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A report released this past Tuesday has deemed the earthquake that devastated Haiti last month as likely the “most destructive natural disaster in modern times.” The description was placed in the context of the tremor’s impact on the population and the economy of the western hemisphere’s poorest country. The Inter-American Development Bank, in the findings of its report, placed the cost of reconstruction to be a minimum of 8.1 billion dollars while estimating the number of dead and missing to be 250,000. Rebuilding costs could rise to nearly 14 billion dollars although the figures are considered conservative by some in the international relief community. The low-level reconstruction estimate reported by the development bank exceeds Haiti’s entire gross domestic product for 2008 by a billion dollars. The earthquake death toll, when adjusted per capita, vastly outpaces those in other disasters such as the tsunami that struck Asia in 2004.

IMeanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy became the first head of state from his country to visit the Caribbean nation. Haiti and France share frayed historical relations as France was at the helm of the former colony before a revolt for independence in the early 19th century ousted it and abolished the institution of slavery. Sarkozy arrived yesterday to outline details of his nation’s reconstruction plan promising 400 million dollars over two years. Ousted and exiled Haitian President Jean-Betrand Aristide has long called on France to pay reparations for its colonial legacy. Following the independence struggle, the former colonizer had imposed reparations of its own for the supposed cost of emancipated slaves that continued until 1947. Protests greeted Sarkozy’s visit and articulated demands for reparations.

GUEST: Walter Riley, Civil Rights Attorney, Chair of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund

Thank you Gifts:

Aristide and the Endless Revolution – $100

Donation to Haiti Emergency Relief Fund – $120

Haiti Dollar-a-Day Pack – $365
(includes Aristide and the Endless Revolution (DVD), We Must Kill the Bandits (DVD), Eyes of the Heart (book), and donation to HERF).

Call 818-985-5735 (KPFK) for more information.