Rebloged from the Caribbean Empowerment website. The international news-feed is choked with the ongoing impasse between HAMAS and Israel. What about Haiti? We know the answer, it is a Black country that is of little geopolitical importance located in a region where a one foreign policy remains a pipe dream – Blogmaster
Haiti – CARICOM Deepens its Betrayal
Caribbean Organisation for Peoples Empowerment Americas, Caribbean, World October 6, 2023 4 Minutes
By A.T. Freeman
On 2 October, the US presented to the United Nations Security Council a resolution calling for the authorisation of its long planned military attack on Haiti. The resolution was adopted by 13 votes to 0 with Russia and China abstaining. The states which voted in favour of the resolution were Albania, Brazil, Ecuador, France, Gabon, Ghana, Japan, Malta, Mozambique, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.
Resolution 2699 that authorises the military attack on Haiti has been passed under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter which allows for the use of violence against an individual state. A number of commentators have pointed out that, in fact, this resolution is illegal and itself violates the UN Charter since Chapter 7 focuses on defending international peace through addressing threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression. Clearly, the activities of criminal gangs in an individual state do not present a threat to international peace and so are not the business of the UN Security Council and definitely not an issue that can be addressed by the use of Chapter 7. Not surprisingly, the drafters of the resolution do not explain how the situation in Haiti presents a threat to international peace. It is ironic that this resolution is being used to facilitate an act of unprovoked aggression against a member state, something that Chapter 7 is supposed to deter.
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Five years after the devastating earthquake, that would have totally destroyed most other Caribbean countries, our Haitian brothers and sisters are slowly, and we are convinced surely, rebuilding their society. As always, the aid promised has not all be forthcoming and the spectre of corrupt practices still looms, but we hasten to add that these maladies are not unique after such destruction and chaos. There will always be those humans and organizations, both private and public, who will exploit human suffering for their own greed and nefarious ambitions.