Hugo Chavez is accusing the United States of militarily occupying Haiti under the cover of providing humanitarian aid. Of course, my first reaction to seeing the condition of Port-au-Prince was to say that Haiti would need to become a protectorate of sorts, if not in letter then in reality. I didn’t say that as an ideological matter, although I certainly expect the Washington Establishment and American business community to take advantage of this situation to establish a permanent anti-Cuban, anti-Chavez presence in Haiti.
Given the confluence of American ideological and business interests and Haitian need, there should be little doubt of what will happen now. And that upsets Mr. Chavez, as I can well understand. But, the question is, how can Haiti meet its challenges without the kind of help and investment that only America seems able and willing to provide? They need to provide food for a couple million people, police the streets, rebuild their port, upgrade their roads, move millions of pounds of rubble, rebuild their government buildings, reestablish businesses, build new hotels and tourist attractions, and so on. And they have no money to pay for this and a virtually invisible government. Many nations will provide humanitarian aid, and investment can come from any place, but it is America that has the proximity, equipment, resources, and will to rebuild an actual government infrastructure. And this will not be done without strings attached that are both warranted (accountability) and self-serving.
The challenge for Obama is to make this arrangement as mutually beneficial as possible. Haiti needs a ton of help. But they should not be left indebted and lacking sovereignty, nor in a situation where they are not in control of their resources. On the other hand, human nature being what it is, Port-au-Prince isn’t getting rebuilt entirely through charity.
