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January 19, 2010. National Radio of Spain (RNE)
No aid provided by US marines in Haiti. By Fran Sevilla
Fran, good afternoon
-Hello, good afternoon, how are you?
Pleased to hear you. We were talking yesterday
about the military deployment for guaranteeing the aid services security by US Marines
Has the deployment started?
No, no as a deployment in the streets of Port Prince
The only place, apart from the airport, were we have seen the US army
is at the interior of the National Palace
In the gardens that surrounded the ruined National Palace
In no other place, and with some convoy escorting some organization.
The pictures that you have seen, I think they are a good marketing
because, in fact, nothing has been seen here, and it starts to be pitiful.
I have been almost three hours travelling all around Port Prince
and I haven’t seen anywhere the delivering of humanitarian aid
In none place, from any kind
I haven’t seen Marines delivering boxes
Someone has made a good picture, but it is not related at all with the reality
The reality is that there are thousands and thousands
hundreds of thousands of Haitians, that haven’t received any help
All Port Prince Downtown, where is the residential palace, the central square
is crowded with people living in tents, that haven't received anything.
I have been in the Downtown, in some neighborhoods, in the country side.
Now I am in a place that is very noteworthy, it is a placed called Village de la Paix (peace village)
and it is a crematory.
There are two thousand persons in that same conditions
living in plastic tents. And they are telling me
none aid has arrived here yet
like this, in all the similar camps I have been around all Port Prince
I don't know who is saying that Marines are delivering humanitarian aid. This is absolutely false.
Fran, this is Ana Pastor. Fortunately you are there for telling us that that is a lie.
I wonder how is possible that you have arrived in some places but not the US army
it is incomprehensible seeing it from here.
It is absolutely incomprehensible.
we talked about it this morning with the Spain's State Secretary for Latin America
Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, who has been here since one day after the earthquake.
He is trying to help in the coordination in behalf of Spain and the presidency of the European Union.
He told us the coordination is improving little by little
and he explained us that the airport is a bottle neck
which is blocking the arrival of aid
in other reasons, as we have mentioned before,
the airport is controlled by the Americans, and they have given absolute priority
to the arrival of their own troops, to the arrival of their material,
and the evacuation of their own citizens
Doctors without borders and a huge list of NGO's
are complaining that their airplanes are waiting in Santo Domingo without arriving here
This same happened with three airplanes from the Spanish Cooperation
I have seen here Spanish firemen
that arrived here at the next day of the earthquake
waiting because they hadn't means for working,
because they were in an airplane that was not allowed to land.
the truth is that the steps that have been taken have been defective
According to the size of the emergency
They have told us that US is giving priority to security
maybe they are right
they say the aid is not deliver because any convoy delivering aid without protection would be assaulted immediately
creating a bigger chaos
This is Possible, but as time goes by and the aid is not arriving,
people is getting frustrated and chances are bigger to have plunders.
We have been in some camps of the UN
and there are thousands of Haitians waiting for something
a job, anything they could give them
We have seen how Peruvian soldiers from the UN army
have beaten people in order to open (incomprehensible)
Not because people wanted to assault the installations
but because they are impeding the entrance to the installations and the circulation.
That is the reality in Haiti
who says the opposite is because he or she is not here or has another purposes.
Juan Pablo de Laiglesia mentioned some numbers from the European Union
the aid deliver so far has reached 300 000 people, from one million needed,
I sincerely believe these are very optimistic numbers,
I don’t know who is delivering them to the political responsibles
but what I have seen in the last three hours
what I saw yesterday, there is no place receiving aid.
I have been travelling around Port Prince in a motorcycle with my driver, all around
and I haven't found any convoy and any point for aid delivering.
What a coincidence that after travelling the whole city I haven't run into any point of delivering
I know places such as the Village de la Paix, the downtown, in front of the residential palace, the camps close to the airport,
with thousands and thousands of people
and nothing has arrived there yet
It is important what you are saying Fran
because some times, and I'm not saying this with bad intention,
the images of what is happening are going to confuse us
they will put us away from reality.
The pictures in TV, in the news papers, of convoys delivering, airplanes unloading aid.
that aid is useless when it is not arriving where it is needed.
Tom has a question for you
Yes Fran, I thought the most logical way of distributing was through the air,
when vehicles are incapable of arriving
something Juan Pablo de Laiglesia has told us is that in some places they would deliver by air
But I'm in Port Prince I haven't seen helicopters from the army, I haven't seen anything.
Besides the helicopters are limited in terms of how much they can carry in order to deliver humanitarian aid
I hat to travel across the the outskirts of the city, because there is people leaving the city
because it is really hard to survive in Port Prince downtown, I haven't seen anything there too.
It is true that if you can come to an agreement with the UN for travelling with them
the same for the World Food Program, you could ask them to travel with them, and they take you
and that is the image going out to the world
but what I'm looking is not the image looked on purpose
but the image of the remains, of what is there
and that image is absolutely what I am telling you
That is the reality in these moments
and the reality is that every person I talk to in the streets is desperate asking for help
Here at Village de la Paix people see me as a white man, with a satellite phone
they think I'm someone who could help them
and they say "could you bring us aid" "could you call them to help us"
"could you tell them we are here"
I would like it, and I'm doing it. What I'm doing is what I can do
to tell you that the aid is not arriving
and soon is going to be one week and aid is not arriving
At the airport they are unloading few food and water
they are unloading much material
it is true that during the first days
efforts were concentrated in rescuing
and that operation, in words of Juan Pablo de Laiglesia, has finished now
the rescue teams are leaving now.
from Spain, today are leaving two, tomorrow others
and now the phase of distributing aid has started
water, food and medicines
but this phase that is supposed to be started, it is very difficult to find it anywhere
I haven't run in to any convoy
I don't know how they are going to explain it,
this the reality, the terrible reality in these moments
So this is how things are in Port Prince.
Thanks Fran.
Because your eyes are helping us and telling us the reality
that some times is difficult to see in spite of the interest one has
in knowing the truth of what is happening