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Brown & Root,” said Patrick Elie,
a long-time democracy activist in
Haiti. “They are like vultures.”
On his Jan. 30 visit to Haiti as
the president of the South American
alliance UNASUR, Ecuadoran President
Rafael Correa alluded to the
self-serving nature of Washington’s
aid. “There is a lot of imperialism
among the donors,” he said. “They
donate fi rst, but most of it goes
back to them.”
Other vultures are the mercenaries
fl ocking to Haiti to secure
security contracts from would-be
contractors. Even the mainstream
media, scared of the people they
report on, have hired the soldiers
of fortune, who often sport exotic
automatic weapons. A recent ABC
television crew had seven heavily
armed security guards accompanying
it.
“When we would get to a location,
the security guys would get
out of the vehicles fi rst and look
both ways to see if everything was
OK,” said Aboudja, a veteran fi xer
who worked with the network. “In
the end, it was as if the security
guys were making the decisions
and running the show.”
On Mar. 9 and 10, security
contractors will hold a convention
in Miami to strategize on how to
land contracts in Haiti.
There are bright spots in this
somber tableau. One is the role being
played by the Cuban Medical Brigade,
which, since the earthquake,
has deployed over 1500 doctors in
Haiti including 792 Cubans and 744
international graduates of Cuba’s
Latin American School of Medicine
(ELAM). In addition to putting doctors
in small fi eld clinics in places
like the Champ de Mars and in the
Peace Hospital in Delmas 33, the
brigade has set up fi eld hospitals in
towns like Léogane and Croix-de-
Bouquets.
The Croix-de-Bouquets hospital
center is run in conjunction
with the Haitian government and is
based in that town’s central square,
where about 40 tents, large and
small, house medical equipment,
patients and doctors. In the shade
of trees, dozens of Haitians line up
on benches waiting to see doctors
who sit at tables where patients
are diagnosed. Another line of 50
people queues up for free medicines
dispensed by two or three pharmacists.
On other benches, mothers sit
with children holding picture books,
also provided by the Cubans. The
atmosphere is orderly and mildly jovial.
After all, free, expert and easily
attainable medical care is something
new in these parts.
“Here we treat now about
500 patients a day, providing everything
from pills and ointments
to physical therapy, X-rays, and
operations,” said Dr. William Alvarez,
who runs the hospital. On its
fi rst day a month ago, the fi eld hospital
received about 2000 patients.
Brigade doctors come from
many Latin American countries like
Argentina, Nicaragua, Chile, Ecuador,
Bolivia, and Panama, but also
from counties like Western Sahara,
Mali, and Lebanon.
“We have seen injuries from
the earthquake here, but mostly
we are now treating health problems
that stem from chronic conditions
related to Haiti’s poverty,”
explained Dr. Melissa Barber, 30,
a North American from the Bronx
who learned medicine at ELAM.
She was one of seven ELAMtrained
women doctors from around
the U.S. who worked for one month
with the Cuban-led brigade in Croix-
de-Bouquets.
The international doctors are
all part of the Henry Reeve Brigade,
formed by Cuba in 2005 to
assist countries affected by natural
disasters or serious epidemics. The
brigade was initially formed by
the 1,500 doctors Cuba offered the
US after Hurricane Katrina. Henry
Reeve was a US doctor who fought
in Cuba’s independence war.
Throughout this catastrophe,
Haitians continue to display dignity
and determination. They need and
invite assistance, but are proud of
their sovereignty. “In the past, we
have been united, we have helped
ourselves, and God has helped us
to develop the country we have,”
Junior Mercifrères concluded. “Some
foreigners might think that Haiti is
underdeveloped, but they should
know that the Haitians have developed
themselves as people, using
solidarity, and that is why we
can endure trials like this.” |
