Haiti's elite spared from much of the devastation

[undeterred]

By William Booth
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, January 18, 2010

PETIONVILLE, HAITI -- Through decades of coups, hurricanes, embargoes and economic collapse, the wily and powerful business elite of Haiti have learned the art of survival in one of the most chaotic countries on Earth -- and they might come out on top again.

Although Tuesday's 7.0 magnitude earthquake destroyed many buildings in Port-au-Prince, it mostly spared homes and businesses up the mountain in the cool, green suburb of Petionville, home to former presidents and senators. A palace built atop a mountain by the man who runs one of Haiti's biggest lottery games is still standing. New-car dealers, the big importers, the families that control the port -- they all drove through town with their drivers and security men this past weekend. Only a few homes here were destroyed.

>> snip

...But search-and-rescue operations have been intensely focused on buildings with international aid workers, such as the crushed U.N. headquarters, and on large hotels with international clientele. Some international rescue workers said they are being sent to find foreign nationals first.

...For better or worse, it will likely be the residents of Petionville who through their government connections, trading companies and interconnected family businesses will receive a large portion of U.S. and international aid and reconstruction money.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/17/AR2010011702941.html

The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer.

[virgogal]

1. I doubt that this will come as a surprise to many people around here.

[FLyellowdog]

2. Apparently cruise ships still docking

with passengers continuing their vacations as usual in Haiti harbors.

"The rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer"...and the rich still use their riches for themselves. I know these cruises were booked months in advance, but it still looks bad.

I wonder if some of these tourists/cruise lines could help out? :shrug:


http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%253A%252F%252Fwww.guardian.co.uk%252Fworld%252F2010%252Fjan%252F17%252Fcruise-ships-haiti-earthquake&h=c35f4be9668bf0b2e40220fce8ca2705&ref=nf

SORRY!I just saw this post on down the page.
Mods...delete if you want to.

[HipChick]

5. Apparently some of them are..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7492544

[NYC_SKP]

6. Research indicates Cruise Industry is important to Haiti Economy, is Providing Aid.

I've never been to Haiti, much less to Labadee.

I hate cruises, but I thought I'd look into this.

The money coming in from these visits is said to be important to Haiti, makes sense.

As kind of sickening as it seems, that they didn't cancel stops there seems to be a positive decision.

Whether for PR or for humanitarians, some of the Cruise Lines (Royal Caribbean) are providing substantial aid.

Discussion board here: Cruise Critic internet forum: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1121161

Blog by president of Royal Caribbean: http://www.nationofwhynot.com/blog/

Apparently met with SOS Clinton: http://www.nationofwhynot.com/blog/?p=785

President of R.C, David something: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/aboutus/home.do

Could they do more? Sure, everyone could do more.

[maryf]

7. Its interesting

Folks have been saying the military ships are the only option...huh...

[FLyellowdog]

9. Thanks for the links. Good news is hard to come by right now. nt

[gateley]

10. Thank you so much for looking into and posting this --

The headline about the cruise ships is all I need to knee jerk react and become all holier-than-thou judgmental without learning the entire story. It's my MO. Maybe this time I'll remember the lesson. :hi:

[NYC_SKP]

12. I do it too, the knee jerk thing. But then I sometimes go looking for info...

and sometimes I'm surprised!

:hi:

[Jamastiene]

3. I wish I had the U.S. Marines at my beckon call. n/t

[undeterred]

4. No kidding.

[EFerrari]

8. I'm trying to figure out if Gaillard was a CIA asset or not.

He sure sounded like he was one.

I guess no one is exempt from these events, finally. So sad.

[bridgit]

11. Pft, every son of a Daughter of Some Revolution Somewhere has their shit already tacked down...

And it don't matter wherever they live believe it!!