SOMEONE TELL MIKE MCROBERTS - THERE'S A MILITARY CLAMPDOWN HAPPENING IN HAITI

Although the New Zealand mainstream media continues to pretend otherwise, the American militarisation of Haiti is well under way.

And it has begun to raise alarm bells elsewhere.

French Cooperation Minister Alain Joyandet took a swipe at the Obama Administration on Monday when he said that the United States was giving priority to its own military and relief flights ahead of other nations' aid flights. Joyandet, a member of Sarkozy's ruling UMP party, went as far as demanding a U.N. investigation into U.S. aid efforts.

'This is about helping Haiti, not about occupying Haiti,' Joyandet said.

French President Sarkozy was quick to step in and grovel to the United States, declaring that it had an 'essential role' to play in Haiti.

Despite Hillary Clinton's attempts to highlight the United States 'humanitarian' motives, the United States has poured thousands of troops into Haiti and taken control of its main airport.

On the back of independent reports that the American military were blocking Cuba and Venezuelan relief workers from using the airport, both France and Brazil have lodged complaints that the United States is giving priority to its own military aircraft.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has spoken out about the American agenda in Haiti.

'I read that 3,000 soldiers are arriving, Marines armed as if they were going to war. There is not a shortage of guns there, my God. Doctors, medicine, fuel, field hospitals, that's what the United States should send," Chavez said. 'They are occupying Haiti undercover.'

The New Zealand media has chosen to ignore the buildup of the American military, with both TV1 and TV3 particularly blatant in toeing the US line.

TV3's Mike McRoberts ,who is actually in Haiti (see previous post), seems oblivious to what is happening in front of his own eyes. On TV3's six o'clock news last night he could be seen holding a sick child in his arms and, once again, describing how bad things are in Haiti - as if we didn't already know. He seems completely unaware that the United States is in the process of implementing a military clampdown in Haiti. It's either that or he's bought into the American military agenda.

Mike also seems to have other priorities.

On one report he thought it was important that we know that he had to pay 'extra' to get someone to drive him around at night!

US military interventions throughout Latin American are all about the maintenance of subservient national regimes, namely US proxy governments, committed to the Washington's neoliberal policy agenda. This is what is happening in Haiti today and this is what our media has 'filtered' out of its news reports.