By Matthew Russell Lee
www.innercitypress.com/haiti1cruise012110.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 21 -- The spin machine at the UN kicked into high gear on Thursday. At the day's noon briefing, Spokesman Martin Nesirky took issue with a comparison between Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's response to the Haitian earthquake and George W. Bush's to Hurricane Katrina.
Nesirky said that while Mr. Ban had been at a retreat with regional organizations on Long Island when the earthquake hit, he was told of the event as soon as his car pulled up at his residence.
Inner City Press asked if the UN would confirm or deny that its "peacekeepers drove past armed looters without intervening." Nesirky did not deny it, preferring to defend Ban's personal response.
Then how about UN staff complaining that emergency psychological counseling for survivors wasn't offered, in some cases, for four days? (Other UN staff have complained to Inner City Press that even for the now over sixty UN staff confirmed as dead, their names and numbers are still in the UN's online phone directory.) These things happen, Nesirky in essence said. A phrase heard after a certain New Orleans storm.
Bill Clinton spoke to the Press in the UN's new building later Thursday afternoon. He spoke about businesses, specifically praising the "Irish businessman" who run the cell phone company on Haiti. Ban Ki-moon said he's asked for Clinton's help on "Cash for Food." As described by UNDP, this will pay Haitians five dollars a day to work.
Inner City Press asked UNDP's new Associate Director -- the Costa Rican Rebecca Grynspan, chosen by Ban and UNDP's Helen Clark with some controversy over candidates from the African Group, which said it had been promised the position -- how the sufficiency of five dollars a day had been decided. She replied that one wouldn't want to distort or destroy the Haitian market.
In a controversy on which the UN Spokesperson did not take questions, Bill Clinton supported Royal Caribbean lines, whose decision to continue to bring cruises into the Labadee resort has been criticized. In fact, Clinton said, the airport should be re-opened so that the resorts can continue. Video here, from Minute 10:20. It's (not) party time, said one wag in the crowd.
In the basement of the UN's old, nearly empty building, top humanitarian John Holmes spoke to the Press. Initially it was announced as an appearance by Holmes and a single Ambassador, Alejandro Wolff of the United States. But shortly before the stakeout was held, the Ambassadors of France, Canada, Brazil, Uruguay and Haiti were added. Belated balance.
A question not allowed was why the UN's web site assigns dollar values to the U.S.' search and rescue (and "administrative costs") while declining to do so for other countries, including several of those beside Holmes on Thursday. Click here for Inner City Press' first exclusive story, here. We aim to report more on this, watch this site.
Footnote: despite reports of Haiti rejecting the Dominican Republic's offer of troops, Haiti's Ambassador said that an announcement will be made "later" in this "sensitive" subject. We'll be on the lookout.
