the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Nov 12, 2012
Hurricane Sandy hit Haiti on the night of October 24th. The physical and human damage was much more catastrophic in a country that still hasn’t recovered from the 2010 earthquake and last August’s Hurricane Isaac. At least 54 people died due to Hurricane Sandy, and some twenty more were carried off. Today, there are 200,000 disaster victims, added to the 400,000 people already living in temporary shelters since 2010.
The lack of food is particularly alarming. The hurricane destroyed the harvests in the south of Haiti, the wheat basket of the country, and caused a heavy loss of cattle. The price of staples is going to soar and famine threatens.
Since the hurricane destroyed a lot of aqueducts, a new cholera epidemic threatens Haiti. People are forced to pump water from dirty rivers, which is the main way cholera spreads.
The Haitian government called for international aid, but so far only Venezuela has sent any. After the 2010 earthquake, the U.N.’s main activity was stepping up its military presence in Haiti. Some of its troops were responsible for introducing cholera to Haiti. The danger is that this scenario will be repeated.