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Canadian Imperialism

Imperialist Feminism: Canada Funds Haitian Human Rights Groups

The Canadian government funds several non-governmental organizations (NGO) in Haiti under the banner of promoting human rights. A significant portion of this funding is devoted to feminist and women’s advocacy groups in Haiti. Often in coordination with the United-Nations and private foundations, the Canadian government directly implicates itself in the governance of these NGOs. Other Canadian-funded programs in Haiti include leadership programs that provide training to individuals to participate in developing reforms related to governance. Key leaders in Haiti’s feminist movement are also long-time recipients of Canadian government funding.

Haiti: 20 Years After The Coup

My comments today focus on the general refusal to acknowledge that since 2004, Haiti has been under a foreign occupation initiated by a U.S./France/Canada-led coup d’état, and adopted and managed by the machinery of the United Nations. The simple facts of both the coup and the violence of the international legal mechanisms used against Haiti and its people have been shamefully ignored. What enables the refusal to acknowledge the occupation of Haiti?  I demonstrate that it is both how the occupation was established, and how it is administered that obscures the occupation’s existence.