[News] Resisting COVID-19 in Haiti

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://haitisolidarity.net/in-the-news/resisting-covid-19-in-haiti/


  Resisting COVID-19 in Haiti

April 15, 2020
------------------------------------------------------------------------


      by Pierre Labossiere

On March 19, 2020, shortly after international institutions made known 
that millions of dollars would be available to impoverished countries 
with COVID-19 cases, Haitian authorities finally addressed the 
coronavirus pandemic by declaring that there were two cases in the 
country. People in Haiti were outraged by the silence and inaction of 
the authorities as news spread of preventative measures being 
implemented in the neighboring Dominican Republic and other countries. 
Since the initial declaration, the number of cases in Haiti has remained 
in doubt, with grassroots health workers and activists distrusting any 
government figures and demanding action to prevent a catastrophic spike 
in infections and deaths.

<https://secureservercdn.net/50.62.88.95/65c.874.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Clinic-baby-460x460-1.jpg>
The government of the US-imposed Haitian president Jovenel Moise, 
together with the US-led Core Group consortium of foreign governments 
ruling UN-occupied Haiti, have been oblivious to the need to prepare the 
nation for the COVID-19 calamity. In a video message widely circulated 
on social media and broadcast on Radio Tele Timoun (Youth RadioTV), a 
Haitian medical student trained in Cuba charged that the necessary 
mobilization of hundreds of young trained health care professionals is 
not taking place. On social media, radio and television, medical 
professionals and the broader public have denounced the lack of policy, 
transparency and systematic training that dealing with this major crisis 
requires. Not respecting their own physical distance rule, the 
authorities have suddenly been mobilizing hundreds to attend closely 
packed meetings to renew controversial voter ID cards. Photos and videos 
showing dirty rooms, filthy beds and rat-infested trash in the two 
largest public hospitals in Port-au-Prince have added to people’s 
outrage. Summing up the sentiments of the general public, a woman trader 
in an open-air market commented that, “The authorities care only about 
lining their pockets…”, “They will not do anything for us; the choice I 
have is to die of the corona virus or starvation; dying by the corona 
virus will take me out of this misery…”

A raging discontent with the deepening misery is at the core of the 
nation-wide grassroots movement. On-going peaceful protests against 
corruption have been met with brutal repression, long detentions in 
filthy overcrowded prisons and killings by a deadly security apparatus. 
These forces, consisting of the UN-trained police, the restored Haitian 
military and paramilitary groups, have also been responsible for 
massacres <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6kQH-_IrAg&feature=youtu.be> 
in the impoverished neighborhoods of Granravin, Site Vensan and Lasalin 
among others 
<https://www.nlg.org/report-the-lasalin-massacre-and-the-human-rights-crisis-in-haiti/>.

As Haiti comes to grips with the pandemic, the nation is confronted with 
other results of the “regime change” that occurred on February 29, 2004. 
This US-led /coup d’etat 
<https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/03/12/the-final-chapter-has-still-not-been-written-remembering-the-2004-coup-in-haiti/>/ 
and subsequent 16-year UN occupation reversed the progressive agenda 
implemented by the democratically elected government of President 
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Resisting the imposition of neo-liberal policies 
known by Haitians as “Plan Lanmo 
<https://sfbayview.com/2015/08/plan-lanmo-the-death-plan-the-clintons-foreign-aid-and-ngos-in-haiti/>” 
or “Death Plan” the program of President Aristide’s /Fanmi Lavalas/ 
government, called “Investir dans l’Humain 
<https://secureservercdn.net/50.62.88.95/65c.874.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/We_Will_Not_Forget_2010.pdf> 
(Investing in People),” focused on building schools, a medical 
university, hospitals and the national laboratory as part of a 
much-needed infrastructure to provide quality education and health care. 
This program to rebuild the country after the 37-year corrupt 
dictatorship of the Duvaliers and later military rule was repeatedly 
hampered by US actions. An economic embargo blocked the disbursement of 
approved low-interest loans for healthcare, education, transportation 
and potable water projects as two US-backed /coups/ /d’etat/ killed over 
15,000 people. The neo-liberal plan implemented since the 2004 /coup/ 
has resulted in the percentage of the national budget for education 
being slashed from about 20% in 2004 to 13.1% and that of health care 
from 16.6% to 4.4% according to recent data.

The achievements by a “people-first” oriented government during the 
ten-year democratic interlude of 1994-2004 are etched in the collective 
memory. To survive the deadly coronavirus pandemic, people in Haiti are 
relying on their solidarity with one another and organized structures at 
the grassroots level to share prevention information and resources. 
Health workers, as individuals or groups, are educating themselves and 
the public. Early on, as China was battling COVID-19, the faculty and 
student medical body in institutions such as the University of the 
Aristide Foundation (UNIFA) began preparing the university and broader 
community with a steady stream of educational presentations. Radio 
TeleTimoun has been daily broadcasting much valuable health-related 
information aimed at reaching the most vulnerable communities in Haiti. 
As Haitian and occupation authorities are de-funding education and 
health care, there is an urgent need to support a human needs-oriented 
educational institution like UNIFA, its life-saving mobile health 
clinics, and its teaching hospital under construction.

The coronavirus pandemic has shone a spotlight 
<https://archive.org/details/haiti_03.25.20.FIXmp3> on the deteriorating 
living conditions in Haiti. The ever-present crisis in the healthcare 
system is experienced by women laying on the bare floor of non-equipped 
maternity wards, and by men and children with various ailments unable to 
get care. According to recent studies 
<https://act.pih.org/page/-/reports/Haiti_Report_FINAL.pdf>, only about 
30 percent of the population has direct access to potable water.  In 
this situation, how are people going to wash their hands frequently? The 
lack of basic sanitation services, including trash and waste removal in 
densely populated cities, is exacerbating the crisis. The slashed health 
care budget has resulted in decreased services and closings of a number 
of health care centers and hospitals. There are now only around 124 
intensive care unit beds and less than 100 ventilators for a population 
of about 11 million.

Medical professionals are bringing these conditions to light, frequently 
protesting to demand personal protective gear and basic medical 
equipment and to address the unsanitary conditions in a number of 
institutions in the country. Sanitation workers, teachers, students, 
farmers, market vendors and even members of the police who are facing 
similar working conditions have protested and gone on strike.

While many healthcare workers go unpaid, public funds continue to be 
lavishly squandered on bogus multi-million dollar projects and the 
ostentatious lifestyle of government officials and foreign Core Group 
consultants. Reports of misappropriation and theft include about $4.2 
billion stolen from oil sales as part of the Venezuela PetroCaribe program.

Haitians can see through the lies broadcast by those that rule the 
country. They know that the vast majority of the money raised around the 
world after the devastating 2010 earthquake, estimated at $11 billion, 
never reached them. They know that the United Nations denied its 
responsibility for the cholera epidemic and, after finally admitting 
culpability, has refused to pay reparations for the over 15,000 Haitians 
who have died. They have no faith in a government that has stolen 
elections and then ramped up repression even as the coronavirus has 
begun its deadly march.

The struggle against the coronavirus is a world-wide fight. It demands 
that we stand in solidarity with each other, across all borders. Despite 
the lack of coverage, the people of Haiti are confronting a dual crisis. 
Their struggle against a corrupt and repressive system and now COVID-19 
demands strong advocacy and support. It is essential that we see their 
struggle as our own.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
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