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"On the first anniversary of the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, in a sleepy corner of northeast Haiti far from the disaster zone, the Haitian government began the process of evicting 366 farmers from a large, fertile tract of land to clear the way for a new industrial park."They didn't "understand why authorities wanted to replace productive agricultural land with factories in a rural country that had trouble feeding itself."
Many other troubling incidents followed. Haitians are virtually helpless to stop it.
Bill Clinton co-chairs the so-called Haiti recovery commission. He celebrated the Caracol Industrial Park project by "cementing an agreement with the anchor tenant - Sae-A-Trading." Wife Hillary helped seal the deal.
Sae-A is a South Korean clothing manufacturer. It's a major supplier for Walmart and other large retailers.
They, like other local manufacturers, want to exploit Haitians lucky to have work no matter how poorly they're paid and treated. They get below poverty wages. They're treated little better than slaves.
Two and a half years after the quake, "Haiti remains mired in a humanitarian crisis." Hundreds of thousands are homeless. They're largely on their own to survive.
This and other commercial developments benefit profiteers, not Haitians. "Caracol Industrial Park is hardly reconstruction in the strictest sense."
Its developers downplay labor and environmental concerns. They came to make money, not help Haitians. Sae-A has an odious reputation. It closed its Guatemala factory over troubled labor relations.
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