I'm sure all readers have seen the distressing images coming out of Haiti throughout the day. There are no trade union aid campaigns set up at the moment but a number of non-governmental organisations have moved into action. Here's the appeal video put out by the British Red Cross:
Red Cross volunteers are already active in Port-au-Prince. You can donate to them here.
Oxfam have launched a similar appeal here.
In addition Channel 4 news have set up a Twitter list to aggregate information (the primary Twitter trend is here). There is also a Facebook group doing the same.
An early report comes from Cuba's Granma.
As was seen with the Italian earthquake in April last year, natural disasters do not occur in a political vacuum. In the CWI's article on the Haitian earthquake, Niall Mulholland puts this latest catastrophe in the context of the political shortcomings of the country's domestic elite and its relationship with the US. As Niall puts it, "President Obama issued a statement after the latest disaster: “We are closely monitoring the situation and we stand ready to assist the people of Haiti." But the record of US imperialism in Haiti, and indeed the region, is anything but helpful for the Haiti poor."
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