Hti: $7.3 million wasted to lobby the usual suspects

Haiti's government, while controlled by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his party, spent $7.3 million between 1997 and 2002 lobbying the U.S. government as more than 80 percent of the country was impoverished.

During this time, U.S. funding to Haiti, a typical measure of lobbying success, declined, and its economy foundered, fueling his opposition's successful effort to depose Mr. Aristide last week for the second time in 15 years.

"I've always been critical of the Haitian government for that. It was a waste of money," said Robert Maguire, Haiti specialist at Trinity College in Washington.

"Some of it is scandalous. I think the Aristide government would have been better served if it had spent the money to build its embassy [staff] up. All the Caribbean governments do it. They all think they need some big name to lobby in the United States."
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"What he got for that money is for [Democratic U.S. Reps.] Maxine Waters and Charlie Rangel to speak out for him," said Garry Pierre-Pierre, founder and publisher of Haiti Times. "Otherwise, I'm not sure what he got. There was some money that was disbursed through this effort. But most of the money even then went for nongovernmental projects."

Mr. Rangel and Mrs. Waters, as well as the unseated president himself, this week have accused armed U.S. security agents of forcing Mr. Aristide to resign under the threat of violence.

This only confirms the earlier report that

Political opponents ... accused [Aristide] of using state money to pay high-priced lobbyists to influence backers around the world, most notably black American politicians.

So, what did Aristide get for his money while he was in office? Lots of sweet nothings. Jub-jub. After his demittal from office, lots of outrage. Demands for investigations. Cries of Bush administration racism.

The responses of those challenged with the lobbying waste indicated a rapid back pedaling and distancing of self from the disaster that is Aristide and Haiti.

"I don't even like Aristide and I have not talked to any Haitians about Haiti except Aristide," Mr. Rangel said. "I just like the rule of law. We have never said that we supported Aristide."

Mrs. Waters did not return calls, and the Haitian Embassy in Washington refused to comment on the lobbying efforts and the "kidnapping" claims.

Rangel's comments are so shameful as to defy description. He's a congressman in a city with a large Haitian population, yet he's never spoken to any Haitians about Haiti, except Aristide. What utter contempt for the average Haitian that reveals! As for Maxine Waters, why is she shunning the mikes now? She was quick to denounce the Bush administration, but she won't call herself to account.

Were Rangel and Waters the only ones on whom Aristide spent money? No indeed.

Most of the lobbying money, $5.38 million in that period, went to the Florida law firm of Kurzban, Kurzban, Weinger & Tetzeli, which served as Haiti's general counsel in the United States.

Who is Kurzban? He is the one who went everywhere and proclaimed Aristide had been kidnapped, and that the U.S. had pulled a coup. What did Kurzban spend Haiti's $5.38 million on?

Another recipient of Haiti's money was

[t]he lobbying firm headed by Ron Dellums, former California congressman and one-time leader of the Congressional Black Caucus, received $571,326 in 2001 and 2002. Its efforts included discussing "legislation involving Haitian refugees with a member of Congress and congressional staff members," according to a report filed in 1998.

We all know how successful that lobbying effort and legislation was. What change has occurred in the U.S. policy to Haitians coming to these shores illegally? None. Zippo. Zilch. Nada! Yet, Aristide paid Dellums, Waters, and Rangel. He paid people whose interactions with the Bush administration have been so corrosive and false that the administration won't deal with them. The Administration can ignore the CBC without fear of repercussions because the 95%+ black vote that is reflexively Democrat, no matter what good the GOP does for the black community, ensures that the CBC has no leverage with him. If the representatives have no leverage, then the people have none through those official channels. So, GWB will devise policies that he deems are good for all Americans, including blacks [tax cuts, school choice, No Child Left Behind, Medicare, and faith-based initiatives, for instance], with input from blacks like Pastor Jesse Lee Peterson, Colin Powell, and Condoleeza Rice while he by passes the CBC. So, Aristide ignorant of the true state of the relationship between the CBC and the Bush administration, essentially paid for nothing, and Rangel, Waters, and the others knew he was paying for what they could not produce.

Another firm, headed by Hazel Ross-Robinson, wife of Randall Robinson, founder of the black activist TransAfrica Forum and a longtime advocate for Mr. Aristide, received $367,967.

In 1999, Mrs. Ross-Robinson was paid $46,117 for "publiciz[ing] developments pertaining to the foreign principal's attempts to achieve and maintain political and economic stability."

Ah, Randall Robinson of hunger strike fame. Was a 1994 hunger strike what Haiti got in return for these monies paid to his wife? That is clearly absurd; for the hunger strike predated the payment by five years. So what did Aristide get? What exactly did these people do for all this money? Apparently he got nothing-chops and wind-pie. Who has heard of any of their efforts on Haiti's behalf? Who has seen the results? Has Haiti been improved? Has the plight of Haitians been bettered? Only in Aristide's wildest dreams.

Phone calls to Mr. Kurzban regarding his work for Mr. Aristide were not returned. The Robinsons and Mr. Dellums could not be reached for comment. And the Haitian Embassy in the District declined to discuss the expenditures.

Why am I not surprised by this? A couple of days ago, Kurzban could not shut up; now he has nothing to say?

"The Haitian government spent large sums of money in the U.S. with the hope of breaking the logjam that was holding up hundreds of thousands of dollars to help the country," said Charles Ogletree Jr., a board member of TransAfrica Forum, an advocacy group for Africa and Caribbean nations.

"In hindsight, it is easy to say that it could have been spent in other ways," the Harvard law professor said.

This is so sad that it is enraging. Aristide would have been better off spending Haiti's money on infrastructure so the people of Haiti could have clean drinking water, homes that are not hovels, toilets with septic tanks so waste doesn't seep into the water to sicken the people. The Bush Administration wanted to see indications that Aristide was spending money wisely on behalf of his people. Instead, they saw Aristide spending $125 million on celebrations and museums while the peole suffered. Aristide appears to have sincerely believed that these lobbyists could help Haiti, if only he paid them enough. He did. What did Haiti get in return? Here it is.

During Haiti's lobbying efforts, U.S. aid dwindled, from more than $200 million a year in the mid-1990s to around $100 million in 1998, to $52 million last year. In 2001, Haiti's budget showed revenues of $273 million with expenditures of $361 million.

Haiti got screwed in return, is what. Well, part of the population didn't enjoy the screwing because they rose up against him. Then, when he was safely away from a sure bullet to the head, Aristide got help publicizing wacky conspiracy theories so those whom he had paid could be seen to be doing something for Haiti.

In retrospect, all the outrage and protest seems to have been a mask to hide Charlie Rangel's, Waters's, and others poor production on Haiti's behalf, and to conceal their lack of influence with the administration. People who a few days ago were happy to thrust their faces in front of cameras and microphones, suddenly are incommunicado. Aristide's resignation and departure demonstrated once and for all that these new plantation massas have no clothes.

The rest of the Caribbean had better sit up and take notice of these naked massas.