by John Ballard
Reuters reports...
UPDATE 1-IMF to increase Haiti loan by $100 million
WASHINGTON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Thursday it will increase Haiti's existing loan program by $100 million and disburse the funds quickly to help the government rebuild from the massive earthquake.
"The emergency financing would be provided as an augmentation to the existing IMF-supported arrangement with Haiti," IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said, adding the funding had to first be approved by the IMF board.
Strauss-Kahn's daughter worked in Haiti last for the United Nations Development Program. He personally survived an earthquake in Morocco where he grew up.
Addressing Haitians in French during his first news conference this year in Washington, Strauss-Kahn said he was deeply saddened by Haiti's suffering following the 7.0-magnitude
I'm moved by the largesse of the International Monetary Fund. Quick. Somebody give me a handkerchief so I can wipe away the tears.
[expletive deleted here]
A quick check at the IMF website confirms this news.
In addition to the country's already heavy borrowings, Haiti can now add more.
The emergency financing would be provided as an augmentation to the existing IMF-supported arrangement with Haiti under the Extended Credit Facility (formerly the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility). The US$100 million in new funding is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board, which could consider the augmentation under accelerated procedures.
Since 2006, the IMF has disbursed close to US$170 million under its PRGF-supported arrangement. The program was approved in November 2006 in an amount equivalent to about US$114.4 million; in June 2008, an augmentation of about US$25.4 million was approved to help Haiti cope with the impact of high international food and fuel prices. A second increase in IMF financial assistance, of about US$38.1 million was approved by the Executive Board in February 2009 to help mitigate the negative effects of a series of hurricanes in 2008, as well as the global downturn.
Forget the handkerchief. I think I'm gonna hurl.
The quick US response, underscored by the high-profile bi-partisan appearance of two former presidents, is impressive. Media reports provide up-to-the-minute information as it is available. But as millions of donation dollars pour into various recovery efforts the IMF money is neither gift nor grant. It is a loan.
Enter Jubilee, USA.
Jubilee USA Network, an alliance of more than 75 religious denominations, human rights groups, and development agencies, welcomed the Obama administration’s commitment to provide $100 million in immediate support for Haiti, but called on the administration to support additional grants and cancel Haiti’s remaining debt.
The Network also reacted with dismay to news today that the IMF is planning to offer a $100 million loan to Haiti through its Extended Credit Facility (formerly the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility).
“Haiti desperately needs money delivered quickly, but the last thing Haiti needs right now is more debt. Loans for disaster relief are totally inappropriate. The international community cannot possibly expect Haiti to pay back a loan for emergency relief in the wake of this disaster,” said Neil Watkins, Executive Director of Jubilee USA.
Jubilee USA called on the Obama administration to take three specific steps as part of its comprehensive response to the Haiti earthquake: (1) Provide massive assistance for relief and reconstruction in the form of grants, not loans; (2) Cancel the rest of Haiti's debt; and (3) Provide Temporary Protective Status to Haitians living in the US.
That's correct.
Debt forgiveness.
Is there anyone in America who hasn't heard the term "under water" used in connection with home mortgages?
In the last few weeks I can recall at least half a dozen sources of advice on radio, TV or print media telling folks to "walk away" if the mortgage on their house was more than the value of the property.
Help me understand how Haiti is different. Circumstances there are orders of magnitude worse.
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In related news, another challenge to Haitian recovery was hinted at by Todd Shea...
As usual, many big shots are failing to think selflessly and share
their financial, operational resources with smaller but super-effective
agencies- acting like they are the only game in town and the smaller
agencies are merely a nuisance underfoot that should just be ignored.
...except in the larger picture there is a struggle for control at the international level. From the Guardian, left-wing rag though it be, there is this...
The US military's takeover of emergency operations in Haiti has triggered a diplomatic row with countries and aid agencies furious at having flights redirected.
Brazil and France lodged an official protest with Washington after US military aircraft were given priority at Port-au-Prince's congested airport, forcing many non-US flights to divert to the Dominican Republic.
Brasilia warned it would not relinquish command of UN forces in Haiti, and Paris complained the airport had become a US "annexe", exposing a brewing power struggle amid the global relief effort. The Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières also complained about diverted flights.
The row prompted Haiti's president, René Préval, to call for calm. "This is an extremely difficult situation," he told AP. "We must keep our cool to co-ordinate and not throw accusations at each other."[...]
Flights seeking permission to land continuously circle the airport, which is damaged and has only a single runway, rankling several governments and aid agencies. "There are 200 flights going in and out every day, which is an incredible amount for a country like Haiti," Jarry Emmanuel, air logistics officer for the UN's World Food Programme, told the New York Times. "But most flights are for the US military. Their priorities are to secure the country. Ours are to feed. We have got to get those priorities in sync."
In history class that kind of contest is called seeking hegemony.
Anyone curious how al-Jazeera Magazine reports the news from Haiti?
How about this...Eco-tourism, archaeological exploration and voyeuristic visits to Vodou rituals are all being touted by Haiti's struggling boutique tourism industry, as Royal Caribbean plans to bring the world largest cruise ship here, sparking the need for excursions.
So while Pat Robertson denounces Haiti's great slave revolution as a pact with the devil, Clinton is helping to reduce it to a tourist trap.
At the same time, Clinton's plans for Haiti include an expansion of the sweatshop industry to take advantage of cheap labor available from the urban masses. The U.S. granted duty-free treatment for Haitian apparel exports to make it easy for sweatshops to return to Haiti.
Clinton celebrated the possibilities of sweatshop development during a whirlwind tour of a textile plant owned and operated by the infamous Cintas Corp. He announced that George Soros had offered $50 million for a new industrial park of sweatshops that could create 25,000 jobs in the garment industry. Clinton explained at a press conference that Haiti's government could create "more jobs by lowering the cost of doing business, including the cost of rent."
As TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson told Democracy Now! "That isn't the kind of investment that Haiti needs. It needs capital investment. It needs investment so that it can be self-sufficient. It needs investment so that it can feed itself."
Hearts and minds, anyone???
I just learned something interesting.
Aljazeera Publishing owns and operates Aljazeera.com, bringing you the world today. Aljazeera Publishing is an independent media organisation established in 1992 in London. Aljazeera.com has a particular focus on events and issues in the Middle East covering major developments presenting facts as they happen.
Important note: Aljazeera Publishing and Aljazeera.com are not associated with any of the below organisations:
- Al Jazeera Newspaper, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia whose website is al-jazirah.com
- Al Jazeera Satellite Channel whose website is aljazeera.net.
- Al Jazeera Information Centre who website is aljazeerah.info
Aljazeera Publishing disassociates itself from the views, opinions and broadcasts of these titles.
Moving along...
As the days tick by it becomes increasingly clear that the now famous axiom never to waste a crisis has practical applications even in the unlikeliest places.
The Militarization of Emergency Aid to Haiti: Is it a Humanitarian Operation or an Invasion?
...In contrast to rescue and relief teams dispatched by various civilian teams and organizations, the humanitarian mandate of the US military is not clearly defined:
“Marines are definitely warriors first, and that is what the world knows the Marines for,... [but] we’re equally as compassionate when we need to be, and this is a role that we’d like to show -- that compassionate warrior, reaching out with a helping hand for those who need it. We are very excited about this.” (Marines' Spokesman, Marines Embark on Haiti Response Mission, Army Forces Press Services, January 14, 2010)
While presidents Obama and Préval spoke on the phone, there were no reports of negotiations between the two governments regarding the entry and deployment of US troops on Haitian soil. The decision was taken and imposed unilaterally by Washington. The total lack of a functioning government in Haiti was used to legitimize, on humanitarian grounds, the sending in of a powerful military force, which has de facto taken over several governmental functions.
Situated between South America and Cuba, the island of Hispaniola has clear strategic value. If the penny hasn't dropped, think Castro and Chavez and it will all come clear.
It is no accident that we hear no reports of Cuban or Venezuelan assistance in this effort.
It's not because they are not there.
As usual, I report, you decide.
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