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"Several epidemiologists have said the disease has not peaked and will likely worsen and" spread, UN health officials "estimating about 270,000 may be sickened in the coming years."
The true potential minimally exceeds a million, eventually causing many thousands of deaths, preventable because cholera is easily treated if done properly on time. However, little Western aid was provided, virtually nothing from Washington despite over $1.1 billion pledged. Also, Haiti's medical infrastructure is woefully inadequate, besides poor sanitation and most Haitians having no access to clean drinking water.
Overall since the January earthquake, Washington obstructed what little aid arrived. Then cholera and Hurricane Tomas flooding, making conditions on the ground worse than ever, indifferent rich nations doing little to help.
Haitians finally reacted, riots erupting in Cap-Haitien on Haiti's north coast. On November 16, Al Jazeera headlined, "Haiti cholera protests turns violent," saying:
Clashes with MINUSTAH forces killed at least two Haitians. "Protesters, who hold Nepalese UN peacekeepers responsible for the cholera outbreak (from an identified Asian strain foreign to Haiti), threw stones and threatened to set fire to a (Cap Haitien) base," according to Haitian radio and eyewitness reports.
Al Jazeera's Cath Turner said the situation was "brewing for a while, (evident by) tense relations" between MINUSTAH and local people. "Back in August, a 16-year old boy was found dead - he was hanging from a tree." Haitians believe UN troops killed him. Its paramilitaries have terrorized Haiti since arriving in 2004 to support a coup d'etat regime after US marines kidnapped Aristide in February 2004, then forcibly flew him to the Central African Republic. He's now in South Africa in exile, wanting to return. On orders from Washington, the Preval government prevents it. In a recent interview he said:
"I love my people and my country, and I cannot hide it, and because of that love, I am ready to leave right now. I cannot hide it. What is preventing me from leaving, as I said earlier, if I look from South Africa, I don't know." He wants to return as a private citizen, not a head of state. "In my view," he said, "they don't want me back because they still want to occupy Haiti," and freely exploit its people and resources, of course.
Haitians demonstrate often for his return, his presence alone badly wanted, his spirit a way to infuse hope for better governance and conditions, what's so far sorely lacking. The Cap Haitien protests are unsurprising, among others expressing outrage for lack of government and UN aid. For also failing to contain the cholera outbreak. The more it spreads, the greater the anger.
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