A year after the earthquake, Haitians are trying to clear away the rubble of corrupt, and failed political leadership. Préval – abetted by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez and the head of the Organization of American States – is trying to deny the Haitian people a president of their own choosing.
The 8.8-magnitude earthquake that ripped through Chile was as bad as they come. But unlike Haiti, Chile’s death toll was 725 people even when its quake was 50 times stronger. Unlike poverty-stricken Haiti, Chile has embraced capitalism.
Mientras Haití quedó devastado y prácticamente sometido no sólo a la solidaridad internacional, sino al orden imprescindible impuesto desde afuera, Chile se empieza a reponer con sus propias fuerzas económicas e institucionales.
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez has gone off the deep end again,
claiming the U.S. engineered the Haiti earthquake. It’s a laughable
malevolence, of course. But given the spectacular U.S. aid effort,
it’s also a threat.
Queda esperar que la tragedia dé lugar a un cambio radical en la vida de esta pequeña y pobre nación: impulsado por la ayuda exterior, pero movido sobre todo por importantes cambios en el seno de la población haitiana, los cuales implicarán armonizar sus tradiciones culturales con la necesidad de elevar su nivel de vida.
As death stalks those smothered beneath the rubble of pancaked buildings, and poor sanitation triggers outbreaks of dysentery and other diseases in Haiti, one nation in the world has the muscle to quickly make a difference.
The news from Haiti is always terrible; when there is no Haitian news, it does not so much suggest that the news is good as that the long, slow catastrophe that is Haitian history is merely continuing as usual. But this week’s apocalyptic earthquake makes Haiti’s recent past seem almost like a golden age.
El mundo redobló sus esfuerzos para socorrer a los sobrevivientes del terremoto en Haití, que dejó decenas de miles de muertos y damnificados, a pesar del caos que vive el país también a la hora de recibir dicha ayuda.