This situation worries the New York Times and its backers in the US government, who are well aware of the protests that threatened President Michel Martelly this fall. (See “Martelly government cracks down on Haitian protests”). In a December 23 report, the Times complains about the amount of money spent on tents, bottled water, and other immediate relief after the earthquake, mindful that such temporary supplies were not enough to pacify the population.
Attempts to subdue the Haitian population are, of course, nothing new. In a two-part collaboration this week, Alterpresse and the media organization Ayiti Kale Je reported on the effects of a World Bank program implemented for this purpose after the 2004 overthrow of democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.