Prairie Fire Journal

While the U.S.-led rescue and relief operation for Haiti has had its shortcomings (some of which I have commented on in this blog), that doesn't mean that any other country in the world was able to do any better. Brazil has been critical of the way the U.S. has operated the Port au Prince airport, but I didn't see them stepping up and taking charge of the situation when presented with the opportunity to do so.

At the time of the Haiti earthquake, Brazil had about 7,000 military personnel stationed in Haiti as part of the U.N. peacekeeping force. Where was Brazil's government the first day of the earthquake? Brazil was in as good a position as any other country to get the airport operational for aid and rescue flights into Haiti. What happened?

What happened is that Brazil simply lacked the resources and ability to do what the U.S. was inevitably called upon to do. Brazil is a wannabe power-player on the world stage, but the reality is that Brazil is itself a developing nation with a large impoverished population. That being said, Brazil is in no position to be criticizing others who stepped up and did what it could not do.