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A revamped news feature to unearth the truth beneath official pronouncements, and to echo what grassroots people in Haiti are saying and doing.

The contrast couldn’t be more striking: the newly elected president, René Préval is granted five minutes with George Bush, but spends five days of “fraternal and intense talks” with Fidel Castro and Cuban officials about how the two countries can “expand their cooperation.” The new Canadian prime-minister treats Préval like a beggar -- no official welcome but the promise of a few millions -- while Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez “offers Haiti inexpensive oil,” with promises of additional help for energy and social programs. The cold shoulder from France is also quite remarkable, but Brazil offers help with energy alternatives, and the newly elected Chilean president announces that “Preval needs help...we will give it to him.”
This warm embrace from Latin America’s progressive new governments and from Cuba creates a hopeful feeling in Haiti that real help is finally on the way -- not the kind that lends you a dollar and takes back four in interest. The Latin Americans are not in the business of lending money. They offer in-kind assistance, technical help and know-how in terms of alternative development.
But Haiti’s traditional “friends” -- the U.S., Canada and France -- are not too happy about Préval’s new friends. Will they then try to destabilize his new government? George W. Bush’s new ambassador in Haiti, Janet A. Sanderson, pledges “no significant changes in American policy towards the future government of Haiti.” As the proverb goes, “tande ak wè se de: ”what they say is one thing, what they will do is another. For now, the International Financial Institutions controlled by Washington are rattling Haiti’s chains with a new promise of debt relief -- provided that Haiti does not deviate from a drastic list of “reforms” and conditionalities that will further cripple its impoverished economy.
But what about Préval himself? There is concern among the grassroots in Haiti that he has surrounded himself with a cast of unsavory characters, people who have not shined in the past with their integrity or ability, nor with their commitment to progressive politics. Opportunists filled with ambition and greed, bureaucrats and yes men, old and new members of the permanent government.
Grassroots groups also worry about Préval’s authoritarian inclinations. As reported by the independent Alterpresse news agency, a Collective of grassroots groups against the high cost of living is concerned that the windfall from Haiti’s inclusion in Petrocaribe will go to the private sector. The Collective calls for a national commission to guarantee that the money saved from buying cheap Venezuelan oil goes to social programs that alleviate poverty.
Evo Morales told his supporters in Bolivia: “If I stumble, push me.” The Grassroots Haiti Solidarity Committee intends to push Mr. Préval, constructively. We’ll continue to leave the hero and savior worship stuff to the sycophants and the groupies of recent years. We will also continue to help hold the line against the neoliberal onslaught that will seek to co-opt, bully, subvert, undermine and compromise Haiti in the next five years and beyond.
This new news feature will be an additional thorn to deflate the lies that render Haiti elusive as a country, and that make solidarity with its people so difficult.
Beginning soon and on a non-sectarian basis, we promise you a regular reality check on Haiti, a “ranmase” (gathering) of news that will challenge you with its uncompromising attitude.
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