After the European Parliament vote on the resolution on the situation in Haiti, one year after the earthquake, GUE/NGL MEP Jacky Hénin (France) made the following statement:

"Most of my group decided to abstain because the events taking place in Haiti are a clear illustration of the limitations of current workings of the UN. In Haiti, humanitarian intervention is showing its incapacity to put sustainable solutions in place for the Haitian people.

11.5 billion dollars were pledged by the international community to rebuild the country. How much of this aid has actually arrived there? Who decides where it should go? It still remains to be seen what reconstruction we're talking about. Will we see, once again, a people becoming unemployed and watching while large multinational companies rebuild their country?

The compromise resolution adopted today only addresses the situation in Haiti in humanitarian terms; there is no mention of the responsibility of certain countries in the political crisis reinforced by the recent elections.

The European Union and the United States would do well to follow the Cuban example, rather than wallowing in the media hype, which ultimately serves primarily their economic and political interests at the expense of a sustainable reconstruction of the Haitian state and its economy.

In our opinion, the European Union, and France in particular, have a historical responsibility towards the country and the situation in Haiti cannot be solved by a paternalistic vision, which would amount to considering the Haitian people like children incapable of making their own choices.

We should keep in mind that it took the worst disasters to occur so that the World Bank and the IMF finally decided to cancel Haiti's debt."

GUE/NGL Press contact
Gianfranco Battistini +32 475 64 66 28
Gay Kavanagh + 32 473 842 320
David Lundy + 32 485 505812
www.guengl.eu