The Haiti AID Scam
The Haiti AID Scam Clinton Administration officials trumpet Haiti as an example of their commitment to use U.S. power to support democracy. The United States has pledged more than $250 million in...
...Murphy and his son Douglas also control a massive network of agribusinesses, making their Washington operation resemble a huge permanent floating conflict of interest...
...and two, be helpful to people...
...When we pointed out that both RCH and Chemonics are owned by Erly, he said, "So what...
...Ambassador William Swing, and delivered the keynote address...
...Douglas Murphy and American Rice hosted the closing luncheon at a December 1994 conference on Haiti at which, according to the New York-based Haiti Progres, Aristide was seated between Murphy and U.S...
...Gerald Murphy, a longtime Republican who claims personal friendship with Ronald Reagan, founded a consulting firm called Chemonics in 1976, because, he told The New York Times, "I've always wanted a way to do two things: one, have my own CIA...
...By September 15,1992, as documented by the Washington Office on Haiti, RCH and the Bazin government had signed an agreement authorizing RCH to import a minimum of 5,500 metric tons of rice a month...
...Within a month, Larry Theriot, the first director of the Caribbean Basin Initiative and now American Rice vice president, sent Bazin's illegal government a letter in behalf of Erly, supporting the company's intent to "assist in improving the production of rice in Haiti" through its Haitian subsidiary, the Rice Corporation of Haiti (RCH...
...If successful, Chemonics will guide the drafting of legislation on tariffs, taxes, land tenure, and agricultural subsidies, all of which could have an enormous impact on RCH's operations and profits...
...Ever eager to teach Haitians American democratic values, Erly-owned Chemonics is now bidding on contracts for AID's administration-of-justice program, and to provide technical assistance to the Haitian legislature...
...In June 1992, the military installed America's favorite Haitian politician, former World Bank official Marc Bazin, as stooge prime minister...
...Theriot rejected the notion of conflict of interest...
...Indeed, one of the largest U.S...
...As RCH expands its activities from the milling and rebagging it began in December 1992 to the growing it intends to increase in the Artibonite Valley, land-tenure issues will unquestionably arise, making RCH a major litigant before the very courts it is designing...
...But the primary beneficiaries will be U.S...
...The Murphy companies continue to thrive under Aristide's policy of "reconciliation" and privatization...
...investors in Haiti is bidding aggressively for a contract to mold the Haitian state institutions that will pass legislation and adjudicate claims affecting millions of dollars of its own business...
...Gerald Murphy is the chairman and Douglas the president of the parent company, Erly Industries of Los Angeles, manufacturing and selling agricultural chemicals, flre-retardant materials, juice, consulting services, and, above all, rice...
...Property disputes, especially land-tenure disputes, will continue to be the most important issue facing Haitian courts for the foreseeable future...
...The September 1991 Haitian coup was good to American Rice...
...We're here for the long term," says Theriot...
...American Rice and its subsidiary, Cornet Rice, together add up to the largest single miller and marketer of rice in the United States, with over $350 million in 1994 sales worldwide...
...businesses, not Haitians...
...They're separate businesses...
...RCH soon began operating a rice-receiving-and-bagging facility in a Port-au-Prince warehouse owned by one of Haiti's wealthiest families...
...In the first four months of 1995 alone, Chemonics was awarded more than $89.4 million in new AID contracts to support market privatization and restructuring and "investment in development of export agriculture" in the former Soviet Union, Central Europe, and Eastern Europe...
...Haiti consumes more rice per capita than any market in the Western Hemisphere...
...The program is supposed to assist in developing a functioning, independent judiciary...
...Douglas is president...
...The United States has pledged more than $250 million in credit, humanitarian assistance, development aid, and "democracy enhancement" to Haiti over the next few years...
...Chemonics is also bidding on contracts to provide technical assistance to the Haitian parliament, which will have to pass a raft of legislation before Aristide can fully privatize the economy...
...Gerald Murphy is vice-chairman of American Rice...
...In addition to wholly owning Chemonics, Erly also owns 81 percent of the stock of American Rice, Inc...
...Helping people is a lucrative business...
...John Canham-Clyne and Worth Cooley-Prost...
Vol. 59 • September 1995 • No. 9
