Did anything really change because of UN intervention?
*Haiti currently has a form of slavery called "restavec." It involves the selling of children to rich families. Yes, it also exists in Haitian families abroad. (U.N. estimates about 300,000 children in Haiti)
*Between 1994-1999 Haiti received $2.3 billion dollars of aid from both the U.N. and U.S. The government swallows it up before it reaches the people. (Haiti recieves the most U.S. aid in the Western Hemisphere - 20%)
*Haiti has extreme deforestation that causes massive landslides (like the recent one 2 years ago that killed 2000 Haitians).
*Attempts to increase tourism are futle. In 2000 a French couple were stoned to death during a robbery.
*During 1999, Preval's administration, the U.N. accused his 6000 strong police force of 500 violent crimes, 50 involving murder.
*Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The average per capita is under $480 a year.
*2003 alone the US Coast Guard rescued 2000 Haitians attempted to reach the U.S. by boat.
*Elections in May 2000 (for Parliament) included fifteen people killed before the vote, two were killed on the day of the vote, and three opposition leaders were killed after the vote. The government (lead by Preval) arrested 20 canidates after the elections. The ballot stations were run by members of the FL, some of who were armed. Many votes were lost in transit to the capital.
US "Aid"
Many groups (including Aristide) say that the second coup was nothing more than a foreign (U.S., France, and Canada) funded effort to remove the FL from power. The opposition groups received financial support from these three countries. Millions of dollars went to the opposition groups while a loan of $500 million was witheld from Aristide's government.
Haiti After 1994 Invasion
