Life is Sweet - Haiti Elections

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Have you ever seen this guy walking around Worth Avenue in Palm Beach? He has a home on the island with his wife and 4 children, or so it has been reported.

Michel Martelly, stage name, Sweet Micky, is running for President of Haiti. His web site says that he symbolizes a renewal of the Haitian (actually he had this word in lower case) music industry as he created a bridge between the old and new generation.

Michel Martelly says, "I will be the bridge between our destructive past and the aspirations of the new generation who would care for Haiti to become one of the most prosperous countries in the Caribbean at the service of all its inhabitants." At least he is positive.

No one really knows what former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier is up to and rumors have it that Aristide who is in exile in South Africa might return. The US alone gave Haiti over $200 million last year. It is corrupt politicians that many say rigged an election there so that Martelly could run. Most of the U.S. pledged $2.1 billion to Haiti since the earthquake has been held up and Haiti is not getting much from other donor nations either. Some 50 other nations and organizations pledged a total of $8.75 billion for reconstruction, but just $686 million of that has reached Haiti as of October 2010 — less than 15 percent of the total promised for 2010-11.

Martelly has previously acknowledged questionable friendships such as the one with Lt. Col. Michel François, the former Port-au-Prince police chief who was convicted of drug-related offenses in the U.S. Prior to the coup that overthrew Duvalier, Martelly operated a nightclub called the Garage, often frequented by military and other members of the ruling class. Later, after a second coup had overthrown Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Martelly played a free concert to oppose the return of the ousted Haitian president and any American presence on the troubled island. He does like our money, however, that rarely ever gets to his people.

You go where the money is or where it probably will end up. Martelly might very well throw down his musical keyboard if he wins this coming election on March 20 with the hopes of billions in foreign aid coming his way to help Haitians in the poorest nation in the southern hemisphere.

Another thought--The American public elected Ronald Reagan, a former actor, as President and we know how he turned out. Therefore, anything is possible even with Martelly.