PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Yes, the earth-shattering quake was powerful enough to bring many countries to their knees.
But Haiti’s horrendous death toll and cataclysmic damage must also be blamed on a history of bad policies pursued by its own weak leadership and the foreign powers governments and aid institutions that have long held sway here.
This latest in a history of Haitian calamities may offer an unmatched opportunity to turn the tide in a country where decades of food aid still have left desperate mothers feeding their children chalk to stop hungry stomachs from rumbling.
Analysts offer revolutionary solutions.
Haitian political commentator Michel Soukar suggests creating farming communities styled on the Israeli kibbutz, taking advantage of the flight of hundreds of thousands from the capital.
Professor Dr. Simon Fass of the University of Texas says a mass migration abroad, like Ireland’s great famine exodus of the 19th century, would allow millions to escape a degraded environment incapable of supporting the ever-growing population.
All agree that key to lifting Haiti from the virtual dark ages is a strengthening of democratic institutions, enabling Haitians to help themselves.
