Haiti's new leader fears mentor's return

[struggle4progress]

By Joe Mozingo
Knight Ridder

MIAMI - The critical issue of whether Haitian President-elect René Préval will allow the return from exile of his political mentor -- ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide -- will be taken up this week at meetings with Aristide's South African hosts, Haitian and foreign officials say.

Préval has made it increasingly clear to foreign diplomats that he does not want the fiery former priest to return home any time soon. But he must walk a delicate line to appease Aristide's supporters in Port-au-Prince's slums, who during the election put up street barricades and threatened violence until Préval was declared the victor. <snip>

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14023650.htm


What a difference a week or two of veiled threats makes!

Preval Says Aristide Can Return to Haiti
Wednesday February 22, 2006 11:16 PM
AP Photo PAP104
By STEVENSON JACOBS
Associated Press Writer

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) - Haiti's president-elect said Wednesday that the nations' constitution permits the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, but Rene Preval declined to say whether he would welcome home his exiled former mentor.

Preval, a 63-year-old agronomist, said Aristide could not be barred from returning to the volatile Caribbean nation two years after he was toppled in a bloody revolt.

``My position is simple on President Aristide and any other citizen who wants to come to Haiti,'' Preval said in his first news conference since he was declared the winner of the Feb. 7 election. ``Article 41 of the Haitian Constitution says that no Haitian needs a visa to enter or leave the country.''

The United States said Wednesday that Arisitide's return would serve no useful purpose, with State Department spokesman Adam Ereli saying: ``Aristide is from the past. We're looking to the future.'' <snip>

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-5640243,00.html

[bullimiami]

1. truly the 'news' is so often a pack of lies these days its hard to know

what to think.

from my thoughts, lavalas got the government back and lavalas loves aristide, why would preval fear him coming back unless its fear of american (bush) reprisal and bloody interference again.

[bemildred]

2. Sounds like bullshit to me.

Show me a direct quote from Preval that supports it and I'll reconsider.

[1932]

5. Exactly. Without a quote from Preval, it's bullshit.

In fact, I'm pretty sure I heard Preval say two weeks ago on BBC that he's looking forward to Aristide's return, or some variation of that.

[Bacchus39]

3. because Aristide's return would overshadow Preval

it could lead to further instability.

[1932]

6. "Further" instability??? Would Haiti be more stable if they never ever had

a president that most of the people wanted again? Should the people who tried to deny Preval his victory have prevailed in the name of stability?

The oligopoly doing everything they can to deny democracy, avoid paying taxes, carrying out coups, cheating in elections...that's the route to instability.

Preval's victory and Artistide returning are steps in the path towards stability.

[Bacchus39]

7. the people voted for Preval

he is president, not Aristide. Aristide would take a big risk if he returns. Can his safety be ensured?

[1932]

8. What did you mean by "further" instability?

[Bacchus39]

9. Haiti's situation is already tenuous

its already quite unstable needless to stay. Aristide's return could lead to more.

at some point he should return. It would signify some semblance of normalcy. but it would be good if Preval can get things up and running first.

[1932]

10. Why do you think it's unstable?

Don't you think Preval's election is a move TOWARDS stability?

[Bacchus39]

11. yes of course

so why would Aristide jeopardize this respite and let things organize a little while. there are still alot of violence in the cities and of course thousands of UN troops are still on the ground.

sorry, can't Aristide wait a little while longer. It will be a significant achievement when Aristide can return without fear for his safety or more hostilities breaking out.

It seems selfish on the part of Aristide.

[1932]

12. You're making a logical leap you haven't supported.

What's your theory that Arisitide's return would promote ("further") instability, when the instability was caused by the RW coup against his government and is being UNDONE by Preval's election?

I think you're projecting and echoing the RW spin this article is trying to promote (which makes unsubstantiated claims, by the way).

[Bacchus39]

13. you are nuts!!

what are you even talking about?? Preval was just elected president. do you doubt his legitimacy? why would you want to immediately bring back someone who was the cause of the recent collapse of Haiti?

hey, Aristide can go to Haiti if he wants. its his life at risk. I never said he can't go back, I am just saying I think its a terrible idea.

[1932]

14. Uh, what are you talking about?

Preval and Aristide are friends. Preval's election is a vindication of Aristide and the first step to undoing the coup. And Aristide is entitled to return to his country now that the coup is being undone.

But we're getting at the inherent right-wingedness of your version of reality. You think the coup was Aristide's fault.

And please just try to explain the logic one more time of how Aristide returning to Haiti promotes instability? I need a good laugh.

[Bacchus39]

16. I think there was disatisfaction with Aristide

I don't make my own interpretations based on ideaology. so please dispense with the insults.

I make this deduction concerning Aristide due to the fact that there was an insurrection a few months back. clearly not everything was or is rosy in Haiti.

I agree that it is a step forward for Haiti. and I am concerned that Aristide's return would lead to more hostilities. but I agree that he should be able to return if he wants too. whether its a good idea at this time is another story.

[LynnTheDem]

20. WHAT?????!!

"Dissatisfaction with Aristide"???!!

:wow:

Umm no. He was a very popular democratically elected president...until BUSH ordered US troops to Haiti to overthrow him by kidnapping him.

[Pastiche423]

21. Can you please explain where you got the idea that

there was dissatisfaction with Aristide?

The only people that were dissatisfied, were the French and the U.S. governments.

Do you even realize that Aristide was kidnapped by our government? It amazes me that anyone would come on DU w/so little knowledge wrt: Haiti and spout RW rhetoric.

Ignorance can be cured. Google February 29, 2004 + Aristide.

[Bacchus39]

22. wow, and the events from the previous months

didn't happen I suppose. the insurgents had taken over the country and Aristide was holed up in Port-au-Prince

If a civil war isn't "dissatisfaction" I don't know what is.

[1932]

23. Did you know that Aristide passed an income tax law that was supposed

to be enacted about a month after the coup. He said that his government can do nothing without revenue in order to implement public works programs a build infrastructure.

Guess what the guy with close connections to wealthy textile company owners DIDN"T do after the coup that put him into power?

[Bacchus39]

25. I recall Haiti was essentially surviving from international donations

that Aristide was stealing.

none of the money was going to the rebuilding that Aristide was supposed to do.

[1932]

29. Jeff Sachs would give you an F if that were your argument in a paper in

one of his development economic seminars.

[Bacchus39]

31. I don't care

Haiti went down under Aristide. That is obvious. why would you want to bring him back?

[1932]

34. F.

Your question gets an F too.

[Judi Lynn]

33. We've heard a few right-wing posters attempt to lodge that claim

here in the past. You'd think they would have been too ashamed to try it.

Here's a quick google grab I found which refers to the "stealing" slime laid out by certain right-wing _Bush coup supporters:

Character Assassination, Psychological Warfare

U.S. Republicans spent millions of dollars including public monies from USAID and the IRI (International Republican Institute) supporting the development of opposition groups even as the W. Bush government like his father's withheld U.S. aid and blocked international aid for vital humanitarian needs. This was a significant factor in the turning of progressive groups against Aristide. They blamed him for going to bed with the U.S. and for imposing the monetary restrictions so detrimental to all developing countries. In addition to these active destabilizing measures, the opposition with U.S. support undertook a classic defamation campaign designed to utterly destroy any credibility in Aristide. He was first pegged with the rumor by Sen. Jesse Helms that he was mentally ill, then a victim of AIDS, a wife-beater, and then rumors abounded about his amassing of untold wealth for his own private gain. He was painted as a voo-doo sorcerer, as wanting to develop a blind cult for himself. All of these character assassinating stories do not check out. (snip/...)

~~~~ HAITI 2004: U.S. HIJACKS DEMOCRACY ~~~~

[1932]

35. They get an A for staying on message, at least.

[Bacchus39]

36. since I am not right wing, I feel no shame in

portraying an accurate picture of Aristides resignation and rescue. I am no Marxist DINO either like certain people who post here. again, if the US had not come to Haiti where would Haiti be right now? I tell you where Aristide would be, smoldering in some garbage dump.

do you deny that there was a call for the US to intervene in Haiti particularly among Democrats from the CBC??

I am curious what you think about Charles Taylor from Liberia. A very similar situation.

[1932]

38. You just called me a Marxist?

That is so dumb. I give that an F too.

[Bacchus39]

43. now that you cleared that up, what about the questions?

where would Haiti be now if it weren't for the intervention of US, French, and Canadian troops? and the continuing presence of Brazilian troops under the UN?

[1932]

44. Uhm. they'd have an income tax which would finance infrastructure if it

weren't for the actions of the US supported coup, and then they wouldn't need aid.

[Bacchus39]

45. they would have anarchy is what they would have

case closed.

[1932]

46. Oh yeah. Case closed. Well done. Can't challenge uninformed opinion.

[Bacchus39]

48. I agree I can't challenge your uninformed opinion

the reason the case is closed is because you make no sense. there was a revolt going on in Haiti. people were dying. the country was collapsing. the government had all but failed. So I asked you what do you think would have happened if there was not foreign military intervention to prevent more chaos.

and you respond, there would have been an income tax. Yes, I am sure that would have been Aristide's last heroic act as leader before a tire was tossed around his neck and set on fire.

[1932]

50. When are you going to read the articles J.L. cited?

I don't care if you don't believe them, but you're at least going to have to engage with the questions they raise.

[Bacchus39]

51. I've read accounts from both sides

and have come to my own conclusion. what I am not going to do is engage in a ridiculous discussion with you. I ask you a simple question and you respond with an absurdity. do you actually believe that if there was no foreign intervention that Haiti would have passed an income tax measure? would that have ended hostilities.

US foreign policy is essentially this IMO. Prevent a mass exodus of Haitians to the US.

frankly, I see this as the overriding guiding US principle with regards to Haiti all other conspiracy aside.

[1932]

52. The logic of your arguments is largely cliche.

BTW. US foreign policy in Haiti has primarily been, IMO, maintain a cheap labor force for the wealthy owners of textile manufacturing plants. Don't allow the government to give the people any of the infrastructure that would reduce their misery and increase the chance that they won't work for slave wages, which would cut into the immense profits of textile manufuacturers and, by extension, the US retailers who sell the textiles made in Haiti.

The only reason Aristide lasted as long as he did was because he lead a government which had no money to do anything it wanted to do. The minute they planned to do something which might have actually improved conditions for the people, he got coup'd.

Of course, to people who think in cliches, it was all Aristide's fault. He caused the chaos.

[Bacchus39]

53. well, you have your outlook, I have mine

I don't believe there is a large textile industry in Haiti comparitively to other countries like the DR and Honduras. and of course in Asia. why?? because Haiti has been so unstable for so long that businesses won't risk it. you act like the textile industry is based in Haiti.

I see very little difference in paying $10 a day in the DR versus $5 a day in Haiti when the profit margin is so large compared to the US anyway. add to this the DR is stable has a decent infrastructure etcetera. Haiti is too risky for businesses.

I'll stick to my position that foreign policy in Haiti is based on not wanting Haitians in the US.

[1932]

54. That's some pretty round-about logic for wanting to believe that Haiti

isn't a nation where textile companies call the shots.

I guess you have your beliefs and others have their facts.

Again, that's F-work.

[Bacchus39]

55. you have provide no evidence that the textile industry

is a dominant industry in Haiti. It does not exceed agriculture or sugar refining yet you act that the entire Haitian economy revolves around it and that Haiti is the center of the textile universe. so much for your "facts".

http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/NewsDetails.asp?News_id=13994

"Haiti's production is so small that it's not going to have any effect on the United States," said apparel specialist Don Truluck of High Point, N.C., noting some factories in China produce more than all Haiti combined.

(did you see that?? some factories in China produce more than the country of Haiti)

Plus, reviving Haiti's garment industry can help a nation where 80 percent of residents live in abject poverty. A stronger Haiti long term will boost future sales of all U.S. goods to a neighbor that trades mainly with the United States, added Barry Horowitz of Boca Raton-based Linbar Group.

"The enemy for the U.S. textile industry is not Haiti. It's China," Horowitz said, charging Beijing with subsidizing its fabric industries to drive down prices and unfairly compete with U.S. producers.

As for Haitian companies, convincing buyers that their troubled island with its interim government, violent clashes and weak transport systems, can handle their apparel contracts without any hiccups will be a monumental task for the present.

[1932]

61. That's so illogical. Because Haiti's textile industry is smaller than

China's, it's impossible that the profits of textile companies can drive politics in Haiti?

That's you're argument.

I can't believe I waste my time arguing with people who write things like that.

[Judi Lynn]

56. 1932, I just saw your remarks on textile companies. Isn't it strange to

imagine there is ANYONE who would deny the history of textile companies and Haiti? Damned odd, isn't it?

As we all discussed here, during the vicious _Bush-engineered coup, and the horrible time leading up to it, cheap labor has been the fatal (for Haitians) attraction to Haiti for a long, long time, and KEEPING Haitians so needy they'll do anything to secure those wildly underpaid jobs has been vital to companies even as large as the Disney Corportation, which left, FINALLY, only after sufficient public attention had been directed to their exploitation of Haitian workers.

It doesn't take a genius, does it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

March 10, 2004

Operation Enduring Sweatshop
Another Bush Brings Hell to Haiti
By CHRIS FLOYD

~snip~
No, Aristide did something far worse than stuffing ballots or killing people - he tried to raise the minimum wage, to the princely sum of two dollars a day. This move outraged the American corporations - and their local lackeys - who have for generations used Haiti as a pool of dirt-cheap labor and sky-high profits. It was the last straw for the elitist factions, one of which is actually led by an American citizen and former Reagan-Bush appointee, manufacturing tycoon Andy Apaid.

Apaid was the point man for the rapacious Reagan-Bush "market reform" drive in Haiti. Of course, "reform," in the degraded jargon of the privateers, means exposing even the very means of survival and sustenance to the ravages of powerful corporate interests. For example, the Reagan-Bush plan forced Haiti to lift import tariffs on rice, which had long been a locally-grown staple. Then they flooded Haiti with heavily subsidized American rice, destroying the local market and throwing thousands of self-sufficient farmers out of work. With a now-captive market, the American companies jacked up their prices, spreading ruin and hunger throughout Haitian society.

The jobless farmers provided new fodder for the factories of Apaid and his cronies. Reagan and Bush chipped in by abolishing taxes for American corporations who set up Haitian sweatshops. The result was a precipitous drop in wages - and life expectancy. Aristide's first election in 1990 threatened these cozy arrangements, so he was duly ejected by a military coup, with Bush I's not-so-tacit connivance
(snip/...)

http://www.counterpunch.org/floyd03102004.html

[Bacchus39]

57. I love this from that article

even with the spin it proves my point.

"When Aristide asked for American protection as the rebel gang closed in on the capital, Bush refused.

Instead, Aristide was told by armed American gunmen that if he didn't resign, he would be left to die at the hands of the rebels. Then he was bundled onto a waiting plane and dumped in the middle of Africa."


even though this article is a mess. this portion caught my eye and I have seen it before. in other words, Aristide was begging the US to come and protect him. The US refused. also, fully consistent with my position, if Aristide stayed he would have died at the hands of the rebels. Aristide knew that.

no-one was there to protect him. So you tell me, was Aristide's rescue from Haiti anything more than that??

and the textile issue is bunk. Haiti does not play on the international stage. It is too small, too unstable, too backward for American businesses to invest there. I already posted that individual factories in China produce more textiles than the entire country of Haiti.

Now on the other hand, a mass migration of Haitians to the US does have consequences. Particularly political consequences since those consequences involve the prized state of Florida.

[Judi Lynn]

58. Haitian sweatshop information. There's a ton for anyone willing to search.

SOLOMON: Kathie Lee, Disney and the Sweatshop Uproar

~snip~
These revelations are painful for Gifford, who co-hosts the hugely successful Live With Regis & Kathie Lee program. Meanwhile, in private, Disney executives worry that news media might get around to widening the story. Their nightmare echoes the famous Mouseketeer tune ("Who's the leader of the club...") with a present-day version: "Who's the firm with sweatshops that make clothes for you and me? D-I-S...N-E-Y..."

In Haiti, poor women produce Disney clothing such as Pocahontas T-shirts and Lion King outfits for kids. Charles Kernaghan -- the labor-rights activist whose congressional testimony blew the whistle on the Honduras factory -- says that Disney relies on exploited Haitian labor.

"The wages are so low that the indentured workers live from debt to debt in utter misery," Kernaghan told me. The setup in Haiti is hardly fly-by-night, he added. Disney has been buying clothes from the same contractor for 20 years.
(snip/...)

http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/7517/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fighting Against Sweatshop Abuses
By Charles Kernaghan

~snip~
Kathie Lee Gifford gave a face to Wal-Mart, which otherwise is for most people just a huge anonymous corporation. It’s the same with Disney, which is involved with sweatshops in Haiti that make clothes for them: We use Mickey Mouse to put a face on Disney. We did a video called "Mickey Mouse Goes to Haiti." The Disney people went nuts.
(snip/...)

http://www.americamagazine.org/gettext.cfm?articleTypeID=1&textID=772&issueID=300

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No Sweat

~snip~Disney spends $1.8 billion a year on advertising, and revenue for the year 2003 increased 7% to $27.06 billion. This is in stark contrast to the wages paid and the working conditions of some of the workers in the 50,000 to 60,000 factories that make Disney goods across the world. For example, in 1996 Disney sub-contractors paid women making Pocahontas shirts in Haiti only $10.77 a week, while in Sri Lanka Disney toys were made under abusive and violent conditions at the C & H Lanka factory by women paid 16 cents an hour, for a 70 hour week, seven days a week.
(snip/...)

http://www.consumedmag.org/article.php?id=35

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gildan Activewear
Taking Sweatshops to new depths in Haiti
by Anthony Fenton
July 24, 2004

~snip~
Haitian labor unions have reported (3) that the 70 gourde minimum wage (paltry, but fought for and attained by the Lavalas government in 2003) is being rolled back (to its pre-2003 36 gourde level) now that a puppet/military regime is in place and are looking the other way while sweatshop owners exploit workers and expand operations in this more “favorable” environment. People like Andy Apaid, who is one of Gildan’s “local” subcontractors (4), according to former workers, never honored the minimum wage and would fire workers who dissented. In addition, feudal lords like Apaid would force workers to attend anti-Aristide “opposition” rallies under threat of termination or reprimand.

It should be recalled that Apaid, despite the fact that he is a US citizen, was the leader of the International Republican Institute-spawned Group of 184- anti-Aristide “opposition”, and that Apaid’s family gave financial support to the 1991-94 military junta that overthrew Aristide the first time. Apaid, along with other members of the tiny “Haitian” elite and former death squadrons, orchestrated the destabilization and eventual overthrow of Aristide . That Gildan has benefited directly from this may or may not be a coincidence, but we must carefully consider the timing herein.

It was public knowledge in 2003 that Canada, France, the United States, in conjunction with the US State Department’s Otto Reich, and the Assistant Secretary General of the OAS, Luigi Einaudi, were holding serious discussions concerning “the Haitian crisis”. The proposed solution to this “crisis” that was largely manufactured by these very same parties, as discussed on January 17th, 2003, was “UN tutelage” of Haiti and a return of the Haitian army, operating on the premise that “Aristide must go”. This particular meeting was named the “Ottawa Initiative on Haiti”, and was hosted by then Minister for La Francophonie, Denis Paradis, who said “Although the United Nations wouldn’t wish for intervention to lead to a military occupation…that might be inevitable until elections are held.”(5)

According to journalist Michel Vastel, a subsequent follow up meeting “to finalize the plan” took place in El Salvador, attended by Canada’s Deputy Vice-Minister for the Americas Marc Lortie, as well as US State Departments Roger Noriega, Otto Reich, and “a White House official, indicative of how serious this was being taken.” (6)

Vastel who interviewed Paradis for L’Actualite magazine in Quebec, wrote “Aristide must be overthrown” and efforts along these lines are being spearheaded by “parliamentarians of several countries brought together at the initiative of Canada.
(snip/...)

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=5927



Andy Apaid
(you may remember his
name as it was mentioned
numerous times by Maxine Waters)

On edit, more about Andy Apaid:

The Destabilization of Haiti
by Michel Chossudovsky

~snip~
The Group of 184 (G-184), is headed by Andre (Andy) Apaid, a US citizen of Haitian parents, born in the US. (Haiti Progres, http://www.haiti-progres.com/eng11-12.html ) Andy Apaid owns Alpha Industries, one of Haiti's largest cheap labor export assembly lines established during the Duvalier era. His sweatshop factories produce textile products and assemble electronic products for a number of US firms including Sperry/Unisys, IBM, Remington and Honeywell. Apaid is the largest industrial employer in Haiti with a workforce of some 4000 workers. Wages paid in Andy Apaid's factories are as low as 68 cents a day. (Miami Times, 26 Feb 2004). The current minimum wage is of the order of $1.50 a day:

"The U.S.-based National Labor Committee, which first revealed the Kathie Lee Gifford sweat shop scandal, reported several years ago that Apaid's factories in Haiti's free trade zone often pay below the minimum wage and that his employees are forced to work 78-hour weeks." (Daily News, New York, 24 Feb 2004)

Apaid was a firm supporter of the 1991 military coup. Both the Convergence démocratique and the G-184 have links to the FLRN (former FRAPH death squadrons) headed by Guy Philippe. The FLRN is also known to receive funding from the Haitian business community.

In other words, there is no watertight division between the civilian opposition, which claims to be non-violent and the FLRN paramilitary. The FLRN is collaborating with the so-called "Democratic Platform."
(snip/...)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO402D.html

[Judi Lynn]

49. He's done that before. It's red-baiting, but some seem to feel more

concealed by calling some posters "Marxists," knowing calling them "commies" would clearly be seen as crude, and underhanded, not to mention unbelievably stupid.

[Judi Lynn]

60. In reference to your claim Aristide stole Haiti's money, this statement

from Maxine Waters covers some of the right-wing slander propagated by his enemies:

While I was in Haiti, I met with leaders of the opposition, including Andre Apaid, the leader of the Group of 184. Unfortunately, Andre Apaid is not the democratic leader that the Administration would have us believe. Andre Apaid was a Duvalier-supporter, who allegedly holds an American passport and operates sweatshops in Haiti. Andre Apaid refused to accept the CARICOM proposal as the basis for negotiations to resolve the political crisis. He repeatedly rejected President Aristide's offer to negotiate, and he refused to participate in any negotiations whatsoever.

The opposition has accused President Aristide of drug trafficking and corruption. Yet when asked for documentation, they have not been able to produce anything more than rumors, innuendos and allegations. No one has ever identified any money allegedly stolen by President Aristide.
(snip/...)

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/mw3_4_4.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm tempted to take the word of a Democrat who has been there over someone determined to protect and demand respect for Republican slander of this Haitian President.

[1932]

15. You know, aim your doubts at authors of stupid articles in papers trying

to create a rift between Preval and Aristide that doesn't exist if you're worried about Haitian instability.

[Bacchus39]

17. I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about

n/t

[David__77]

18. I doubt Preval's legitimacy.

Aristide was democratically elected. A fascist coup removed him. Preval should, when possible, make arrangements to return power to the previous democratic government. Not only was Aristide elected legitimately, but Preval's election took place under the gun barrels of the occupation troops.

[mom cat]

4. I guess that Aristide knows his fate if he does not tow the line.

[LynnTheDem]

19. "The United States said Wednesday that Arisitide's return would serve no

useful purpose..."

Dear US;

It just ain't your fucking business.

[Judi Lynn]

24. A refresher course for anyone who may have been in a coma

during the run-up to the vicious, underhanded, utterly dishonest _Bush-backed coup in Haiti:

Published Friday, April 15, 2005

Yes, the U.S. did overthrow aristide in Haiti

By Mark Weisbrot
MinutemanMedia.org
President Bush's State of the Union speech was long on "the force of human freedom," which he called "the permanent hope of mankind, the hunger in dark places, the longing of the soul." Yet just 600 miles from Florida, that hunger and longing are being met every day with bullets, beatings, arrests and rape by the unelected, unconstitutional government in Haiti. That government's biggest supporter is the administration of George W. Bush.

One year ago, Washington helped depose the elected government. The populist ex-priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's president, became the first elected leader to be overthrown twice by armed thugs supported by the United States.

The first time was in 1991, after he had served only seven months as the country's first democratically elected president. At the time, the evidence of Washington's culpability was circumstantial: The leaders of the coup were on the CIA payroll. A death squad organization that killed thousands of Aristide's supporters during the 1991-1994 dictatorship was headed by Emanuel Constant, who told the world on CBS' "60 Minutes" that the CIA hired him for the job.

This time, our government's role in the coup was more overt. "This is a case where the United States turned off the tap," said economist Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Colombia University. "I believe they did that deliberately to bring down Aristide." Sachs was referring to the cut off of funding from the Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank from 2001-2003. It was an unusually cruel thing to do: Haiti is desperately poor, with the worst incidence of malnutrition and disease in the hemisphere.

But it worked, in that it made people's lives even more miserable. The economy shrank, and Washington poured in tens of millions of dollars through USAID, the International Republican Institute and other organizations to forge a political opposition. It was a movement that could never win an election, but it controlled the media and had some heavily armed former military personnel -- including convicted murderers -- who wanted to get back in power.

On Feb. 29 of last year, they got their wish. As their insurrection closed in on Port-au-Prince, U.S. officials told Aristide they could not guarantee his safety -- despite the fact that they managed to secure the airport with just a handful of U.S. Marines. According to U.S. press reports, they told Aristide he was going to a news conference. They took him instead to the airport where he boarded a plane to an unknown location, which turned out to be the Central African Republic.
(snip/...)

http://cjonline.com/stories/041505/opi_weisbrot.shtml

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This very conventional newspaper in Topeka, Ks. carried this article in 2005. It requires registration to read the rest of the article.

[Bacchus39]

26. US military not responsible for protecting Aristide

Aristide asked the US to protect him. they said no.

He would be dead right now if he didn't leave.

Democrats in Congress were begging Bush to intervene. particularly the CBC.

[1932]

28. That begs two big questions:

1) Why was there even a disruptive situation in the first place? Who created it? (Sachs answers that question.)

2) Who was supporting the people who threatened Aristide's life?

Normally, in societies where there is a group of people engaged in crime, bringing injustice on the masses, you don't kick the vicitims out of the country and let the nihilists reign. You protect the just and punish the criminals. Unless, of course, the criminals represent the interests of wealthy corporations who believe in nothing but greedy self-interest.

[Bacchus39]

30. I don't know but Aristide didn't get it done

saying he was corrupt is an understatement. the international community has no obligation to continue to bankroll Aristide particularly in light of the fact that the money wasn't going to where it was supposed to. why keep funding a failure?

Aristide apparently had alot of enemies. I do recall the US was the first country to send in troops to restore calm.

[1932]

37. You need to see Life and Debt, the documentary.

OK. You don't need to see it, because no amount of information will apparently change your opinion.

But people who want to have informed opinions need to see that movie.

[Bacchus39]

39. all I know is that Preval is president of Haiti

and that they just elected him. Aristide can come back to Haiti if he likes and he believes its worth the risk but he won't come back as president. He can run again in the future.

[1932]

40. It's funny how your last argument is often how LITTLE you know

You think that that gives your argument more weight?

I know that, rhetorically, the purpose is to signal to others who, as Alec Baldwin pointed out on the View, might not have time to get the facts that they too could have the same opinion as you based on a small set of essential "facts" (that are often held together merely with the logic of cliche).

However, don't you think the people who have taken the time to learn more than the basic facts might actually have more interesting and informed and weighty opinions than yours?

Are you sure that you want this to come down to an argument that you only know two or three things about Haiti?

Why do you have such firmly held opinions if you're always admitting you don't know much about the facts?

[Bacchus39]

41. I can state my case without personal attacks

can you?? throwing around insults because I am not a follower of Joseph Stalin.

Again, Preval is president of Haiti. He was elected just recently. It was precarious but a deal was brokered where the opposition recognizes him as president. I hope things start to improve for Haiti and Haitians.

[1932]

42. It's not an insult. It's an observation about the logic of your rhetoric.

You can't do it a thousand times and then complain when someone points out that you're doing it.

By the way, you called me a Marxist and I don't think that you could justify that with a pattern, or even a single post of mine

[1932]

27. Jeff Sachs said that? Interesting. He's, like, smart and informed.

And he's not even all that liberal. Compared to Joe Stiglitz, Sachs is a market fundamentalist, practically.

And, gosh, that's a very different characterization of events than Bacchus's spin up above.

[HuffleClaw]

32. erm, i'm pretty dubious.

really, its a 180 degree change from what he'd said earlier, sounds like some hopeful speculation on the part of the US to me.

[Judi Lynn]

47. Here's a decent Haiti article for posters with some time to spare.

It points out the right-wing flavor of the _{George W. Bush} Haitian coup:

Who removed Aristide?
Paul Farmer reports from Haiti

~snip~
It would be convenient for the traditional Haitian elites and their allies abroad if Aristide, who has been forced to preside over unimaginable penury, had been abandoned by his own people. But Gallup polls in 2002, the results of which were never disseminated, showed that, despite his faults, he is far and away Haiti's most popular and trusted politician. So what is to be done about the people who, to the horror of the Republican right, keep voting for him?

The protégés of Jesse Helms have had more say in Aristide's fate than the Haitian electorate have. Although US officials stated initially that he had been 'taken to the country of his choice' at the end of February, Aristide's claim that he had no idea where he was going seems more plausible. He had never been to the Central African Republic before. About the size of Texas and with a population of only three million, it is subject to French military and economic interests. A BBC story in March 2003 reported that the capital, Bangui, was the world's most dangerous city, while the US advises its citizens not to travel to the country; the US embassy was closed two years ago.

On the tarmac, Aristide thanked the Africans for their hospitality, and then said: 'I declare in overthrowing me they have uprooted the trunk of the tree of peace, but it will grow back because the roots are l'Ouverturian.'

The Bush administration appears to have put two men in charge of Latin American diplomacy, and they've been at it for a long time. As the 'special presidential envoy to the western hemisphere', Otto Reich is the top US diplomat in the region, even though he has never survived a House or Senate hearing; he was given the post by Bush during a Congressional recess. In the 1990s, Reich was a lobbyist for industry (one beneficiary of his work: Lockheed Martin, who have been selling fighter planes to Chile); before that he had a long record of government service.

During the civil war in Nicaragua, according to William Finnegan in a New Yorker profile, Reich

headed a Contra-support programme that operated out of an outfit called the Office of Public Diplomacy. The office arranged speeches and recommended books to school libraries, but also leaked false stories to the press - that, for instance, the Sandinista government was receiving Soviet MiG fighters, or was involved in drug trafficking . . . The office employed army psychological-warfare specialists, and worked closely with Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver North, at the National Security Council.

During the course of the Iran-Contra investigation, the US comptroller general concluded that Reich's office had 'engaged in prohibited, covert propaganda activities'. But by then Reich had been named US ambassador to Venezuela, where he laid the groundwork for future efforts to destabilise President Chávez. Not all this activity is covert: less than a year ago, Reich was on record welcoming a coup against Chávez, and urging the State Department and opinion makers to support the 'new government'. The only problem was that the Venezuelan majority failed to fall into step, and Chávez remained.

Last month, the Bush administration sent Roger Noriega to Haiti to 'work out' the crisis. Not everyone knew who he was: Noriega's career has been spent in the shadows of Congressional committees. For the better part of a decade, he worked for Helms and his allies, and it's no secret he has had Aristide in his sights for years. US Haiti policy is determined by a small number of people who were prominent in either Reagan's or George H.W. Bush's cabinets. Most are back in government today after an eight-year vacation in conservative think tanks or lobbying firms. Elliot Abrams, convicted of withholding information from Congress during the Iran-Contra hearings, serves on the National Security Council; Reagan's national security adviser John Poindexter until recently headed the Pentagon's new counterterrorism unit; John Negroponte, former ambassador to Honduras, is now ambassador to the UN. Jeanne Kirkpatrick is on the board of the International Republican Institute, a body which has been actively supporting the opposition in Haiti (my sources suggest that it backed the demobilised army personnel who provided the opposition's muscle at the beginning of the year, though it denies this).
(snip/...)

http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/farm01_.html

[dehaiti]

62. Farmer's Article

It's interesting that this article was written by a hero of mine before the the Haitian government documented the monumental theft of government funds during Aristide's tenure. I wonder if he'd write the same thing today?
I live in Haiti and Aristide was the worst hypocrite in our history I was a big initial supporter of his]. He armed street children with automatic weapons. He claimed he was a poor man of the people but left office a multimillionaire . He did not even trust Haitian people to provide his security while he was president. He hired US mercenaries employed by the Steele Corporation as his presidential security. He left on a jet a millionaire instead of dying at the palace gates as a true patriot would do fighting for his people to the end. Then he says he was kidnapped??? There is nothing to stop him from coming back if he is a true patriot of Haiti and he should come back. But he will not. Let's face it. If George Bush's had put this fool in office everyone in DU would be glad this hypocrite was gone.
Give Preval a chance. Let him be his own man and out of the shadow of his brother-in-law. I know Preval a little and in my opinion he'll do more for the poor in Haiti than Aristide ever did.

[Judi Lynn]

63. Here's an article by Maxine Waters which refers to the disinformation

circulated by right-wing elements in Washington concerning Aristide as a thief:

No one has ever identified any money allegedly stolen by President Aristide.

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/mw3_4_4.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I have some more time I'll look for more references concerning that deliberately planted disinformation. Since there are murderous monsters who are glad to kill people over control of Haiti, it's easy to see they'll go to all lengths to get the last word.

[Bacchus39]

64. noone has ever identified any money allegedly stolen by Aristide

therein lies the problem. where is the money?

I believe a person who actually lives in Haiti than other people who are more interested in implicating the USA than seeing actual improvement in Haiti.

Aristide is the past. How many chances does he get to screw up the country? he is already 2 for 2. Preval is the elected president of Haiti.

[Judi Lynn]

59. Information for DU'ers who weren't tuned in to Haiti during the coup.

This should be helpful:

US Sponsored Coup d'Etat
The Destabilization of Haiti
by Michel Chossudovsky

This article was written in the last days of February 2004 in response to the barrage of disinformation in the mainstream media. It was completed on February 29th, the day of President Jean Bertrand Aristide's kidnapping and deportation by US Forces.

The armed insurrection which contributed to unseating President Aristide on February 29th 2004 was the result of a carefully staged military-intelligence operation.

The Rebel paramilitary army crossed the border from the Dominican Republic in early February. It constitutes a well armed, trained and equipped paramilitary unit integrated by former members of Le Front pour l'avancement et le progrès d'Haiti (FRAPH), the "plain clothes" death squadrons, involved in mass killings of civilians and political assassinations during the CIA sponsored 1991 military coup, which led to the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Jean Bertrand Aristide

The self-proclaimed Front pour la Libération et la reconstruction nationale (FLRN) (National Liberation and Reconstruction Front) is led by Guy Philippe, a former member of the Haitian Armed Forces and Police Chief. Philippe had been trained during the 1991 coup years by US Special Forces in Ecuador, together with a dozen other Haitian Army officers. (See Juan Gonzalez, New York Daily News, 24 February 2004).

The two other rebel commanders and associates of Guy Philippe, who led the attacks on Gonaives and Cap Haitien are Emmanuel Constant, nicknamed "Toto" and Jodel Chamblain, both of whom are former Tonton Macoute and leaders of FRAPH.

In 1994, Emmanuel Constant led the FRAPH assassination squadron into the village of Raboteau, in what was later identified as "The Raboteau massacre":

One of the last of the infamous massacres happened in April 1994 in Raboteau, a seaside slum about 100 miles north of the capital. Raboteau has about 6,000 residents, most fishermen and salt rakers, but it has a reputation as an opposition stronghold where political dissidents often went to hide... On April 18 <1994>, 100 soldiers and about 30 paramilitaries arrived in Raboteau for what investigators would later call a "dress rehearsal." They rousted people from their homes, demanding to know where Amiot "Cubain" Metayer, a well-known Aristide supporter, was hiding. They beat people, inducing a pregnant woman to miscarry, and forced others to drink from open sewers. Soldiers tortured a 65-year-old blind man until he vomited blood. He died the next day.

The soldiers returned before dawn on April 22. They ransacked homes and shot people in the streets, and when the residents fled for the water, other soldiers fired at them from boats they had commandeered. Bodies washed ashore for days; some were never found. The number of victims ranges from two dozen to 30. Hundreds more fled the town, fearing further reprisals." (St Petersburg Times, Florida, 1 September 2002)
(snip/...)

http://www.globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO402D.html