Aristide exile 'perfect Franco-US co-ordination'

[rodbarnett]

TOKYO, March 1 (AFP) - Ousted Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide's flight into exile was the result of intense consultation and "perfect co-ordination" between Paris and Washington, France's foreign minister said Monday.

The dialogue with the United States since the start of the crisis in Haiti was conducted in an excellent atmosphere and the departure of president Aristide was the result of perfect co-ordination" between the two governments, Dominique de Villepin told reporters here.

De Villepin said he had been in touch with US Secretary of State Colin Powell several times by telephone since Sunday before the choice of the Central African Republic (CAR) as Aristide's destination was decided.

<snip>

"We had to find a quick way out of this crisis to avoid getting bogged down and avoid the violence escalating, and to bring about the deployment of a multi-national force," de Villepin said.

<snip

"All the political forces which renounce violence can take part in this move," said de Villepin, on the first day of a visit to Japan.France is the former colonial ruler of Haiti.

http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=58&story_id=5150

comment : looks like the franco- american relationship is on the mend. good news for the next president!

[Junkdrawer]

1. Good to see the old colonial powers working together again...

Glad to see Vietnam/Iraq didn't put them off. /Sarcasm off

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

3. Right on.

[DenverDem]

2. Global corporatist slave labor off shoring colony #1.

More to come, stay tuned.

[Bozita]

4. Look at these wages! - $1.07 for a 10.5 hour day

Jane Eyre (1000+ posts) Sun Feb-29-04 11:21 PM
Response to Original message
18. Baseballs
Nearly all baseballs are made in Haiti. That is why Bush is interested.

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/065.html

U.S. companies imported over 2.5 million pounds of baseballs from Haiti between October 1993 and February 1994, long after a military coup overthrew President Aristide. Many of these baseballs are purchased directly by the U.S. government.

A leading producer of baseballs and softballs, Home of Champions, has repeatedly met attempts to organize a union at their plants with illegal firings, according to the labor committee. Workers at Home of Champions are paid $1.07 for a 10.5 hour day. In a letter to President Clinton signed by 24 union presidents, the National Committee called for a total commercial embargo of Haiti, ending the loophole for the assembly industry, closing the border with the Dominican Republic and blocking all air traffic.
. .
Despite official support in Washington for sanctions, two new companies - Eddie Haggar of Dallas, Texas and Fisman and Tobin, headquartered in Florida - began exporting from Haiti within the last four months.

Very little of the profit of these export companies actually stays in Haiti. According to AID, 85 percent of every dollar profit from assembly operations goes to the United States.

[burrowowl]

5. Apparently Canada is also

in on it according to Le Monde.

[Loonman]

6. France made a mess of every colony they established

Their record is only slightly better than the Englsh one.

[24HRrnr]

8. What colonies of the French

are as successful as Australia, New Zealand, Canada?

I agree with you that France screwed up every colony that they established. The English did much better, primarily because they established a rule of law. The laws themselves were never set up to give the colonies a break but the tradition was built.

[mobuto]

9. Oh?

Have you been to Senegal lately? Tahiti? In West Africa, the French were actually a lot better than the British, and a hell of a lot better than the Germans and the Belgians.


are as successful as Australia, New Zealand, Canada?

Those are totally different because in each case, the Brits displaced or exterminated the native populations. The French never did that in any of their colonies.

[JasonDeter]

7. What I'm hearing on Wolf Blitzer now is that Aristide was kidnapped.

Nothing Democratic about what bush* and his cabal has done. Whether its true or not yet to be revealed.