Doctors or Soldiers?

While Cuban doctors are saving lives, the United States military is occupying Haiti.

Karla Lexandre, the little girl rescued in Port-au-Prince on Monday, raised hopes among aid workers that a week after the quake other survivors might be rescued from the rubble. Experts from many countries had nearly given up hope that people buried in the disaster could survive this long without water. Little Karla was taken to the University Peace Hospital in Port-au-Prince and is being treated by Cuban physicians. Physicians from five different countries are currently working at the hospital, among them Cuban pediatrician Gladis Salas, who has already served two years in the Haitian hospital as one of 400 Cuban doctors now in the poorest country in the region. She told the Prensa Latina news agency that the little girl was not seriously injured when the house in which she lived was completely destroyed by the earthquake. She added, “But she’s severely dehydrated. We’ve begun giving her fluids to improve her general condition so we can examine her more thoroughly, in order to save her life.”

The people of Port-au-Prince would much rather see badly needed food, water, medical and technical aid than the ubiquitous military personnel. They also want the opportunity to work. Long lines formed early Tuesday morning on the city’s main thoroughfares. People were looking for a scrap of bread for their children or other family members, many of who had to spend the night out in the open. Hundreds of refugees gathered near Toussaint L’Ouverture International Airport in the hope that they might get their hands on some of the supplies being delivered. But the airport runway looked less like an international aid distribution center than it did a combat-ready military stronghold. The presence of large U.S. Air Force transport planes was understandable, due to their high load capacities, but the overall picture was dominated by the massive deployment of U.S. troops.

Haitian Cantón Wilson said, “The country needs doctors, architects and engineers to help with reconstruction. We don’t need soldiers, even if some people here believe we do.” Wilson had been working almost constantly since the earthquake, giving help to victims of the catastrophe. He is a medical student in Cuba where he hopes to specialize in surgery. He was about to enter his fourth year of medical school and was visiting his family in Haiti when the quake struck. Wilson decided to stay and help his people. He criticized the U.S. military presence, saying, “Haiti doesn’t need invasion, it needs solidarity, brotherhood and peace.”

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson arrived off Haiti’s coast on January 15, soon followed by the guided missile frigates USS Underwood and USS Normandy and the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan. In addition, 2,000 marine infantry and 3,000 elite airborne troops from the 82nd Airborne Division arrived two days after the quake. Their weapons and combat gear add little or nothing to their ability to render humanitarian or material aid to the victims of the catastrophe. Haitian officials, meanwhile, fear as many as 200,000 dead; more than 70,000 have already been buried in quickly dug mass graves.