Haiti is one of the most miserable places on earth.  Slave revolts weren’t uncommon in the Caribbean islands; given that the life expectancy of a slave on a sugar plantation was around 3 years, what did they have to lose?  But only in Haiti did a revolt turn into a revolution and then into a country – which has never seen a day of freedom or honest, competent, government since it gained independence from France in 1804.  Nor have the occasional ham-handed interventions by the U.S. and/or the U.N. made one bit of difference.  It’s still as poor, hungry, sick, underdeveloped, overcrowded and corrupt as ever.

Now comes word that its most-recently elected President, Jovenel Moïse, (who, by the way, had been ruling by Constitutionally-suspect means for several years) has been assassinated in what one news account called “murky” circumstances.  The depths of the crisis can be judged by the fact that the country’s putative prime minister is begging the U.S. to send in the Marines to keep the peace.  The Biden administration has, so far and probably wisely, refused the request.

I have close-to-zero tolerance for illegal immigration, but that doesn’t mean I lack sympathy for the people of hellholes like Haiti, Guatemala, El Salvador, etc., who are understandably desperate to get out and none too picky about legalities.  I don’t know what we can do to help the Haitians; something other than what we’ve done in the past, obviously, which was worthless when it wasn’t harmful.  But that doesn’t mean it isn’t our problem.  Because they will come here one way or the other, and because criminal gangs will use it as a base of operations to smuggle drugs and people into the country, we can’t escape it.  And that’s before we consider the humanitarian aspects, which would break a heart of stone.

For the unfortunate people of Haiti, it’s one damn thing after another.

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And for the people of Cuba, too, who, let us hope, this time will be able to break the chains that have shackled them for over 60 years.  If we can help shift the odds in their favor, let’s do it.

And speaking of failures, let’s not forget the embargo imposed by the U.S. on Cuba, which has been notably unsuccessful in bringing down the Communist regime in that beautiful but benighted country.  Black Lives Matter, which never saw an issue it couldn’t racialize and is run by self-professed Marxists, has blamed the embargo for Cuba’s situation, which, of course, is hardest on the black and brown population because, you know, racism, even among the comrades of the Revolution.  That’s laughable, of course (not the racism part, though, which is at least plausible).  The embargo has been an impediment, no doubt, but would be nothing more than an irritation if Communism actually worked.  The rest of the world kept on trading with the Cubans, and tourists have crowded its beautiful beaches for decades.  A lot of good that has done the long-suffering people of Cuba; the proceeds went into the pockets of the Castros and their cronies, who have grown rich while the proletariat goes hungry.  Only the willfully blind and ignorant don’t know that.  Which tells you what you need to know about Black Lives Matters, Inc.

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And speaking of sympathy for the unfortunate, a federal judge in southern Texas has declared DACA – the Obama-administration-created Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program – illegal on technical grounds.  It’s the right decision, and that’s unfortunate.  That Republicans and Democrats have not been able to come together to fix this obviously-unjust situation is a black mark against them and the entire nation.  The young people in this program – the “Dreamers”, as they’ve been called – were brought to the U.S. illegally by their parents, but clearly had no choice in the matter.  They are innocent of any wrongdoing, and are Americans by any reasonable understanding of the term.  Holding them responsible and throwing them out is wrong and makes no sense, yet that’s exactly what existing law requires.  Shame on Congress.  Fix this unjust law.

• Kenneth D. Gough © 2021