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Wyclef Jean Hits Out At Criticism Against Haiti

He takes issue with scientists...

Wyclef Jean Hits Out At Criticism Against Haiti Add to My Fav Bands List
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Wyclef Jean has hit back at a recent report by academics which claimed his home country, Haiti, was a “stepping stone” for HIV/AIDS to enter the United States.

The former Fugees rapper, who now records as a solo artist, branded the research by the University of Arizona as unhelpful.

It was reported yesterday (December 3rd) that Jean issued a statement saying: “AIDS is a worldwide illness that does not discriminate. Making Haiti the scapegoat only gets in the way of world progress in AIDS research.”

Jean was born in Haiti and lived there until his parents moved to New York when he was nine.

The Caribbean country has had a well-documented, troubled past. The first black republic in the world, it is now the poorest – and one of the most violent – countries in the western hemisphere.

It also has a massive HIV/AIDS problem, with an estimated 200,000 people affected by the disease. Jean has used some of his fortune to establish the charity Yele Haiti, which aims to bring humanitarian assistance to Haiti.

His statement continued: “World AIDS Day (December 1st) is an opportunity to evoke the progress and challenges that Haiti must confront in order to fight this epidemic, but also the recent news that unjustly targeted our country and showed serious prejudice."

Jean has a new album out in the US today – called ‘The Carnival II: Memories of An Immigrant.’
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  • Whoever wrote the article about AIDS originated from Haiti is really trying so hard to get recognition. Unfortunately he is getting the wrong attention. How stupid and prejudice he is. How’s that possible if the virus was carried over in 1960’s by a Haitian to the US, where the first AIDS case was reported in Haiti in the early 1980’s. So what happened to that 20 years gap? Did Haitians freeze the virus? Please, I always thought people who go to university were smart.

    ~ by Charles (Part 1) 12/4/2007

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  • Apparently some had lost their logical thinking. I just do not get it why this world has so many prejudices. Not because Haiti is one of the poorest country in the world means that everything bad can be associated to. I guess it’s ok to blame anything bad to Haiti. In Addition, for Haiti being one of the poorest countries the world AIDS virus has been reducing.

    ~ by Charles (Part 2) 12/4/2007

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  • Mr. Author do yourself a favor from embarrassment, drop your pen or computer find a job at Kinko you will have plenty of time to read a decent report/ book/ article while making copies you might learn from that.

    ~ by Charles (part3) 12/4/2007

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  • It’s a phenomenon,whenever Haiti is about to rise up from the pit where the ennemy wished to keep it, they have found a way to distract the haitian people from fufilling their dream. This tiny nation is a cancerous bone for the slave masters who refused to let go, and accept the fact that haiti has distroyed their field for ever.Haiti is a visionary nation, they must be a way to stop it.After creating the stigma of poverty to cripple it, they know labled it as AIDS’s factory to keep

    ~ by Mark 12/4/2007

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  • Those who accuse Haiti of aids are nothing but a bunch of pseudo scientists. They’re paid to do the dirty job of those who invented it. They forget that when they point one finger at someone they have four pointing at them. Fifty years from today, everybody will know the truth about aids origins and objectives.

    ~ by BAF 12/7/2007

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  • Marcelin, the U.S. is not the richest nor the strongest country...it’s fiction; the emperor’s feet are made of clay; it’s all stumbling down! CALL THEIR BLUFF!

    ~ by KIDHAITI 12/9/2007

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  • We, Haitians need to urgently do something about ourselves. One cannot expect others to do for us what we are not doing for ourselves. Wyclef Jean should spend his entire fortune to build (do not give anything away)... and build for posterity... Charity is fine... but Haiti has already received billions of dollars from the United States in charity.... Haiti needs to build its own future... now!

    ~ by Jean Petit-frere 12/9/2007

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  • We need to put our heads together and start sueing somebody for these alligations. Where is the civil right leaders? Where is Francine Waters, Jese Jackson, Al Sharpton among others? Death ears. Sueing process begins and use the money to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti.jpluvi01@hotmail.com

    ~ by Cap-Haitian, Haitian 12/13/2007

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  • Again, this type of ignorance is not worthy of attention. As Haitians , we’re used to this type of slander. Let’s keep our heads up and continue to do what we can for troubled nation.

    ~ by Vaudreuil 12/20/2007

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