Four hurt as Haitian demos spread

[IndianaGreen]

Four hurt as Haitian demos spread
Saturday 13 December 2003, 11:58 Makka Time, 8:58 GMT


The US has closed its embassy
in Haiti following the street
fights

Four people have been shot and wounded in Haiti as protests continued for the second day in the tiny Caribbean country.

Supporters of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide came out in large numbers in capital Port-au-Prince to counter anti-Aristide protests on Thursday.

The United States closed its embassy and advised Americans against travelling to Haiti.

State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said the Haitian government had failed to maintain order in the capital and "in some instances has assisted in violently repressing the demonstrations".

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/4841E9DE-90D9-4AB4-A9EE-EADB6569C08F.htm

[IndianaGreen]

1. BBC: Haiti protests marred by violence

I realize that American TV audiences are comatose from watching Kobe, Dru, Peterson, and Jacko stories, but this shit is happening not far from Florida and it is making news everywhere else.

Ironic that Al-Jazeera has a correspondent in Haiti, isn't it?

Here is the BBC coverage:

Haiti protests marred by violence
Last Updated: Friday, 12 December, 2003, 14:33 GMT

Thousands of people protested in Haiti on Thursday in one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in years.

At least eight were injured when police used tear gas and government supporters threw stones to disperse demonstrators in the capital Port-au-Prince.

One person was reportedly shot dead at a protest in the town of Gonaives.

The demonstrators - mostly students - say President Jean-Bertrand Aristide represses dissent and has mismanaged the economy.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3313565.stm

[Cheswick2.0]

2. this is scary

The majority of the poor support Aristide. They flock to the polling places for him in every election. I don't know what to think of these protestors. Haiti's problems are much deeper than Aristide mismanaging the country.

[lostnfound]

3. FSRN reported some believe the CIA is behind the protests.

Wouldn't be surprising. US never really wanted Aristide back in power, and they keep pushing him rightward.

[lostnfound]

4. Otto Reich visited Haiti this year; an article re media & Haiti

Otto Reich seems to be the early warning signal for impending coups etc... Wherever he goes, opposition to left-leaning leaders pops up like mushrooms overnight.
This article discusses his visit to Haiti and how the US government and mainstream media combine to slander Aristide and pump up opposition.
http://www.blackcommentator.com/36/36_guest_commentator.html

[IndianaGreen]

5. Otto Reich in Haiti can only mean that Bush is behind this shit

Reich's visit was especially ominous as it coincided with reports from the Haitian police that uniformed soldiers of Haiti's abolished army had begun regular armed incursions into the Central Plateau region of the country from the Dominican Republic. A March 17, 2003 article in the Miami Herald reported, "In December, men wearing uniforms and carrying guns stopped a car with doctors and Washington-based filmmaker David Murdock. 'If our driver had kept going through it, who knows if they would have opened fire,' he said last week. He said he felt afraid for Haitians who have to travel that road regularly. Murdock said the men held him and others at gunpoint, lecturing them on how they would overthrow Aristide." Several policemen in Haiti's police force have recently referred to the current situation in the area as "the beginning of civil war in Haiti." And now Otto Reich was in Haiti.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/36/36_guest_commentator.html

The question is why? What does Haiti have that the Bush criminal gang wants? The Bush regime is pursuing an imperialist capitalist agenda. It doesn't matter whether Haiti has anything of value they want, they seek global control for its own sake.

The only value that Haiti could have for Bush is strategic. Haiti could be a wonderful staging area for an invading army if Bush intends to invade Cuba. Is this the plan? Invade Cuba the day Fidel Castro dies and before a successor is installed?

Otto Reich, son of Nazi parents, is a war criminal. Wherever he goes, death and destruction follows.

[mobuto]

7. Um,

the United States would have no trouble using Florida as a staging ground for an invasion of Cuba, whenever it wants, and it would take US troops about a minute and a half to defeat Castro's army.

I think just about everybody in this country agrees that doing so would be a mistake, unless Castro reinstalls nuclear tipped IRBMs. Its better just to make nasty noises and thus win a few votes in South Florida.

[IndianaGreen]

14. Too many witnesses in Florida

Haiti would be out of the gaze of the press.

[lostnfound]

11. Chomsky would say the value of Haiti is the power of a good example

He would say that the right-wing US government consistently opposes left-wing democracies solely for the sake of preventing a leftist government from succeeding -- not wanting any country to give other countries ideas about land reform, or a country's resources being used to benefit the general public instead of a handful of rich people or foreign-owned corporations.

[tlcandie]

6. This could be Florida w/o the death of course....

Taken from the article..

<snip>
State Department spokesman Lou Fintor said the Haitian government had failed to maintain order in the capital and "in some instances has assisted in violently repressing the demonstrations".
<snip>

Welcome to the future of protests/demonstrations in the USA.

[0007]

8. Why?

What is the protest about?

[SoCalDem]

9. Damn.. I absolutely loved Haiti..

I have been there a few times, and what a gorgeous little place it is.. It;s just a damn shame that the people cannot seem to get a decent leader.. There is no reason on earth that Haiti could not become a prime tourist attraction.. They have beautiful beaches, mountains, and tons of historical places..

The fact that the people have been so oppressed is a crime.. Everyone we met there was gracious, charming and friendly..All they want is what every human on earth wants..

[lostnfound]

12. Cannot "seem" is the operative verb.

The more I read of Chomsky & Zinn, the more I realize that the failure of developing nations to get "decent leaders" has a lot to do with the off-budget undercover ops of our own government.

[SoCalDem]

15. That is so true.. But what amazes me, is this

Haiti does not have massive natural resources, it's not a strategically places country.. Why on earth can we not just help them get on their feet, educate them and leave them alone.. We always meddle just enough to start things unravelling and then feign innocence..

[TeeYiYi]

13. Non sequitur, but SoCalDem . . .

. . . that candle. There's something about that candle. It's . . . it's mesmerizing. :think:

TYY B-)

[htuttle]

10. Perhaps Aristide should give Hugo Chavez a call this weekend

He might be able to provide some valuable advice for dealing with CIA sponsored 'protests'.

Like, keep an eye on the US embassy, watch your coastline for Navy signals intelligence ships, watch the tall buildings downtown around the protests for snipers, and always, always make sure to keep a contingent of loyal troops in the basement of the Presidential palace...

[Judi Lynn]

16. Thanks for the thread and comments.

I'm convinced, as well, that the _Bush assortment is interested in assuming as much control of EVERYTHING as can be mustered. Control for control's sake.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but also glad I finally learned only TODAY that Haiti actually is the only slave colony in which the slaves grabbed the power away from the slave-owners, and threw them OUT. I think this is horrendously moving.

It would appear it's been someone's view, all these years, that they should not be allowed to prosper, and all efforts must be made to make things hard for them, as an example!