Saturday, May 5, 2012

Prime Minister's disconnect with the poor in Haiti

This article shows the US has circumvented Haiti's constitution a second time to manipulate the political landscape to install candidates of their choosing, not the Haitian people.

The first time was prior to the second round of presidential elections in June 2010 when the US and their allies in the "international community" intervened to allow the comic musician known for dancing naked on stage, Michel Martelly, to run against Mirlande Manigat.

Martelly's regime has been steeped in controversy since he won the elections with less than 14% of ballots cast by the overall electorate in one of the lowest voter turnouts in Haitian history. Martelly has since provided protection to former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier from prosecution for human rights violations. Recently, one of Latin America's most respected journalists, Nuria Piera, revealed that Martelly personally received more than $2.5 million in bribes for providing non-bid reconstruction contracts to companies in the Dominican Republic.

Now, Bill Clinton and the US Embassy flaunt Haiti's sovereignty yet again by openly pressuring parliament to accept controversial businessman Laurent Lamothe as prime minister despite his not meeting eligibility requirements.

According to Top Billing Magazine, Laurent Lamothe was born in Miami, Florida and moved in 2007 to Cape Town, South Africa with his wife Jenny and their two children. Based on Lamothe's own admission to the author of this article, he is not a Haitian citizen.

What is also on display in this article is the lavish lifestyle Lamothe is accustomed to living despite being foisted upon a country where the average citizen earns less than $2 per day.  It is nothing less than a recipe for disaster in a country known for its Morally Repugnant Elite or MREs supported politically by a relatively well-off and conservative American expatriate community. Both of these sectors continue to enforce a system akin to apartheid in Haiti where the chasm between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen.

ARTICLE 157: To be appointed Prime Minister, a person must: 1. Be a native-born Haitian, and never have renounced Haitian nationality; 2. Have attained thirty (30) years of age; 3. Enjoy civil and political rights and never have been sentenced to death, personal restraint or penal servitude or the loss of civil rights; 4. Own real property in Haiti and practice a profession there; 5. Have resided in the county for five (5) consecutive years; 6. Have been relieved of his responsibilities if he has been handling public fund National Magazine says Laurent Lamothe not Born in Haiti