Putting Haiti back together
Dear Editor:
Re “Putting Haiti back together”
Haiti cannot be put back together again because it was never together in the first place. The history of Haiti makes for depressing reading. After shucking the shackles of slavery under France, Haiti, even though it was blockaded by the then slave-owning United States, was left with a great language and access to French culture and science which it failed to take advantage of. It will take a major effort by the developed world, costing billions of dollars, to educate the Haitians to the point where they can rule themselves in a civilized manner. It’s puzzling that the former Haitian dictator Jean Claude (Baby Doc) Duvalier never had to answer for his corrupt rule that thrived on murder, fear and famine. It would be interesting to know why, instead of ending up in the dock of The International Court of Justice in the Hague, Duvalier junior was allowed to flee to France to live in luxury. One suspects that maybe he knows enough about some of the free world’s movers and shakers to thumb his nose at those who would like to see him pay for his crimes. It’s also puzzling that our Haitian born Governor General, Michaelle Jean, whose father was reportedly tortured by Duvalier’s thugs, hasn’t tried to find out why the evil Baby Doc is untouchable.
William Bedford
Toronto
