Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:04:46 GMT
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Bolivian President Evo Morales |
Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua say the US is using the international relief operation in Haiti as a cover-up for a military takeover.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said that he will request an emergency UN meeting to reject what he calls the US military occupation of Haiti.
"It's not right that the United States should use this natural disaster to invade and militarily occupy Haiti," Morales told a press conference on Wednesday.
"If you have all these problems with the injured and the dead from the earthquake, you have to go there to save lives, and you don't do that from a military standpoint," he added.
An outspoken critic of US policies, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez also had accused Washington of occupying Haiti "under the guise of the natural disaster."
Nicaragua also has taken a similar stance toward US with respect to the situation in Haiti.
The United States is deploying up to 20,000 troops to Haiti. US servicemen have taken control of the country's international airport.
The Pentagon has sent one of its biggest aircraft carriers to Haiti, along with other navy and coast guard vessels.
On Friday, Arturo Valenzuela, the US assistant secretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs rejected that the US was occupying Haiti.
"Haiti is a sovereign country, everybody respects Haiti's sovereign country, the United States respects Haiti's sovereignty," said Arturo Valenzuela.
Bolivian President Evo Morales said that he will request an emergency UN meeting to reject what he calls the US military occupation of Haiti.
"It's not right that the United States should use this natural disaster to invade and militarily occupy Haiti," Morales told a press conference on Wednesday.
"If you have all these problems with the injured and the dead from the earthquake, you have to go there to save lives, and you don't do that from a military standpoint," he added.
An outspoken critic of US policies, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez also had accused Washington of occupying Haiti "under the guise of the natural disaster."
Nicaragua also has taken a similar stance toward US with respect to the situation in Haiti.
The United States is deploying up to 20,000 troops to Haiti. US servicemen have taken control of the country's international airport.
The Pentagon has sent one of its biggest aircraft carriers to Haiti, along with other navy and coast guard vessels.
On Friday, Arturo Valenzuela, the US assistant secretary of state for Western hemisphere affairs rejected that the US was occupying Haiti.
"Haiti is a sovereign country, everybody respects Haiti's sovereign country, the United States respects Haiti's sovereignty," said Arturo Valenzuela.
Fri, 22 Jan 2010 06:12:41 GMT
Despite criticism for the US military presence in quake-stricken Haiti, Washington says it has a long-term plan to stay in the country.
"We are there for the long term, this is not something that will be resolved quickly and easily," US Ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff said on Thursday.
Just three days after a magnitude 7 earthquake jolted Haiti on January 12, the United States began to send military forces to the impoverished Caribbean nation.
The head of US Southern Command General Douglas Fraser said on Thursday that nearly 20,000 US troops are due to operate, both on land and offshore, by Sunday.
Currently over 2,676 US troops are operating on the ground in Haiti, Fraser said, adding the number is going to swell to 4,600 by the weekend and that another 10,445 are currently afloat aboard vessels offshore.
More than 4,000 other soldiers and Marines also left North Carolina late Wednesday.
This is while leading international aid organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, blasted the US for putting the delivery of soldiers before medical supplies.
The presence of the US military, which has taken over command of the distribution of humanitarian aid, has raised the ire of some other countries including France, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Paris demanded the United Nations investigate and clarify the dominant US role in Haiti.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Haiti seeks "humanitarian aid, not troops."
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez accused the US of seeking to occupy the country. "The United States government is using a humanitarian tragedy to militarily occupy Haiti. I read somewhere that they even occupied the [presidential] palace."
Washington, in the past, has been accused of interfering in Haitian internal affairs on many occasions. The US military played a role in the departure of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide before his second term was over in early 2004. Aristide described his departure as kidnapping.
Haiti was occupied by US Marines for nearly 20 years from 1915 to 1934. Former US President Bill Clinton sent troops to Haiti in 1994.
Security “Red Zones” in Haiti Preventing Large Aid Groups from Effectively Distributing Aid As thousands of well-equipped US soldiers pour into Haiti, there is an increasing concern about the militarization of the country, supporting the soldiers and not the people. Or, as one doctor put it, “people need gauze, not guns.” We take a look at aid distribution in Haiti and the effect on Haitians fighting to survive in the aftermath of the earthquake. [includes rush transcript] Filed under Haiti, Haiti Earthquake
River to Sea"We are there for the long term, this is not something that will be resolved quickly and easily," US Ambassador to the UN Alejandro Wolff said on Thursday.
Just three days after a magnitude 7 earthquake jolted Haiti on January 12, the United States began to send military forces to the impoverished Caribbean nation.
The head of US Southern Command General Douglas Fraser said on Thursday that nearly 20,000 US troops are due to operate, both on land and offshore, by Sunday.
Currently over 2,676 US troops are operating on the ground in Haiti, Fraser said, adding the number is going to swell to 4,600 by the weekend and that another 10,445 are currently afloat aboard vessels offshore.
More than 4,000 other soldiers and Marines also left North Carolina late Wednesday.
This is while leading international aid organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, blasted the US for putting the delivery of soldiers before medical supplies.
The presence of the US military, which has taken over command of the distribution of humanitarian aid, has raised the ire of some other countries including France, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Paris demanded the United Nations investigate and clarify the dominant US role in Haiti.
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega said Haiti seeks "humanitarian aid, not troops."
Venezuela's Hugo Chavez accused the US of seeking to occupy the country. "The United States government is using a humanitarian tragedy to militarily occupy Haiti. I read somewhere that they even occupied the [presidential] palace."
Washington, in the past, has been accused of interfering in Haitian internal affairs on many occasions. The US military played a role in the departure of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide before his second term was over in early 2004. Aristide described his departure as kidnapping.
Haiti was occupied by US Marines for nearly 20 years from 1915 to 1934. Former US President Bill Clinton sent troops to Haiti in 1994.
Security “Red Zones” in Haiti Preventing Large Aid Groups from Effectively Distributing Aid As thousands of well-equipped US soldiers pour into Haiti, there is an increasing concern about the militarization of the country, supporting the soldiers and not the people. Or, as one doctor put it, “people need gauze, not guns.” We take a look at aid distribution in Haiti and the effect on Haitians fighting to survive in the aftermath of the earthquake. [includes rush transcript] Filed under Haiti, Haiti Earthquake
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