oil, gold, copper and uranium deposits within this impoverished nation….so why hasn’t Haiti capitalized on its own resources and why do they remain so poor?



Why Is Haiti so Poor?

So if Haiti is sitting on a gold mine, copper mine and oil field…why haven’t they utilized these resources in order to dig themselves out of debt as well as provide for their own country? Well, they have attempted to multiple times but a coalition of entities, mainly the American government and the IMF or International Monetary Fund has blatantly hindered any progress Haiti has attempted to bring into fruition. These entities manipulated and strong armed Haiti by exposing their weaknesses and playing them in their favor. Haiti less than 30 years ago was much more self sufficient but via “free trade” agreements as well as subsidized foodstuffs, the western imperialists have been able to take Haiti from a self sufficient entity to a nation that relies almost 100% on imports, in a matter of decades.

According to Law Professor Bill Quigley of Loyola University-

“The New York Times lectured Haiti on April 18 that “Haiti, its agriculture industry in shambles, needs to better feed itself.” Unfortunately, the article did not talk at all about one of the main causes of the shortages -- the fact that the U.S. and other international financial bodies destroyed Haitian rice farmers to create a major market for the heavily subsidized rice from U.S. farmers. This is not the only cause of hunger in Haiti and other poor countries, but it is a major force.

Thirty years ago, Haiti raised nearly all the rice it needed. What happened?

In 1986, after the expulsion of Haitian dictator Jean Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier the International Monetary Fund (IMF) loaned Haiti $24.6 million in desperately needed funds (Baby Doc had raided the treasury on the way out). But, in order to get the IMF loan, Haiti was required to reduce tariff protections for their Haitian rice and other agricultural products and some industries to open up the country’s markets to competition from outside countries. The U.S. has by far the largest voice in decisions of the IMF.

Doctor Paul Farmer was in Haiti then and saw what happened. “Within less than two years, it became impossible for Haitian farmers to compete with what they called ‘Miami rice.’ The whole local rice market in Haiti fell apart as cheap, U.S. subsidized rice, some of it in the form of ‘food aid,’ flooded the market. There was violence, ‘rice wars,’ and lives were lost.”

“American rice invaded the country,” recalled Charles Suffrard, a leading rice grower in Haiti in an interview with the Washington Post in 2000. By 1987 and 1988, there was so much rice coming into the country that many stopped working the land.

Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste, a Haitian priest who has been the pastor at St. Claire and an outspoken human rights advocate, agrees. “In the 1980s, imported rice poured into Haiti, below the cost of what our farmers could produce it. Farmers lost their businesses. People from the countryside started losing their jobs and moving to the cities. After a few years of cheap imported rice, local production went way down.

And it is not only the Haitian rice farmers who have been hurt.

Paul Farmer saw it happen to the sugar growers as well. “Haiti, once the world's largest exporter of sugar and other tropical produce to Europe, began importing even sugar-- from U.S. controlled sugar production in the Dominican Republic and Florida. It was terrible to see Haitian farmers put out of work. All this sped up the downward spiral that led to this month's food riots.”



Furthermore, Mr. Quigley isn’t alone in coming to this conclusion either. In 2007, Ian Angus of Globalresearch.ca had this to say about the IMF imperialist agenda-

“Haiti is a powerful and appalling example.

Rice has been grown in Haiti for centuries, and until twenty years ago Haitian farmers produced about 170,000 tonnes of rice a year, enough to cover 95% of domestic consumption. Rice farmers received no government subsidies, but, as in every other rice-producing country at the time, their access to local markets was protected by import tariffs.

In 1995, as a condition of providing a desperately needed loan, the International Monetary Fund required Haiti to cut its tariff on imported rice from 35% to 3%, the lowest in the Caribbean. The result was a massive influx of U.S. rice that sold for half the price of Haitian-grown rice. Thousands of rice farmers lost their lands and livelihoods, and today three-quarters of the rice eaten in Haiti comes from the U.S.[6]

U.S. rice didn't take over the Haitian market because it tastes better, or because U.S. rice growers are more efficient. It won out because rice exports are heavily subsidized by the U.S. government. In 2003, U.S. rice growers received $1.7 billion in government subsidies, an average of $232 per hectare of rice grown.[7] That money, most of which went to a handful of very large landowners and agribusiness corporations, allowed U.S. exporters to sell rice at 30% to 50% below their real production costs.

In addition, for several decades the World Bank and International Monetary Fund have refused to advance loans to poor countries unless they agree to "Structural Adjustment Programs" (SAP) that require the loan recipients to devalue their currencies, cut taxes, privatize utilities, and reduce or eliminate support programs for farmers.

All this was done with the promise that the market would produce economic growth and prosperity — instead, poverty increased and support for agriculture was eliminated.

In short, Haiti was forced to abandon government protection of domestic agriculture — and the U.S. then used its government protection schemes to take over the market.”

In essence, the US along with the IMF forced local Haitian farmers out of business by literally flooding the Haitian market with extremely cheap, heavily subsidized crops, whose low price Haitian farmers simply could not match without going broke. The Haitian farmers simply could not compete with the US government and therefore the majority quit farming all together and took up residence in the urban cities where they found employment in American owned sweatshops…something that again benefited western interests. This coordinated effort on the part of America and the IMF not only allowed America to find an extremely profitable buyer of their crops but also a producer of their non foodstuff items as well. Evidence of the latter can be found in the various sweatshops that have sprung up in Haiti that are run by American companies who pay the Haitian laborers an abysmal 12 cents an hour to create American garments ranging from Lee and Wrangler jeans to Disney character pajamas to Hanes underwear.

According to The National Labor Committee, it “calculates that more than half of the approximately 50 assembly firms now operating in Haiti are violating the minimum wage law. In an extensive investigation of 15 assembly firms now operating in Haiti, the NLC Committee found that 10 were paying less than the legally mandated minimum wage of 36 gourdes (US$2.40) per day, which represents 30 cents an hour.

Haitian contractors producing "Mickey Mouse" and "Pocahontas" pajamas for U.S. companies under license with the Walt Disney Corporation are in some cases paying workers as little as 15 gourdes (US$1) per day--12 cents per hour--in clear violation of Haitian law. The pajamas are sold at Wal-Mart, Sears, and J.C. Penney.

At Seamfast Manufacturing, workers producing dresses under the "Kelly Reed" and "Kelly Reed Woman" labels for Kmart earn as little as 87 cents per day, or 11 cents per hour.

At Classic Apparel, workers told the National Labor Committee that they have been sewing "Made in USA" labels on sports team jerseys produced in Port-au-Prince.

Identical garments are sold under the "League Leader" label at Wal-Mart. The jerseys are produced for the H.H. Cutler Co., a subsidiary of VF Corporation, maker of "Wrangler" and "Lee" jeans.

When President Aristide increased the minimum wage effective May 4, 1995, many companies simply increased the production quota in order to avoid having to pay the increased labor costs. As is the rule in Haiti, if workers cannot make the quota they are paid only a fraction of the minimum wage. At Excel Apparel Exports, jointly owned and operated with Kellwood Co., quotas have been increased by 133% since the passage of the new minimum wage law. Excel Apparel produces women's panties for the Hanes division of Sara Lee Corp., under the "Hanes Her Way" label. The panties are sold at Wal-Mart and smaller retailers.

Even with the new minimum wage of 36 gourdes (US$2.40) decreed by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haitian workers have less buying power now than they did in 1990, before Aristide's election. A minimum wage salary provides less than 60% of the bare minimum needs for a family of five. A wage of 15 gourdes (US$1), common in factories producing for U.S. corporations, provides less than 25% of the minimum needs of a family of five.

A Columbia University anthropologist who conducted intensive interviews in a poor neighborhood of Port-au-Prince has found that 17% of the female factory workers in her survey have been forced to have sex with their bosses, on penalty of termination if they refused.”

Ezili Danto, a Haitian citizen and lawyer to exiled President Aristide once spoke on this very issue and offered this as an example of how Haiti is being systematically kept impoverished by American greed.-

“Many workers earn less than 20 gourdes (US $1.33) per day and the company raises the quotas at will. Before President Aristide raised the minimum wage, the quota for a typical operation – sewing waistbands on panties – was 360 pieces per day. Now the quota is 840 pieces – a 133% increase. Needless to say, the workers did not have the right to object to the speed-up; they don't even have the right to speak to one another at work.

Alpha Sewing produces industrial gloves for Ansell Edmont of Coshocton, Ohio, which is owned by Ansell International of Lilburn, Georgia, which in turn is owned by Pacific Dunlop Ltd. of Melbourne, Australia. Ansell Edmont boasts in its promotional literature that it is the world's largest manufacturer of safety gloves and protective clothing, but the workers at Alpha Sewing do not have even the most basic safety protection.

They produce Ansell Edmont's "Vinyl-Impregnated Super-Flexible STD" gloves with bare hands; Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), the chemical that toughens the glove, also takes off layers of skin. And the dust from the production of the "Vinyl-Coated Super Comfort Seams-Rite" gloves gives many workers respiratory problems. Hours at the plant are from 6 am to 5:30 pm, Monday through Saturday, and often from 6 am to 3:30 pm on Sunday as well – a 78-hour work week. Approximately 75% of the workers make less than the minimum wage. In April, 1995, a worker who refused to work on Sunday so that he could go to church was fired. When he returned to pick up his severance pay, the manager called the UN police and reported a burglar on the premises. The UN police arrived and promptly handcuffed the worker. After protests from the other employees, the UN police finally let the worker go. The next day, management began firing, three at a time, four at a time, all those workers who had protested the arrest.At a subsidiary of the L.V. Myles Corp. in the SONAPI Industrial Park, workers produce shirts and nightwear, including Disney pajamas decorated with scenes from the movie "Pocahontas." The production manager of the plant told us that a line of 20 workers can produce 1,000 pairs of purple Pocahontas pajamas in one 8-hour shift. The pajamas sell for US $11.97 at Wal-Mart. So for L.V. Myles and Disney, one day's production is worth $11,970 ($11.97 x 1,000). The workers at this plant are paid an average of 50 gourdes (US $3.33) or less per day. All the workers on one line together earn $66.60 per day (20 x $3.33). In other words, the workers are paid just .56% ((66.60/11,970)x100), or roughly one half of one percent of the eventual purchase price of the pajamas. That is the equivalent of 7 cents for every $11.97 shirt. What happens to the other $11.90?

It is important to note here also that the L.V. Myles plant is one of the relative few in Haiti that are actually paying the minimum wage. At Quality Garments and National Sewing Contractors, both of which sub-contract from L.V. Myles, for instance, workers are producing the same clothes – the same Disney pajamas – and are earning even less money.

The CEO of the Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner, earned $203 million from salary and stock options in 1993. That amounts to roughly $780,800 per day, or $97,600 per hour – approximately 325,000 times the salary of the workers in Haiti who are producing pajamas for his company. If a Haitian minimum wage worker worked full-time, six days a week, sewing clothes for Disney, it would take her approximately 1,040 years to earn what Michael Eisner earned in one day in 1993.

Factory-owners in Haiti often claim that they cannot afford to pay more than they are paying, and complain that higher wages will make them lose business to firms in other countries in the Caribbean. Several industrialists we spoke to, however, felt that this wasn't true. For instance, Jeff Blatt, an American joint-partner in the L.V. Myles plant (described above), compared labor costs in Haiti to those in the Dominican Republic, where he also manages a factory: "Costs are absolutely more competitive here," he said. Murray Reed, the owner of Ohmicron Electronics, an assembly plant in the Shodecosa Industrial Park in Port-au-Prince, was asked if the minimum wage was a reason that some companies were reluctant to do business in Haiti. His response was blunter: "The minimum wage is not in and of itself an important factor, because of the favorable exchange rate...People who say the wage is keeping them out are full of B.S."

Mr. Reed is absolutely correct: wages in Haiti
are lower than in the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua. In other words, Haiti defines the wage floor for the entire Western Hemisphere”

It’s no wonder that the inhabitants of Haiti are poor. They Are David and Western greed is Goliath, the only thing is that David doesn’t have any stones for his slingshot. Haitian laborers are first forced into urban cities by way of failing agricultural markets caused by US subsidized crops. Once in the urban cities, they are corralled into sweatshops run by familiar companies such as Lee, Wrangler, Hanes, and Disney-who sell their products to retailers such as Wal Mart, Sears and Meijers. This is systematic oppression at its finest-Haiti is poor because the western world wants it that way. In all reality, there is a pretty good chance that you or your children are wearing garments literally produced off of the sweat of imperialist slave labor.




Why Hasn’t Haiti Capitalized on its Natural Resource Wealth?

In April of 2009, Ezili Danto had the following to say in an interview-

“to engage in some sort of private/public partnership. Where both the Haitian people's interest would be taken care of and of course the private interest would take their profits. But I think it was around that time we had St. Genevieve saying they did not like the Haitian government. Obviously, they didn't like this plan. They don't like the Haitian people to know where their resources are. But in this book, it was the first time in Haitian history, it was written in Kreyòl and in French. And there was a national discussion all over the radio in Haiti with respect to all these various resources of Haiti, where they were located, and how the Haitian government was intending on trying to build sustainable development through those resources. So that's what you had before the 2004 Bush regime change/Coup D'etat in Haiti. With the Coup D'etat now, though the people know where these resources are because this book exists, they don't know who these foreign companies are. What they're profit margins are. What the environmental protection rules and regulations to protect them are. Many folks, for instance, in the North talk about losing their property, having people come in with guns and taking over their property. So that's where we are..

Well, technically with regards to mining there is this thing called the Bureau of Mines [and Energy] and its under the Ministry of Public Works in Haiti. But what folks have to understand is the history of what's been going on with respect to Haiti. Between 1991 and 1994 there was a Coup d'etat. It was - 91 was the first Coup d'etat against President Jean Betrand Aristide and in those times, foreign companies, whenever, during Coup D'etats they get lots of concessions and so forth. In terms of Haitian mineral rights and gold and bauxite, all the various minerals of Haiti. I mean people don't think of those things about Haiti. And this is one of those things my organization want folks to understand. That the UN is not in Haiti, the US is not in Haiti, Canadians are not in Haiti for humanitarian goals or because they care about Haitian rights. There is an economic track. And so I'd like to be able to explain to your audience that in terms of the economic track. Haiti has various sites, especially in the North, where in terms of Canadian companies, were talking about St. Genevieve, were talking about Eurasian Minerals, were talking about right now the new one that just came which is called Majescor. Those are the three we are aware of. That doesn't mean there are not others.

But around the 1970s and 1980s there was a survey -[1975 - Kennecott Exploration/1978 - Penarroya Exploration], a geological survey done by the UNDP [1983 - The United Nations Development Program], and they actually also put together a document [for the Haitian government] with respect to what is available in these areas. In these areas now that are being mined by Eurasian Minerals; that are being mined by St. Genevieve up in the Trou du Nord up in the North and Northeast of Haiti. These companies, specifically St. Genevieve, came into Haiti in 1997 and that was under the Lavalas government of President Preval. And they got a [minimum] 25 year contract. Now, when they got that contract with regards to Haiti this was during a time when the grassroots had their voice. They knew what the resources were in Haiti and they felt entitled to share in the profits.

We have information where St. Genevieve was talking about how, you know, the Aristide government was not amenable to what it was doing in Haiti.  But now, these companies are having a great time. Once the Coup d'etat had happened in 2004. There is no longer a worry about the people. Because the people, their voices are not being heard. Although we have an elected government that was... excuse me, an elected President. The rest of the folks are Coup d'etat folks that have been left over or they are the folks that the parliamentary elections where the people really concentrated just on trying to get themselves out of, between 2004 and 2006, intense, intense repression. Trying to get a government, or a president that they thought would represent them. But the Preval government is effectively at the moment a puppet government that's under occupation. So, that's why you see the most exploration licenses being given out. In January, Eurasian Minerals, a Canadian company got 27 licenses. We know that in 2005, during the Latortue imposed government, after the coup d'etat, that St. Genevieve they reaffirmed their license.

Now, in terms of regulations, what should people think about, when - if a company says they are having problems with the democratically elected government in 1997, but in 2006, excuse me, in 2005 after that government has been ousted, their contract, their 25 year contract is being reaffirmed and now they are having a great relationship with the occupiers of Haiti. What folks should understand is this, now I don't have the specifics with regards to the St. Genevieve contract, this Canadian company. But I do know that they have, they're up there in the North and Northeast. Folks should understand, that when a Coup d'etat happens like the one that happened in 2004. And these folks that came in from the Dominican Republic who are supported by the United States and all these Neocons who wanted to get President Aristide out, the first thing that happens is that all the archives are destroyed; set fire to all the original archives, so that the elites, and the foreign companies who may owe money to the Haitian people, the Haitian government, they sometimes get away scot-free when the new imposed government comes on without paying anything. So who knows what data from the first contract under Preval was taken out with regards to this 25 year contract that's St. Genevieve's. Nobody knows. All we know is that the St. Genevieve company reaffirmed its contract under the occupation and added five more additional permits. So, in terms of regulation, what happens, nobody knows. The Bureau des Mines...I'll give you an example, the head of the Bureau [of Mines] is Mr. Anglade. And around that same time he talked about, not mining companies, but there was an issue where there was an underwater exploration in Ile-à-Vache, which is an island in Haiti, somehow there was a dispute between the company and the Bureau des Mines and what happened was, out of the blue, someone, somewhere decided to move the contract away from the Bureau des Mines and put it into the Minister of Culture.

So these are some of the weaknesses of the Haitian regulatory system. Number one you have these Coup D'etats, where what was done when there was a government of the people, we don't know what was reaffirmed in 2005 under the occupation. Also we don't know who is regulating whether the properties [property owners] are being paid for that these people are excavating. Whether the laws that require Haitian ownerships are being followed. Because a lot of times these foreign companies have enough leverage to just buy a name, a Haitian elite, a person, give them some money. And, in effect, who is going to...there is no serious enforcement of those subsidiaries they have to do that have Haitian participation. Also, the Bureau of Mines with the various chaos going on; who is going to look at these contracts and enforce, for instance, whatever the guarantees were that the underground water, or the surrounding farming areas, or the air pollution, what happens, cause everybody knows the environmental devastation that happens with mining, the chemicals that are used in the air. Obviously, everybody also knows the wind levels when Haiti has hurricanes. Like the devastating hurricane we just had recently that leveled the whole of Gonaives. What happens when oxidation and all these various chemicals get, you know, travel up in the air. Who will be responsible? Will these foreign companies have any responsibly for the health hazards that may happen? We know because we are under occupation that there is frankly no regulatory framework that will enforce laws or even contracts. These contracts, the so-called conventions with the Bureau of Mines, that St. Genevieve, Eurasian or Majescor have, the people of Haiti don't know about them. That's basically what's happening. If there is, for instance, the guarantee that once they have dug up these mines and so forth that they are not going to leave the area devastated. That there are some sort of reparations fixing the area, and if there are some damages, that there is some sort of money put aside for those damages. Nobody knows any of this stuff.”

It’s no secret that Haiti has frequently been the victim of western imperialism both politically and economically for over 500 years, beginning with the “discovery” of Haiti by Columbus in 1492 and extending to the present time. The Spanish imperialists controlled Haiti from 1500 until 1697, when with the Treaty of Ryswick; the island was split in two with Spain getting the Eastern portion and France getting the Western portion. France ruled Haiti from 1697 until 1804, when Haiti finally won its independence. From 1804, Haiti experienced over 30 Coup De’Etat’s and remained unstable up until the modern times. Throughout its history as well, Haiti has experienced multiple invasions from the U.S. with the first one occurring with U.S. Marines overthrowing the Haitian government in 1888, and then again occupying Haiti from 1915 until 1934. In 1987, the U.S. government arranged for the presiding dictator of Haiti Jean Claude” baby doc” Duvelier to be exiled to France and set up a new government under the leading Army general. In 1994, the U.S. government negotiated the peaceful entry into Haiti of U.S. troops to position the exiled president Aristide back into office. Then in 2004, the U.S. forcefully removed Aristide during a pre-dawn raid and flew him into exile in Africa. Since 2004, the UN has occupied Haiti for “security reasons”. Now fast forward to 2009.

On January 12th 2009 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti, utterly destroying its capital, killing an estimated 200,000 people and rising, injuring hundreds of thousands of more people and leaving a reported 2 million people homeless. Almost instantaneously aid from countries, organizations and charities around the world began pouring in with numerous countries personally sending doctors, nurses and experts to assist in the relief effort. U.S. President Obama promised $100 million in aid as well as full support in the form of food, supplies, doctors, and troops, with the latter being something exclusively done in such numbers by the US alone. Although military support in a small capacity is definitely needed within the tumultuous country given its past political issues and current dilemma, the almost daily rising number of dispatched US troops as well as comments, actions and past business dealings from various sources is an alarming issue as Haiti is far more valuable than most will let on. Later on within the same interview in regards to the UN occupation, Mrs. Danto had this to say-

"We have reports all of the time, we have this project in Haiti called the Ezili Dantò Witness Project, we get reports from the various locals. The latest one, a couple of months ago, was in Port-au-Prince, where we were told, that the UN soldiers came in…they cordon off the area, put big containers in. And folks tell us that they can't see what is being dug [up], they can't see what's going on. They might stay in that area for a month, they might stay for a few days. Whatever they are doing, the folks that are the authorities cannot explain to their constituents what's going on. And so that's one of the things that's been happening all over Haiti. All over Haiti. I have an example of somewhere in the North, a mayor there that I spoke to a while ago, basically said to me; UN troops came into his town, started digging, cordoning off areas, and when he went to them with a delegation of the townspeople, and said, I don't know what you are doing here, I am the mayor I'm the authority here. They said, well listen, we have authority from Port-au-Prince. And they didn't produce any sort of paperwork. So do these foreign companies actually have the consent of the people at the moment ? I would say they don't, for doing what they are doing.”

On January 19th, 2010, the United Nations announced that they were sending an additional 3,500 troops to Haiti, bringing the total to over 10,000 UN troops and 16,000 American troops, not including private security firms dispatched to the country and small naval armada stationed on Haiti’s coast…eerily similar to what has taken place in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Then on January 20th, 2009, the head of the IMF (International Monetary Fund) stated that Haiti was in need of something similar to a Marshall Plan like the one created to rebuild Europe after WWII. Now the term “Marshall Plan” has both positive and negative connotations as although it was responsible for rebuilding war torn Europe after WWII, it has also been criticized as an attempt at American imperialism and an attempt to gain control over Europe.

So now we begin to see the bigger picture in relation to Haiti, its abundant natural resources, economic imperialism, and Haiti’s continued poverty. When you look at the multiple puzzle pieces in this whole debacle, separately they seem innocuous and unrelated. You have the discovery of oil in Haiti over a hundred years ago but the excuse given was that the political scene was too tumultuous to foster any actual development. You have the further discovery and initial drilling of oil in the 1950’s but during that time the economic landscape prevented a need for new oil reserves. Then in the 1970’s you have more American and other foreign interest in building oil refineries, deep water ports, etc…within the country. Again, the troubled political scene prevented these entities from capitalizing on the resources of Haiti. Then finally in the first decade of the 2000’s, a President is finally positioned in Haiti who is seemingly happy to accomplish any wish of America or any other interested country.

Now add to these previous actions the most recent one-the military occupation of Haiti by the US and the UN. These actions, along with the IMF’s wish for a “Marshall Plan” type apparatus are some of the final pieces to the puzzle, the largest pieces, and the pieces needed to recognize the bigger picture. Not so coincidentally, once a western puppet is elected…foreign countries are granted almost free reign of Haiti and allowed to do as they please, America sends tens of thousands of troops to Haiti, and the IMF wants to enact a financial plan that will give its interests precedence and its voice influence over future economic business dealings in Haiti. The $100 million in aid to Haiti is but a small investment based on the profits America is bound to see if it maintains controlling interests in deep water oil drilling, oil refineries, and gold, copper, and uranium mining, not to mention its interest in cheap sweatshop labor. Furthermore, the money the IMF loans to Haiti would be used as leverage and a bargaining chip in regards to future mineral and oil rights within the country. Haiti already has a history of sending exorbitant amounts of money to Western nations as repayment, with 80% of its funds in the early 1900’s going to paying back France and the U.S. for loans. ..so what’s stopping it from happening again? Even the military leaders of the U.S. feel as if it is almost impossible for the U.S. to conduct a quick aid relief program without taking up residence in Haiti once again.

Gen. David Petraeus, who served with U.S. forces in Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy in 1995, told an audience at Georgetown University Law School the following-

"We're in a very tricky situation right now where on the one hand you obviously want to save lives" and move quickly to distribute medical assistance and other aid to survivors, he said. "But, frankly, you have to be careful not to take something over that then becomes more difficult to give back because you took it over."

In 2008, the current president of Haiti reportedly told his close constituents that he was “the last president Haiti would ever see”. What does he know that we don’t? Has there already been a plan in affect for western nations to take over the controlling interest in future financial developments in Haiti and did the recent earthquake just serve as a literal natural catalyst of these actions? Why is France so concerned with America’s occupation of Haiti if there is nothing there that would benefit them? When you put all of the pieces of the puzzle together, an alarming picture begins to be painted. The western world, with the US heading it, is prepping itself for the financial, physical, and political imperialism of Haiti, its people, and its vast natural resources. In 2004, Bush used the disposing of a “threat” as an excuse to invade Iraq and capitalize on its natural resources and in 2010, Obama or an entity more influential than him, is possibly using “humanitarian aid” as an excuse to plant thousands of troops and supplies within Haiti for future development of its natural resources and continued slavery of its people. Trust me, I would much rather be wrong about this wealth of information and recent developments but I fear I am indeed correct.  If this is all true, Pat Robertson might have been on to something. Although he falsely claimed that the Haitian people were cursed due to a pact with the devil, it seems as if in actuality the Haitian government has been continually signing a pact with the devil for decades - only this devil doesn’t sport horns or carry a pitchfork, he wears a $2000 Armani suit and carries today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal.

By Peter Schlosser – BlackListedNews

It has been a little over a week since the devastating earthquake hit just outside Port au Prince, Haiti. Since that day, I have watched in horror as the Haitian people and their society have quickly submerged into a quagmire of social unrest and political grandstanding. Once I observed the mass-murder posse of Team Obama, Bush and Clinton begin circling the wagons and the rapid US militarization of Port au Prince, including the occupation of the Presidential Palace, to the tune of now almost 10,000 US boots on the ground, I began to get suspicious. Call me crazy. I know of the sad history of Haiti imposed upon the tiny former slave nation by one imperial power after the next. But when I see 10,000 American soldiers descend upon a nation in less than a week, my radar flies into the red zone. Just when I was beginning to brush up on the story behind the story regarding Yemen, now I’m thrashed about one more time and forced to begin scrambling for the next story behind the story for this week’s latest NWO hot topic.

After a few hours on the Internet, I discovered an article posted in January of 2008 http://www.abibitumikasa.com/forums/oppression-afrikans-economically/41112-oil-mining-haiti-worlds-elite-robbing-people-blind.html indicating that large amounts of, you guessed it, OIL had indeed been discovered in Haiti a short while back. According to the article, s cientists Ginette and Daniel Mathurin indicated that “under Haitian soil it is rich in oil and fuel.” “We have identified 20 oil sites.” said ‘Daniel Mathurin stating that “5 of them are considered of great importance by specialists and politicians.”

“The Central Plateau, including the region of Thomonde, the plain of the Cul-de-Sac and the bay of Port-au-Prince are full of hydrocarbons,”he said adding that “the oil reserves of Haiti are more important than those of Venezuela.” “An Olympic pool compared to a glass of water; that is the comparison to illustrate the importance of Haitian oil compared with those of Venezuela,” he explains.

Are We in Haiti because of Oil? 070110banner

“Venezuela is one of the world’s largest producers of oil.”

We know that large amounts of oil had been discovered in Cuba a little over a year ago as appeared in a London Guardian article from Saturday, October 18 th 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/oct/18/cuban-oil .

“ Mother nature, it emerged this week, appears to have blessed the island with enough oil reserves to vault it into the ranks of energy powers. The government announced there may be more than 20bn barrels of recoverable oil in offshore fields in Cuba’s share of the Gulf of Mexico, more than twice the previous estimate.

If confirmed, it puts Cuba’s reserves on par with those of the US and into the world’s top 20. Drilling is expected to start next year by Cuba’s state oil company Cubapetroleo, or Cupet.

“It would change their whole equation. The government would have more money and no longer be dependent on foreign oil,” said Kirby Jones, founder of the Washington-based US-Cuba Trade Association. “It could join the club of oil exporting nations.” Wrote Rory Carroll, Latin America Correspondent for the Guardian.

If one looks at a map and notices that Haiti and Cuba are only about 60 miles apart separated by the Winward Passage, one might then assume that perhaps the two Caribbean nations might be sitting on the same stretch of oil field.

And the plot thickens. According to the article regarding Haitian oil: “ Daniel and Ginette Malthurin indicate that the American government had in 2005 authorized the use of strategic reserves of the United States. The door should be used by politicians to launch Haitian negotiations with American companies in the context of the exploitation of these deposits.”

“The specialists contend that the government of Jean Claude Duvalier had verified the existence of a major oil field in the Bay of Port-au-Prince shortly before his downfall.”

Hmmm, intriguing. It would seem that the Pentagon’s interest in Haiti during this crisis just might stretch a bit beyond their normal warm and fuzzy humanitarian intentions. It feels like we’ve been here before. Keep your eyes on the bouncing ball and watch for Big Oil to move into the region shortly. Perhaps this may also serve as a wee bit of gunboat diplomacy targeted at Cuba and, more ominously, a back-up plan to secure reserves in the Empire’s backyard as Obama and the War Machine get ready to take on Venezuela. More will be revealed.

January 22, 2010