The Vanished State of Haiti

One of the most tragic stories coming out of Haiti—and there are certainly more than is possible to highlight here—is the one which discusses the significant progress Haiti was making in recent years. Until Tuesday’s earthquake. Time magazine said it best:

“What makes the apocalyptic earthquake that ravaged Haiti on Jan. 12 especially ‘cruel and incomprehensible,’ as U.S. President Barack Obama put it, is that it struck at a rare moment of optimism. After decades of natural and political catastrophes — including the violent 2004 overthrow of then President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and four deadly hurricanes in 2008 — a U.N. peacekeeping force and an international investment campaign headed by former U.S. President Bill Clinton had recently begun to calm and rebuild the Caribbean nation, the western hemisphere's poorest. "We were hearing more positive things from Haiti for once," says Danielle Romer, a Miami social worker with family in Haiti. ‘Things were coming around.’”

Just days before the quake, the head of the UN mission in Haiti, Tunisian diplomat Hedi Annabi (himself a victim of the quake), expressed similar hope as two sets of elections approached, the first of which was to take place in late February. “Success would allow the country to enter a virtuous circle where stability and development are mutually reinforcing,” Annabi said during a speech just one week ago. Now, it seems the Haitian state, including its national police force, has completely disappeared, as reports today indicate.

For a quick round-up of some of the angles on the tragedy this morning:

--the New York Times leads with news that “tensions” are mounting as aid finally begins to make its way into the country. Already some 7000 Haitians were buried in a mass grave, President Rene Preval said Thursday. The Red Cross put latest death toll estimates at somewhere around 50,000—although again, precision is elusive. The United States has taken over security and cargo operations at the Port-au-Prince airport, which has had to close intermittently due to heavy airplane traffic. And interestingly the United States—which pledged an initial $100 million in aid plus some 3000 military troops yesterday—also “reached an agreement with Cuba to allow American planes on medical-evacuation missions to pass through restricted Cuban airspace, an official said, reducing the flight time to Miami by 90 minutes.”

--the Times highlights the massive wave of pledges that have been made as well, particularly through text messaging and other social networking services like Twitter. “The mobile donations are part of a larger surge of money flowing to the relief effort. The Red Cross said it had collected nearly $35 million as of Thursday night, surpassing the amounts it received in the same time period after Hurricane Katrina and the Indian Ocean tsunami,” the paper reports.

--the Washington Post writes of “growing despair,” while the Wall Street Journal says US Lt. Gen. P.K. Keen, a three star general and deputy commander of South Com was selected yesterday to head a new joint task force devoted to recovery work in Haiti. From the WSJ:

“Gen. Keen will take his orders from Kenneth Merten, the American ambassador in Port-au-Prince. State Department officials said the U.S. troops that are deploying to Haiti will work closely with the 9,000-member United Nations security force there but remain solely under American command.”

--Also news that former President George W. Bush will co-chair U.S. relief fundraising efforts with former President Clinton. President Obama is expected to make the announcement shortly. New USAID administrator, Rajiv Shah is leading US relief efforts as the White House’s point man.

--the Post and the Times both write in editorials today that Haitians in the US must be given Temporary Protected Status now. And Andres Oppenheimer proposes that a monitoring commission be created to ensure relief money goes to the proper destinations during the recovery and reconstruction process. David Brooks’ column in the Times also addresses Haiti and some issues underlying the island’s poverty.

--A bit outdated now perhaps, but the AP yesterday compiled a list of all the international aid pledges that have been made thus far.

--And a powerful piece about how difficult it has been, logistically and emotionally, for journalists covering the tragedy in Haiti. Interestingly, there is only one foreign correspondent based full-time in Haiti, Jonathan M. Katz of The Associated Press, writes the Times.

--And on a very personal note, I, along with friends in the History Dept. at New York University, just received word late last night that two of our classmates and friends who were conducting research in Haiti successfully made it to the Dominican Republic after having gone missing for two days after the quake. Let’s hope for more stories like that in the days ahead.

In other bits of news today:

· With the region turned toward Haiti, Roberto Micheletti was appointed “congressman for life” (a la Pinochet in Chile) in Honduras late Wednesday. The act was the last of the outgoing Congress. More on Micheletti’s tirades against Oscar Arias, José Miguel Insulza and other regional leaders who have been critical of the coup he carried out in June are noted at Honduras Coup 2009. The Honduran Congress also voted to pull itself from the ALBA bloc this week. Micheletti’s spokesman, Rafael Pineda said the reason for Honduras’s exit was that “some of the countries in the organization have not treated Honduras with the respect it deserves.” And the Honduran Supreme Court has prohibited the six military officials charged with illegally deporting Mel Zelaya from leaving the country.

· From Chile, second-round voting is set for Sunday and in recent days the gap between Concertación candidate, Eduardo Frei, and the Alianza’s Sebastian Pinera has all but disappeared. Mr. Pinera has held a lead throughout and one first-round voting rather handily. According to the most recent poll conducted by the respected Chilean polling firm, Mori, the race is now simply too close to call. This after independent candidate, Marco Enriquez-Ominami at last publicly endorsed Frei earlier in the week. More electoral analysis by Boz.

· In Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez ended energy rationing in Caracas, one day after rolling power cuts were announced. Chavez cited poor communication for how and when various neighborhoods were to be affected by the blackouts as the reason for the change. The country is struggling with a drought that has limited the power it receives from hydroelectric sources.

· And finally an interesting note in Foreign Policy by Ian Bremmer and David Gordon of the Eurasia Group which says Brazil, praised for its economic recovery in the last year, may stumble in 2010. The two equate a shift in political leadership away from Lula with “post-Mandela South Africa.”