Long Dry White Season: United Nations Out of Haiti

History and present condition of the UN occupied Haiti will be examined. UN Get Out of Haiti?: The panel will examine the controversy surrounding the United Nation’s involvement in Haiti and the reasons behind the recent calls by many in the international community for the immediate withdrawal of UN Peace Keeping forces. Among the topics to be discussed are the UN’s role in the privatization of Haitian industries, the development of free trade zones and the concomitant suppression of worker’s right to organize, the destruction of national agricultural production, the introduction of the deadly cholera epidemic which sickened and/or killed thousands of Haitians, and allegations of violent crimes against Haitian citizens including murders, assaults, disappearances, kidnappings and rapes. A special feature of this panel will be reports from the meetings between the Autonomous Workers’ Union of Haiti (CATH), International Commission of Inquiry on Haiti and the Guadeloupe Haiti Tour USA and the High Command of UN Peace Keeping Forces held at the UN in July 2011. Other reports from International Conferences on Haiti held in Brazil and Haiti in November, 2011.