#2 Haiti is a cesspool but the world's solutions haven't helped one whit. Other Caribbean island nations comprised mostly of descendents of slaves grow their own food and fishfarm, and are not dependent upon aid but their cultural backgrounds are different. Some were Dutch, allowing persecuted Jews freedom in the New World, some French and Catholic explorers claiming any wealth, and others British and even settled by Protestant missionaries. Now add the mix of UN personnel and corrupt regimes--not much to rebuild and a possible vermin nest in our backyard. Excerpts from AP reports:
Among the missing is the head of the U.N. mission, Hedi Annabi, who had been in the building, Le Roy said. At least eight of the 125 Chinese stationed with the U.N. in Haiti were killed, China Daily said Wednesday, citing the Chinese vice president of earthquake disaster rescue, Liu Xiangyang. Chinese officials told The AP, however, they could not confirm any casualties. Another three peacekeepers from Jordan were killed, while 21 Jordanians were lightly injured, Jordan's army said, according to country's Petra News Agency.
Mulet, who was Annabi's predecessor in the Haiti post, said the U.N. headquarters building had been constructed in the 1960s with reinforced concrete, and was previously the Christopher Hotel. Other U.N. installations in Haiti were also seriously damaged, Le Roy said, including the headquarters of the U.N. Development Program, where many people were wounded.
The U.N. logistical base near the airport and a U.N. hospital run by Argentine troops were damaged, but not severely, and the hospital was receiving people hurt in the earthquake, Mulet said. The U.N.'s entire Haitian mission includes 7,000 peacekeeping troops, 2,000 international police, 490 international civilian staffers, 1,200 local civilian staffers and 200 U.N. Volunteers, Le Roy said. The force was brought in after a bloody 2004 rebellion (against former priest Aristide) following decades of violence and poverty in the nation.
The archbishop of Port-au-Prince was killed in the devastating earthquakes that have demolished the Haitian capital and taken untold lives since striking Tuesday, according to a dispatch from the Vatican. The body of Msgr. Joseph Serge Miot, 65, was found under the rubble of the archdiocese, and may be one of only hundreds of victims trapped in the ruins of Church buildings on the island. The apostolic nuncio in Haiti, Msgr. Bernardito Auza, said that the cathedral and all the major churches and seminaries in Port-au-Prince were devastated and reduced to piles of rubble. Hundreds of seminarians and priests were trapped in the rubble, he told Vatican Radio.
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