In this 2007 TED talk, the novelist Isabel Allende speaks about passion as a guiding, even humanizing principle, about the “best four minutes” of her life, walking the Olympic stadium at the Torino Games, Rose Mapendo’s amazing story of struggle and survival, and the tragic inequity women suffer across the global economy. “Although women do two-thirds of the world’s labor, they own less than one percent of the world’s assets. They are paid less than men for the same work, if they are paid at all.”

Allende defends the right of women not only to equal treatment, but as the basis for a general improvement of the quality of life of not only women, but of families, communities, villages, nations and regions. She describes how educating and empowering women helps to restore villages, to create opportunity, to establish sustainable local economies. “Women are 51% of humanity; empowering them will change everything.”

“What I fear most is power with impunity.” She describes how in patterns of abuse, “the trickle down effect, which does not work in economics, works perfectly. Abuse trickles down.” Instead, Allende says that “for real change, we need feminine energy in the management of the world; we need a critical number of women in positions of power, and we need to nurture the feminine energy in men, men with young minds”.

Her message is not only one of passion, and a devotion to the spirit of “the warrior heart” of women like Wangari Maathai and Rose Mapendo, and to devote that passion to the hard but viable work of creating “an almost perfect world”, a world that is “not better, but good”.

In Brazil’s hotly contested presidential election, to decide the successor to the hugely popular Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, founder and leader of the Workers Party of Brazil (PT), the failure of any candidate to win more than 50% of the vote has set up a second round between the two leading candidates. But for many, the big news is that the Green Party (PV) candidate, Marina Silva, won nearly 20% of the vote, which means neither of the two leading candidates has a lot of freedom to govern without her support. Silva will now clearly demand that whichever candidate she backs for the runoff agree to enact much of the Green Party’s sustainability platform.

With traditional sympathies often cited between environmental groups, green parties and the labor-focused political left, many believe the PT candidate Dilma Rousseff, an economist who has served in Lula’s cabinet throughout his tenure, will have enough support to win a majority, but Marina Silva and the Greens are intensely critical of many of the government’s development projects in the Amazon region, which they say ignore fundamental principles of sustainability and environmental responsibility.

Ms. Silva’s performance in the voting, winning 19.3% of the vote, is a landmark moment for the ecological movement worldwide. In one of the world’s largest democracies, where many experts across the world believe the keys to deciding the specifics of international cooperation on environmental sustainability, climate change mitigation and emissions reduction, may reside, such support for the Green Party shows the population is willing to say to the ruling elite: development at any cost is not acceptable.

Whether Silva will have the political savvy to leverage her 19.3% of the vote against the popularity of Lula’s administration and the likely progressive support for Rousseff is a complicated question. Rousseff, like Silva, seeks to become the first female president in Brazil’s history, and on many social issues, her policies overlap with the Green Party agenda. Rousseff is waging a campaign against poverty, which also means a campaign for development.

Lula’s government has been successful at implementing an aggressive public works agenda, and Silva is likely to seek to roll back what is seen by many as unfettered depletion of the ecological balance of sensitive regions like the Amazon rainforest. The specifics of how Rousseff proposes to extend that development agenda may now need to be re-evaluated, if Green Party support is needed to reach majority support among the voting public.

José Serra, candidate for the Social Democratic Party of Brazil (PSD), may also now seek to set himself apart from Rousseff and Lula’s PT by courting the environmental vote. The PSD is described as a coalition of liberals, social democrats and centrist progressives, and demonstrates the degree to which Brazil’s electorate is one of the least right-of-center in the world. Serra could feasibly revise his electoral strategy to design a new development agenda that would further the platform focus of the Green Party, or even include Marina Silva as a top minister to ensure sustainability in Brazil’s rapidly growing economy.

This complex multi-party centrist-to-liberal dynamic may be what has candidate Rousseff less than enthused about her performance in the first round of voting. Though Lula himself always won by going to a second round, and Rousseff herself has had to fight through tough allegations and political attacks, there had been a home among PT faithful that she could ride Lula’s coat-tails to a first-round victory. In a nation with three dominant center to left-of-center parties, Dilma Rousseff cannot be assured of winning the progressive support currently held by the Silva’s PV candidacy.

She may find herself having to explain how to alter economic plans that have significant momentum behind them, and answer criticism of development programs under Lula that the Greens say are eroding the natural balance of systems in the Amazon. There is also sure to be a new-conservative line of attack against Rousseff and the PT, rooted in the green conservative model proposed by British PM David Cameron. Rousseff faces a significant challenge to her frontrunner position, if she does not negotiate some kind of ecologically sustainable agenda with Silva and the Greens.

The environmental catastrophe resulting from BP’s blown-out deepwater oil well in the Gulf of Mexico is the worst seen in the US, but Ecuador’s ongoing battle with pervasive, persistent toxic contamination relating to Texaco’s operations in the remote Amazon is the worst oil-related environmental disaster the world has ever seen. In a once-pristine corner of the Ecuadoran Amazon rainforest, Texaco dumped billions of gallons of petroleum waste byproduct, contaminating groundwater and ruining the local environment irreparably.

According to a brief filed by plaintiffs:

It deliberately dumped many billions of gallons of waste byproduct from oil drilling directly into the rivers and streams of the rainforest covering an area the size of Rhode Island. It gouged more than 900 unlined waste pits out of the jungle floor — pits which to this day leach toxic waste into soils and groundwater. It burned hundreds of millions of cubic feet of gas and waste oil into the atmosphere, poisoning the air and creating ‘black rain’ which inundated the area during tropical thunderstorms.

In Ecuador, lax oversight allowed Texaco to operate with near total impunity, misleading public officials and using the rainforest as its private dumping ground. The environmental effects have, however, such pervasive and lasting consequences that the very idea of a comprehensive clean-up is virtually out of the question.

The Ecuador spill was actually thousands, if not tens of thousands of spills, deliberately released into the natural environment, with total impunity, over several decades. But the crisis there holds many lessons for the prevention and clean-up effort in the Gulf of Mexico. Delicate marshland ecosystems and networks of narrow waterways can be particularly vulnerable to seepage, and it is urgently necessary to stop the slick from penetrating those ecosystems.

Bob Herbert’s Op-Ed in the New York times puts the problem in sharp, clear terms:

President Obama has suspended Shell’s Arctic drilling permits and has temporarily halted the so-called Arctic oil rush. What we’ve learned from the BP debacle in the gulf, and from the rainforest, and so many other places, is just how reckless and inept the oil companies can be when it comes to safeguarding life, limb and the environment.

They’re dangerous. They need the most stringent kind of oversight, and swift and severe sanctions for serious wrongdoing. At the same time, we need to be searching with a much, much greater sense of urgency for viable energy alternatives. Treating the Amazon and the gulf and the Arctic as if they were nothing more than toxic waste sites is an affront to the planet and all life-forms that inhabit it.

The fact is we do not know how to get oil to market without putting the natural environment in grave danger: the search for oil is inherently destructive; the technology to guarantee a drilling site is safe and sealed and secure against seepage simply does not exist; by their very nature, oil companies routinely explore in new terrain in which the most advanced techniques have never been tested; as we push the envelope, we put the environment at risk.

Oil companies find this risk more than worth their while, as they rarely pay the costs, their operations are heavily subsidized, and they can reap profits running into the billions of dollars. People, wildlife, natural systems, and the human livable environment, are routinely put in harm’s way, in service of those profits.

The Texaco disaster in Ecuador was part of a planned strategy of toxic-waste dumping, which disregarded any risk to the local environment and relied on the assumption that the business to be done there was simply of more value than the human lives and the natural systems being systematically destroyed by Texaco’s activity. What happened in Ecuador might ultimately include 100 times more contamination than the BP spill, but world attention has not focused enough attention there to drive a substantial clean-up effort or to learn the important lessons.

Tropical Storm Agatha has become one of the top ten deadliest tropical storm systems on record, behind 6 full-force hurricanes, dropping nearly two feet of rain on central America in two days, flooding multiple nations’ low-lying areas and creating havoc across the region. At least 142 people have been killed, mostly in flooding and landslides, and coffee growers and farmers are preparing for potential long-term impact on agriculture across the region.

In El Salvador, the extreme weather has left at least 6 people dead, with flooding spreading across farm land and low-lying areas. El Salvador’s Pres. Mauricio Funes has declared a state of emergency, amid worries the heavy rains and flooding will lead to landslides, mass evacuations, displacements, death and disease. Funes warned that “We have finally decided to declare a red alert across the entire country”, but was careful to note that “we have not declared this alert because of a high number of deaths.”

Honduras has also declared a state of emergency, after 14 were killed. In Guatemala, intense rains and winds coincided with lava flow and hot ash from the Pacaya Volcano, causing evacuations made more complex by the dangers posed by lava and ash. The volcano’s surge in activity had closed the Pacaya airport, and with rains complicating the ash-removal effort, the flow of people and supplies into or out of the city will be impeded.

As of yesterday, there were over 17,000 people displaced and living in temporary housing in Guatemala, and authorities seek to coordinate the response, to ensure flooding does not lead to transport-related fatalities or the spread of disease. According to a Global Voices report, quoting Geraldine Mac:

A state of emergency has been declared in Guatemala as the storms heavy rain thrashes through Central America. ‘Agatha’s’ heavy rain has caused mud-slides which are destroying houses and businesses alike, cutting off roads and causing fear and panic throughout the region and there is a risk of a volcanic eruption. Just over 120 miles from Guatemala City in the town of Alomolonga, a mudslide buried a house with a family of 2 adults and 2 children there was no survivors. Four other adults and children have also been killed in separate incidents due to the amount of heavy rain causing more than just a few mud-slides and 11 people are missing. These mudslides have been causing traffic problems and power has been cut off from those places affected.

La Tribuna, of Honduras, reports that at least 142 people are confirmed dead in connection with Tropical Storm Agatha. Initial reports suggest Guatemala is the worst affected nation, with 118 confirmed deaths and reports of possibly many more missing or killed. According to La Tribuna:

La Coordinadora Nacional para la Reducción de Desastres de Guatemala dijo que su registro contabilizó 118 muertos y 53 desaparecidos.

El alcalde de San Antonio Palopó, Andrés Cúmez, reportó 15 fallecidos en su comunidad que no están incluidos en el conteo oficial, y el gobernador de Chimaltenango, Erick de León, indicó que en su jurisdicción hay 11 muertos más de lo que reportan las cifras de la Coordinadora.

Guatemala’s National Disaster-Reduction Coordinator reports 118 dead, but local officials have reported many more disappeared and at least 15 additional people killed in San Antonio Palopó and 11 additional people killed in Chimaltenango, not included in the official tallies. Part of the emergency response will be a more thorough accounting of who has been affected, injured, disappeared or killed by the storm.

According to El Comercio, Perú, the rains have left at least 111,000 people displaced, and more to be evacuated, in Guatemala, with thousands of homes destroyed or damaged and fears of more to come as flooding continues. The Mexican government has expressed solidarity and sympathy for the affected nations, including those communities most impacted in Honduras, namely Tegucigalpa, Choluteca and Comayagua.

• Some reporting contributed by J.E. Robertson

Facing challenges in the courts and nearly ready to reach its effective date, Arizona’s immigrant ID law —which allows local police to demand immigration documents from anyone based on “reasonable suspicion” of being undocumented— is now facing a nationwide wave of protest. Arizona is facing official boycotts from cities, businesses and individuals around the country, and claims the law is necessary.

The claim has commonly been made by supporters of SB1070, Arizona’s immigrant ID law, that it will help to “protect public safety” or “fight crime”. The statistics do not, however, show that this approach will help to create a safer community environment or that the population targeted by the law is engaged in higher rates of crime than the population of native-born or naturalized American citizens.

In fact, it appears the law will prevent law-abiding people, who either do not have immigration documents in order or who simply fear persecution based on cultural or ethnic bias, from reporting crimes or serving as witnesses for the prosecution. The number of ways in which the law will make it harder for police to help build safer communities is a key reason why police organizations have been calling for it to be scaled back or overturned.

There is real concern that singling out communities of those who one “reasonably suspects” might be undocumented immigrants will have the immediate and direct effect of inviting drug cartels using extreme violence into Arizona to create protection rackets and to act with total impunity, knowing no one will turn them in to authorities. Arizona’s governor has, many believe, created a near absolute vacuum of public authority which will allow hundreds of thousands of people to become victims of narcoterrorist groups and human traffickers, with no right to turn to police for help.

There have been rallies in Philadelphia since passage of the law, and a number estimated in the hundreds protested again Saturday, in connection with the rallies across the country. The Philadelphia City Council, like others around the country, has also passed two resolutions that call for the Mayor’s office to divest any money that could be going to Arizona or to Arizona-based businesses.

In Phoenix, Arizona, there were warnings that traffic would be disrupted as tens of thousands planned to gather to call for the repeal of the law. A group of musicians and bands have also joined together to boycott the state in protest. According to the Arizona Daily Star:

A coalition of musical artists has announced that its members will boycott all performances in Arizona to protest the state’s tough new immigration law.

The coalition, dubbed Sound Strike, is led by Rage Against the Machine frontman Zack de la Rocha. He called the law “an assault on the U.S. Constitution.”

The National Minority Supplier Development Council has moved its October conference, scheduled for Phoenix, to Florida, both in protest of the provisions of the law and also citing concerns some of its members might face legal and political persecution due to their race or ethnicity. The dual reasoning is an important feature of the move, as protests are no longer citing only principle but wider fears that minorities could be targeted by police for persecution mandated by this law, while having certain constitutional protections stripped.

The Tucson Sentinel reports that “Tens of thousands of protesters marched on Arizona’s State Capitol in Phoenix Saturday as they demonstrated against the state’s controversial immigration law, SB 1070.” The spreading dissent over the Constitutionality of the law pits those who believe security lies in limiting the freedoms of certain people against those who believe there is no security without the freedoms promised by the Constitution.

The Deepwater Horizon undersea oil well is now the source of the worst oil spill on record. The spreading slick continues to threaten coastal communities throughout the Gulf of Mexico region, and could destroy delicate wetland ecosystems. Rep. Melancon (D-LA) was choking back tears yesterday as he explained the grave long-term harm he fears will be done to Louisiana’s coastal wetlands, saying “everything I know and love is at risk”. BP, it appears, has not been able to determine whether or not its “top kill” operation has succeeded in stopping the flow of oil.

It is now estimated that between 18 and 39 million gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf of Mexico. This far exceeds the catastrophic Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, which was 11 million gallons. After the initial “top kill” operation had appeared to significantly reduce the pressure of the petroleum emerging from the well, BP has reportedly decided to do a “junk shot”, pouring refuse from tires, bridging materials and other materials into the well.

Video from the site appears to show there is still some mix of mud and oil pouring from the well, though it has been difficult to assess the exact composition of the material itself. A BP spokesman has reportedly suggested it may not be possible to fully overwhelm the pressure of the well in a safe way. With the official recognition by BP that the “top kill” maneuver had failed, the company said it will now work on ways to “contain” the flow of oil, until relief wells being drilled are able to relieve pressure, sometime in August.

According to the Christian Science Monitor:

After BP’s three unsuccessful attempts to stop or siphon the gushing oil, federal officials also appear to be shifting focus. They are subtly but repeatedly emphasizing that their efforts should be judged by the region’s long-term recovery – not on the immediate issue of whether they can stop the Macondo wellhead from leaking 800,000 gallons of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico.

Addressing the situation in a statement Saturday, President Obama said: “It is as enraging as it is heartbreaking, and we will not relent until this leak is contained, until the waters and shores are cleaned up, and until the people unjustly victimized by this manmade disaster are made whole.”

It appears increasingly to be the case that BP misled authorities about the flow of oil pouring into the Gulf, and those false reports may have had the effect of scaling down the broader response for cleanup and/or containment. MSNBC reports that conservation biologists studying the video say they believe there are likely 2 million gallons of oil pouring into the Gulf on a daily basis.

BP has noted the severe challenges facing the latest containment operation. The BBC reports that:

The Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) will use undersea robots to slice through the damaged pipe to make a clean cut that can be connected to a riser, capturing the leaking oil.

However, BP said the operation had never been carried out at a depth of 5,000ft and “the successful deployment of the containment system cannot be assured”.

The hope is the new plan will show signs of having worked to contain the majority of the oil gushing from the well by the end of this week. But, critics have said the engineering does not exactly suggest that scenario is viable: if BP admits it does not believe it can overwhelm the entire flow of oil from the well, the remaining flow may eventually overwhelm the containment device.

Pres. Obama has expressed outrage, and has instituted increasingly aggressive monitoring efforts, but is faced with the hard fact that the US government does not appear to have the engineering expertise for this specific type of crisis situation. Regulatory agencies that would be able to obtain and distribute the information necessary to ensure the Army Corps of Engineers and other government agencies would have the technical expertise and training to stage an immediate emergency response had funding stripped throughout the last administration.

Pres. Obama may not be able to make that case, but it remains a very real problem for the administration, the American public and the environment of the Gulf coast states. The leaking Macondo well is now the site of the worst oil disaster in the history of the United States, and is expected to leak between 800,000 and 2 million gallons of oil per day until it is closed. The new estimates mean that roughly every 10 days the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill is released into the Gulf of Mexico.

In Florida and elsewhere, migrant workers who do not enjoy the legal protections that come with legal paperwork are easily subjected to abuses, near zero pay and even violence. Conditions on some farms amount to slavery, and the US Justice Department has prosecuted at least 7 such farms in the last decade.

There are far more cases of individuals living in slave conditions than there are cases being investigated, and the lack of documentation allows abusive operations to prevent workers from seeking help. A first step for a just society must be to give asylum to any workers that have been subject to such conditions, so a proper criminal investigation can be launched and slavery eradicated in the US.

The very fact that such slave-labor conditions exist within the United States reveals deep economic flaws, suggestive of a nation that cannot meet the pricing demands of its consumers without such abuses. But most people will not tolerate the idea that such operations exist at all, if we can make the choice to bring slave-drivers to justice and free their victims from servitude.

• Discussion on How to Eradicate Modern-day Slavery
• A Campaign for Fair Food: Coalition of Immokalee Workers
• 2010 Florida Modern-Day Slavery Museum

El estado de Arizona —antiguamente parte del territorio español que vino a ser México, y uno de los estados de mayor población de ascendencia hispana— ha legalizado el perfilamiento racial y la persecución sistemática de los inmigrantes. La ley denominada como propuesta SB1070 no sólo permite, sino exige, a los agentes de policía estatales y municipales pedir los documentos migratorios a cualquier individuo que se les parezca “razonablemente” sospechoso de ser indocumentado.

La ley cambia fundamentalmente ciertas normas históricas de la relación entre los estados y el gobierno federal, declarando ilegal al nivel estatal estar en terreno de Arizona sin documentos federales de inmigración legal. Más allá de eso, declara ilegal que ningún agente del gobierno federal intente prevenir que los oficiales locales cumplan con el trabajo exigido por esta ley.

Varias organizaciones profesionales policiales han declarado su oposición fundamental a la lógica de la nueva ley anti-inmigrante, en parte porque les parece pedir un comportamiento que viola protecciones constitucionales de la libertad individual, en parte porque pronostican un deterioro en la relación entre la policía y la comunidad, y en parte porque la ley contiene medidas que agreden directamente a los policías en su trabajo diario.

La ley arizonense anti-inmigrante incluye unas cláusulas fuertemente anti-policía, que permiten a los ciudadanos meter a juicio civil a la policía si sienten que no está ejerciendo lo bastante agresivamente sus nuevos poderes bajo esta ley. Además, la ley garantiza que si en uno de esos juicios gane el quejante, éste recibirá de vuelta, pagado por la policía o el estado, no sólo todos los gastos del proceso, sino también de sus consejeros legales.

Esto último, según varias fuentes policiales y/o con experiencia de procesos civiles, hará que sea tan fácil montar campañas agresivas de ese tipo, que la policía se encontrará constantemente bajo amenaza de proceso jurídico, sólo por respetar protecciones constitucionales, como el derecho de estar seguros en persona, propiedad y papeles, sin riesgo de revisión o inspección sin causa ni orden jurídico.

La ley es radical, o incluso radicalista, por principio, en otros sentidos también. Permite, por ejemplo, no sólo que los policías estatales y/o municipales puedan exigirle los documentos a cualquiera que sospechen “razonablemente” que sea un inmigrante indocumentado, sino también que lo detengan sin causa ni orden jurídico —el texto de la ley [PDF] es explícito: “A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER, WITHOUT A WARRANT, MAY ARREST A PERSON IF THE OFFICER HAS PROBABLE CAUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE PERSON HAS COMMITTED ANY PUBLIC OFFENSE THAT MAKES THE PERSON REMOVABLE FROM THE UNITED STATES.”—, y que incluso transporten al detenido a otras jurisdicciones o a otros estados, para entregarle a la custodia federal.

Este poder, de máxima discreción o arbitrariedad, es una expansión radical del poder policial de decidir, sin supervisión ni proceso, el destino de una persona que no ha hecho nada más que “parecer” ser indocumentado. Para algunos críticos, y para los defensores de los derechos civiles, significa una especie de introducción de la “rendición extraordinaria” a la ley doméstica estadounidense, vulneración del principio básico del sistema jurídico del país denominado habeas corpus.

Agregamos ésta a las múltiples razones por las cuales, SB1070 es un ataque frontal a los principios constitucionales de un gobierno del pueblo, regido por distintas ramas del poder legal, que en sus intereses adversariales garantizan cierto nivel de democracia. Aunque algunos políticos del estado, incluido el Senador John McCain (Republicano), quieren dar la impresión de que hay que apoyar estas medidas por razones electorales, la verdad de la verdad es que SB1070 es una amenaza directa a la libertad de todo individuo que viva dentro de EE.UU.

No se puede permitir, ni mucho menos exigir, que la policía adopte la postura de ir a la caza de posibles indocumentados —en plan totalitario, “¡Sus papeles, por favor!”— sin erosionar las protecciones civiles constitucionales de las que nos beneficiamos todos, al vivir cada día sin miedo de que nos persigan por ofensas arbitrarias, políticas o de postura o parecer. La democracia depende precisamente de que no puede haber, en ningún caso, una ley como la que ha promulgado la legislatura de Arizona.

Existe en el diálogo popular respecto a este asunto la posible defensa de que hay gente en Arizona que tiene miedo de “lo que está pasando” en la frontera. Pero esa defensa tiene varios fallos fatales que hay que mirar bien:

1. la democracia no privilegia el miedo sobre la libertad y soberanía del individuo;
2. el miedo no ayuda a crear condiciones de mayor seguridad;
3. la tasa de inmigración —tanto legal como ilegal— ha bajado notablemente debido a la crisis económica;
4. el problema de la frontera son los “coyotes” y los narcoterroristas, no los trabajadores ni sus familias;
5. en muchos casos, los que citan el miedo de la violencia fronteriza no favorecen la prohibición de venta de armas de fuego a las redes que las proporcionan a los narcotraficantes;
6. el miedo que citan los defensores de esta ley, en muchos casos, se debe a una limitación cultural y personal, y no tiene nada que ver con los que sufrirán discriminación y persecución bajo esta ley;
7. la Constitución protege la esfera íntima del ser humano: persona, propiedad y papeles (Enmienda IV);
8. la Constitución garantiza protección igual de las leyes a todos (Enmienda XIV);
9. es imposible efectuar esta ley en la práctica sin un ejercicio descarado de racismo;
10. si se hace sin un enfoque racial, significa la declaración de un estado policíaco totalitario en Arizona, donde nadie queda libre de este nuevo poder arbitrario.

Eso, para comenzar. Baste decir que no podemos dejarnos gobernar por el miedo. En un país donde se hablan cada día como primer idioma 329 idiomas, y sin idioma oficial, no podemos tener miedo de ser lo bastante cultos como para tolerar la diversidad humana, que es la riqueza más importante y el orgullo más brillante de esta vieja democracia, la prueba de nuestra democracia. Y tenemos que recordar que a veces cuesta tener fe, pero si nos dedicamos al principio de que la Constitución prohibe actuaciones tiránicas del gobierno, tenemos que mantenernos firmes en no caer en las trampas que el miedo pone para hacernos desechar tal principio.

Thomas Jefferson dijo que el dólar que gastamos para la educación y el mejoramiento intelectual de la población no es nada comparado con la fortuna que nos quitaría el tirano que subirá cuando ya no somos lo bastante sabios para prevenirlo. Arizona ha votado por la ignorancia, el miedo, y un ataque frontal a los principios básicos de la democracia; ha dejado que subieran las ideas de los racistas más perjudicados y desavergonzados; y cada ser humano en Arizona tiene la responsabilidad de resistir de forma civil esta erosión de su dignidad humana.

En la legislatura californiana, ya se habla de un boicot comprensivo contra el estado de Arizona. Una coalición informal de camioneros ha declarado su intención de no comerciar con Arizona. El Departamento de Justicia está investigando de qué manera vulnera la Constitución federal esta ley. En otros lugares del país, también hablan de montar un boicot comercial y comunitario del estado.

La solución más obvia sería una reforma migratoria federal comprensiva, de acuerdo con todas las protecciones constitucionales y efectuando una manera práctica y humana de normalizar el estatus de aquellos inmigrantes indocumentados que en todo lo demás concuerden con las leyes y contribuyen a la salud y prosperidad de sus comunidades y de la sociedad en general.

Pero para comenzar a tener un debate serio sobre este asunto, hay que recordar que en todo momento, estamos hablando sólo y exclusivamente de seres humanos, que no somos o personas o “ilegales”, que no somos o pueblo o inmigrante, que no se trata de un país “anglo” con una “invasión” de extranjeros, sino que somos un país abierto, democrático, donde las culturas indígenas y europeas tienen que convivir con otras culturas, sin miedo, y con gente de otros lugares, que todos somos seres humanos, y que el orgullo de este país es el poder decir:

“Give me your tired, your poor, / Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” —la virtud colosal de la apertura global que reconoció Emma Lazarus en su poema para la Estatua de la Libertad—, que aquí, el ser humano es ser humano, y si uno se encuentra más celebrado que otro, será por el valor de su carácter, no por su raza ni su origen. La Constitución de Estados Unidos no es una serie de ideales inalcanzables o de sueños para cuando no sintamos miedo; es la ley suprema de esta tierra, y su garantía de igualdad, de libertad individual y de protección contra acciones policiales arbitrarias, es la única guía que el ejecutivo tiene derecho a seguir.

• Arizona Immigrant ID Law Ignores Constitutional Protections
• Papers, Please! — Maddow reveals racist origins of Arizona law (video)

The governor of Arizona has signed into law a measure that would allow police to demand proof of legal residency in cases where they believe an individual might be an undocumented immigrant. The same law would also require people to carry proof of legal residency. It is unclear how the law would be enforced without racial profiling and whether or not US citizens would be subject to legal penalties if caught not carrying proof of citizenship.

The law ignores the Constitutional ban on “unreasonable search” and protecting personal documents. It also seeks to establish state-level control over an area of law that is the domain of the federal government. There is, for instance, no Arizona customs service or national border service. The border is a federal category, and immigration is controlled, by law, by various federal agencies and the jurisprudence of federal law. There is language in the law that is reportedly designed to prevent the federal government from interfering with state enforcement.

In unmistakably relevant and meaningful language, the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution reads:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The president announced before the law was even signed by Arizona’s governor that he has directed the Justice Department’s civil rights division to investigate whether or not specific provisions of the Arizona law would violate federal or Constitutional civil rights protections. Numerous rights groups have said they plan to mount one or more legal challenges to the law. Constitutional scholars have begun to weigh in and some Arizona law enforcement officials have said they think it will place an unfair burden on police, and possibly take them outside their real scope of legal authority.

According to the New York Times:

Hispanics, in particular, who were not long ago courted by the Republican Party as a swing voting bloc, railed against the law as a recipe for racial and ethnic profiling. “Governor Brewer caved to the radical fringe,” a statement by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said, predicting that the law would create “a spiral of pervasive fear, community distrust, increased crime and costly litigation, with nationwide repercussions.”

While police demands of documents are common on subways, highways and in public places in some countries, including France, Arizona is the first state to demand that immigrants meet federal requirements to carry identity documents legitimizing their presence on American soil.

For Americans who grew up during the Cold War era, the specter of totalitarian dictatorship was often represented, even in children’s cartoons, by the scene in which policemen stop people going about their daily routines, demanding “Your papers please!” There are organizing efforts going on to stage massive protests against the law, and to pressure other states to pledge not to take such action. The Miami Herald reports that a loose association of truckers traveling into or out of Arizona are planning to stage a trade boycott of the entire state.

There is also a spreading effort, across Arizona and other states, to mount a political challenge to the Republican domination of state politics, with nearly 30% of the population of Arizona being of Hispanic descent. NPR correspondent Ted Robbins reports that:

The things that are circumstantial are the fact that a larger than general portion of the Hispanic population in Arizona is under 18. So, of course, they can’t vote. And then there’s also a lot of folks who are in the country either legally or not legally, but they can’t vote because they’re not citizens yet. So, if you pair them away, what you have is 17 percent of eligible voters are Hispanic. That’s of the whole population. So they don’t, you can see that that halves the number of total Hispanics in the state. So the numbers belie their electoral power.

There is some question as to whether this law is taking place specifically because Republican party leaders in the state do not believe there is any substantial electoral risk from alienating the Hispanic voting population, which tends to lean Democratic to begin with. Gov. Jan Brewer (R-AZ) has sought to frame the legislation as an effort to fight back against “the murderous greed of drug cartels”, even as some fear the militant bandwagoning of prominent figures like Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who has called for the deployment of thousands of US military personnel to the Mexican border.

The law is in some ways an expression of deep cultural paradoxes running through the rightward shift of the Republican party nationally. The anti-tax “tea party” movement has spent the better part of a year trying to oppose Pres. Obama and his agenda as a “socialist” takeover in which the government will take an egregiously authoritarian role in the private lives and economic choices of individuals, with little hint of any such possibility. But the same militant conservatism appears to be the impetus for this law, which establishes an unprecedented right for law enforcement to involve itself in people’s daily routines, with almost no adherence to Constitutional principles of due process.

That psychological conflict, inherent in the apparent radicalization of the Republican party and its public policy agenda, may ultimately be a serious problem for the party in terms of the arithmetic of general elections and of elections of national scope. It may also allow the Democratic party to rouse an under-involved political constituency whose personal, family and community interests, not to mention a committed belief in the value of American Constitutional ideals, and motivate a wave vote against such measures.

The legal challenge will likely come from three fronts. There will likely be a federal response, at least insofar as the Justice Department will seek to instruct Arizona state and municipal law enforcement that the jurisdictional scope of this legislation is, due to Constitutional provisions, far narrower than the governor and the law’s backers would like. There will also be a civil rights response, coming from one or more prominent and community-based organizations. And there may be a citizen-based response, in which individuals targeted by the law, or who fear they may be targeted for unequal treatment, will sue the state or law enforcement.

The LA Times reports:

Obama signaled that a legal showdown might be possible and that his administration would “examine the civil rights and other implications” of the law. Department of Justice officials said they “were reviewing the bill” but declined to discuss the legislation further. Immigrant rights groups have vowed a court fight, arguing that regulating immigration is a federal matter.

[...] Hundreds of high school students left classes this week in protest, pouring into the plaza outside the state Capitol and urging a veto. Religious leaders and police chiefs — and thousands of callers to the governor’s office — pressed for Brewer to reject the bill. Some Arizona officials argued it would stigmatize the state much as its past refusal to honor the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. U.S. Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, a Democrat who represents southern Arizona, called for a convention boycott of his own state.

The measure not only sets up a serious showdown over the nature of long-standing civil rights protections, and a genuine national crisis of identity over the degree to which police action and the daily activities of citizens might be in conflict, but it also challenges the historic openness of American society. The ideological movement behind this legislation favors sealing the southern border of the United States militarily, and the official establishment of what has been called in the past the “Fortress America” model of immigration enforcement.

This confrontational model is tempting to those who believe it will bring added security, especially in communities where a rise in levels of chronic poverty or violent crime appears to be associated with the black market in human smuggling. But there is little evidence that such measures would address that problem. The most likely practical outcome is the widespread, institutionalized harassment of individuals, even US citizens, most of whom are in no way violating any law, even up to and including immigration law.

The immigrant identification law has been compared to the beginnings of apartheid, in which the status of individuals had to be officially determined and classified, ostensibly in the interests of “security”. And while the specific provisions of the law would erode individual liberties in serious ways — allowing law enforcement to demand proof of residency at any moment, for virtually any reason, and possibly subjecting citizens and policemen to legal penalty for not collaborating — it contains no specific provisions that would directly impact the activities of violent smuggling cartels.

Even as Haiti grapples with the deep and lasting devastation of the earthquake that left tens of millions dead, millions homeless and destroyed vital infrastructure needed to maintain routine food distribution and medical care, hundreds of thousands of people are now vulnerable to catastrophic flooding expected to hit the low-lying camps where they are struggling to maintain makeshift tent cities. As many as one million people need to be relocated and/or given viable shelter, to avoid the rapid spread of infectious disease.

Haiti suffers 98% deforestation, due to unchecked logging across the nation, which leaves its hillsides and river banks dangerously unstable and prone to slippage and flooding. Drainage canals in the capital Port au Prince and outlying areas, have been clogged with debris since the earthquake, and will likely not to the full work of clearing the floodwaters. Pervasive flooding would threaten the lives of tens or even hundreds of thousands of displaced people unable to seek shelter more substantial than a tent.

With flooding, otherwise habitable land can become a breeding ground for infection and the close proximity of large numbers of displaced people can cause the risk of epidemic to run literally off the charts. Young children, pregnant women and the elderly and infirm can quickly find themselves immuno-compromised due to lack of food and safe drinking water, further exacerbating the threat. Oxfam, the Red Cross, Yele Haiti and other aid organizations, are racing to build the temporary infrastructure to protect against the rains.

According to Reuters AlertNet:

Oxfam is distributing tents and plastic sheeting to thousands of them and estimates indicate that there is enough shelter material — either in the capital or en route — to meet the needs of about 50% of those who have been displaced. Aid groups think that as many as 40% of them could return to their homes if their buildings are declared safe. Oxfam has a team of structural engineers in the capital right now assessing that issue.

Over 230,000 people were killed by the 12 January quake, and people have already begun to die as a result of the mounting rainy season. It is imperative that aid organizations, the Haitian government and US civilian and military personnel working to deliver aid, succeed in building rain-proof and flood-safe shelter, to prevent another mass catastrophe.

Agence France-Presse reported in February that:

A top UN official in Haiti on Friday said many of those made homeless by the massive earthquake one month ago are unlikely to be provided “good shelter” before the coming rainy season.

While the United Nations and other organizations involved in aid efforts are aiming to provide some sort of shelter material before the rains begin around May, the deputy head of the UN mission here said the challenge will be immense.

There were ongoing deliberations about whether to focus aid dollars on building more sturdy, flood-safe shelters, or whether to try to get the largest number of tents out to the largest number of people. This kind of international aid triage is a constant concern in situations of mass catastrophe and suffering, and it is likely the sturdiest kinds of temporary shelter will not be available to most displaced Haitians in time for the rainy season.

A massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake has hit central Chile, the epicenter estimated about 200 miles southwest of the capital Santiago, roughly 70 miles from the city of Concepción, the nation’s second most populous city. The tremor lasted about 90 seconds and caused serious damage to roads and bridges. 122 people are confirmed dead, according to Chilean authorities, and a tsunami warning has been issued for the entire Pacific Ocean basin (including Hawai’i, Japan and the Philippines).

Chilean expatriates are reporting significant difficulties on contacting some friends and relatives in the affected region, and power and communications have been knocked out across an as yet undetermined area. The Chilean Red Cross is already preparing rescue and relief services, should they be needed, though Chile is a nation with much experience in dealing with massive, tragic earthquakes, and officials have been careful to say Santiago and Concepción have been built to withstand such events.

Santiago’s main airport has been closed for at least 72 hours, while damage is assessed and repairs made to the runway and vital facilities, and as a precaution against aftershocks causing problems for planes landing or taking off. At least two aftershocks measuring magnitude 6.0 or greater, as well as many smaller ones, have been recorded by the US Geological Survey. At least two of the nation’s major copper mines —copper is a leading export commodity, as Chile exports more than 1/3 of the world’s copper— have also halted operations.

It is still very early in the earthquake response process: many areas remain without electricity or communication, and the government has a compounded response problem, as the president has reportedly said a massive wave struck Robinson Crusoe Island, off the coast of Chile in the Pacific Ocean. Initial media pictures have been limited to Concepción and Santiago, with little reliable information about what the situation might be in smaller towns and villages close to the epicenter.

A quake of magnitude 8.0 or greater is considered to be powerful enough to likely destroy entire communities in the region of the epicenter. This quake is significantly more powerful than that. There is reason for concern that small villages and communities in the region of the epicenter might be less prepared to sustain earthquake damage and less able to respond effectively to save lives. Efforts to locate the missing and/or injured, and to assess loss of life and property in those villages are complicated by the destruction of infrastructure and communications.

Now about 9 hours after the initial tremor, geological and meteorological services are estimating the resulting ocean surge should be reaching the beaches of Mexico’s southern Pacific coast. It may be another two to four hours from noon before the ocean surge hits Hawai’i. Oregon has just issued a tsunami warning as well, as reports of a large wave striking Robinson Crusoe Island have led to increased concern about a wave-effect across the entire Pacific Ocean.

CNN is reporting the quake is likely of a “convergent” nature, meaning the undersea tectonic plate’s subduction under the continental plat caused it to “rebound”, pushing up against the continental plate, provoking tremors and geological shifts across a region 400 miles in diameter. That “rebound” effect could mean a number of aftershocks, as the plates again settle into their standard positions.

The White House and the US State Dept. have both announced close monitoring of the situation and the preparation of resources and personnel to aid in rapid crisis response. 2 US nationals working for the State Dept. in Chile are at present unaccounted for, and the State Dept. is working to contact a significant number of locals who are employed by the State Dept. Communication networks may account for some of the difficulty in accounting for all personnel. The US has pledged aid to Chile, as needed, for rescue and relief.

The UN Secretary General’s office says Ban Ki-Moon and his team are closely monitoring events, including the risk of tsunami landfall around the Pacific rim. The Secretary General’s office is announcing online that the entire UN system is preparing to assist in disaster relief. José Goñí, Chile’s ambassador to the United States said the death toll “probably is going to increase in the next hours” and “the destruction all over the country is enormous”. He also noted that magnitude 8.8 is one of the most extreme earthquakes in recorded history.

‘Psychic numbing‘ is a relatively new term, assigned to the phenomenon which shows people tend to feel less urgent compassion, and tend to give less, when the suffering in question is shown to be more systemic and more pervasive, or affecting larger numbers of people. Some psychologists believe it is linked to our intuitive sense that if one suffers alone, the suffering is worse, but if one is accompanied, there might be some security in numbers, not just emotionally, but practically.

The individual does not actually suffer less, but somehow, human beings —across cultures, ages groups and regions— appear to have an almost inborn tendency to convince themselves that the one who suffers with others is somehow safer. This is, of course, rarely true. While yes, a young boy might survive because his older sister goes without food, two young children in a population beset with pervasive, persistent scarcity or political disorder, may be at significantly heightened risk of violence, or even enslavement.

Others suggest the phenomenon of psychic numbing is more to do with some sort of instinctual calculation of the worth of one’s efforts. If one seeks to help one lone child, one’s actions seem able; if one seeks to send a small amount to help millions, one’s actions may seem less able, less capable of ‘making a difference’.

There is a theory that this might be related to a long “prehistoric” period —far longer than the period which we refer to as “recorded history”— in which smaller tribal bands were the organizing principle of human society. We can understand safety in numbers, but we can’t conceive of how sending a few dollars, or writing a letter, will in any way contribute to easing the suffering of millions of people. Biologically, this just doesn’t compute in a cerebral infrastructure organized around tribal society.

Yet there are alternatives: there is the theory of an informational tipping point. The lone photo, with no information and no statistics, will spark great compassion. Adding statistics or removing the photo, or naming numbers that run into the millions, will lessen the likelihood of compassion across a large population. But when enough information is given so that the reader/viewer can comprehend in intellectually resilient terms the scale of a tragic crisis, the real energy of compassion is again motivated, perhaps more effectively than by any other means.

Social networking has allowed people to share information and to make donations with an ease of effort and on a scale of cooperative endeavor never before possible. This may be helping to ease the transition away from generalized psychic numbing and toward generalized charitable predisposition, as social networking sites help to shrink the size of the planet to the biologically comprehensible “village” scale, familiarizing people with their counterparts across the world.

How much of a role is there for social networking in solving this problem? How much of the problem is about resistance to new information about crises of massive scale? How much is a crisis of imagination? And are there examples of how we can do or are doing better in any given case?

• Join the discussion at The Hot Spring Network’s Crisis Policy Forum

The bottleneck problem is center stage, as the volume of aid appears to outpace the remaining transport infrastructure for getting it where it needs to go. Today, Haitian authorities have complained there may be too exclusive a focus on the capital Port-au-Prince, causing some heavily devastated population centers to be left unattended, by comparison.

The small airport is one of the main problems: able to use only one “apron” of the landing surface, due to quake-related damage, and having to fashion an ad-hoc air-traffic control system to attend to the vastly expanded volume of air traffic, some of which is reportedly en route to Haiti before the new system has been able to register official flight plans, the aid operation is facing a very real problem of traffic as against airport capacity.

Amphibious landing craft are being deployed to help open new avenues of aid delivery and evacuation assistance, but overcoming the bottleneck effect will require a fanning out across not just the capital but the optimum locations across the disaster zone. Within the capital, there are a number of focus-areas that are reported to be hard to reach, or where the uprooting of the population has left a power vacuum, but no shortage of victims in need of medical care, food aid and water.

According to Politico:

As aid flows into Haiti but is only slowly but increasingly being dispersed more widely to those in need, two top US officials recently back from Haiti, SouthCom deputy commander Lt. Gen. Ken Keen and USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, spoke with CBS’s Bob Schieffer about breaking the bottleneck at Port au Prince airport.

The initial U.S.-led international response, Shah indicated, was focused on urban search and rescue — saving lives of those caught in the rubble. In parallel, there was an immediate effort to secure thousands of tons of commodoties, but whose distribution is being organized in extremely logistically complicated circumstances, and will now be aided by more military assets on the ground.

Administrator Shah told CBS’ ‘Face the Nation’ that “We had — the first people on the ground were our urban search-and-rescue teams. These are teams of more than 70 people each. We have five in right now. And so we have a few hundred professionals, well equipped with dogs, out there saving people.” He also acknowledged the need for action to break the bottleneck to allow more aid to flow freely to the victims of the quake, specifically saying “We now need to expand alternate routes, including port-sea access”.

He also said USAID is working closely with the US military and Haitian authorities “to dramatically expand the in-country distribution network”. Reaching specific focal points across the landscape of the disaster zone is a desperately urgent project, but one complicated by the near total lack of information about precisely where in the outlying cities and towns the most pressing need exists.

The Canadian Press is reporting:

Prayers of thanksgiving and cries for help rose from Haiti’s huddled homeless Sunday, the sixth day of an epic humanitarian crisis that was straining the world’s ability to respond and igniting flare-ups of violence amid the rubble of Port-au-Prince.

Haitian police struggled to scatter hundreds of stone-throwing looters in the city’s Vieux Marche, or Old Market. Elsewhere downtown, amid the smoke from bonfires burning uncollected bodies, gunfire rang out and bands of machete-wielding young men roamed the streets, faces hidden by bandanas.

Some aid workers have insisted the level of violence has been remarkably low, given the widespread deprivation, mass death and immense stress the population is suffering. The very real public health risk posed by unattended decaying bodies has led to actions that many believe are inhumane or severe, such as the dumping of bodies in mass graves and the summary burning of corpses in the streets.

It remains unclear whether this has been the most effective means available to the population of Haiti or to Haitian authorities to deal with the health perils posed by the bodies of the dead. Somewhat underreported in mass media coverage has been the behind the scenes effort to gather information and to deploy makeshift solutions for the prevention of mass spread of contagious or water-borne diseases.

News of gunfire and of machete-wielding gangs is disturbing, and it remains unclear at this time if such news is evidence of a descent into chaos or if the population is attempting to take security precautions, in the absence of stable government authority. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans, there were reports of armed youths using their weapons and street-level organization to create a temporary authority aimed at preventing harm to women and children and allowing medicine and water to go to the elderly and infirm.

Numerous survivors testified that if not for some of these youths, they or their loved ones would have died. But there were also numerous stories of armed gangs terrorizing refugee camps, even attacking and raping women. The chaos that bred a need for spontaneous authority also allowed for grave abuses.

As the bottleneck effect becomes more apparent and the problem of solving it more pressing, the population is reported to be growing restless. Jeff Glor, a correspondent for CBS News, told Bob Schieffer on ‘Face the Nation’ yesterday that:

… a couple days ago, I spoke to a woman who had three young children, three daughters between the ages of four and nine. Her leg was badly damaged in the quake. She was in her house when this happened. She was cooking a meal for her kids when this happened. She now can’t move.

She is responsible for three children, three young girls. When I spoke to them two days after the quake happened, they still had not eaten or drank anything. She said to me that she was convinced at that point that her children would die. Can you imagine what she’s going through right now? I asked her when this ends. She said, it ends when God arrives. That’s tragic.

Glor’s report clearly humanizes the crisis, by looking at it through the lens of one family. The desperation of that mother is clear and universal. What she might have to do to protect her children or to save their lives even she might not yet have imagined when she spoke with him. But the magnitude of the crisis in Haiti is that woman’s story multiplied by perhaps one million.

There are families where teenage children are now without parents, without protection, without provisions of any kind, and will have to imagine their own solution. Communities are banding together and churches are doing serious outreach to their neighbors, to try to reduce the amount of people tempted by or given to violence in finding sustenance.

Abroad, the charitable instinct seems to be more alive than at any time in recent memory. The world has been awakened to Haiti’s chronic state of hardship, by this unthinkable trauma. As Shannon Buggs so astutely observes, for the Houston Chronicle, Martin Luther King’s saying “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve” appears to be the most poignant of his messages of grace and giving on this celebration of his birth and commemoration of his life’s work.

But neither the vast resources of personnel or material aid have been able to be deployed across the disaster zone in the most effective way. This is, in part, owing to the near total collapse of Haiti’s transport infrastructure in the region affected. But it may also be owing to a method of planning for aid delivery based on the transport resources deployed — the other option would be to deploy far more (and more agile) transport resources according to a plan geared to achieve the maximum delivery of aid to the widest possible population.

If aircraft carriers could move closer to the shoreline, and massive military transport helicopters could deliver significant amounts of personnel and material aid (food, medicine, blood and water) to specific secure distribution launch points across the disaster zone, it would be possible to use a new level of air transport to get aid to more remote and isolated populations, without having to rely on air-drop (which many fear could lead to unrest, rioting and piracy).

With the arrival of 10,000 American military personnel, the coordination of such secure distribution launch points should be a priority, and efforts to effectively deliver aid to the population and to extract those in need of critical medical care, should be the first major actions put in motion by the expanded aid operation.

Apple has set up a special section of its iTunes Music Store to allow users to donate directly to the Red Cross. The funds are charged through the user’s iTunes account, billed to the same bank account or credit card on file, and use the same process as for buying a song, video or iPhone app. The move is the latest in a series of high-profile actions designed to help expedite the delivery of charitable donations to the Haiti relief effort.

The ClintonBushHaitiFund.org charitable giving site, put together by the Obama administration to help ensure the donations process is transparent, efficient and trustworthy, reports having received 90,000 donations in just two days. Some $11 million dollars had been collected by the texting services of the Red Cross and Yelé Haiti charities, prior to the launch of the Clinton-Bush project.

Other means of helping to protect Haitians impacted by the quake and to channel money to the island include a temporary protected immigrant status for Haitians already in the United States. They will be granted an 18-month protected period during which time they will be able to work and send remittances home to their friends and relatives in Haiti, creating a possible source of significant assistance to those directly impacted by the quake and its aftermath.

The following is a list of updates on the situation in Haiti, including resources for people searching for missing loved ones:

Pres. Obama has asked former presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush to join together to help oversee the administration of the massive relief effort now descending on Haiti. The Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund is now online at ClintonBushHaitiFund.org, with a mission to ensure that funds coming in are directed to where they are most needed.

A statement on the newly launched website reads:

At the request of President Obama, we are partnering to help the Haitian people reclaim their country and build back not only their infrastructure but also their unwavering spirit.

Right now, we must act immediately to save as many lives as possible. The critical needs in Haiti are great, but they are also simple: food, water, shelter, and first-aid supplies. The best way we can help as a world community is to donate funds that will go directly to supplying these material needs.

Together, through the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, we will work to provide immediate relief and long-term support to earthquake survivors and to channel the collective goodwill around the globe to help them rebuild their cities, their neighborhoods, and their families.

Through this effort, we are asking you to give what you can to help ensure that these communities return, that these families reclaim their lives, and that people living in Haiti can build back stronger and better than ever.

Both of us have personally witnessed the tremendous generosity and goodwill of the American people and of our friends around the world to help in times of great need. There is no greater rallying cry for our common humanity than to witness our neighbors in distress – and want to come to their aid.

The statement is signed by both Pres. Bush and Pres. Clinton, and the main page links through a “Donate Now” link to a fundraising page for Haiti relief, hosted by the Clinton Foundation. The bulk of the global relief response is just arriving today, and a contingent of 10,000 US military personnel are expected to land in Haiti on Monday, to help dig through the rubble and organize aid delivery efforts.

Pres. Obama spoke with Haiti’s Pres. René Preval for half an hour this morning, to discuss the aid requirements and means of arranging security for aid delivery and public health protections. Though the security and humanitarian situation in Haiti continues to worsen and many of the most serious logistical challenges to effective aid delivery remain unresolved, Pres. Preval reportedly said at the end of the conversation, “from the bottom of my heart and on behalf of the Haitian people, thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Obama has already pledged $100 million in aid and says more will follow. He has promised “untiring” efforts to help with the relief effort. Doctors without Borders (MSF) and the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) are setting up makeship field hospitals, in an effort to create provisional stable surgical units with relative sterilization. Medical workers say there is no more effective way to treat serious injuries and reduce the risk of infection.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will be arriving in Haiti tomorrow to meet with Pres. Preval and to work more closely on coordinating relief efforts and making contact between international agencies and local authorities, charities and community leaders. Aid workers say in such deep crisis situations, de facto leaders emerge at the community level and can be effective conduits for aid if there is a transparent and open working relationship.

Fully three days after the catastrophic earthquake that struck the region of the Haitian capital, the bodies of thousands of dead are reported to be arrayed in the streets and being moved into mass graves, with likely no way to trace who is buried there. While massive amounts of international aid are moving into the disaster zone, and the Haitian government continues to function and is meeting every morning and afternoon to coordinate relief efforts, the sheer scale of the destruction is hampering the delivery of aid to neighborhoods blocked off by rubble and filled with dead and injured.

The mass displacement of the population of the capital also means the injured and dying are harder to locate, and families have been separated from their lost loved ones, leaving many of the dead unidentified. The logistical nightmare of rushing aid into the disaster zone is an ongoing challenge, as desperate crowds rush any introduction point for aid and secure transport routes are scarce. The relatively small general airport for Port-au-Prince is already severely overtaxed, and crowded, even as backlogs are building up because there is no effective way to distribute real aid to those most in need.

Haiti’s government now says at least 50,000 people are dead, and the figure may rise as high as 100,000. Some 1.5 million are reported to have been left homeless, most of them now with no access to food or safe drinking water. Aid workers are now wearing and in some cases distributing medical masks in hopes of slowing the spread of disease among survivors.

CNN is reporting on the ongoing process of an apparently organized effort run by local authorities to gather up the bodies littering the streets, collect them in dump trucks, then transport them out of the city, where they would be dumped in mass graves. The mass graves are shown as mounds of dirt in the hills outside the city, appear to be relatively shallow and hold no information to identify the dead other than the bodies themselves.

Anderson Cooper described 7 mass graves that appeared to be dirt mounds, estimated to contain up to 100 bodies. He estimated the entire location might contain between 400 and 500 bodies total. Authorities say some 7,000 bodies have already been transported to mass graves. There is no established processing center for information about the dead and missing.

Wyclef Jean, a Haitian-American hip-hop star and folk hero there, has been working to pull bodies from the rubble and help deliver aid. Jean’s Yelé Haiti charity has been raising money by text message to help supplement aid donations to other groups like the Red Cross. According to one online report:

“We spent the day picking up dead bodies, all day that’s what we did. There’s so much bodies in the streets that the morgues are filled up, the cemeteries are filled up,” he told Fox News.

Describing Port-au-Prince as “the apocalypse,” he said Haiti needs $1 million dollars a day to survive. ”In four or five days, this whole country is going to be in chaos.”

Concerns that the process of search and rescue may soon confront a population desperate with hunger, thirst, injury and fear, are mounting. The collapse of the UN compound, where only one survivor has been able to be rescued, is indicative of the extreme toll of the disaster. There is no official count of how many people are missing across the disaster zone, how many have access to any amount of food or water, however small, how many are armed, and how many are close to death or even dead.

Pres. Obama outlined today a wide array of search and rescue, relief aid and security efforts his administration is sending to Haiti to assist the Haitian people in dealing with the worst recorded earthquake to strike their nation. The US president promised Haiti’s people that the US will not forget the victims of the Haitian quake and that “more search and rescue teams” are on their way. He also said his administration will invest an initial amount of $100 million to support its relief efforts in Haiti, and that this investment will grow.

Obama praised the UN and other organizations doing good work in Haiti and said that even as the government deployed resources from a number of departments, “we need to summon the tremendous generosity and compassion of the American people”. He thanked the many citizens who have already contributed to the relief effort and urged others to continue to contribute.

He also memorably sought to address the people of Haiti directly, saying:

Few in the world have endured the daily hardships that you have known. Long before this tragedy, daily life itself was often a bitter struggle, and after suffering so much for so long, to face this new horror must cause some to look up and ask ‘Have we somehow been forsaken?’

To the people of Haiti, we say clearly and with conviction: You will not be forsaken, you will not be forgotten. In this, your hour of greatest need, America stands with you, the world stands with you, we know that you are a strong and resilient people; you have endured a history of slavery and struggle and natural disaster and recovery, and through it all your spirit has been unbroken and your faith has been unwavering. So today you must know that help is arriving. Much, much more help is on the way.

There is more information about the federal government’s response to the humanitarian crisis in Haiti at Whitehouse.gov, including links to information about what relief work is being done through the departments of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of the Interior.

The disaster response for the Haitian earthquake has been swift and coordinated, channeling massive international resources to the affected area. But the logistics of deploying the resources, personnel and technology needed to deliver comprehensive disaster assistance, are beyond complicated, with roads and transport overwhelmed, and means of contacting the wounded almost non-existent.

The relief effort needs to deliver as much fresh medicine —already in chronic shortage in Haiti before the quake—, clean drinking water, safe blood for transfusions, food aid and temporary shelter, to the victims of the quake, as soon as possible. The logistical complications are extreme, as no stable means exists of locating and reaching each of the victims. Time is, however, of the essence, because quick delivery of medical assistance can help prevent non-lethal injuries from becoming fatal.

As time passes, water, food and medicine remain scarce, and dead bodies continue to accumulate in public areas, in the street, in building entrances, near water flows —established or spontaneous—, the risk of infection can escalate exponentially. Concerns about cholera, malaria, dysentery and other water-borne and communicable diseases, are dire, widespread and worsening.

Haiti already had the highest rates of infant, under-five and maternal (childbirth) mortality, in the western hemisphere, meaning the collapse of health services in the midst of the disaster, with all its attendant increased threats, means young children and pregnant women are particularly at risk, even if they are not yet injured or suffering ill health.

It is estimated that as much as 60% of the population of Haiti lacks access to even basic health services. HIV/AIDS is the nation’s leading contagious cause of death, and tuberculosis, which is more prevalent in Haiti than in any other country in the Americas, is second. UNICEF reports that: “It is estimated that about 5.6 per cent of people aged 15-49 years old in Haiti are living with HIV/AIDS. This includes about 19,000 children. Antiretroviral drugs are extremely scarce.”

And a report from EmaxHealth reads:

High rates of disease associated with intestinal worms, such as ascaris, trichuris, and hookworm, also plague Haiti. These worms cause anemia, stunted growth, malnutrition, and impaired physical and cognitive development. The dire state of the water and sanitation infrastructure in Haiti are a main cause of these diseases, which prompted a recent effort to tackle these problems using grants by Spain and the Inter-American Development Bank, according to a news release from the latter in October 2009.

The widespread public health crisis that already afflicted Haiti before the quake means the nation is particularly at risk for epidemic outbreaks of infection in the aftermath of such a natural disaster. The extreme depletion of basic resources, like shelter and sources of food and water, due to the destruction of the built environment, means those in need of treatment may be harder to locate, and may fail to access treatment, even as aid flows in.

Doctors without Borders (MSF) is reported to have found at least two hospitals in the quake zone that are in good working condition, and is working to set up ongoing emergency treatment facilities there. But the clock is ticking, and two hospitals are just the smallest start on what could be a population of millions in need of varying degrees of emergency aid and medical attention.

Due to the chronic shortage of fully functioning hospitals, medical infrastructure and medicines, a proliferation of free clinics, run by charities or by local physicians, have come to be increasingly important in Haiti’s sporadic and unreliable health services delivery system. Over the last two days, such clinics have been overwhelmed with unprecedented numbers of patients seeking treatment, and according to some media reports, in some cases have been forced to start laying dead bodies outside, to reduce the risk to the health of those inside.

The ICRC is possibly the world’s most experienced and far-reaching blood-distribution system, and as of this writing reports it “is meeting any requests for blood due to this tragedy through current supplies”, but urges those who wish to donate, especially type O-negative or type B-negative (always in short supply), to make an appointment with a Red Cross blood donation center. There is a proper procedure for preparing to donate blood and for donating, which is laid out on the Red Cross website, and which urges donors to hydrate after donation and avoid heavy lifting or strenuous activity after giving blood.

ABC News is reporting the Obama administration’s text-to-donate program for the Red Cross’ Haiti relief mobilization has raised $5 million in just 2 days. According to their report:

The Obama administration’s program to raise money for the Red Cross’s relief for survivors of the earthquake in Haiti through text messaging has raised $5 million in just over two days, administration sources tell ABC News.

By texting HAITI to 90999 through their cell phones, donors give $10 to the Red Cross, a charge that will appear on their bills.

The Red Cross is donating in excess of $10 million to provide emergency relief for Haiti, but will also mobilize people and resources. Foreign teams are entering the country, joining a 15-person in-country staff aided by thousands of Haitian volunteers. A news release from the organization specifies:

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is helping to reconnect separated families within the country. They have established a special Web site, enabling persons in Haiti and abroad to search for and register the names of relatives missing since the earthquake: www.icrc.org/familylinks. An ICRC plane carrying 40 tons of supplies — mainly medical items — is expected to leave Geneva today. Included are specialized kits to help treat the wounded, basic medicines and chlorine for water treatment. Other Red Cross partners have deployed a mobile hospital as well as medical teams to support it as well as more than 40 others who can coordinate the relief activities, including sheltering, water, sanitation and telecommunications.

The Red Cross provided blood and blood products to the US Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida. That blood, requested by the US Navy, was shipped by the US Navy to their facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba in support of Haitian evacuees and patients. In addition, the American Red Cross sent a shipment of blood products to the United Nations Mission in Haiti. To date, the Red Cross has sent more than 100 units of blood and blood products to Haiti and Guantanamo Bay. The American Red Cross is meeting the needs of this tragedy through current supplies. At this time we do not anticipate the need for a special donor appeal to support our efforts. As always, blood donors are encouraged to call 1-800-RED CROSS or visit us online at www.redcrossblood.org to make an appointment.

Two days into the earthquake aftermath, the scarcity of safe drinking water is now becoming a much more immediate concern. Security and public health concerns converge, as lack of shelter, panic, grief and repeated aftershocks, prevent people from sleeping, which together with potentially severe dehydration, not only diminishes the body’s defenses, but also inspires desperation. If illness and infection take hold among those already grieving and/or wounded, the situation could seriously deteriorate and more deaths will be likely.

The next 24 hours will be crucial in terms of getting aid delivery centers and health treatment facilities set up. Aid workers and government officials will need to be able to move out into the field, to search for survivors, especially the vulnerable or immobilized. The equation for sustaining the population through the next phase of disaster relief will boil down to: medicine, water, blood, food and shelter, assuming the logistical challenges are overcome, and help can get through.

The 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck Haiti two days ago has left an unknown number of thousands of people dead or missing, destroyed the service infrastructure in the capital and left a precarious situation for millions of survivors. The disaster response effort has been swift and international, with rescue and relief teams scrambling from across the world to get to Haiti.

On the night of the quake, US disaster response teams were already touching down in Port-au-Prince and moving out into the affected areas, to help organize the search for survivors and begin to chart the deployment of much-needed medical and food aid. The response has been massive and coordinate, with the US State Dept. working closely with major NGOs and UN agencies to ensure the most effective possible deployment of aid.

The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004, which left an estimated 230,000 people dead across 14 countries, was the result of the second most powerful earthquake every scientifically recorded, between 9.1 and 9.3 magnitude. That event concentrated world attention on the nature of disaster relief efforts and the complexity of coordinating an international response.

The Haiti quake was magnitude 7.0, but was close to the shoreline and very shallow, meaning widespread devastation to structures and infrastructure across nearly half of the small nation, with an epicenter strike-zone spanning 70 miles in diameter. The response has clearly shown signs of lessons learned from both the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 and the poor handling of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster along the US coast of the Gulf of Mexico.

What new lessons have helped the international community coordinate a rapid disaster response for Haiti? And where is the disaster relief effort failing to be comprehensive enough, sensitive enough to detail, or far-reaching enough to access all points of need?

• Join the discussion now, in the Hot Spring Network’s Crisis Policy Forum

Links to Haiti earthquake relief campaigns:

• Red Cross (ICRC) relief & rescue efforts in Haiti
• Haïti : le CICR intensifie ses efforts pour venir en aide aux victimes du séisme
• UNICEF Emergency Relief Effort for Haiti
• L’UNICEF déploie son aide d’urgence après le tremblement de terre
• Doctors without Borders: Setting up clinics to serve the wounded
• MSF: Haïti: des centaines de blessés reçoivent les premiers soins
• USAID Haiti Earthquake Disaster Response
• Clinton Foundation: Haiti Earthquake Relief
• Oxfam: Preparing response for victims of Haitian quake
• Radio Soleil: Broadcasting in New York
• CNN.com/IMPACT: Links to Reliable Agencies Providing Relief
• Catholic Relief Services: Haiti Relief Effort
• World Food Programme: Mobilizing Food Aid to Haiti Quake Zone
• Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) mobilise aide alimentaire pour Haïti
• Habitat for Humanity: Haiti Earthquake Disaster Response
• U.S. Dept. of State: Effort to Locate Relatives of Americans in Haiti
• Text HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti
• Private aid donations page from CIDI (Center for International Disaster Information)

UPDATES / IN THE NEWS (updated 15 January 2010):

• UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Press Conference on Haiti
• UNESCO Director-General appeals for emergency aid for Haiti
• UNDP: Search-and-rescue operations continue in Haiti
• Red Cross Blood Donation Process & Guidelines
• UNICEF: Aid begins to arrive in Haiti for earthquake survivors in dire need
• Haiti: disaster beyond magnitude (historical context)
• US response swift, generous, amid deep public sympathy for Haiti
• Thousands seek missing loved ones in Haiti
• Disaster Response for Haiti Earthquake — A New Paradigm? (discussion)
• Medicine, Water, Blood, Food & Shelter Urgently Needed in Haiti
• Pres. Obama Outlines Massive US Response to Haiti Earthquake (video)
• Bodies in the Streets & Mass Graves in Haiti
• Clinton-Bush Haiti Fund to Help Organize Relief Effort
• Haïti : le gouvernement évoque plus de 50 000 morts
• Haïti: la France alloue deux millions d’euros à l’aide alimentaire
• Le chef de l’ONU Ban Ki-moon en Haïti dimanche (Nations unies)

The following is a transcript of remarks by the President on Rescue Efforts in Haiti, as delivered 13 January 2010, in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room

10:20 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning, everybody.  This morning I want to extend to the people of Haiti the deep condolences and unwavering support of the American people following yesterday’s terrible earthquake.

We are just now beginning to learn the extent of the devastation, but the reports and images that we’ve seen of collapsed hospitals, crumbled homes, and men and women carrying their injured neighbors through the streets are truly heart-wrenching.  Indeed, for a country and a people who are no strangers to hardship and suffering, this tragedy seems especially cruel and incomprehensible.  Our thoughts and prayers are also with the many Haitian Americans around our country who do not yet know the fate of their families and loved ones back home.

I have directed my administration to respond with a swift, coordinated, and aggressive effort to save lives.  The people of Haiti will have the full support of the United States in the urgent effort to rescue those trapped beneath the rubble, and to deliver the humanitarian relief — the food, water and medicine  — that Haitians will need in the coming days.  In that effort, our government, especially USAID and the Departments of State and Defense are working closely together and with our partners in Haiti, the region, and around the world.

Right now our efforts are focused on several urgent priorities.  First, we’re working quickly to account for U.S. embassy personnel and their families in Port-au-Prince, as well as the many American citizens who live and work in Haiti.  Americans trying to locate family members in Haiti are encouraged to contact the State Department at 888/407-4747.  I’m going to repeat that – 888/407-4747.

Second, we’ve mobilized resources to help rescue efforts.  Military overflights have assessed the damage, and by early afternoon our civilian disaster assistance team are beginning to arrive.  Search and rescue teams from Florida, Virginia and California will arrive throughout today and tomorrow, and more rescue and medical equipment and emergency personnel are being prepared.

Because in disasters such as this the first hours and days are absolutely critical to saving lives and avoiding even greater tragedy, I have directed my teams to be as forward-leaning as possible in getting the help on the ground and coordinating with our international partners as well.

Third, given the many different resources that are needed, we are taking steps to ensure that our government acts in a unified way.  My national security team has led an interagency effort overnight.  And to ensure that we coordinate our effort, going forward, I’ve designated the administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development, Dr. Rajiv Shah, to be our government’s unified disaster coordinator.

Now, this rescue and recovery effort will be complex and challenging.  As we move resources into Haiti, we will be working closely with partners on the ground, including the many NGOs from Haiti and across Haiti, the United Nations Stabilization Mission, which appears to have suffered its own losses, and our partners in the region and around the world.  This must truly be an international effort.

Finally, let me just say that this is a time when we are reminded of the common humanity that we all share.  With just a few hundred miles of ocean between us and a long history that binds us together, Haitians are neighbors of the Americas and here at home.  So we have to be there for them in their hour of need.

Despite the fact that we are experiencing tough times here at home, I would encourage those Americans who want to support the urgent humanitarian efforts to go to whitehouse.gov where you can learn how to contribute.  We must be prepared for difficult hours and days ahead as we learn about the scope of the tragedy. We will keep the victims and their families in our prayers.  We will be resolute in our response, and I pledge to the people of Haiti that you will have a friend and partner in the United States of America today and going forward.

May God bless the people of Haiti and those working on their behalf.

Thank you very much.

END
10:24 A.M. EST

The president of the island nation of Haiti, René Preval, has told CNN’s Sanjay Gupta in an interview conducted on the streets of the capital Port-au-Prince that the situation on the ground is “incredible”, adding that “you have to see it to believe it”. The destruction is widespread and the human suffering inestimable. Small health clinics are overwhelmed by massive numbers of casualties, as public health infrastructure has collapsed.

Pres. Preval said “we don’t have the capacity” to get medical treatment to all of the injured, at present, and specified that priority number one is to clear the roads so emergency relief services —which are being rushed to the island from abroad— can be mobilized effectively during the critical first 48 hours after the quake. The International Committee of the Red Cross says disaster relief efforts in Haiti are “completely overwhelmed”. Preval said his country needs medicine and medical assistance without delay.

CNN is reporting that independent analysis of the potential for mass casualties in Haiti, due to construction conditions, sparse infrastructural integration and chronic poverty, shows a high probability of up to 10,000 killed, with a “reasonable” probability of anywhere between 10,000 and 100,000 killed. There is at present no official count of how many people have been killed in the quake and its aftermath. Haitian officials have publicly said they are concerned there could be hundreds of thousands killed.

USAID reports rescue and relief teams have already landed in Haiti and “moved out from the airport” into the field to help speed desperately needed emergency assistance to those affected by the quake. A spokesperson for USAID praised the Coast Guard’s response, and said the commanding general at US Southern Command has been in close contact with USAID, helping to coordinate the deployment of rescue and relief teams.

US Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to cut short a major 10-day diplomatic trip to the Asian-Pacific region to return to Washington to help coordinate the complex and far-reaching relief effort for Haiti. USAID is in charge of coordinating the official US humanitarian relief effort, and the State Department is also coordinating evacuation efforts for Americans in Haiti who may seek to return to the US.

Haiti’s consul-general has said 100,000 are estimated to have died. The prime minister has said the figure could be in the hundreds of thousands. Haiti’s first lady has been quoted as saying “most of” the capital is destroyed. And aid agencies are concerned that focus on the capital may result in under-serving cities outside the capital that experienced even more violent shaking and destruction than in Port-au-Prince and might be missed by the largest relief efforts.

Pres. Preval also told CNN today that he had gone to the airport to work, because both his home and the Presidential Palace are too damaged and unsafe to return to. He said he was told he could not set up a command center at the airport either, apparently due to the potential danger of collapse or uncertain security conditions.

Haitian-Americans are flooding Radio Soleil, a Brooklyn-based Haitian radio station, with calls intended to get word out they are looking for missing relatives and loved ones. The Haitian-American community in New York is one of the most significant centers of Haitian culture outside Haiti, and is likely to be a major source of aid, and possibly of volunteers seeking to join relief efforts.

Anecdotal reports from Haiti, such as one delivered to CNN via Skype, say there has been little to no violence so far, in the wake of the earthquake. Eyewitness testimony so far suggests people are busy trying to get medical assistance for the wounded, grouping together to help neighbors and search for the missing. There are reports, however, that some security forces shot prisoners who sought to escape a damaged prison that may have been at risk of collapse.

Former US president Bill Clinton, the UN’s special diplomatic envoy to Haiti, whose foundation is helping to organize the relief effort, said today of the people of Haiti, “These are good people”, and urged Americans to come together in support of relief efforts and aid intended to help restore Haiti’s basic services and political security in the wake of the disaster.

The World Bank has pledged $100 million for reconstruction and disaster relief in Haiti, after an initial assessment of the damage and of the need. According to ReliefWeb:

The World Bank on Wednesday pledged an extra $100 million in aid for Haiti’s reconstruction and said it was considering setting up a special trust fund to mobilize international aid for the country. …

“At this point we are very much in a search and recovery mode and we will have to let that run its course, and then in discussions with the government find out when is the most appropriate time,” [World Bank Country Director for the Caribbean, Yvonne Tsikata] told a conference call. “We’d like to go as quickly as possible.”

ReliefWeb also notes: “The $100 million is in addition to the $363 million the World Bank has provided Haiti since 2005. Tsikata said the bank could also adapt existing development projects in Haiti to focus on recovery efforts.” The reconstruction effort will be in some ways a nationwide undertaking, as so many of Haiti’s severely overstretched national government institutions have been grievously undermined by the quake.

Links to Haiti earthquake relief campaigns:

• Red Cross (ICRC) relief & rescue efforts in Haiti
• Haïti : le CICR intensifie ses efforts pour venir en aide aux victimes du séisme
• UNICEF Emergency Relief Effort for Haiti
• L’UNICEF déploie son aide d’urgence après le tremblement de terre
• Doctors without Borders: Setting up clinics to serve the wounded
• MSF: Haïti: des centaines de blessés reçoivent les premiers soins
• USAID Haiti Earthquake Disaster Response
• Clinton Foundation: Haiti Earthquake Relief
• Oxfam: Preparing response for victims of Haitian quake
• Radio Soleil: Broadcasting in New York
• CNN.com/IMPACT: Links to Reliable Agencies Providing Relief
• Catholic Relief Services: Haiti Relief Effort
• World Food Programme: Mobilizing Food Aid to Haiti Quake Zone
• Programme alimentaire mondial (PAM) mobilise aide alimentaire pour Haïti
• Habitat for Humanity: Haiti Earthquake Disaster Response
• U.S. Dept. of State: Effort to Locate Relatives of Americans in Haiti
• More at CAFE SENTIDO’s EXPANDED HAITI RELIEF LIST

Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, is described tonight as in a state of disaster, with some reports suggesting there are more buildings destroyed than left standing, after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake at 4:53 this afternoon. The epicenter of the quake is reported to have been just 10 miles away from Port-au-Prince, with the most severe tremors and violent shaking felt across an area 70 miles in diameter. There are no reliable estimates so far of loss of life, but thousands are feared killed.

The quake is reported to have destroyed a major hospital in the capital, as well as the UN peacekeeping headquarters. A significant number of UN personnel are reportedly unaccounted for and feared missing. Haiti has made an urgent appeal for international aid, and Raymond Alcide Joseph, Haiti’s ambassador to the US told CBS News’ Katie Couric the following:

I was able to reach the secretary general to the presidency Mr. Fritz Longchamp, the only official I was able to contact. And he told me he was driving his car east from Port-au-Prince to a suburb east of the capital and buildings started to collapse on both sides of the streets so he had to park his car and start walking. And it was just at that instant that I found him. He said it is a “catastrophe of major proportions.” That’s his own words. And he told me he was not able to reach any official, not the president nor anyone. And he was walking to his place not knowing what was awaiting him, not knowing whether he could cross the bridge to get to his place. So, you know, it’s heart rending.

Joseph also appeared to confirm sporadic reports that the streets were filled with wailing and cries of desperation, as the disaster had caused so much destruction, there were not enough relief services to tend to the wounded or search for the missing. He also confirmed reports there has been severe damage to the presidential palace and that shantytowns around the capital had “collapsed like cards”.

UNICEF has already launched an emergency aid appeal, urging individuals around the world to donate to help speed relief services to the affected population. UNICEF’s statement on the quake reads:

Funds are urgently needed to provide safe water, temporary shelter systems, essential medical supplies etc. UNICEF’s country office in Haiti and the regional office located in Panama has deployed emergency teams to assess the situation and determine what the additional emergency needs are for the people of Haiti.

It is estimated that as much as 80% of the population of Haiti lives in a chronic state classified as “total poverty”, making Haiti the poorest nation in the Americas. According to ReliefWeb, the Inter-American Development Bank [IDB] has issued the following statement:

“The IDB will immediately approve a $200,000 grant for emergency assistance,” [IDB] President [Luis Alberto] Moreno said. “IDB emergency grants can be used to provide food, potable water, medicines and temporary shelter to victims of natural disasters.

“We are monitoring these events very closely and stand ready to help Haiti address this catastrophe. In coordination with the Haitian government, we will redirect our uncommitted portfolio to provide additional reconstruction resources at this moment of dire need. We are working with other donors to exchange information and coordinate response activities. The IDB and its staff express their solidarity with the people of Haiti.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said, during a visit to Honolulu that the US ”will be providing both civilian and military disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. And our prayers are with the people who have suffered, their families, and their loved ones.” Pres. Barack Obama said shortly after learning of the quake: “My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been affected by this earthquake. We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti”.

Obama pledged all necessary assistance to the Haitian people to help them deal with the ravages of the quake, and has already sent emergency rescue teams to the disaster zone. A spokesman for the US State Department, Gordon Duguid, has said the US embassy in Haiti “is also trying to make contact with the Haitian government. There are emergency meetings going on right now in Washington to identify assets that can be moved quickly into the area.”

USAID (Agency for International Development) says it is sending 72 people with 6 search and rescue dogs and 48 tons of rescue equipment to the disaster zone. More assistance will likely follow, as specific needs are assessed and the food and medical aid and security needs become clear. It is expected reinforcements for UN peacekeeping forces already in-country will be required.

The 7.0 magnitude quake is the most severe to strike the island nation in recorded history. With insufficient infrastructure to absorb such severe tremors, Haiti is facing a potential collapse of basic services and possibly of government authority. The large Haitian community of Montreal, Canada, has already begun to rally support for the relief and rescue efforts. There are an estimated 115,000 Haitian residents in Montreal, so organizing relief contributions could be an important step in the fight to save lives and prevent more widespread long-term damage and chaos.

Two aftershocks, measuring as high as 5.9 and 5.5 on the Richter scale —major tremors in themselves— followed soon after the initial quake, as did an official tsunami warning for parts of the Caribbean, including coastal areas of Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, and the Bahamas. With some tidal impact expected, it appears no major international tsunami followed the initial tremors.

Numerous reports that foreign officials have been unable to contact their counterparts in the Haitian government have spread concern there could be a significant political vacuum growing up around the collapse of infrastructure and communications services. It is unclear how many members of the government remain unaccounted for, or whether any are feared dead at this time. Mobilizing relief services is expected to be extremely challenging, due to the lack of contact with local authorities and the failure of communications networks.

The Spanish-language blog Belascoaín y Neptuno is reporting that on 6 November 2009, three bloggers in Havana, Cuba, were summarily detained, beaten and threatened by security forces. Yoani Sánchez, Claudia Cadelo and Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo, and other unnamed individuals were allegedly forced into security agents’ vehicles, detained without charge, beaten and intimidated, in an apparent effort to crack down on political dissent.

The report suggests Raúl Castro’s pledge of “structural change” to the totalitarian Cuban system his brother ruled for 49 years may be yet to materialize. There have been mounting expectations Cuba’s system would be opened up, if a less hard-line leadership were brought in, and a pragmatist approach were adopted by the Obama administration in Washington. But Pres. Obama has been insistent that progress cannot be made if totalitarian abuses persist.

It remains unclear what exactly was the motivation for the arrests or whether the beatings are part of a planned sustained campaign of violence and intimidation against dissident voices seeking to influence the process of reform Raúl Castro had promised.

The UN General Assembly, which brings together every head of government in the world, to offer their country’s position on issues, their country’s demands regarding trade and conflict negotiations, their country’s hopes for a more harmonious world, this year truly grapples with issues of global consensus. Economic recovery, for many parts of the world, will require an unprecedented expansion of women’s rights and sustained attention to responsible environmental stewardship.

Climate change, or global climate destabilization, has come to the fore as the most severe and pervasive security threat of the 21st century. The G20 summit in Pittsburgh later this month will work in part as a prelude to the Copenhagen climate conference to be held in December. The goal is to achieve worldwide consensus on a comprehensive, binding strategy to reduce carbon emissions and to protect against the unwinding of climate patterns that have remained consistent throughout all of recorded human history.

Women’s rights is now being viewed by more nations and by more major international organizations as key to the economic and political stability of fragile nations. The Obama administration, under the leadership of Sec. of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, has made women’s rights a priority and has laid out goals for helping to promote women’s rights through economic development, modernization of educational systems, and democratization of the political processes in nations around the world.

A consistent theme of Sec. Clinton’s travels around Africa this summer was the need to end the out of control violence against women that plagues many African nations, and bring women into the fold of the political process and economic structures. She visited the eastern Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where one of the world’s most desperate and protracted civil wars continues to put women in jeopardy of random attacks on a daily basis and where mass rape has been used as a weapon of war.

Her message was clear: the United States does not intend to continue directing aid to regimes that do not combat the extreme conditions of violence and repression in which millions of women find themselves, but aid will be directed toward those policies that are designed to empower and protect women. There will be efforts to persuade China, which strongly backs some of the worst offending nations, like Sudan, to demand better treatment for women.

Pres. Obama has called for a global initiative to move toward the eventual elimination of all nuclear weapons, which he admits may not occur during his lifetime. He and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev have already begun the process to establish a new comprehensive strategic arms reduction treaty (StART). Iran, under intense pressure from the international community to cease uranium enrichment, has also proposed a framework for eliminating all nuclear weapons worldwide.

The nuclear question looms large, and will consume a lot of words in open and back-room negotiations. The UN Security Council can be expected to receive new pressure from western powers to threaten sanctions against Iran if it does not halt uranium enrichment. And the recent announcement of the Obama administration’s plans to scrap Bush-era plans for stationing missiles in Poland is thought to be in part a call on Russia to support sanctions against Iran.

In a recent CNN interview, with Fareed Zakaria, Pres. Medvedev sounded tougher on the Iran question than at any time previous: he said Russia would only ever provide Iran with “defensive” weapons equipment and would neither help Iran develop long-range ICBM nor come to Iran’s defense if it were attacked. He called on the international community to come together to secure peace and prevent conflict in the middle east.

Medvedev also confirmed that he had met in secret with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. He said the meeting was kept secret at the Israelis request and that he had “honored the wishes of our partners”. He revealed that in that meeting Netanyahu, who has been under intense pressure from the west to tone down bellicose rhetoric, said Israel had no plans to attack Iran or destroy any of its research facilities, adding that he trusted Israel and hoped new partnerships could be created to prevent further conflict in the region.

Pres. Obama has invited PM Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to meet with him to discuss the path to lasting peace, during the UN General Assembly in New York. The two have accepted, setting the stage for what might be breakthrough negotiations on concessions from both sides that could lead to a two-state solution.

As the Wall Street Journal reports:

In a break from the Bush administration, Mr. Obama pressed early in his administration for new, U.S.-brokered talks between the two sides. In another departure, Mr. Obama has ratcheted up pressure on Israel, publicly calling for a total freeze in Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank.

That issue has blocked progress in restarting talks so far. Palestinian negotiators have demanded a total freeze before agreeing to any substantive negotiations. Mr. Netanyahu has refused.

The US and NATO nations may refrain from openly pressing Russia on its interventions in the volatile Caucasus region, but the problem of Georgia and the former Soviet Republics along its borders must be dealt with. Abkhazia has declared independence with Russian diplomatic backing, and Georgia has sought to blockade Abkhazia as a protest against that declaration of independence. There are fears the blockade could lead to another bloody Russian intervention against a state that seeks to join NATO.

There is, however, an opportunity for a new era of cooperation between the Russian Federation and NATO. European leaders have proposed that with the US putting aside missile defense basing plans for Poland, the opportunity may exist to come together and create a unified missile defense system covering all of NATO and the Russian Federation.

But economic empowerment and global financial regulation may turn out to be dominant themes of the General Assembly meetings. The 2008-2009 global economic crisis has shown the vulnerability of poor nations to the unraveling of sometimes delicate international trade pacts and resource flows. The threat from intercontinental climate destabilization could result in the collapse of food supplies to half the world’s population and the migration of hundreds of millions of people, if one year’s monsoon doesn’t materialize.

The empowerment of poorer nations to be capable of competing for internationally trade resources, including food and water, is vital to preventing mass climate migration and the resulting destabilization of nation states in coming years and decades. The beginnings of these negotiations, to prevent protectionist measures and expand the internationally accessible resource base, will be taking place as world leaders meet in New York.

Rights and democracy as such will also be highlighted. The election of 12 June 2009 in Iran has stirred a global firestorm of opinion over what measures might be taken to guarantee transparency and prevent massive fraud engineered by leaders of government. More than 100 nations whose leaders will be in attendance have significant voting rights issues that must be addressed in order to legitimate their electoral processes and improve transparency.

The US will seek to lead on this question, even as dozens of its own states struggle to clarify election process and balloting laws, to ensure manipulation is not possible and guarantee the transparency of upcoming elections. New Jersey might be held up by some foreign states as an example of a state that still won’t guarantee its voters paper proof of their votes, while Venezuela may claim legitimacy on this point, a contrast that is sure to make for contentious negotiations on standards for international voting rights and ballot-counting transparency.

The interim president of Honduras, who came to power after the disputed ouster of Pres. Manuel Zelaya, says the former president will be arrested if he attempts to re-enter Honduras from neighboring Nicaragua. Micheletti says he is the legitimate president of Honduras and will not agree to a plan being negotiated by Costa Rica’s Pres. Oscar Arias, which would have Zelaya return to finish the rest of his term in office.

The Arias plan originally was to move elections forward by one month, but the dates that would allow for that have passed. Micheletti says his government is legitimate and has no need to step down, and has reiterated his position that Zelaya should be arrested if he sets foot in Honduras, for crimes against the constitution. Zelaya was accused of violating the Honduran constitution by seeking to amend term limits in order to run for re-election.

Supporters of Micheletti say the Honduran supreme court has immediate-effect authority in ordering the removal of a public official, while Zelaya’s supporters say the court’s ruling simply meant that a planned referendum could not go forward, not that Zelaya himself was in violation of the constitution itself. Some international observers have expressed concern that Zelaya’s ouster, by court ruling, suggests any attempt to amend a constitution could be treated as a crime against the constitution, and urged more rigorous legal interpretation.

According to the Christian Science Monitor:

In an exclusive 40-minute interview, Micheletti also accused the US ambassador [in Tegucigalpa], Hugo Llorens, of tilting unfairly in favor of Zelaya during the crisis, rejected accusations that his government has abused human rights in putting down protests and said that he doesn’t expect the Obama administration to slap tough economic sanctions on Honduras.

Micheletti’s comments confirmed analysts’ assertions that he plans to withstand international pressure to allow Zelaya’s return under a plan being negotiated by Costa Rican President Oscar Arias. In doing so, his government and its supporters in the business community think they can ride out possible economic sanctions and a refusal by foreign governments to recognize the winners of the presidential and congressional elections Nov. 29.

Micheletti and his allies could, however, face serious setbacks if foreign nations, or the hemispheric body, the Organization of American States, refuse to recognize the winners of November’s elections. Supporters of Zelaya have consistently argued that Zelaya simply sought to hold a democratic referendum, while Micheletti came to power by military force and is now trying to engineer the outcome of upcoming elections.

In fact, the referendum itself did not mention extending Zelaya’s term in office. Its language proposed asking voters whether they would approve the formation of a “constituent assembly” to discuss amending the constitution. Zelaya’s supporters say any changes would not even have taken place until after he had left office.

That point has led many observers to question the legitimacy of the ruling of the supreme court itself, with Zelaya supporters arguing that it is Micheletti who seeks to establish a system in which he and his financial backers would benefit directly from a kind of “emergency rule” in which Micheletti and his government make changes to the democratic process that will benefit their allies.

Supporters of the ousted president have been blocking streets in central Tegucigalpa and teachers remain on strike, keeping the schools closed, in protest over Zelaya’s ouster. Asked whether the military’s escorting Zelaya out of the country, instead of detaining him as ordered by the court, was illegal, Micheletti refused to answer. Instead, he said he “might have committed the same mistake to avoid a bigger confrontation, a lot of bloodshed”.

What is clear is that the use of the military to remove Zelaya not only from office but from Honduran soil is questionable as a matter of Honduran constitutional provisions. The military was not officially authorized by anyone to do what it did, and Mr. Micheletti, who was president of the Congress at the time, came to power under that cloud of legal suspicion.

The Arias plan would have achieved the goals of Zelaya’s opponents, in that Zelaya would not be allowed to stay in office after the current term ends, and his referendum would not be held; no constituent assembly would be formed and no amendments to term limits would be made. Micheletti’s refusal to accept such a scenario may be seen as evidence the interim president had motives beyond fulfilling a court order, when he took office after the military removed Zelaya.

The British government has ordered the UK-appointed governor of Turks and Caicos to suspend the ministerial government and assembly and institute direct rule, after an investigation turned up evidence of systemic official corruption. The order of direct rule will also suspend the right to jury trial in the Turks and Caicos, and the UK says the imposed rule could last up to 2 years.

Turks and Caicos is a former British colony with autonomy, but still linked constitutionally to the UK. Elections are scheduled for 2011, and the UK Foreign Office says it intends to see those elections held either at or before the scheduled time, in order to return self-rule to the Caribbean nation.

The Foreign Office says the UK government did not take this decision lightly, and that it is using established constitutional processes to prevent systemic corruption from undermining democracy and transparency in the island nation. But some worry that the legal basis for the intervention is too vague, a reaction to the commission of inquiry’s May report, which found “information in abundance pointing to a high probability of systemic corruption and/or serious dishonesty”.

It is unclear whether this standard opens other former British colonies, now self-governing but with strong political and legal ties to the UK, to similar efforts to seize control of local government in order to prevent corruption. When Prime Minister Michael Misick was implicated in the alleged systemic corruption, he resigned, in March 2009, before the final commission of inquiry report was issued.

Misick’s successor, Galmo Williams, has said the UK’s imposed rule is an effective “coup”. He denounced the takeover, saying “Our country is being invaded and recolonized by the United Kingdom, dismantling a duly elected government and legislature and replacing it with a one-man dictatorship”.

It remains unclear if the language used by the Foreign Office in explaining the takeover was vague due to lax standards for such an intervention or whether it was simply diplomatically worded. The Foreign Office has explained:

This, together with clear signs of political amorality and immaturity and of general administrative incompetence, demonstrated a need for urgent suspension in whole or in part of the constitution and for other legislative and administrative reforms.

Gorden Wetherell, the British governor of the Turks and Caicos islands specifically took issue with the allegation the suspension of local government was a coup, saying “This not a ‘British takeover’”, adding that the “people of the Turks and Caicos Islands” will continue to operate public services, but that the move was intended to ensure they enjoyed better performance and cleaner politics.

It is too early to know how the imposed governorship will operate and what measures will be taken to combat corruption. Since the move effectively suspends the right to jury trial, there are concerns that efforts to prosecute officials under the British governorship could be seen as illegitimate, possibly even empowering the same allegedly corrupt officials once local rule is restored.

Pres. Barack Obama yesterday hosted 16 new Medal of Freedom recipients at the White House, honoring their lifelong contributions to the expansion of human understanding and the promotion of individual liberty and human dignity. Among the recipients were scientists and activists, soldiers and political leaders, preachers and athletes, native Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans, Africans and Asians. The 16 laureates exemplify not only rare talent and indomitable spirit, but also a devotion to human dignity and understanding.

Nancy Goodman Brinker was honored for her grass roots efforts to raise awareness and intensify efforts to find a cure for breast cancer. Dr. Pedro José Greer, Jr., runs a private clinic that provides medical care to over 10,000 homeless people in Miami, Florida. Dr. Stephen Hawking was awarded the Medal of Freedom for his pioneering work in theoretical physics, which has revolutionized humanity’s scientific understanding of the universe.

Jack Kemp, whom the White House recognized as a self-acknowledged “bleeding-heart conservative”, was recognized for the unusual quality of putting human concerns ahead of party and being a leader in promoting civil rights and equality. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) was recognized for his “tireless” work on civil rights, Constitutional liberties and quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans, in over four decades of service. Billie Jean King was recognized for her contribution to women’s liberation and to the LGBT community’s campaign for equal rights and recognition by American society at large.

The Rev. Joseph Lowery was awarded the Medal of Freedom for his contributions to what Pres. Obama called “the Moses generation of the civil rights movement”, collaborating with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other young proponents of non-violent resistance. Joe Medicine Crow was honored for his unyielding service to the United States and for his achievements as a scholar and historian for the entire Native American community. Harvey Milk was honored posthumously for his courage in the face of violent discrimination against homosexuals in the public sphere and his message of hope.

Sandra Day O’Connor, the first female justice to serve on the United States Supreme Court, was honored for her historic achievement, and her principled and quality service to the Constitution, serving as a sign of hope and an example to millions of young women. Sidney Poitier was honored for his “groundbreaking” performances as an actor, conveying the human message of a long-suffering minority and helping to spread understanding of the need for real equality before the law. Chita Rivera was awarded the Medal of Freedom for serving as such a bold example of the value and range of a culture, and for contributing through theatre to our understanding of the human condition.

The White House released the following texts honoring each of the award recipients. The recipients are listed in alphabetical order by surname and are not placed in any order relating to a judgment about the nature or value of their achievements as compared to one another.

Nancy Goodman Brinker
Nancy Goodman Brinker is the founder of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the world’s leading breast cancer grass roots organization.  Brinker established the organization in memory of her sister, who passed away from breast cancer in 1980.  Through innovative events like Race for the Cure, the organization has given and invested over $1.3 billion for research, health services and education services since its founding in 1982 and developed a worldwide grassroots network of breast cancer survivors and activists who are working together to save lives, empower people, ensure quality care for all and energize science to find cures.  Brinker has received several awards for her work, and has also served in government as U.S. Ambassador to Hungary (2001 – 2003), Chief of Protocol of the U.S. (2007 – 2009), and Chair of the President’s Cancer Panel (1990).  In May, Nancy Goodman Brinker was named the first-ever World Health Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador for Cancer Control.

Pedro José Greer, Jr.
Dr. Pedro Jose Greer is a physician and the Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs at the Florida International University School of Medicine, where he also serves as Chair of the Department of Humanities, Health and Society.  Dr. Greer is the founder of Camillus Health Concern, an agency that provides medical care to over 10,000 homeless patients a year in the city of Miami. He is also the founder and medical director of the St. John Bosco Clinic which provides basic primary medical care to disadvantaged children and adults in the Little Havana community. He has been recognized by Presidents Clinton, Bush, Sr., and Carter for his work with Miami’s poor . He is also the recipient of three Papal Medals as well as the prestigious MacArthur “genius grant”. He currently has a joint private practice with his father, Pedro Greer, Sr.

Stephen Hawking
Stephen Hawking is an internationally-recognized theoretical physicist who has a severe physical disability due to motor neuron disease.  He is the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University, a post previously held by Isaac Newton in 1669.  In addition to his pioneering academic research in mathematics and physics, Hawking has penned three popular science books, including the bestselling A Brief History of Time.  Hawking, a British citizen, believes that non-academics should be able to access his work just as physicists are, and has also published a children’s science book with his daughter.  His persistence and dedication has unlocked new pathways of discovery and inspired everyday citizens.

Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp, who passed away in May 2009, served as a  U.S. Congressman (1971 – 1989), Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (1989 – 1993), and Republican Nominee for Vice President (1996).  Prior to entering public service, Kemp was a professional football player (1957 – 1969) and led the Buffalo Bills to American Football League championships in 1964 and 1965.  In Congress and as a Cabinet Secretary, Kemp was a self-described “bleeding heart conservative” who worked to encourage development in underserved urban communities.  In the years leading up to his death, Kemp continued seeking new solutions, raising public attention about the challenge of poverty, and working across party lines to improve the lives of Americans and others around the world.

Sen. Edward Kennedy
Senator Edward M. Kennedy has served in the United States Senate for forty-six years, and has been one of the greatest lawmakers – and leaders – of our time.  From reforming our public schools to strengthening civil rights laws and supporting working Americans, Senator Kennedy has dedicated his career to fighting for equal opportunity, fairness and justice for all Americans.   He has worked tirelessly to ensure that every American has access to quality and affordable health care, and has succeeded in doing so for countless children, seniors, and Americans with disabilities.  He  has called health care reform the “cause of his life,” and has championed nearly every health care bill enacted by Congress over the course of the last five decades.   Known as the “Lion of the Senate,” Senator Kennedy is widely respected on both sides of the aisle for his commitment to progress and his ability to legislate.

Billie Jean King
Billie Jean King was an acclaimed professional tennis player in the 1960s and 1970s, and has helped champion gender equality issues not only in sports, but in all areas of public life.  King beat Bobby Riggs in the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match, then the most viewed tennis match in history.  King became one of the first openly lesbian major sports figures in America when she came out in 1981.  Following her professional tennis career, King became the first woman commissioner in professional sports when she co-founded and led the World Team Tennis (WTT) League.  The U.S. Tennis Association named the National Tennis Center, where the US Open is played, the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in 2006.

Rev. Joseph Lowery
Reverend Lowery has been a leader in the U.S. civil rights movement since the early 1950s.  It was in Mobile, Alabama, at this time –that he headed the Alabama Civic Affairs Association; the organization which led the Movement to desegregate buses and public accommodations.  Rev. Lowery later co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a leading civil rights organization, with Dr. Martin Luther King, and was chosen by Dr. King to Chair the Delegation delivering the demands of the Selma-to-Montgomery March to Alabama Governor George Wallace..  Rev. Lowery is a minister in the United Methodist Church, and has continued to highlight important civil rights issues in the U.S. and worldwide, including apartheid in South Africa, since the 1960s.

Joe Medicine Crow – High Bird
Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, the last living Plains Indian war chief, is the author of seminal works in Native American history and culture.  He is the last person alive to have received direct oral testimony from a participant in the Battle of the Little Bighorn:  his grandfather was a scout for General George Armstrong Custer.  A veteran of World War II, Medicine Crow accomplished during the war all of the four tasks required to become a “war chief,” including stealing fifty Nazi SS horses from a German camp.  Medicine Crow was the first member of his tribe to attend college, receiving his master’s degree in anthropology in 1939, and continues to lecture at universities and notable institutions like the United Nations.  His contributions to the preservation of the culture and history of the First Americans are matched only by his importance as a role model to young Native Americans across the country.

Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official from a major city in the United States when he was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977. Milk encouraged lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) citizens to live their lives openly and believed coming out was the only way they could change society and achieve social equality. Milk, alongside San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, was shot and killed in 1978 by Dan White, a former city supervisor.  Milk is revered nationally and globally as a pioneer of the LGBT civil rights movement for his exceptional leadership and dedication to equal rights.

Sandra Day O’Connor
Justice O’Connor was the first woman ever to sit on the United States Supreme Court.  Nominated by President Reagan in 1981, she served until her retirement in 2006.  Prior to joining the Supreme Court, O’Connor served as a state trial and appellate judge in Arizona.  She was also as a member of the Arizona state senate, where she became the first woman in the United States ever to lead a state senate as Senate Majority Leader.  At a time when women rarely entered the legal profession, O’Connor graduated Stanford Law School third in her class, where she served on the Stanford Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Coif.   Since retiring from the Supreme Court in 2006, O’Connor has served as Chancellor of the College of William and Mary, on the Board of Trustees of the National Constitution Center, and participated in the Iraq Study Group in 2006, as well as giving numerous lectures on public service. She has received numerous awards for her outstanding achievements and public service.

Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier is a groundbreaking actor, becoming the top black movie star in the 1950s and 1960s.  Poitier is the first African American to be nominated and win a Best Actor Academy Award, receive an award at a top international film festival (Venice Film Festival), and be the top grossing movie star in the United States.  Poitier insisted that the film crew on The Lost Man be at least 50 percent African American, and starred in the first mainstream movies portraying “acceptable” interracial marriages and interracial kissing.  Poitier began his acting career without any training or experience by auditioning at the American Negro Theatre.

Chita Rivera
Chita Rivera is an accomplished and versatile actress, singer, and dancer, who has won Two Tony Awards and received seven more nominations while breaking barriers and inspiring a generation of women to follow in her footsteps.  In 2002, she became the first Hispanic recipient of the coveted Kennedy Center Honor.  Propelled to stardom by her electric performance as Anita in the original Broadway premiere of West Side Story, Rivera went on to star in additional landmark musicals such as Chicago, Bye Bye Birdie, and Jerry’s Girls.  She recently starred in The Dancer’s Life, an autobiographical musical  about her celebrated life in the theatre.

Mary Robinson
Mary Robinson was the first female President of Ireland (1990 – 1997) and a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997 – 2002), a post that required her to end her presidency four months early.  Robinson served as a prominent member of the Irish Senate prior to her election as President.  She continues to bring attention to international issues as Honorary President of Oxfam International, and Chairs the Board of Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunizations (GAVI Alliance).  Since 2002 she has been President of Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative, based in New York, which is an organization she founded to make human rights the compass which charts a course for globalization that is fair, just and benefits all.

Janet Davison Rowley
Janet Davison Rowley, M.D., is the Blum Riese Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine, Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology and Human Genetics at The University of Chicago. She is an American human geneticist and the first scientist to identify a chromosomal translocation as the cause of leukemia and other cancers. Rowley is internationally renowned for her studies of chromosome abnormalities in human leukemia and lymphoma, which have led to dramatically improved survival rates for previously incurable cancers and the development of targeted therapies. In 1999 President Clinton awarded her the National Medal of Science–the nation’s highest scientific honor.

Desmond Tutu
Desmond Tutu is an Anglican Archbishop emeritus who was a leading anti-apartheid activist in South Africa.  Widely regarded as “South Africa’s moral conscience,” he served as the General Secretary of the South African Council of Churches (SACC) from 1978 – 1985, where he led a formidable crusade in support of justice and racial reconciliation in South Africa.  He received a Nobel Peace Prize for his work through SACC in 1984.  Tutu was elected Archbishop of Cape Town in 1986, and the Chair of the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995. He retired as Archbishop in 1996 and is currently Chair of the Elders.

Muhammad Yunus
Dr. Muhammad Yunus is a global leader in anti-poverty efforts, and has pioneered the use of “micro-loans” to provide credit to poor individuals without collateral.  Dr. Yunus, an economist by training, founded the Grameen Bank in 1983 in his native Bangladesh to provide small, low-interest loans to the poor to help better their livelihood and communities.  Despite its low interest rates and lending to poor individuals, Grameen Bank is sustainable and 98% percent of its loans are repaid – higher than other banking systems. It has spread its successful model throughout the world.  Dr. Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work.

Texto del Acuerdo se San José (puntos resumidos para distribución a la prensa)

1. SOBRE EL GOBIERNO DE UNIDAD Y RECONCILIACIÓN NACIONAL

Para lograr la reconciliación y fortalecer la democracia, conformaremos un Gobierno de Unidad y Reconciliación Nacional, integrado por representantes de los diversos partidos políticos, reconocidos por su capacidad, honorabilidad, idoneidad y voluntad para dialogar, quienes ocuparán las distintas Secretarías y Subsecretarías de Estado, de conformidad con el artículo 246 y siguientes de la Constitución de la República de Honduras.

En vista de que con antelación al 28 de junio, el Poder Ejecutivo no había remitido a consideración del Congreso Nacional el Proyecto de Presupuesto General de Ingresos y Egresos, de conformidad con lo establecido en el artículo 205, inciso 32,  de la Constitución de la República de Honduras, este Gobierno de Unidad y Reconciliación Nacional respetará y funcionará sobre la base del Presupuesto General recientemente aprobado por el Congreso Nacional para el ejercicio fiscal 2009.

2. SOBRE LA AMNISTÍA PARA LOS DELITOS POLÍTICOS

Para lograr la reconciliación y fortalecer la democracia, solicitamos al Congreso Nacional la declaratoria de una amnistía general, exclusivamente para los delitos políticos cometidos con ocasión de este conflicto, antes y después del 28 de junio de 2009, y hasta la firma de este Acuerdo, según los términos del artículo 205, inciso 16, de la Constitución de la República de Honduras y la legislación especial vigente que regule la materia. La amnistía deberá, además, garantizar con claridad las condiciones de seguridad y de libertad de las personas que queden bajo su amparo.

De la misma manera, nos comprometemos a no iniciar ni continuar acciones legales por los actos anteriores al 1 de julio de 2009 que se deriven del presente conflicto, por un periodo de seis meses. El incumplimiento de cualquiera de los compromisos contenidos en este Acuerdo, comprobado y declarado por la Comisión de Verificación a la que se refiere el punto 7, anulará los efectos de esta moratoria para el trasgresor o los trasgresores.

3. SOBRE LA RENUNCIA A CONVOCAR A UNA ASAMBLEA NACIONAL CONSTITUYENTE O REFORMAR LA CONSTITUCIÓN EN LO IRREFORMABLE

Para lograr la reconciliación y fortalecer la democracia, reiteramos nuestro respeto a la Constitución y las leyes de nuestro país, absteniéndonos de hacer llamamientos a la convocatoria a una Asamblea Nacional Constituyente, de modo directo o indirecto, y renunciando también a promover o apoyar cualquier consulta popular con el fin de reformar la Constitución para permitir la reelección  presidencial, modificar la forma de Gobierno o contravenir cualquiera de los artículos irreformables de nuestra Carta Fundamental.

En particular, no realizaremos declaraciones públicas ni ejerceremos algún tipo de influencia inconsistente con los artículos 5, 239, 373 y 374 de la Constitución de la República de Honduras, y rechazaremos enérgicamente toda manifestación contraria al espíritu de dichos artículos y de la Ley Especial que Regula el Referéndum y el Plebiscito.

4. SOBRE EL ADELANTAMIENTO DE LAS ELECCIONES GENERALES Y EL TRASPASO DE GOBIERNO

Para lograr la reconciliación y fortalecer la democracia, instamos al Tribunal Supremo Electoral para que considere el adelantamiento de las elecciones nacionales convocadas para el 29 de noviembre de 2009, al 28 de octubre de 2009; y el consecuente adelanto de la campaña electoral del 1 de septiembre de 2009, al 1 de agosto de 2009. Reiteramos que, de conformidad con los artículos 44 y 51 de la Constitución de la República de Honduras, el voto es universal, obligatorio, igualitario, directo, libre y secreto, y corresponde al Tribunal Supremo Electoral, con plena autonomía e independencia, supervisar y ejecutar todo lo relacionado con los actos y procesos electorales.

Asimismo, realizamos un llamado al pueblo hondureño para que participe pacíficamente en las próximas elecciones generales y evite todo tipo de manifestaciones que se opongan a las elecciones o a su resultado, o promuevan la insurrección, la conducta antijurídica, la desobediencia civil u otros actos que pudieren producir confrontaciones violentas o transgresiones a la ley.

Con el fin de demostrar la transparencia y legitimidad del proceso electoral, instamos al Tribunal Supremo Electoral a que autorice y acredite la presencia de misiones internacionales desde ahora y hasta la declaratoria del resultado de las elecciones generales, así como durante el traspaso de poderes que tendrá lugar, conforme con el artículo 237 de la Constitución de la República de Honduras, el 27 de enero de 2010.

5. SOBRE LAS FUERZAS ARMADAS

Para lograr la reconciliación y fortalecer la democracia, ratificamos nuestra voluntad de acatar en todos sus extremos el artículo 272 de la Constitución de la República de Honduras, conforme con el cual las Fuerzas Armadas quedan a disposición del Tribunal Supremo Electoral desde un mes antes de las elecciones generales, a efectos de garantizar el libre ejercicio del sufragio, la custodia, transporte y vigilancia de los materiales electorales y demás aspectos de la seguridad del proceso. Reafirmamos el carácter profesional, apolítico, obediente y no deliberante de las Fuerzas Armadas hondureñas. De igual forma, reconocemos la profesionalidad de la Policía Nacional, cuya rotación deberá sujetarse estrictamente a lo que prescribe su legislación especial.

6. SOBRE EL RETORNO DE LOS PODERES DEL ESTADO A SU INTEGRACIÓN PREVIA AL 28 DE JUNIO

Para lograr la reconciliación y fortalecer la democracia, solicitamos al Congreso Nacional que, a efectos de recuperar la integración y legítima conformación de los poderes constituidos al 28 de junio de 2009, en lo procedente retrotraiga la situación del Poder Ejecutivo, el Poder Legislativo, el Poder Judicial y el Tribunal Supremo Electoral a su estado previo al 28 de junio, por haber sido conformados según los artículos 202, 205, incisos 9 y 11, y 236 de la Constitución de la República de Honduras. Lo anterior implica el retorno de José Manuel Zelaya Rosales a la Presidencia de la República hasta la conclusión del actual periodo gubernamental, el 27 de enero de 2010.

7. SOBRE LA COMISIÓN DE VERIFICACIÓN Y LA COMISIÓN DE LA VERDAD

Para lograr la reconciliación y fortalecer la democracia, disponemos la creación de una Comisión de Verificación de los compromisos asumidos en este

Acuerdo, y los que de él se deriven, presidida por la Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA), y las personas que ésta considere idóneas entre las figuras nacionales e internacionales. La Comisión de Verificación será la encargada de dar fe del estricto cumplimiento de todos los puntos de este Acuerdo, y recibirá para ello la plena cooperación de las instituciones públicas hondureñas.

Con el fin de esclarecer los hechos ocurridos antes y después del 28 de junio de 2009, se creará también una Comisión de la Verdad que identifique los actos que condujeron a la situación actual, y proporcione al pueblo de Honduras elementos para evitar que estos hechos se repitan en el futuro. El trabajo de la Comisión de la Verdad será fundamental en la recuperación de la confianza del pueblo hondureño en su Constitución y en su Gobierno. Para asegurar la imparcialidad en la ejecución de esta tarea, designamos como conductor de la Comisión de la Verdad al Instituto Interamericano de Derechos Humanos.

8. SOBRE LA NORMALIZACIÓN DE LAS RELACIONES DE LA REPÚBLICA DE HONDURAS CON LA COMUNIDAD INTERNACIONAL

Al comprometernos a cumplir fielmente los compromisos asumidos en el presente Acuerdo, solicitamos respetuosamente la inmediata revocatoria de aquellas medidas o sanciones adoptadas a nivel bilateral o multilateral, que de alguna manera afectan la reinserción y participación plena de la República de Honduras en la comunidad internacional, y su acceso a todas las formas de cooperación.

Hacemos un llamado a la comunidad internacional para que reactive lo antes posible los proyectos vigentes de cooperación con la República de Honduras, y continúe con la negociación de los futuros. En particular, instamos a que, a solicitud de las autoridades competentes, se haga efectiva la cooperación internacional que

3.-resulte necesaria y oportuna para que la Comisión de Verificación y la Comisión de la Verdad aseguren el fiel cumplimiento y seguimiento de los compromisos adquiridos en este Acuerdo.

9. SOBRE LA ENTRADA EN VIGENCIA DEL ACUERDO DE SAN JOSÉ

Todos los compromisos asumidos cobran formal y total vigencia desde el momento mismo de su suscripción.

10. DISPOSICIONES FINALES

Toda diferencia de interpretación o aplicación del presente Acuerdo será sometida a la Comisión de Verificación, la que determinará, en apego a lo dispuesto n la Constitución de la República de Honduras y en la legislación vigente, y mediante una interpretación auténtica del presente Acuerdo, la solución que corresponda.

Tomando en cuenta que el presente Acuerdo es producto del entendimiento y la fraternidad entre hondureños, solicitamos vehementemente a la comunidad internacional que respete la soberanía de la República de Honduras, y observe plenamente el principio consagrado en la Carta de las Naciones Unidas de no injerencia en los asuntos internos de otros Estados.

11. CALENDARIO DE CUMPLIMIENTO DE LOS ACUERDOS

Dada la entrada en vigencia inmediata de este Acuerdo a partir de su fecha de suscripción, y con el fin de clarificar los tiempos de cumplimiento y de seguimiento de los compromisos adquiridos para alcanzar la reconciliación nacional, convenimos el siguiente calendario de cumplimiento:

22 de julio de 2009

1. Suscripción y entrada en vigencia del Acuerdo de San José.

24 de julio de 2009

1. Retorno de José Manuel Zelaya Rosales a la

Presidencia de la República de Honduras.

2. Conformación de la Comisión de Verificación.

27 de julio de 2009

1. Conformación del Gobierno de Unión y de

Reconciliación Nacional.

2. Conformación de la Comisión de la Verdad.

27 de enero de 2010

1. Celebración del traspaso de gobierno.

12. DECLARACIÓN FINAL

En nombre de la reconciliación que nos ha convocado ante la mesa de diálogo, nos comprometemos a ejecutar de buena fe el presente Acuerdo, y los que de él se deriven. Sabemos que la humanidad espera de Honduras una demostración de unidad y de paz, a la que estamos obligados por nuestra consciencia y nuestra historia. Juntos, sabremos demostrar nuestro valor y coronar con olivos la frente de nuestra democracia, para que las futuras generaciones vean lo que fuimos capaces de hacer por nuestra patria.