Haiti

Presidential hopeful John McCain is hiding a skeleton in his closet. Not your typical political scandal, Senator McCain’s dirty little secret is his longtime involvement with the International Republican Institute (IRI), an organization that operates in 60 countries and is budgeted by millions of US taxpayer dollars each year. The IRI is “officially” a politically independent entity, though in reality it is aligned in most respects with the Republican Party and its ideals. Senator McCain has been chairman of the IRI since 1993 and Lorne Craner, president of the organization, is one of the presumptive Republican candidate’s informal foreign policy advisors. If McCain’s involvement with the IRI does not worry Latin America yet, it certainly will if the policies that have had such a destructive influence in the past are backed by the power of the presidency. His connection to the IRI could endanger already stressed US-Latin American relations in the event of a McCain victory.

The IRI: A History
In 1982, Ronald Reagan delivered a spirited speech that would lead to the founding of the controversial “research group.” In that speech, Reagan said, “Let us now begin a major effort to secure the best — a crusade for freedom that will engage the faith and fortitude of the next generation. For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny.” The IRI nostalgically identifies Reagan’s words as the “historic speech” in which the vision of the IRI first took shape. Not coincidentally, the years that followed became known as the “lost decade” in Latin America, something many have attributed in part to the Reagan Administration’s misguided policies toward the region. During this period, structural adjustment loans plunged regional economies and living standards into a downward spiral from which many countries have yet to recover. The 1980s were plagued by violence; US funded government security forces in Guatemala and El Salvador prosecuted dirty wars which resulted in the disappearance, torture, and massacre of thousands of the countries’ own citizens. In 1984, US became embroiled in one of the region’s most public and profound political scandals. The Iran Contra Affair, an attempt by the Reagan administration to overthrow Nicaragua’s democratically elected Sandinista government by providing funds to the “Contras,” a group of anti-communist rebels notorious for their appalling human rights record. These are the dubious auspices under which the International Republican Institute was founded, fitting when considering what the organization was to become – a covert operation to advance right-wing policy under the guise of promoting freedom.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Sarah Hamburger.

Haiti’s Food Crisis: A Threat to Stability and Progress

Though it once had a booming tourism industry, the poorest nation in the Americas sees few visitors today. Haiti’s negative image as a criminal haven has kept all but a few visitors away from the impoverished island nation despite UN data that suggests Haiti is no more dangerous than any other Latin American country. In fact, the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince is no more violent than any other large city. Last year, for example, the UN recorded nine times as many homicides in Jamaica than in Haiti. Nevertheless, even the advances made toward security in Haiti by the UN peacekeeping mission, MINUSTAH, have not yet entirely stabilized the country. The modest progress may soon be undone by the food crisis that, in recent months, has hit Haiti extremely hard.

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This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Emily Dunn.