Helping Haiti—or occupying it?

In deploying thousands of marines and other military personnel to help the Haitians, the U.S. risks having its motives misunderstood.

The U.S. is exploiting Haiti’s tragedy for its own purposes, said former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Cuba’s Granma. “Without anyone knowing how or why, thousands of U.S. Marines, 82nd Airborne Division troops, and other military forces have occupied Haitian territory” under the guise of delivering aid. The U.S. government has given “no explanation” for this deployment. Other governments, notably that of France, have complained that the American military is clogging the airports and preventing other countries’ aircraft from landing. What a contrast with Cuba. Our country has long had doctors in Haiti, and they set to work immediately after the quake hit, selflessly tending the wounded. “We are sending doctors, not soldiers!”

Latin American leftists need to get a grip, said Elizabeth Araujo in Venezuela’s Tal Cual. It’s not just Castro: Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega are also promoting the ridiculous theory that U.S. humanitarian aid is simply a cover “for a military invasion of Haiti planned long ago.” According to these two “champions of democratic freedoms,” the massive presence of “gringos bearing medical, rescue, and telecommunications equipment” must be evil. As if to convince any remaining doubters that Chávez has lost all grasp on reality, he even speculated that the U.S. caused the Haitian earthquake, by detonating a nuclear bomb underground.

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