Haiti bill is hopeless

* Regarding your editorial "Congress gets it right on Haiti" (NCR, Dec. 22): Sweatshop workers in Haiti have a message for justice advocates who pressed for the passage of the "HOPE" (Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement) bill in the last hours of the last Congress: "Save us from this enslavement. 'HOPE' is only for the sweatshop owners." Religious justice advocates helped pass this measure giving Haitian clothing manufacturers a break in getting cheaper cloth so that they could keep their businesses running and "save jobs." They felt self-righteous that they stood down the opposition from the U.S. textile lobbyists. But did they ensure that workers rights would be enforced? No.

Your editorial uses the hack phrases about the "poorest country in the Western hemisphere," "life expectancy is 53 years." It sanctifies Mike DeWine as a selfless savior of poor Haitians. I think not. Check out the critique by Tom Ricker at the Quixote Center's Web site to learn how this act has been around for several years and is just a bad model for just development in Haiti. The women workers at Wilbess & Co. earn less than $2 per hour, work beyond eight hours a day, often are denied bathroom privileges and are at risk of being shot if they cause trouble like trying to organize. Last month they contacted AUMOHD (Association of University Graduates Motivated for a Haiti with Rights), a Haitian human rights advocacy group. It's the only credible human rights agency they could find to help them demand redress. "HOPE" is no hope for long-term development in a place where the United States has ruined agriculture and sabotaged democratic rule.

TOM LUCE

Berkeley, Calif.

[Tom Luce is president of Hurah, Inc., Human Rights Accompaniment in Haiti.]

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