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<div class="header reader-header reader-show-element"> <font
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href="https://haitisolidarity.net/in-the-news/resisting-covid-19-in-haiti/">https://haitisolidarity.net/in-the-news/resisting-covid-19-in-haiti/</a></font>
<h1 class="reader-title">Resisting COVID-19 in Haiti</h1>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time">April 15, 2020<br>
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<h3>by Pierre Labossiere</h3>
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<p>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.</p>
<p><a
href="https://secureservercdn.net/50.62.88.95/65c.874.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Clinic-baby-460x460-1.jpg"><img
src="https://secureservercdn.net/50.62.88.95/65c.874.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Clinic-baby-460x460-1.jpg"
alt="" width="460" height="460"></a><br>
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…”</p>
<p>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 <a
href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6kQH-_IrAg&feature=youtu.be">massacres</a>
in the impoverished neighborhoods of
Granravin, Site Vensan and Lasalin among <a
href="https://www.nlg.org/report-the-lasalin-massacre-and-the-human-rights-crisis-in-haiti/">others</a>.</p>
<p>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 <em><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/03/12/the-final-chapter-has-still-not-been-written-remembering-the-2004-coup-in-haiti/">coup
d’etat</a></em> 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 “<a
href="https://sfbayview.com/2015/08/plan-lanmo-the-death-plan-the-clintons-foreign-aid-and-ngos-in-haiti/">Plan
Lanmo</a>” or “Death Plan” the program of
President Aristide’s <em>Fanmi Lavalas</em>
government, called “<a
href="https://secureservercdn.net/50.62.88.95/65c.874.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/We_Will_Not_Forget_2010.pdf">Investir
dans l’Humain</a> (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 <em>coups</em> <em>d’etat</em>
killed over 15,000 people. The neo-liberal
plan implemented since the 2004 <em>coup</em>
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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>The coronavirus pandemic has shone a <a
href="https://archive.org/details/haiti_03.25.20.FIXmp3">spotlight</a>
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 <a
href="https://act.pih.org/page/-/reports/Haiti_Report_FINAL.pdf">studies</a>,
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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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