Haiti: How US Ag Policy Hit Before the Earthquake & How You Can Help

Haiti, hit January 12 by a devastating earthquake, is the poorest country in the hemisphere.

The first priority is to get aid to Haiti. Please donate. The Organic Consumers Association recommends the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, which is focusing its resources on helping Haiti's grassroots organizers -- including those involved in sustainable agriculture projects -- survive the crisis and rebuild. (Facebook users: Donate through Causes and spread the word.)

But, it is also important to understand why Haiti is so poor, and that Haiti did not become poor by accident, but as the result of actions of the US government -- including support for violent coups -- and US complicity in trade and lending policies that have destroyed civil society, crushed democracy, crashed the economy and turned a food exporting country into a food importing country, one where few have money to eat. Democracy Now has covered the effect of US action on Haiti for over a decade. Here are a few enlightening Democracy Now reports:

“Bush Was Responsible for Destroying Haitian Democracy”–Randall Robinson on Obama Tapping Bush to Co-Chair US Relief Efforts
January 15, 2010 We speak with TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, author of An Unbroken Agony: Haiti, from Revolution to the Kidnapping of a President. On President Obama tapping former President Bill Clinton and former President George W Bush to co-chair US relief efforts in Haiti, Robinson says, “Bush was responsible for destroying Haitian democracy…Clinton has largely sponsored a program of economic development that supports the idea of sweatshops… but that is not what we should focus on now. We should focus on saving lives.”

US Policy in Haiti: “Why Impact of Natural Disaster Is So Severe”
January 14, 2010 We discuss the situation in Haiti following Tuesday’s massive earthquake, as well as the history of Haiti, with two guests who have spent a lot of time there: Bill Quigley, the legal director at the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Brian Concannon, director of the Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti.

The US Role in Haiti’s Food Riots
April 24, 2008 As people around the world continue to protest the soaring prices of basic food items, the World Food Program has described the crisis as a silent tsunami.

“The Hidden Battle for the World Food System”
April 08, 2008 Global food prices have risen dramatically, adding a new level of danger to the crisis of world hunger.

U.S. Funding of Coup Leaders in Haiti
March 17, 2004 Part II of Democracy Now's exclusive broadcast of Amy Goodman's interview with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide aboard his flight from the Central African Republic to Jamaica.

Haiti After the Caribbean Summit
May 14, 1997 Haiti is facing famine that is threatening 300,000 people. Haiti has been the recipient of massive amounts of food aid since 1954, but the aid has reduced Haiti's ability to produce its own food.