It is extraordinary how people sitting in Washington still believe they know what should be done in another country better than the inhabitants themselves.
From the very beginning, the Haiti-US relationship has been marked by a lack of trust. We in the US did not recognize Haiti after its republican revolution in 1804, and didn't grant the Haitian government diplomatic recognition until 1862. American banks bought the coercive indemnities that Haiti had to pay France, and Haiti didn't finish paying them off until after World War II. American Marines Occupied Haiti from Wilson until the early years of the FDR administration (spanning the period of so-called "isolationism" when the US was still very active in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Philippines). The 1990s presented its own set of issues.
Now, quite understandably, Haitians do not trust the United States and believe that the major Western powers (especially the US and France) are constantly conspiring to exploit the tiny island nation. Americas political leaders and pundits need to understand that people in other countries do not necessarily trust that the Western liberal democracies have benign intentions towards them, and that this understanding is based on their own national histories.
From the very beginning, the Haiti-US relationship has been marked by a lack of trust. We in the US did not recognize Haiti after its republican revolution in 1804, and didn't grant the Haitian government diplomatic recognition until 1862. American banks bought the coercive indemnities that Haiti had to pay France, and Haiti didn't finish paying them off until after World War II. American Marines Occupied Haiti from Wilson until the early years of the FDR administration (spanning the period of so-called "isolationism" when the US was still very active in the Caribbean, Latin America, and the Philippines). The 1990s presented its own set of issues.
Now, quite understandably, Haitians do not trust the United States and believe that the major Western powers (especially the US and France) are constantly conspiring to exploit the tiny island nation. Americas political leaders and pundits need to understand that people in other countries do not necessarily trust that the Western liberal democracies have benign intentions towards them, and that this understanding is based on their own national histories.
Fact is, the United States doesn't care that much about any of the foreseeable outcomes in Haiti, one way or the other.
How about bringing democracy to our beloved country !!