After Billions in Haiti Aid Vanish U.S. Allots Millions under Caribbean Climate Funding
Rife with fraud and corruption, the U.S. government’s multi-billion-dollar Haiti aid program has failed miserably to help citizens of the impoverished island nation, yet the Biden administration is sending tens of millions more under the auspice of Caribbean climate funding. At a recent meeting in the Bahamas, Vice President Kamala Harris unveiled a new $100 million allocation from American taxpayers earmarked as general “support for the Caribbean” to among other things transition renewable energy, address climate change and resilience building across the region. The money will also address energy, food security and humanitarian needs in the various islands.
Buried deep in this month’s announcement is that fact that the biggest chunk of money will go to Haiti, though billions in U.S. aid have disappeared over the years as American taxpayer dollars keep flowing to the poverty-stricken country with no oversight. In fact, billions in U.S. assistance—with billions more from the international community—has made little difference. Since the 2010 earthquake Uncle Sam alone has provided Haiti with over $5.6 billion to help it bounce back but more than a decade later that has not materialized and no one really knows what happened to the money. The funds were supposed to provide Haiti with “life-saving post-disaster relief as well as longer-term recovery, reconstruction, and development programs,” according to the State Department, which confirms that after the 2021 earthquake the U.S. “again mobilized a whole-of-government effort to provide immediate assistance at the Haitian government’s request.” Haiti’s reconstruction and development will continue for many years, the State Department predicts, adding that since 2021 it has doled out a whopping $278 million in humanitarian and health assistance for Haiti.
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