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03/06/2008: "Third world is hopelessly self-destructive"

While millions of Haitians go hungry, containers full of food are stacking up in the nation's ports because of government red tape — leaving tons of beans, rice and other staples to rot under a sweltering sun or be devoured by vermin.

A government attempt to clean up a corrupt port system that has helped make Haiti a major conduit for Colombian cocaine has added new layers of bureaucracy — and led to backlogs so severe they are being felt 600 miles away in Miami, where cargo shipments to Haiti have ground almost to a standstill.

"So many times, by the time (the food) gets out of customs it's expired and we're forced to burn it," said Susie Scott Krabacher, whose Colorado-based Mercy and Sharing Foundation has worked in Haiti for 14 years. "The food is there. It is available. It just can't get to the people."

[ More un-PC truths: most poor people and poor nations are that way because they're disorganized. In them, people cannot see the need for longer-term sanity over the immediate gratification they want right now. Corruption is rife, and the self-defeating nation never rises above its third world status. ]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080307/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_rotting_cargo