Haiti and Cuba - like Night and Day

The Post in a recent Editorial speaking about Haiti and Cuba said that "conditions in the two countries are similar.” Other than being in the same hemisphere, they are not similar in any way.

The general “complaint” of the editorial was that we treat illegal Cubans reaching our shores differently than we do Haitians or any other country's populous. That is true. The “wet-foot, dry-foot” rule was devised so that Cubans fleeing from Castro’s Cuba (that the U.S. considered a prison island), would have a chance of reaching freedom in the United States while at the same time deterring a mass exodus. It was a name later given to a policy that originated in 1966 when we were all paranoid about Communists. Since 1994, we annually grant 20,000 Visas to Cubans and many more Cubans want to come to our shores. It is estimated that 16,000 over and above the Visas arrive here inspite of our heavy patrol of the seas. This wet foot-dry foot policy should be revisited.

Haiti has been literally plagued with violence, corruption and dictatorships. The U.S. even managed to get Aristide elected to office just for him to turn out as corrupt as those who came before him. Haiti is highly illiterate and one of the poorest countries in the world. The people are denied basic rights of health and education. The U.S. has been involved with Haiti off and on for a very long time. There is corruption everywhere in Haiti and the capital, Port au Prince, has been paralyzed by kidnappings and people assassinated on the streets in broad daylight. The police are reported to be part of the lawlessness. This is part of daily life there even before the earthquake.

In Cuba, the illiteracy rate is one of the lowest in the world. It has one of the highest qualities of medical care for its people. Its education system is one of the best. It is democratic ever since it overthrew its last dictator, Batista , who was in the hip pocket of the United States, 50 years ago. Cuba’s standard of living is one of the highest in all of Latin America. Cuba has a communist form of government. No other party is allowed to exist. Elections are held. There is no capitalism. Law and order prevail.

The GNP of Cuba is $11 billion and ranked 98th with a population of about 11.5 million. Haiti, with a population of 10 million is ranked 139th, with a GNP at $3.88 billion. The Gross National Product (GNP) is the value of all the goods and services produced in an economy, plus the value of the goods and services imported, less the goods and services exported. If you recall, the United States imposed a total embargo against Cuba in 1962 because of “human rights” issues and they were still ticked off at Castro.

Cuba fought a battle to get rid of corruption and to get rid of a dictatorship and imperialism highly supported by the United States. It won. Haiti, with U.S. intervention off and on throughout the last two centuries, is as corrupt as they come. There is NO comparison of the two countries.

The only difference today between the two is that America still imposes its influence on Haiti. According to former ambassador Brian Dean Curran, the US policy helped to destabalize Haiti in the years leading up to 2004 when Aristide was forced out by armed rebels.

The only similarity between Haiti and Cuba is 90 miles of water that separate them. Other than that, it is like night and day.

Tonight under New Business G, Commissioner Jennings is bringing forth a resolution supporting temporary protection status for Haitians.