U.S. Gvt. Funding Anti-Lavalas Groups in Haiti

U.S. Gvt. Channels Millions Through National Endowment for Democracy to Fund Anti-Lavalas Groups in Haiti

"We want to continue our Haiti coverage leading up to the election by looking at the activities of a government-funded organization that is pouring millions of dollars into trying to influence the country's political future. The National Endowment for Democracy is one of a handful of state-funded groups that have played a pivotal role in the internal politics of several Latin American and Caribbean countries in the service of the US government."

"The NED operates with an annual budget of $80 million dollars from U.S. Congress and the State Department. In Venezuela, it's given money to several political opponents of President Hugo Chavez. With elections underway in Haiti, it's reportedly doing the same to groups linked to the country's tiny elite and former military."

What hypocrites we are. We consider "Promoting Democracy" to mean buying opposition groups to see to it that countries can't decide their own fate. Pouring money into foreign countries to influence elections are about as undemocratic as you can get, since it subverts the internal process.

It's hypocracy since we don't want to allow other nations to do the same to us. Remember the Clinton scandal involving the Chinese contributing to the Clinton-Gore campaign?

From the Congressional Record, 1998

"Whereas the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight is currently investigating the unprecedented flow of illegal foreign contributions to the Clinton-Gore campaign during the 1996 Presidential campaign;"

"Whereas more than 90 witnesses in the investigation have either asserted the fifth amendment or fled the United States to avoid testifying, including 53 persons involved in raising money for the Democratic National Committee or the Clinton-Gore campaign;"

"Whereas among the 53 persons who have either asserted the fifth amendment or fled the United States to avoid testifying are former Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell; former White House aide Mark Middleton; longtime Clinton friends John Huang, Charlie Trie, and James and Mochtar Riady; and Chinese businessman Ted Sieong and 11 members of his family;"

"Whereas democratic fundraiser Johnny Chung has told Department of Justice investigators that he funneled more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions from a Chinese military officer to Democrats during the 1996 campaign cycle, according to a New York Times report on May 15, 1998;"

Sooo, if we don't want that sort of thing happening here, why are we doing it elsewhere? Well this isn't new, and doesn't surprise me. What does, is that we accept it. We spend billions of dollars to influence the political processes of other countries, and usually cause much greater suffering in those places, then if we'd just stayed away. Think of all the people who've paid a high price because they had to defend themselves against U.S. backed counter-insurgencies in this hemisphere alone. Everytime the people voted in leaders who tried pulling away from our influence, or overthrew brutal U.S. backed dictators, and/or went Communist, we went in and funded, trained and armed, opposition groups that would start a civil war. To be sure, many of those governments would've caused some degree of suffering on their own, but our interference assured that millions throughout the hemisphere would be killed, tortured, imprisoned, and starved, all in the name of "Defending Democracy".

What's really disgusting to me about our long, well documented history of creating unrest wherever big business is inconvenienced, and calling it "Defending American Interests", is that we go along with it so passively.

Related posts:

U.N. Acceptance of 'Collatoral Damage' Worries Haiti Group

Consultants Advisory Group (CAG) Spying in Haiti