WikiLeaks Cables Reveal "Secret History" of U.S. Bullying in Haiti at Oil Companies’ Behest

[EFerrari]

The Nation magazine, in partnership with the Haitian weekly newspaper, Haïti Liberté, has launched a series of reports based on more than 19,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. Called "The PetroCaribe Files," the series begins with an exposé of how the United States—with pressure from Exxon and Chevron—tried to interfere with an oil agreement between Haiti and Venezuela that would save Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, $100 million per year. "It is really amazing to see an ambassador pushing around a president, and all his officials telling them what to do, trying to tell them what Haiti’s interests are. It is the epitome of arrogance," says the report’s co-author, Kim Ives. We are also joined by veteran Haiti correspondent, Dan Coughlin.


http://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/3/wikileaks_cables_reveal_secret_history_of

[naaman fletcher]

1. I have no problem with..

an an embassy saying "we'd like it if you used an american company on this fixed price contract as opposed to the Italian company" but to insist on things that harm the host country is outrageous and we shouldn't put up with it. We spend billions trying to influence countries to like us, this only harms those efforts (as well as the host country).

[Judi Lynn]

2. Invaluable information in this interview. More to come on following Wednesdays.

I'm so glad you posted this, although it makes me so damned sad.

Surely looking forward to hear everything they've got.

Thank you, EFerrari. Recommend.

[gbscar]

3. Unfortunately, this is far from the only example of this aggressive and reckless behavior (nt)

[Peace Patriot]

4. This is the best analysis I've seen of any Wikileaks cables and it solves a major mystery.

The mystery is, what caused the fall-out between the U.S. and Preval? He seemed to be a good boy. Then suddenly he wasn't a good boy and Clinton was personally rigging an election to deny his successor a place on the ballot. He then defied the U.S. and made out a passport for Artistide! And she retaliated by bringing back "Baby Doc"! Whoa! Major rumble in the U.S.'s favorite kicking can. But the cause was elusive.

OIL! PUNISHING VENEZUELA! OF COURSE!

You almost gotta laugh. I was thinking all kind of things, but not this. I sure didn't see THIS coming.

The authors analyze Wikileaks cables, in this piece, exactly how they should analyzed: with a good grasp of the general U.S. agenda in the country and the region and the personal agenda of the U.S. ambassador or cable writer, and with detailed knowledge of the CONTEXT (so important!) and of the recent past and also of the historical relationship of the U.S. and the host country.

For instance, there was a cable revealed the other day, and played up by the corpo-fascist media, in which the U.S. (Bush appointed) ambassador describes a judge in Panama as corrupt. I STRONGLY suspect that this isn't true (that the judge may be the most honest judge in Panama) or that his corruption, if any, is minor compared, for instance, to the U.S. tool running Panama (Martinelli--who seems to be mafia, although lesser rung mafia than Alvaro Uribe--didn't merit U.S. help in spying on his political enemies). But to guess this--that the judge was likely a Martinelli-U.S. target--a victim--not necessarily a bad guy at all--you have to have some grasp not only of U.S. doings in Panama but also U.S./Uribe doings in Colombia. It also helps to understand that the U.S./Bush Junta calling anybody corrupt is LAUGHABLE. The puzzle was how much that U.S. ambassador was an insider in the Bush Junta.

Anyway, these cables can be tricky. You can't take anything a U.S. ambassador writes, in a low security cable, at face value. These writers at Haiti Liberte are simply superb at getting at these kinds of nuances. It is a particularly appalling story of U.S. bludgeon-style interference in Haiti. They follow it step by step--filling in what Preval was doing--also what Preval was pretending to do (faking hostility to Venezuela, to throw the U.S. off, then closing the oil deal, to Haiti's advantage)--what the U.S. ambassador was doing and how the ambassador was characterizing events and players, and whose agenda was being served: Exxon Mobil and Chevron. And it follows the story to its conclusion: the U.S./Clinton rigging the election and installing a mafioso in charge of Haiti.

It also occurs to me that THIS is why (or part of why) the U.S. recently placed sanctions on Venezuela's state oil company: Exxon Mobil and Chevron don't like competition! They had Haiti in a squeeze and here comes Venezuela's state oil company offering Haiti a much better deal! They said it was about Iran--and that's a similar situation (ultimately trying to get U.S. corporate monopoly control of Iran's oil) but THIS seems an equally compelling U.S. motive: they don't want Venezuela's state oil company helping out the little countries that U.S. corporations have by the throat, in the U.S. "circle the wagons" region of the Caribbean/Central America.

[Judi Lynn]

5. Glad to see your comments. Context is everything, absolutely, and it IS important to remember

an ambassador's remarks in a cable can mean almost anything, that more searching is necessary to get a grasp. Sometimes they are completely ignorant, and sometimes they're twisted, sometimes only there to further a rigid, political agenda, sometimes all of the above.

Thanks for drawing the line between this and the PDVSA sanctions. Undoubtedly connected. So damned wrong for the world of human beings for our government to serve such a vicious elite.

[dipsydoodle]

6. Sorry

I missed your post and duplicated it.

:hi:

[EFerrari]

7. The more, the merrier.

:hi:

[Judi Lynn]

8. Kicking. Reminder there will be more from The Nation this week. n/t

[Judi Lynn]

9. America's Awful Treatment of Haiti, According to WikiLeaks

America's Awful Treatment of Haiti, According to WikiLeaks
Adam Clark Estes Jun 07, 2011 6,167

In the wake of this year's many disasters, the flow of bad news coming out Haiti has slowed to a trickle. Last week actually brought some good news that the 2010 quake's death toll might actually be much lower than reported. And then WikiLeaks swoops in with with 1,918 documents from a seven-year period starting 10 months before the coup that ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on February 29, 2004 and ending six weeks after the January 12, 2010 earthquake. In partnership with WikiLeaks, The Nation and the Haitian weekly newspaper Haïti Liberté are publishing a series of stories that so far highlight how America has been micromanaging and manhandling the Haitian government into aligning their policies with U.S. interests. It is, of course, not news that the United States bullies allies into doing what she wants, but the first couple of scoops are worth itemizing.

America Used Haiti as a Pawn in an Oil War Against Venezuela

René Préval took power after Aristide's ousting and immediately visited the United States to bolster confidence in the two nations' diplomatic relations. According to a March 26, 2006 cable written by U.S. Ambassador Janet Sanderson, Préval wanted "to bury once and for all the suspicion in Haiti that the United States is wary of him," wary because of Préval's ties to Cuba and Venezuela. Sanderson also said that Préval "stressed to the Embassy that he will manage relations with Cuba and Venezuela solely for the benefit of the Haitian people, and not based on any ideological affinity toward those governments." But American behavior behind the scenes would show how "wary" may have been too gentle a word.

Préval quickly dashed his own hopes for a strong relationship with his northern allies by negotiating a deal with the Venezuelan-based oil alliance PetroCaribe. Recognizing how the deal made sense both for Haiti's strapped budget and poverty-stricken people--the Haitian government "would save USD 100 million per year from the delayed payments" by American embassy estimates--the United States stonewalled the deal for years to come. American officials apparently helped to enlist Chevron and ExxonMobil, the only U.S. oil companies operating in Haiti, to block their shipments and refuse to transport PetroCaribe oil, a necessary requirement for Haiti to sign the deal. Despite the American ambassador's recognizing Haiti's lack of interest in anti-American politics--"At no time has Preval given any indication that he is interested in associating Haiti with Chavez’s broader ‘revolutionary agenda,'" she wrote in one cable--Sanderson suggested that the U.S. "convey our discontent with Preval's actions at the highest possible level when he next visits Washington" after Préval visited Venezuela to negotiate a related energy deal that would bring electricity to more homes and save the Haitian people millions.

Chevron ultimately signed the PetroCaribe deal in early 2008, despite U.S. protests, but only after two years of negotiations potentially watered down the benefit to Haiti. However, as The Nation points out, "The extraordinary story that the Haiti WikiLeaks cables tell of the US Embassy’s campaign against PetroCaribe--which provides such obvious benefits for Haiti--lays bare the real priorities of 'Haiti's most important and reliable bi-lateral partner,' as Sanderson calls the United States."

More:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/06/us-haiti-wikileaks-minimum-wage-petrocaribe/38579/