Jake Johnston
@JakobJohnston
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Researching, writing. @ceprdc. Author of AID STATE. https://t.co/YUmQCz87VR
Joined November 2010
Susan Rice is not Stephen Miller and has Haitian art on her office wall. That’s cool. In 2011, Susan Rice threatened to cut post-quake aid if Haiti didn’t arbitrarily overturn the results of its election. Not so cool.
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Oh, I see we're doing the whole demonize Haitian migrants ahead of an election thing again.
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US Senator Bob Menendez, the top Democrat on the foreign relations committee, was indicted on corruption charges today. For years he has used his position in the committee to ensure a hardline, retrograde US policy toward Latin America, especially Cuba.
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Lula gets put in jail. OAS response: shrug. Correa barred from participating in politics. OAS response: shrug. Morales overthrown in coup. OAS response: nice work. Bolivia coup president Anez is arrested. OAS response: we are very concerned.
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We've got official results data for 13 voting centers where, in 2019, the OAS alleged that ALL of the tally sheets were fraudulent. Here's how things look in 2020 compared to 2019.
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In 2019, among the 226 actas that the OAS claimed were proof of fraud, were 8 from a voting center in Villa Tunari. We don't have full results for 2020, but 13 actas from the same voting center have been processed. MAS doing even better. The. OAS. Has. Been. Lying. All. Along.
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In Haiti, the US threatens the opposition for demanding better conditions for elections; in Venezuela, the US threatens the government in support of an opposition boycott of elections. It's not about elections, it's not about democracy -- this much should be clear to everyone.
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Blatant election interference from the Trump administration ahead of tomorrow’s vote in Ecuador. A desperate attempt at a last minute shift as betting and bond markets are heavily favoring the opposition?
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12 years ago the US, Canada, France and others in the international community pressured the Haitian government to overturn the election results and clear the way for Martelly to reach the presidency. Today, he was sanctioned by Canada for providing support to armed groups.
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BREAKING on @HaitiAidWatch: US Envoy to Haiti Resigns, Citing Political Intervention and “Inhumane” Deportation Policy.
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NEW: The @OAS_official has brushed aside criticism of its statistical analysis of Bolivia's election by pointing to all the other problems they found. We took a long look at the OAS audit. Our study is out today. The OAS has lots to answer for.
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En 2023, antes de asumir la presidencia de Ecuador,.@folha informó sobre documentos filtrados que vinculaban a Daniel Noboa con empresas fantasma en paraísos fiscales. Dicha vinculación lo inhabilitaría para ejercer cargos públicos. A un año y medio de la denuncia, y a pocas
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THREAD: @OAS_official released its final audit of the Bolivian elections. In the 35 days since it released a preliminary report: Evo Morales was ousted in a coup; an opposition Senator swore herself in as president; 30+ have been killed, most by state security forces.
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Since the quake @USAID disbursed $2.5 billion for work in Haiti. 2.6% went directly to Haitian organizations. 54% went to companies located inside the Beltway. Just two firms, Chemonics and DAI, received 7.5 times what went to ALL Haitian orgs combined.
Sunday marks 10 years since the Haiti earthquake. Lots of folks asking about where all those billions in aid pledges went. You don't need to go to Haiti to find out. Most of it never left donor countries. Start by asking US politicians why they won't reform our broken aid system.
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Nice to see the @nytimes, 8 months after the fact, recognize that @ceprdc was right about the @OAS_official bogus claims of an “inexplicable” trend change in Bolivia's 2019 election. It took us less than 24 hours to figure it out though.
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Ecuador has banned former president Rafael Correa's political party from participating in upcoming elections . Crickets from US media and rights organizations.
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It's one month before Ecuador's elections and the government has just hired a DC lobbyist on a three month contract for $165,000. Agenda item #1 for the lobbyist: facilitate an official state visit between Noboa and Trump.
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Big story on Guillermo Lasso, president of Ecuador, and his use of a shady Florida shell company to pay for a six figure PR contract to boost his image internationally.
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With Lula's win in Brazil, many are wondering if the country might once again lead a military intervention in Haiti. One of Lula's top foreign policy advisors, his former foreign minister Celso Amorim, signed a declaration two weeks ago opposing military intervention.
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This is worth 3 minutes of your time.
State Dept spox Matt Miller: "The troops will only be in Haiti at the invitation of the Haitian govt.". Intercept's @ryangrim: "But you just formed that government yesterday in Jaimaica.". Watch Miller tie himself in knots:
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Tens of Millions in Florida Properties Linked to Ecuadorian Presidential Candidate Guillermo Lasso.
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The US must immediately stop further deportations. Earlier this week, more than 100 people, including many young children, were deported from the US to Haiti.
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Today, @ICEgov is trying to deport Paul Pierrilus to Haiti. He is not even Haitian. He was removed from a deportation flight the other week at the last minute. The Haitian government had said they would not accept. More info to come. @MondaireJones @BocchitEdmond
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My response on CNN last night when the anchor introduced a question with the "poorest country in the Western Hemisphere" line.
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Today, as Haitians commemorate the death of revolutionary leader Jean-Jacque Dessalines, the UN Security Council will debate sending troops to Haiti.
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Gilbert Bigio, sanctioned by Canada today, is an honorary consul of Israel in Haiti. He also bought Jeffrey Epstein's Mercedes Maybach for $132,000.
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Former Haitian Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe is among those named in the Pandora Papers leak. He remained the beneficial owner of a BVI company, Lightfoot Ventures, while in office. Also connected to Lightfoot: former President Michel (aka Michael) Martelly.
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Citing "decades of US meddling in Haiti’s internal affairs," 4 Senators and 9 House members write to President Biden suggesting steps the US should take to change course and support a Haitian-led path forward.
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In addition to their regular salaries, Kenyan security forces sent to Haiti will receive between $1,100 and $1,500 per month. Starting salary for a Haitian police officer is less than $200 a month.
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Last week Daniel Foote criticized US policy in Haiti, saying we had basically chosen the country's last two presidents. He said it was time for a change. This week, State announces the return of a diplomat involved in both those events.
I am proud to announce that Ambassador Kenneth Merten will return to @USEmbassyHaiti to serve as Chargé d’Affaires. The United States is a steadfast partner to Haiti, and we remain committed to supporting the Haitian people.
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“There will be a lot of calls for international intervention and sending troops, but it’s important that we take a step back and see how international intervention has contributed to this situation,” I told the @nytimes.
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Last year, Jamaica's homicide rate was more than 2.5 times greater than Haiti's.
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Someone make sure the @OAS_official, observing today's US elections, knows that when the later-counted votes "change the trend" it is not evidence of fraud.
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Former president Michel Martelly traveled back to Haiti from Florida on Saturday, the day before Canada announced sanctions against him. Great timing. Sure it was a coincidence.
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China's rep to the security council, on the question of sending forces to Haiti: Will sending such a force receive the understanding and support of parties in Haiti or face resistance or even trigger violent confrontation from the population? These are things we need to consider.
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8 countries have now reported positive COVID-19 cases among those recently deported from the US: El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Jamaica, Haiti, Mexico, India, Romania. ICE deportation machine is exporting COVID across the world.
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Don’t let black smoke fool you. This is a peaceful protest.
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The 450 foreign troops in Haiti are based right next to the airport in Port-au-Prince. The US has allocated more than $130 million for building and operating the base. But they haven't even been able to keep the airport open. Maybe its time to come up with a better plan.
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The US is pushing a military intervention in Haiti because the situation on the ground is so dire, yet at the same time is taking steps to ensure that Haitian asylum seekers cannot make it to the US and will be returned to Haiti "as quickly as possible." . Makes sense.
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The MAS party has hit 50% in the official results system with less than 60% of tally sheets counted. The lead will continue to increase from here. Likely, it will end even higher than the quick counts, which did not include votes from abroad (which favor MAS).
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Pentagon looking for service providers to set up the facilities for the security force deploying to Haiti. Internet, soap, deodorant, sheets, pillows . enough for 1,300 people.
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For weeks, many thousands of Haitians all across the country have taken to the streets, protesting rising prices, fuel shortages, and calling on de facto PM Henry to resign. This is from Port-au-Prince earlier today, courtesy of @viliusyvon.
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Would have been more surprising if none of them received US training …
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It's not just that the OAS claims of an "inexplicable" trend change in Bolivia were wrong. The OAS *knew* they wrong, and continued to lie anyway, helping pave the way for a coup. This isn't an academic debate. The OAS needs to be held accountable.
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Colombia's Semana reports that Dimitri Herard, the head of the president's security detail, recently traveled to Colombia.
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Excited to announce that my forthcoming book, Aid State, is now available for pre-order. Big thanks to the team at @StMartinsPress and all those who helped along the way.
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Lots of people talk about Haiti as a "failed state" - but what we see today is as much the product of foreign-led attempts at nation-building. Not a failed state, an aid state. For centuries foreign powers have sought to "manage" Haiti; the aid state was just the latest attempt.
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So far this week, 7 US military planes have landed in Port-au-Prince.
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From tabloid rag, to right-wing troll, to president of El Salvador, and owner of this site.
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It’s an embarrassing day for the @OAS_official and its electoral observation department — considered its “crown jewel.” If anybody did such poor work in their own job, they’d be fired. You’d think there would be at least some accountability at the OAS. #Bolivia #DefundTheOAS
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Whether you think Haiti needs foreign security or not, conditioning participation in a new government on acceptance of the Kenya-led force negotiated by Henry is wrong. It is clear the US backed Henry because they understood replacing him would call the deal into question.
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Today is the day. AID STATE is now available. Thank you so much to everyone that helped turn this crazy idea into a reality. @NaomiAKlein @FictionsofHaiti @RepAndyLevin @GregGrandin @EDanticat @StMartinsPress @ceprdc @EtantDupain
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The airport in Haiti might be closed and foreign embassies are evacuating staff via helicopter to the DR . but if you think that will stop the United States from forcibly returning Haitians trying to seek a better life, well .
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While Barbecue talks about revolution, the people actually in charge are hard at work consolidating a narco state. Izo now openly referring to his group as a cartel.
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Explosive new report from @revistaRAYA, based on internal Ecuadorian police documents, showing the connections between the president's banana company and drug trafficking. The report details three seizures of cocaine hidden in bananas from Noboa Trading, one just last year. A
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Just a reminder to foreign media, Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier is not Haiti’s most powerful “gang leader.” The group with the most money and guns is Izo’s. The former speaks to press with grandiose rhetoric, the latter brags about heinous shit on TikTok.
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Why don't I take the @OAS_official audit on #Bolivia at face value? Because they've been lying about a "drastic" and "inexplicable" trend shift since October 21. TREP in 2016 v. TREP in 2019:
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It's been one year since Haiti's president, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in his home. We still know very little for sure about what happened. What we do know is nearly everyone implicated claimed to be acting with US support:
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One especially interesting bit from @Jacquiecharles reports on the Haiti assassination: Arcangel Pretel Ortiz, the Colombian who recruited the ex-soldiers and worked as an FBI informant, was "still working for the agency at the time of the assassination."
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The US Attorney overseeing the investigation into the 2021 assassination of Haiti's president just confirmed that one of the defendants was an active FBI informant. (As @MiamiHerald has reported). But, the attorney added, "he couldn't possibly have been sharing with the FBI."
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The earthquake in Haiti was 11 years ago today. Looking back, the biggest scandal isn't the billions in wasted aid, it is how the billions that did get spent were used to try and control the future of a nation.
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NEW: On February 17, Haitian police arrested seven security contractors a few blocks from the country’s Central Bank. They claimed to be on a government mission, and had a cache of weapons. Four days later the US “rescued” them. What happened?
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a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti this morning. That is a more powerful quake than the one in 2010.
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No better way to strengthen "democratic values" than supporting an unconstitutional electoral council that few outside the Haitian government consider even slightly legitimate.
The U.S., via @USAID_Haiti, is helping the Haitian people prepare for elections by providing technical support to the @cep_haiti, strengthening political parties and NGOs, and increasing the participation of women in Haitian politics.
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A former US ambassador to Haiti gave an interview and said Guy Philippe and Barbecue should be part of the solution. Feeling left out, Izo sent armed men to attack civilians in Laboule this morning, according to a source with direct knowledge. Maybe folks need to STFU.
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Sunday marks 10 years since the Haiti earthquake. Lots of folks asking about where all those billions in aid pledges went. You don't need to go to Haiti to find out. Most of it never left donor countries. Start by asking US politicians why they won't reform our broken aid system.
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Over the last two weeks, the armed groups claiming to be leading a modern day Haitian revolution have ransacked schools and hospitals, blocked access to water, and displaced tens of thousands. The victims are the most impoverished, not the elite and their political allies.
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US rice exporters are counting on the US-funded, Kenya-led intervention in Haiti to ensure continued market access. Haiti is the second largest market in the world for US rice, with more than $230M exported in 2022. But exports from the US to Haiti are down 13% so far in 2023.
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Exclusive on @HaitiAidWatch: Head of Haiti’s Palace Guard Subject of US Law Enforcement Investigation into Arms Trafficking.
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Deportations to Haiti by day, since September 19: . 9/19: 3 flights, 323 people. 9/20: 2, 233.9/21: 4, 523.9/22: 3, 318.9/23: 5, 548.9/24: 4, 375.9/25-26: 10, 1,030.9/27: 6, 582.9/28: 6, 696. Total: 43 flights, 4,632 people. Another 6 flights scheduled today.
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Asked why the Biden administration is supporting de facto PM Ariel Henry, @WHAAsstSecty says "he has ended fuel subsidies" which is something "we have wanted to see in Haiti for quite some time." . "I respect him for that," Nichols said.
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International sanctions hit Haiti's private sector. Canada has added Reynold Deeb, Gilbert Bigio, and Sherif Abdallah to its sanction list. All three businessmen have been closely associated with the Martelly and Moise administrations.
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ICE is planning on deporting a number of Haitians tomorrow, according to immigration lawyers. Amid COVID-19, US should halt all deportations - especially to countries with limited resources to respond. Haitian government should follow lead from Guatemala and demand the same.
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Remember when the DR government got really angry because a few members of the US congress wrote a letter that mentioned the DR as a source of illegal arms trafficked to Haiti. lol
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I'll never cease to be amazed at the number of academics who continue to take @OAS_official claims about Bolivia's 2019 elections at face value. OAS officials should be thankful they have diplomatic immunity and can lie with impunity. But people were jailed because of those lies.
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@HaitiAidWatch “What our Haitian friends really want, and need, is the opportunity to chart their own course, without international puppeteering and favored candidates but with genuine support for that course,” Foote wrote, pointing to US policy as a root cause of migration.
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This morning, more than 18 months after the fact, the FBI arrested one of its informants over his alleged involvement in the assassination of Haiti's president. Let that one sink in for a moment.
DoJ will have a press conference this afternoon to announce “significant developments” in the investigation into the assassination of Haiti’s president.
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The false, hateful, xenophobic rhetoric about Haitians and migrants in general is putting people's lives in danger. It is dehumanizing. That is the point.
Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, are keeping their children home and reporting damage to their property as anti-immigrant conspiracy theories spread, fanned by statements by Trump and Vance
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.@SenSanders is the first presidential contender to say anything about the situation in Haiti.
For over a year, Haitians have demonstrated against government corruption and rising costs. As protests grow, I am concerned about increased violence. Using live ammunition against protesters and journalists violates basic human rights and is unacceptable.
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Reminder, as the US prepares to expel more than 1,500 Haitians in the next few weeks, that the amoral and inhumane immigration detention system we see today began as a racist response to increased migration from Haiti in the late 70s and early 80s.
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Amid breathless media coverage leaning into the worst racist tropes about Haiti, never forget that foreign intervention helped create this situation.
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Today's flight is the 28th deportation to Haiti since Biden took office. Just three days ago, the State Department raised its Haiti travel advisory to level 4 - "Do not travel." The US is knowingly sending asylum seekers into significant danger. Unconscionable.
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Another @ICEgov deportation flight to Haiti just took off from Miami, FL. This is the second one today and the fourth this week. At least one more expected tomorrow. In coming weeks, the number returned to Haiti is expected to reach 1,800.
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NEW on @HaitiAidWatch: More Than 90 Organizations Reject Calls for Military Intervention in Haiti.
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68 members of Congress, led by @RepGregoryMeeks and @RepJeffries, the chair of the @HouseDemocrats, sent a letter today to @SecBlinken calling for a reassessment of US policy in Haiti. “Continuing along the same path will only exacerbate the situation,” they wrote.
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Too many analysts and advocates are discussing insecurity in Haiti as a cause rather than a symptom. So it is not surprising the proposed "solutions" all read like more of the same failed policies.
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A bit of personal news . Today, I handed in the complete manuscript of my forthcoming book from @StMartinsPress, Aid State: Elite Panic, Disaster Capitalism, and the Battle to Control Haiti. If only I had an ice cold Prestige.
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12 years of USAID spending in Haiti: just 3 percent went directly to local organizations. Though there have been many pledges to do better, of the first $50 million awarded after the 2021 quake, nothing went directly to local groups. Why?.
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Don't let the @OAS_official fool you. They want everyone to forget they started lying the day after the election.
Here is the OAS press release from Oct. 21, the day after Bolivia's election. Imagine how things may have turned out different if they had correctly noted that the trend change was consistent with prior results instead of undermining the election based on a lie.
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In 2023, before Daniel Noboa became president of Ecuador, @folha reported on leaked docs showing he owned shell companies in tax havens. It would make him ineligible to hold public office. 1.5 years later, and with elections next month, he has yet to address the allegations.
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As Blinken visits Haiti and talks about strengthening the local police, a reminder: the money the US has spent on the Kenya MSS over just the last few months far surpasses the annual budget of the Haitian police.
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"We applaud the work you are doing to combat corruption," @ABlinken says to @LassoGuillermo, as the Ecuadorian president faces a congressional inquiry into his use of offshore tax havens following the Pandora Papers leak.
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In Haiti's 2010 election, foreign governments and the OAS intervened to change the results, ushering Michel Martelly into the elections' second round. That vote was held 14 years ago today. Here is what Cheryl Mills, Clinton's then chief of staff, had to say after:
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A panel of three Haitians keep repeating over and over that foreign military intervention is not only unwanted but part of the explanation for the current crisis. And members of Congress can’t seem to understand it, keep asking the former US ambassador questions on security.
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