"Nowhere is this perhaps more clear than in the case of Haiti. Thirty years ago Haiti had all the rice it needed. Then in 1986, Haiti turned to the IMF for a loan. Now, after cutting tariff protections on local rice, Haiti imports most of its rice from the United States, which in turn remains heavily subsidized. US rice farmers get one billion dollars a year in government subsidies. Meanwhile in Haiti, hungry people are rioting in the streets because they cannot afford to buy rice.

Bill Quigley is a a human rights lawyer and law professor at Loyola University in New Orleans. His latest article is about the situation in Haiti. Its called "The US Role in Haiti"s Food Riots." Bill Quigley joins us now from New Orleans."