Nation Conversations: Betsy Reed and Dan Coughlin on WikiLeaks Haiti

Nation Conversations: Betsy Reed and Dan Coughlin on WikiLeaks Haiti

Nation Conversations: Betsy Reed and Dan Coughlin on WikiLeaks Haiti

The explosive diplomatic cables prove what many Haitians already knew about US and UN meddling in the country.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

The explosive diplomatic cables prove what many Haitians already knew about US and UN meddling in the country.

From the US pushing its self-interested political agenda in Haiti to corporations refusing Haitian workers even a dismal minimum wage, the diplomatic cables from Haiti recently made available by the transparency-advocacy group WikiLeaks have confirmed many Haitians’ worst suspicions about international meddling in their country. The collaboration between The Nation and Haïti Liberté to analyze the contents of the cables has made many of these back-door operations clear for the first time.

In this Nation Conversation with executive editor Betsy Reed, The Nation‘s Dan Coughlin explains why he believes this newfound transparency could be the grain of sand that brings the country’s machinery of corruption grinding to a halt.

Subscribe to Nation Conversations on iTunes for exclusive audio of Nation forums, events. seminars and salons.

Anna Lekas Miller

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

Ad Policy
x