25546: Raber: (Reply)Re: 25539: Rowley: (reply) Re: 25529: Dickey: Open Letter to President George W Bush.doc (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

> From  raber@zoominternet.net

I would bet that if the issue of making Haiti a Protectorate with the goal
of ending up with a Puerto Rico type status were taken to the Haitian
voters, upward of 80% of the population would show up to vote Yes.   I have
heard over and over from the Poor in Haiti that they just wished the Blan
would just take over the country.  That was 4 years ago so I can only
imagine how much more they are saying it.   I was also told that just about
every Haitian male over the age of 21 and with the financial means to get
one has a passport.  It just has not been "checked" meaning that it does not
have a visa on it.   They keep trying at various embassies.  Some just end
up crossing the border on foot to the Dominican and take boats to other
Carribbean islands.  This week I got a note from a lady who worked with me
in the past wanting to give up one of her children for adoption.  I have
known her for 10 years and this is the first time ever she has said such a
thing.  The worse is that she has asked this 10 year old boy if it was OK
for her to give him up.   He answered that he understood.  She is has 3
other children plus a couple more she inherited from her family.

When it comes down to it,  the Haitian people are fed up with the Haitian
Pride that seems to have no problem asking for military interventions to
bring rulers in and out of the country but later appears to use the
sovereign nation excuse to bite the hand that has the power to provide aid.
It then uses the scarce ressources in a way that does nothing to improve the
life of the people.  Yes there are some true patriots who stand on principle
but the majority are just using this 1804 historic event for personal
(instead of country) gain.  When there is no food on the table for days,
when one's children are dying of preventable diseases (many caused by lack
of healthy food and water),  who would cares about 1804?
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