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"The UN has already issued a press release saying the Nepalese forces were not responsible for the cholera outbreak after conducting a series of tests."
The last refuge of a scoundrel caught red-handed is lying, this one based in the originating Artibonite region, its waters fouled by cholera. It's now also confirmed that Nepalese troops dump sewage into the Artibonite River, increasing its contamination.
On November 19, Al Jazeera headlined, "Cholera unrest hits Haiti capital," saying:
Along with outbreaks in other parts of the country, Al Jazeera's Cath Turner said rioting escalated in Port-au-Prince. In response, police fired tear gas:
"into a camp for internally displaced people....The military wing of the National Police (struck) homeless camps across the road from the national parliament - Champ de Mars. Sources are telling us that there are scenes of parents and kids running around there trying to escape" the effects. "There are also UN troops monitoring this, and there are reports that they earlier fired tear gas at protesters. So really things are coming to a head now."
According to Radio Metropole, police and protesters clashed near the National Palace. In other parts of the city, Haitians erected barricades, burned tires, and tore down campaign posters for President Rene Preval's hand-picked successor, Jude Celestin. First round presidential and legislative elections are still scheduled for November 28 despite the epidemic, appalling conditions in earthquake struck areas, the effects of Hurricane Tomas, and 14 parties banned, including by far the most popular, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas.
A Final Comment
Post-quake, minimal amounts of aid were provided, despite billions of dollars pledged or delivered. Now cholera, a raging epidemic likely to claim many thousands of lives because of Western indifference, especially by Washington that delivered nothing. UN efforts also fell far short, OCHA spokeswoman, Imogen Wall, telling Reuters that only $5 million of its $164 million request to fight cholera was received.
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