Corruption Is The New Fashion Statement

Originally: How Come Things Never Work in Haiti?

Richard A. Morse

I remember when things got difficult in Haiti back in the early 1990's. Haiti's elites had taken over with a brutal coup d'état, and killing people who spoke out became fashionable. Bill Clinton was then president of the United States. I remember asking myself, should I keep speaking out or should I take 
the safer route and keep quiet. In the end I decided that I didn't want to die and have my last thoughts be, "I should have said something."

Well, the same folks who gave us imported rice, imported sugar and overcrowding (Chicago economics) in Port-au-Prince are back in power and they're profiting from photo-ops with now-special envoy to the UN Bill Clinton. It's all a masquerade. The UN, Bill Clinton's employer, is at the base of the
masquerade.

Everyone in Haiti knows the United Nations is corrupt. The United Nations has endorsed fraudulent elections. Poor Haitians know it; rich Haitians know it; the "left" in Haiti knows it; the "right" in Haiti knows it; the opposition in Haiti knows it; the UN workers know it; the Haitian government knows it; the Haitian president knows it; the journalist from the New York Times Magazine knows it; Michelle Montas, spokesperson to the UN, knows it, and I know it. I said it publicly back in April, I said it publicly back in May and I said it publicly back in June. The April/June senatorial elections in Haiti were fraudulent. I said it privately to Michelle Montas on May 1 at the RAM concert at the Alliance Française in New York City.

I told Michelle Montas that the Haitian senatorial elections were fraudulent and the implication that the fraud could expand to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Korea was too disturbing to keep quiet. A couple of days ago, the New York Times ran an article that spoke of the UN firing someone because they were speaking out. This is an excerpt from the NYT article:

"...The two men have clashed repeatedly, United Nations officials said, and their different approaches came to a head over the vote recount after the Aug. 20 Afghan presidential election. Mr. Galbraith demanded a total recount, but then left Afghanistan and retreated to his Vermont farm.. Until now, Mr. Ban and others had been saying that Mr. Galbraith was expected to return to Kabul.

"Reaction to Mr. Galbraith's removal was swift from the campaign of Abdullah Abdullah, the former Afghan foreign minister . . ."

I can't get fired for saying the Haitian elections were fraudulent. I can get shot, someone around me can get shot, I can have my business run into the ground. I can have my electric rates and my tax rates get doubled and tripled. I can have requests for project funding denied; but I can't get fired.

Bill Clinton is running around Haiti pretending everything is fine; hanging out with people who are responsible for many of Haiti's problems and I guess I'm supposed to sit here and be quiet. As I said, Mr Clinton is enjoying himself with the same families who decided it's better to import rice and sugar, which in effect, has quadrupled the population of Port au Prince and is the leading cause of the destruction of Haitian society.

Well, it's difficult to be quiet, though I try, because in the long run all this stuff is going to come back and snap us in the butt and everyone is going to say, "How come things never work in Haiti?" Maybe Bill Clinton has good intentions, but he also has lousy "on-the-ground intelligence". Bill Clinton took FRAPH, which was a repressive Haitian paramilitary force headed by Toto Constant, and he wanted to turn it into a loyal opposition political party back in 1994!

I don't know if the UN is corrupt from the bottom up or (as a matter of poli cy) from the top down; but the same corruption seems to be spreading to other trouble spots around the world.

We have presidential elections coming to Haiti next year. I'm guessing the winners and the vote counts have already been decided. It would only make sense. Corruption is the new fashion statement.

Richard Morse

Owner-Manager

Hotel Oloffson

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Related link: Why Haiti Can't Forget Its Past