Hillary in Haiti Cartoon

About this Cartoon Let's begin with some facts: 1. Haiti's Toussaint L'Ouverture International Airport was blocked for three hours to accomodate a visit from US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. Much needed emergency aid had to wait on Ms. Clinton. 2. The US military took control of Toussaint L'Ouverture Airport shortly after the devastating earthquake. 3. A Doctors Without Borders cargo plane with a full inflatable hospital and staff was diverted by US military authorities from Port-au-Prince to the Dominican Republic and had to travel overland to Haiti. Doctors Without Borders has been doing relief work in Haiti for years. Doctors Without Borders received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. 4. Haiti has long been the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

While the connections implied by my cartoon are somewhat dubious, the cartoon illustrates some important points and asks some important questions: 1. Why is Haiti's major airport through which emergency aid from outside must arrive under the control of a foreign military? 2. Why are foreign dignitaries considered more important than emergency life-saving aid for Haitians? 3. Why is Haiti so poor and where were all these dignitaries, now so eager to aid Haiti, during the past few decades? If you are interested in contributing to emergency relief for Haiti, consider a donation to Doctors Without Borders. If you are interested in contributing to long term sustainable development in Haiti, consider a donation to The Lambi Fund of Haiti.           Haiti Reading List: To Heal Haiti, Look to History, Not Nature by Mark Danner Doctors Without Borders Cargo Plane With Full Hospital and Staff Blocked From Landing in Port-au-Prince Occupation in Humanitarian Clothing by Jesse Hagopian The kidnapping of Haiti by John Pilger Cuba is Missing... by Dave Lindorff Haiti - Still Starving 23 Days Later by Bill Quigley "Hideous Dream: A soldier's memoir of the US Invasion of Haiti" by Stan Goff, MSgt U.S. Army Special Forces (Ret.) ###