In one small piece of good news coming out of Haiti, World Health Organization officials say there is no sign yet of any epidemics emerging in the wake of the massive earthquake. “We’ve seen no reports of outbreaks of diseases,” Paul Garwood, a spokesman for the World Health Organization, tells us by telephone from the group’s…
Haitian Quake Toll Could Hit 300,000 (Common Dreams)
The Haitian Government has raised the confirmed earthquake death toll to 150,000 and said the figure could double as reports from outside the capital are collated. As international donors were preparing to meet overnight in Montreal to discuss rebuilding Haiti, aid agencies said food, water and basic supplies were reaching more people but clinics were…
Our duty to Haiti: donate then wake up!
One day prior to the earthquake in Haiti last week, Darren Ell’s art exhibit Haiti: Holdup opened in Concordia University’s Media Gallery. His photographic documentary pieces were a prescient warning about the vulnerability of Haiti’s fragile infrastructure — a fragility directly caused by American, Canadian and French manipulation. Ell’s exhibit consists of three enormous photographs, seven…
In Haiti, aid comes with an agenda (Globe and Mail)
The international rush to help Haiti has produced some strange bedfellows and left some Haitians confused about who is running their country. Bitter rivals everywhere else, the United States, Venezuela and Cuba have found themselves working side by side in Haiti. Dozens of American soldiers are camped just outside the Venezuelan embassy, which is located…
Canadian soldiers swarmed by desperate Haitians demanding food (National Post)
LEOGANE, Haiti — A crowd of about 2,000 hungry Haitians rushed a food distribution point where Canadian soldiers were providing security on Sunday as homeless residents grow increasingly desperate for post-earthquake relief. Two platoons from the Royal 22nd Regiment were swarmed moments after aid workers finished handing out 2,400 boxes of food from the back…
Haiti talks in Montreal focus on rebuilding (CBC)
International talks on Haiti, scheduled to open Monday in Montreal, will focus on the “critical first steps” in rebuilding the earthquake-ravaged country, not on how much money is needed for the monumental task, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon. Cannon, who will chair the meeting, told a briefing in Ottawa on Sunday that a…
Who to Follow and What to Read for Breaking Developments (Truthout)
You can continue to follow our streaming twitter feed on the right hand side, which includes handpicked tweets from several residents of Haiti reporting what they are witnessing on the ground. Just move your mouse over the tweet to read it and keep it from scrolling. If you’re keeping up with late, breaking developments via…
This Week at War: Help Haiti, But Quietly (Foreign Policy)
The U.S. military is now carrying out a wide-ranging relief mission in Haiti in response to the dreadful Jan. 12 earthquake that virtually destroyed Port-au-Prince and other built-up areas in the country. Because it has the manpower, ships, airplanes, organization, and the budget to rapidly move equipment, supplies, and people to anywhere in the world,…