The most powerful aftershock yet—registered at nearly 6.0—rattled Haiti once again early Wednesday. The tremor lasted only seconds but added new safety concerns for those survivors of last Tuesday’s quake.
While many now say the exact number killed in the devastating earthquake will never be known, the Haitian government is now using the figure of 200,000, according to the AP, with the European Commission recently raising its estimate of homeless to 2 million, from 1.5 million. The commission also said Wednesday that 250,000 people still are in need of urgent aid. Speaking to the New York Times, Miami cardiologist, Dr. Eduardo de Marchena, who is treating patients near the Port-au-Prince airport, said “there are still thousands of patients with major fractures, major wounds, that have not been treated yet.” And while the delivery of much-needed water to hundreds of thousands remains slow, many say that if the country experiences heavy rains any time soon, the result could be disastrous as it would increase the spread of disease.
There are also continuing complaints this morning that relief efforts have been both over-militarized and poorly coordinated by the United States. The aid group Doctors without Borders reports that “more than one of its planes carrying vital medical equipment has been kept from landing at the airport…costing lives.” While an official for the World Food Programme recently described the differing priorities of the U.S. military and aid groups. “[The U.S. military's] priorities are to secure to country. Ours are to feed. We have got to get those priorities in sync.” At the heart of much of this dispute are seemingly very different conceptions of the “security situation” in the country. According to Karen Greenberg, Executive Director of the Center for Law and Security at the New York University Law School, the use of the military in relief efforts reflects over a decade of significant funding shifts to the Defense Dept. and away from the Dept. of State. For more on “security” in Haiti, Amy Goodman has a report from Haiti and the Guardian recently ran an important opinion by journalist Inigo Gilmore, also covering the tragedy in the country. Both argue reports of “lawlessness” on the Haitian streets have been greatly overblown.
Dr. Paul Farmer and his organization, Partners in Health, also contend that a lack of coordination has been the central problem with the relief effort, not insecurity. “Everyone’s doing their own things, and we need to bring them together,” he tells the Times. The Wall Street Journal adds that PIH has estimated that as many as 20,000 Haitians may be dying daily due to a lack of medical treatment. The Haitian government’s communications minister has disputed those numbers, however.
Other Haiti news and opinions this morning:
--the LA Times examines the “Haitian elite” and their likely role in rebuilding Haiti.
--The Nation reports that the IMF has clarified the terms of its recent $100 million loan to Haiti, telling the magazine that the funds will be provided as an “interest-free loan of $100 million in emergency funds,” without conditionality—a marked change.
--Nick Kristof writes on Haiti in his Times column today, attempting to dispel some of the pernicious myths about the country being perpetuated in the media of late.
--And Julie Feinsilver, author of a couple of terrific books on Cuban medical diplomacy, adds her voice to others calling for U.S.-Cuba collaboration on medical relief efforts in Haiti, at COHA. Reuters also reports on the notion. “The magnitude of the crisis is likely to eclipse political differences with the U.S. in the short term and smooth the way for Cuban participation in the multinational relief effort,” says the Inter-American Dialogue’s Dan Erikson. There’s also mention of bringing Cuban doctors onto the U.S. base at Guantanamo, says Reuters. The U.S. recently announced it has plans to house Haitians at the base, in the event of a mass migration (as it did in the early 1990s).
In other news this morning:
· From Honduras, new reports indicate that a deal may have been struck to allow Mel Zelaya to leave the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. According to the New York Times’ Elisabeth Malkin, Pepe Lobo and Dominican President Leonel Fernandez signed an accord Wednesday that would allow Zelaya to leave for the DR, with full rights (allowing the deposed president to travel and speak freely). Zelaya called the accord a “good gesture” late Wednesday. Also, via Honduras Coup 2009, news that the IACHR has issued its human rights report on Honduras. The report confirms serious rights violations. I haven’t had a chance to read the full report yet, but, from RNS:
“They conclude that as a consequence of the disproportionate use of force by security forces, that at least 7 deaths have occurred, and that the internal (Honduran) investigations have made no headway identifying and punishing those responsible. They also conclude that the security forces conducted thousands of unlawful detentions without an order from a competent authority, ignored the rights of those detained, and made no written records of these unlawful detentions.”
· Reuters reports on ramped up anti-drug efforts in Venezuela this morning. The country recently purchased new radars and other counter-narcotics equipment from China, Reuters writes, as well as increasing its off-shore counter-narcotics patrols.
· Three more opinions on Sebastian Pinera’s recent victory in Chile. Andres Oppenheimer at the Herald says Pinera is unlikely to become South America’s Silvio Berlusconi—the other famous billionaire president/soccer team owner. Alvaro Vargas Llosa, in an open letter to Pinera, pours gushing praise on the newly elected president. And in Colombia’s El Tiempo, Michael Shifter argues that ideological talk of “left” and “right” “obscures more than it illuminates.” Chile may only be the latest such example. Shifter writes:
“Beneath the surface, and beyond the labels, most Latin Americans are looking for precisely what they were looking for when a "shift to the left" was in vogue. As the Latinobarometro surveys have shown since the mid-1990s, they tend to want governments that can solve problems and deliver results. They want good performance -- efficiency and honesty -- in their leaders. The surveys also show that ideological orientations have held relatively constant.”
Also, I recommend Blake Hounshell’s short profile of Pinera’s brother, Miguel, at Foreign Policy. You may be surprised…
· And finally, somewhere at the nexus of domestic and international politics, Eric Farnsworth writes about how the victory of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts’ special senate election has Latin American implications. And it’s not because Lanny Davis chimed in on the race yesterday in the Wall Street Journal.
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