David Baird's Blog
August 4, 2021
Haiti chérie — may god help youOnce again Haiti is in the...
Haiti chérie — may god help you
Once again Haiti is in the news — for all the wrong reasons.
Shortly before elections were due the country’s president was murdered in his palace by armed invaders, allegedly mercenaries who had flown in from Colombia.
Nothing in the bizarre story adds up. How did the attackers gain access to the well-guarded presidential palace? What was their motive? Who paid them or commanded them? Who gained by this crime?
This latest scandal follows a devastating earthquake several years ago which prompted aid organisations to send cash, food and experts to help the country get back on its feet. Without obvious result. Over the years millions of dollars in aid have poured into Haiti, but the country remains the poorest in the Caribbean and Latin America.
Forgive me if, as somebody who has visited Haiti, I have a somewhat cynical attitude about its future. Sadly Haiti is an island with a brutal past and an unpromising future. Corruption is a way of life. A handful of its people live comfortable, opulent lives while many others exist in slum conditions.
Organisations such as Doctors Without Frontiers (more familiarly known as Médecins Sans Frontières, http://www.msf.es) do a tremendous job but they are faced with an impossible task.
Some surely did very well out of the Haiti earthquake. Inevitably, millions of dollars evaporated as corrupt local politicians siphon off aid money. Some NGOs and the many foreign companies awarded contracts for the rebuilding have been well compensated for their trouble.
Some years back I visited the island known as the “slum of the Caribbean” and only then did I appreciate what juicy pickings there are in poverty-stricken countries.
With a European aid worker, I travelled to the north of Haiti. We stopped at a godforsaken town, its dirt streets lined with hovels. At a grocery store we knocked back soft drinks. Then I took a look at the merchandise on sale — and was stunned.
Apart from an astonishing range of imported foods, one wall was lined with champagne, about 16 different brands, from Moet & Chandon to Dom Perignon.
“Who buys this?” I asked my companion.
He shrugged.
“The aid workers in this area. And they don’t need to touch their salaries. That goes into their bank accounts back home and they live off their expenses.”
Haiti chérie…may god help you!
Haiti — the vultures gather
But don’t bank on the cash going where it should. Forgive me if, as somebody who has visited Haiti, I have a somewhat cynical attitude about its future.
The scams have already started as bogus charities are appealing for funds to help Haiti via the Internet. They claim to represent everybody from Unicef to the Red Cross.
Make sure your donation goes to a genuine, truly dedicated organisation, such as Doctors Without Frontiers. More familiarly known as Médecins Sans Frontières or Médicos Sin Fronteras (www.msf.es), they do a tremendous job all over the world.
Unfortunately, I fear that 10 years from now there will be thousands of people still living in “temporary” emergency accommodation. It happened in Nicaragua, in Italy, in many other places hit by natural disasters.
But some will do very well out of the Haiti earthquake. Inevitably, millions of dollars will have evaporated as corrupt local politicians siphon off aid money.
And then there are the NGOs and the many foreign companies who will be awarded contracts for the rebuilding. They will be well compensated for their trouble.
I did not appreciate what juicy pickings there are in poverty-stricken countries until I visited the island known as the “slum of the Caribbean” some years back.
With a European aid worker, I travelled to the north of Haiti. We stopped at a godforsaken town, its dirt streets lined with hovels.
At a grocery store we knocked back soft drinks. Then I took a look at the merchandise on sale — and was stunned.
Apart from an astonishing range of imported foods, one wall was lined with champagne, about 16 different brands, from Moet & Chandon to Dom Perignon.
“Who buys this?” I asked my companion.
He shrugged.
“The aid workers in this area. And they don’t need to touch their salaries. That goes into their bank accounts back home and they live off their expenses.”
Haiti chérie…may god help you!
June 5, 2020
GUERRILLA WAR — SPAIN’S FORGOTTEN CONFLICT
IT’S A FORGOTTEN WAR. But its legacy lives on, affecting the lives of thousands of families.
Between Two Fires could not be more timely. This important book throws fresh light on a bitter guerrilla conflict which raged years after Spain’s Civil War and went largely unreported during the long years of dictatorship.
[image error]
Attempts have been made — through the Ley de la Memoria Histórica — to heal some of the lingering wounds but this has only succeeded in exacerbating the fierce debate. Passions still flare when the Franco years are recalled.
Between Two Fires is the first book in English to examine the subject in depth. It throws fresh light on that desperate rebellion, which raged during the 1940s and 1950s
Scouring official archives from Seville and Barcelona to London and Washington, journalist and author David Baird has sought to dig out the true story behind the anti-Franco resistance movement. For more than five years he travelled across Spain, seeking out survivors and checking official and unofficial archives.
The result is his acclaimed book, Between Two Fires — Guerrilla war in the Spanish sierras. In the words of noted British historian Paul Preston: “As exciting as any thriller, yet deeply moving, it deserves to be read by everyone concerned with the history of contemporary Spain.”
This is the true story of what happens when humble country folk find themselves in the front line in a secret war. Leading the guerrillas against Franco’s Civil Guard was a legendary figure, Roberto, a veteran of the Civil War and the French Resistance, charismatic but doomed.
Guerrilleros, villagers, Civil Guards give a moving account of bloodshed and betrayal, courage and heroism. Little did they know that as the guerrilla war raged, politicians as far apart as London and Moscow were pulling the strings.
Check this Maroma Press website for more details and how to order this book, which in the words of Lorca biographer Ian Gibson “throws an intense light on an epic struggle”.
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December 12, 2019
LA GUERRA OLVIDADA EN LAS SIERRAS DE ESPAÑA
SE TRATA DE UNA GUERRA OLVIDADA — la lucha de unos guerrilleros en los años 1940 contra el regimen de Franco. Una guerra de que el público no fue informada, ni dentro del país ni afuera. Ahora hay una nueva edición en castellano del libro de David Baird, La gente de la sierra — Lucha sin cuartel contra las fuerzas franquistas.
Cada día hay menos gente que vivío en su propia carne aquella lucha. Uno por uno, los testigos se van desapareciendo. Pero el libro La gente de la sierra deja constancia del impacto terrible de aquella guerra desconocida en las sierras de Málaga y Granada.
Recoge el testimonio — apasionante, espeluznante y emocionante — de los campesinos de la Axarquía. Y también de los guerrilleros y de la Guardia Civil.
Comenta el escritor Ian Gibson en el prólogo: “Para muchos españoles el libro va a ser una revelación…es el resultado de muchos años de paciente indagación y de numerosas entrevistas, a veces muy dificiles de conseguir.”
En Andalucía ‘El Roberto’, un jefe enigmático y carismático, organizó la rebelión de la gente de la sierra. En medio se encontraban los campesinos, víctimas de decisiones llegadas en Madrid, Moscú, Paris, Londres, Washington…
Hablan en este libro gente del pueblo, gente sin pretensiones, gente sin voz. Cuentan cómo una comunidad se encontró en medio de un torbellino de fuerzas sobre el cual no tenía ningún control. Es la historia de lo que pasó en un pueblo entre muchos, un trocito de la historia de España.
Entre la información inédita se incluyen detalles de cómo:
agentes secretos americanos adiestraron y armaron
a los guerrilleros comunistas
quedó encubierta durante más de 50 años la verdad
sobre el asesinato de tres jóvenes
‘Merece ser leído por todo aquel interesado
en la historia contemporánea de España’ — Paul Preston, historiador
La gente de la sierra está disponible también en ingles.
Also available in English.
April 29, 2019
Time to hit THE OTHER COSTA
Until recently there was no decent guide in English to one of the most scenic parts of southern Spain, a sub-tropical area which enjoys 3,000 hours of sunshine every year.
But that’s all changed! Pick up a copy of “East of Malaga – Your guide to the Axarquía and Costa Tropical”.
Forget about Torremolinos, Marbella and all the other crowded resorts. Instead, head for The Other Costa. When leaving Malaga airport simply turn left instead of right and head east. Soon you are driving along the stretch of coast that runs from Málaga to Nerja, Almuñecar and Salobreña.
This guide, published by Maroma Press, covers the coast and the spectacular mountainous interior in Málaga and Granada provinces. Find here all the info you need about delightful small hotels and good-quality restaurants plus[image error] facilities for all manner of outdoor activities, from mountain biking to hiking, scuba-diving to canyoning.
Looking for secluded beaches and hidden valleys, spectacular waterfalls and tasty local dishes?
Want to hike over lofty, snow-capped mountains? Or to drop in on unusual, colourful fiestas? Interested in sampling some of the region’s wines?
This guide will put you on the right track.
Follow in the footsteps of English writer Laurie Lee, who travelled this way in the 1930s. He noted: “The cliffs and mountains soaked up the sunsets like red sponges and the distant ragged edge of the sierras shone blue as a blunted saw.”
He was a poet. But you too may be moved to lyrical heights.
This is what the Mail on Sunday said about “East of Malaga”: “Full of useful information and thoughtful advice. It contains everything you need to know about fiestas, sights, wine and food, places to stay and much more.”
And The Northern Echo commented: “This is a little gem of a book. And perhaps the perfect eye- opener for jaded travellers who say ‘Spain? It’s all been spoiled, hasn’t it?’ “
“East of Malaga – Your guide to the Axarquía and Costa Tropical” (Maroma Press) is on sale at Spain’s English-language bookshops and via Amazon and other on-line outlets.
December 28, 2018
LIFE, DEATH AND HUMOUR IN A SPANISH VILLAGE
EVER MEET A WOMAN cured of disease by visions of the Virgin, a blind beggar who rides a motor-bike, a phantom who terrorises a whole community? You’ll find them all and much more in Sunny Side Up, David Baird’s nostalgic — often humorous, always moving — book about life in rural Spain.
It may read like fiction, but it’s all fact. It’s the Spain that Hemingway never saw and never wrote about.
“Baird’s ironic glance back over the past 30 years is recommended reading for anybody who has ever wondered what happened to ‘the real Spain’,” according to the Sunday Times.
When you travel the back roads of Spain, it’s easy to imagine that nothing ever happens in those whitewashed villages you pass, slumbering in the sun, forgotten by the world, far from the rat race…[image error]
Dream on. Behind those white walls you will find more drama and passion than you could ever imagine. All human life is here, in all its varieties.
British journalist David Baird and his Dutch wife found that out fast enough when — after travelling the world — they settled in an Andalusian village, seeking “the simple life”.
Soon they found that things were not so simple. The sub-title of Baird’s book is The 21st century hits a Spanish village. It’s the tale of a rural community as its shifts from a medieval way of life into the computer age.
There’s passion and pathos, humour and tragedy. And also an insightful dissection of local ways, as well as a wicked glance at expatriate eccentricities.
Baird’s other books include Between Two Fires, a highly acclaimed account of a largely unreported guerrilla war in Spain in the 1940s, as well as travel books and two works of fiction (Don’t Miss The Fiesta! and Typhoon Season).
Sunny Side Up, distributed by Maroma Press, is on sale through English bookshops in Spain and via Amazon and other Internet sellers. It has been selected by several Spanish schools as a set book for its pupils.
The German edition, Leben im Pueblo, translated by Uwe W. Paulsen, is available from the publisher, Verlag Winfried Jenior, Lassallestr. 15, D-34119 Kassel, Germany. Tel.: 0561-7391621, Fax 0561-774148. E-Mail: Jenior@aol.com. Homepage: http://www.jenior.de
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November 25, 2018
La guerra olvidada – Spain’s forgotten war
SE TRATA DE UNA GUERRA OLVIDADA — la lucha de unos guerrilleros en los años 1940 contra el regimen de Franco. Una guerra de que el público no fue informada, ni dentro del país ni afuera. Ahora hay una nueva edición en castellano del libro de David Baird, La gente de la sierra — Lucha sin cuartel contra las fuerzas franquistas.
Cada día hay menos gente que vivío en su propia carne aquella lucha. Uno por uno, los testigos se van desapareciendo. Pero el libro La gente de la sierra deja constancia del impacto terrible de aquella guerra desconocida en las sierras de Málaga y Granada.
Recoge el testimonio — apasionante, espeluznante y emocionante — de los campesinos de la Axarquía. Y también de los guerrilleros y de la Guardia Civil.
Comenta el escritor Ian Gibson en el prólogo: “Para muchos españoles el libro va a ser una revelación…es el resultado de muchos años de paciente indagación y de numerosas entrevistas, a veces muy dificiles de conseguir.”
En Andalucía ‘El Roberto’, un jefe enigmático y carismático, organizó la rebelión de la gente de la sierra. En medio se encontraban los campesinos, víctimas de decisiones llegadas en Madrid, Moscú, Paris, Londres, Washington…
Hablan en este libro gente del pueblo, gente sin pretensiones, gente sin voz. Cuentan cómo una comunidad se encontró en medio de un torbellino de fuerzas sobre el cual no tenía ningún control. Es la historia de lo que pasó en un pueblo entre muchos, un trocito de la historia de España.
Entre la información inédita se incluyen detalles de cómo:
agentes secretos americanos adiestraron y armaron
a los guerrilleros comunistas
quedó encubierta durante más de 50 años la verdad
sobre el asesinato de tres jóvenes
‘Merece ser leído por todo aquel interesado
en la historia contemporánea de España’ — Paul Preston, historiador
La gente de la sierra está disponible también en ingles.
Also available in English.
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June 29, 2018
Take a trip to THE OTHER COSTA
Have you seen the huge crowds in Málaga airport? Oh my gosh! And all heading for resorts on the Costa del Sol!
But wait! You don’t have to join the mob on the crowded beaches of Torremolinos, Fuengirola and Marbella. Just turn left instead of right and head east, to the Other Costa — that’s the stretch of coast that runs from Málaga to Nerja, Almuñecar and Salobreña.
Until recently there was no decent guide in English to this sub-tropical area which enjoys 3,000 hours of sunshine every year. But that’s all changed! Pick up a copy of “East of Malaga – Your guide to the Axarquía and Costa Tropical”.
This guide, published by Maroma Press, covers the coast and the spectacular mountainous interior in Málaga and Granada provinces. Find here all the info you need about delightful small hotels and good-quality restaurants plus[image error] facilities for all manner of outdoor activities, from mountain biking to hiking, scuba-diving to canyoning.
Looking for secluded beaches and hidden valleys, spectacular waterfalls and tasty local dishes?
Want to hike over lofty, snow-capped mountains? Or to drop in on unusual, colourful fiestas? Interested in sampling some of the region’s wines?
This guide will put you on the right track.
Follow in the footsteps of English writer Laurie Lee, who travelled this way in the 1930s. He noted: “The cliffs and mountains soaked up the sunsets like red sponges and the distant ragged edge of the sierras shone blue as a blunted saw.”
He was a poet. But you too may be moved to lyrical heights.
This is what the Mail on Sunday said about “East of Malaga”: “Full of useful information and thoughtful advice. It contains everything you need to know about fiestas, sights, wine and food, places to stay and much more.”
And The Northern Echo commented: “This is a little gem of a book. And perhaps the perfect eye- opener for jaded travellers who say ‘Spain? It’s all been spoiled, hasn’t it?’ “
“East of Malaga – Your guide to the Axarquía and Costa Tropical” (Maroma Press) is on sale at Spain’s English-language bookshops and via Amazon and other on-line outlets.
February 19, 2018
LA GUERRA OLVIDADA
SE TRATA DE UNA GUERRA OLVIDADA — la lucha de unos guerrilleros en los años 1940 contra el regimen de Franco. Una guerra de que el público no fue informada, ni dentro del país ni afuera. Ahora hay una nueva edición en castellano del libro de David Baird, La gente de la sierra — Lucha sin cuartel contra las fuerzas franquistas.
Cada día hay menos gente que vivío en su propia carne aquella lucha. Uno por uno, los testigos se van desapareciendo. Pero el libro La gente de la sierra deja constancia del impacto terrible de aquella guerra desconocida en las sierras de Málaga y Granada.
Recoge el testimonio — apasionante, espeluznante y emocionante — de los campesinos de la Axarquía. Y también de los guerrilleros y de la Guardia Civil.
Comenta el escritor Ian Gibson en el prólogo: “Para muchos españoles el libro va a ser una revelación…es el resultado de muchos años de paciente indagación y de numerosas entrevistas, a veces muy dificiles de conseguir.”
En Andalucía ‘El Roberto’, un jefe enigmático y carismático, organizó la rebelión de la gente de la sierra. En medio se encontraban los campesinos, víctimas de decisiones llegadas en Madrid, Moscú, Paris, Londres, Washington…
Hablan en este libro gente del pueblo, gente sin pretensiones, gente sin voz. Cuentan cómo una comunidad se encontró en medio de un torbellino de fuerzas sobre el cual no tenía ningún control. Es la historia de lo que pasó en un pueblo entre muchos, un trocito de la historia de España.
Entre la información inédita se incluyen detalles de cómo:
agentes secretos americanos adiestraron y armaron
a los guerrilleros comunistas
quedó encubierta durante más de 50 años la verdad
sobre el asesinato de tres jóvenes
‘Merece ser leído por todo aquel interesado
en la historia contemporánea de España’ — Paul Preston, historiador
La gente de la sierra está disponible también en ingles.
Also available in English.
December 3, 2017
LAND OF ETERNAL SUMMER
FINALLY it seems that winter is coming to Spain after one of the longest summers on record. Finally the ski slopes, from the Sierra Nevada to the Pyrenees, are being groomed for what promises to be a memorable season.
Along the country’s southern coast, however, sun-worshippers from northern climes are still stretching out on the beaches.
It recalls the the time, so long ago, when my wife and I fled the British winter by taking a train across Europe to the coast that some bright spark had dubbed “the Costa del Sol”.
Arriving late at night in Málaga, we stumbled through darkened streets seeking a cheap hostal. Next morning, as we prepared to go for breakfast, my wife put on her thick overcoat.
“Why are you wearing that?” I asked her.
“I don’t want to catch cold,” she replied.
“But look out there,” I said, pointing through the window at the street below. The passersby were in blouses and shirt sleeves. Not a coat or a scarf in sight.
We had arrived in the land of eternal summer. And it felt great. Taking a bus along the coast, we passed fields of sugar cane and found a humble fishing village. Women were drawing water from a fountain and the odour of frying churros and coffee wafted through streets uncluttered by traffic, except occasional herds of goats.
It was the ideal bolthole. Now and again I bought the local newspaper just to confirm that we were in the right place. The heavily censored stories, each ending with the exhortation “Viva el Caudillo!”, all conveyed the same message: Spain was an oasis of peace and prosperity while the rest of the world was in turmoil.
One day we trekked up a dry riverbed to a village perched way above the coast, a mere splash of white on the hillside. Mules plodded along the narrow main street lined with immaculately whitewashed houses. So rare were visitors that a gaggle of giggling children followed us about.
After trying the local wine, we drifted happily back to the coast as the setting sun tinged the sierras with gold. It was good to be alive. And, did we but know it, we had just visited the pueblo which would become our home.
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