In Disaster, Tensions Ease Between an Island's Rivals
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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Like almost anyone from Hispaniola, the island uncomfortably shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic, Paloma Rivera is acutely aware that the two nations distrust each other, complain about each other and cite grievances about each other going back well over a century.
Yet here she was, a Dominican, clearing garbage and digging latrines in a slum in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, to help survivors of the earthquake find a place to pitch their tents.
"Maybe this earthquake, even with its tragedies, can do some good by making us a little less distant from each other," said Ms. Rivera, 24, a social worker who joined thousands of other Dominicans in loading emergency food and medicine into their vehicles and driving here.
Since the earthquake ravaged this city on Jan. 12, a dizzying array of soldiers, doctors, aid workers and missionaries have massed here from around the globe, communicating in Arabic, Hebrew, Mandarin and many other tongues.
Most of the time, their politics back home have taken a back seat to helping Haiti, making for some strange bedfellows working in close proximity, if not exactly side by side: Israelis and Libyans, Pakistanis and Indians, all trying to get this country back on its feet.
In other cases, the earthquake seems to be highlighting conflicts among Haiti's allies. Venezuela and Cuba, jockeying for influence, have criticized the United States, which has long been a major influence here, for its heavy use of soldiers in its humanitarian aid effort.
"It's worrisome that the United States is using this tragedy to militarily occupy Haiti," President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela said last week during a visit to Bolivia for the inauguration of President Evo Morales. Mr. Morales, a top recipient of Venezuelan aid, described the Obama administration's decision to send troops to Haiti as "an invasion."
Taiwan, meanwhile, has been using its close ties with the Haitian government to fend off the entreaties of the Chinese government, which has been trying to win over Haiti's president, René Préval, and convince him that his country should no longer recognize Taiwan as an independent nation.
First Published January 29, 2010 2:01 am
