PRESIDENT ARISTIDE SAYS 'I WAS KIDNAPPED'

[joeunderdog]

full title: PRESIDENT ARISTIDE SAYS 'I WAS KIDNAPPED'
'TELL THE WORLD IT IS A COUP'
(site is being hammered, so full text is tough to get)

http://www.democracynow.org/static/aristide.html

MAXINE WATERS: I most certainly can and he’s anxious for me to get the message out so people will understand. He is in the Central Republic of Africa at a place called the Palace of the Renaissance, and he’s not sure if that’s a house or a hotel or what it is and he is surrounded by military. It’s like in jail, he said. He said that he was kidnapped; he said that he was forced to leave Haiti. He said that the American embassy sent the diplomats; he referred to them as, to his home where they was lead by Mr. Moreno. And I believe that Mr. Moreno is a deputy chief of staff at the embassy in Haiti and other diplomats, and they ordered him to leave. They said you must go NOW. He said that they said that Guy Phillipe and U.S. Marines were coming to Port Au Prince; he will be killed, many Haitians will be killed, that they would not stop until they did what they wanted to do. He was there with his with Mildred and his brother-in-law and two of his security people, and somebody from the Steel Foundation, and they’re all, there’s five of them that are there. They took them where they did stop in Antigua then they stopped at a military base, then they were in the air for hours and then they arrived at this place and they were met by five ministers of government. It’s a Francophone country they speak French. And they were then taken to this place called the Palace of the Renaissance where they are being held and they are surrounded by military people. They are not free to do whatever they want to do. Then the phone clicked off after we had talked for about five…we talked maybe fifteen minutes and then the phone clicked off. But he, some of it was muffled in the beginning, at times it was clear. But one thing that was very clear and he said it over and over again, that he was kidnapped that the coup was completed by the Americans that they forced him out. They had also disabled his American security force that he had around him for months now; they did not allow them to extend their numbers. To begin with they wanted them to bring in more people to provide security they prevented them from doing that and then they finally forced them out of the country. So that’s where his is and I said to him that I would do everything I could to get the word out. …that I heard it directly from him I heard it directly from his wife that they were kidnapped, they were forced to leave, they did not want to leave, their lives were threatened and the lives of many Haitians were threatened. And I said that we would be in touch with the State Department, with the President today and if at all possible we would try to get to him. We don’t know whether or not he is going to be moved. We will try and find that information out today.

[bigendian]

1. Common sense tell me this isn't true.

I don't doubt that our government had a hand in this coup but Aristide seems to simply be spinning his own cowardice into a "noble cause" hoping someone will pick up the torch and counter-coup.
He is just another ego that couldn't handle the power vested in him. Sound familiar?

There is just enough in this story to show the hand of the admin and the French. I just don't buy the kidnapping bit.

[Dhalgren]

3. In light of past US activity in the rest of Latin America

and coupled with this government's tract record, I don't doubt Ms Waters' account, at all. Guy Phillippe, after all, is a graduate of the SoA.

[NYC]

17. Do you have any information regarding Guy Phillipe and the

School of the Americas (now called WHISC)? I looked, but couldn't find anything. Thanks.

[stevedeshazer]

5. Maxine Waters

is an unimpeachable source. If she says this is true, I believe her.

Say what you will about Aristide, but he was elected democratically, and the US has overthrown that government. That's the real issue here.

[mobuto]

7. When was he elected democratically?

Not at any point I know of since 1990. The OAS, the Carter Center, the State Department, the UN and others have denounced the 1995 and 2000 elections.

Maxine Waters is not the source on this, moreover. She's merely repeating what Aristide told her.

[stevedeshazer]

16. Well. you've certainly changed my mind.

I guess that makes it okay for the US to overthrow the government, since there are questions about the legitimacy of the elections. That's, after all, something that couldn't happen here, right? :eyes:

Let's go ahead with the invasion. Maybe we can invade ourselves to rid ourselves of an unelected leader, too.

Who is the source on this, then?

[mobuto]

19. I didn't say that

YOU said he was democratically elected; he wasn't.

I am simply correcting a claim you made that is inconsistent with the truth.

I'm not making any wider assertion about the legimitacy or illegitimacy of US policy with regards to Haiti, but Aristide's rule was undemocratic, violent and incompetent.

[Tinoire]

10. Unfortunately you missed the unfolding of these events yesterday

There were eyewitness reports of the kidnapping and DUers listened to every minute of it.

Despite the eyewitness reports & non-US stories corroborating the kidnapping, common sense should tell you this is true.

Aristide & his wife have 2(?) beloved children whom they spirited out of the country because they were determined to stand fast and did not want their children hurt. You think they just up and left their children like that?

You think the man just up and took off to some African country at 5:30 AM and just happened to be strolling in hadn-cuffs, chatting with 10 US Marines who were holding a gun to his head? They had to physically force him onto the plane. And the US Ambassador just happened to go to the National Palace at 4AM for a cup of tea? What do you make of the fact that Aristide refused to ask any country for asylum? That the requests were made by the US government which is why every country turned the US down except for one shaky one that's, per Aristide's own words, keeping him under heavily armed guard?

Does it not strike you that we have no statement from Aristide to his beloved people about his resignation? If there's one thing Aristide is not, it's a coward. Don't confuse him with people like Powell.

Stay tuned since you're obviously paying more attention.. The Revolution is being televised. Don't miss it.

[htuttle]

13. Common sense...

...is what tells you the Earth is flat.

[Dhalgren]

2. Gods almighty!

This is simply remarkable! Can we as a nation condon this criminal behavior? Can we sit by and watch our nation being blatantly highjacked? What next? Which country will be stormed by our Imperial forces (which are quickly becoming Bush's personal army)?

[windansea]

4. report on Aristade radio broadcast

In his first public comments since he left Haiti, Aristide said in a radio broadcast in Bangui that the rebels who forced him to flee had "chopped down he tree of peace, but it will grow again."

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/040301/1/3ifbf.html

[Oilwellian]

9. Enough is enough

I'm on to your efforts to promote propaganda on this website and will respond each time I see it.

[windansea]

12. sure thing Oaf

by the way AFP is a french media co...not american


You probably don't know where Bangui is either

[Oilwellian]

18. uh huh windandsea

and the FRENCH are a part of this coup. I suggest you keep up with the news rather than concentrating on promoting your propaganda.

[UpInArms]

6. news link to San Jose Mercury News

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/8078434.htm

Ousted Haitian President Aristide claims he was 'kidnapped'


By JIM DEFEDE, CAROL ROSENBERG AND MARTIN MERZER

[e-mail]


Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
claims he ''did not resign'' and was ''kidnapped'' by U.S. diplomatic and military officials, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters told The Herald on Monday.

The report came as rebel leader Guy Philippe and his forces rolled unopposed into Port-au- Prince. Many people welcomed them with open arms. No new violence was reported.

At the same time, hundreds of newly arrived U.S. Marines and French and Canadian officers fortified their positions in the capital, which include the airport, the seaport and the presidential National Palace.

Waters, a Democrat from California and a long- time supporter of Aristide, said she spoke with the now former president of Haiti on Monday morning. After fleeing from Haiti early Sunday, Aristide landed overnight in the Central African Republic.

''The world must know it was a coup,'' Waters quoted Aristide as saying. ``That I was kidnapped. That I was forced out. That's what happened. I did not resign. I did not go willingly. I was forced to go.''

...more...

[joeunderdog]

11. Why would the US not stage/allow Aristide's death? Any guesses?

Shrub certainly doesn't want further speculation/criticism about his Unilateralist, arrogant reputation. There won't be alot of Brownie Points here from the pro-war gang.

A CNN interviewee (didn't know the guy) was saying that overthrowing a democratically elected government is Impeachable and that Bush should be dealt with by Congress. (Sure, get in line.)

Point is, why leave any potential for bad press if the people in the know can all have "accidents" and not talk?

[JackRiddler]

8. French wire reports Aristide taken at gunpoint

FYI

US troops 'made Aristide leave'
>From correspondents in Paris March 1, 2004
Agence France-Presse
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8833298%5E1702,00.html

HAITIAN leader Jean Bertrand Aristide was taken away from his home by US soldiers, it was claimed today.

A man who said he was a caretaker for the now exiled president told
France's RTL radio station the troops forced Aristide out. "The American army came to take him away at two in the morning," the man
said. "The Americans forced him out with weapons."

"It was American soldiers. They came with a helicopter and they took the security guards. (Aristide) was not happy. He did not want to be taken away. He did not want to leave. He was not able to fight against the Americans."

The RTL journalist who carried out the interview described the man as a "frightened old man, crouched in a corner" who said he was the "caretaker of the residence".

Aristide fled Haiti today in the face of an armed revolt. The United States has ordered Marines to the Caribbean state to help restore order.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,8833298%5E1702,00.html

[northernsoul]

14. true or not, this is what the world will think really happened

It almost doesn't matter what really happened, because B*sh has brought our international prestige down so low that the rest of the world will automatically assume the worst no matter what.

[Katarina]

15. Aristide's Lawyer Claims He Has Word

President Was Forcefully Removed

On the one side is Rep. Maxine Waters of California, a strong supporter of Aristide and Haitian democracy, who, according to Aristide's attorney Ira Kurzban, had a cell-phone conversation with Aristide about how he left office. On the other side is the administration of George W. Bush, which reports that Aristide resigned and left of his own will.

"What the president has told Maxine Waters is that the officials from the U.S. Embassy and others came into his house, told him he that was going to be executed, told him that his wife was going to be executed and his followers were going to be executed, and he had to leave the country immediately. And that when he resisted during that, they brought in the Marines to forcibly take him out," said Aristide's lawyer, Ira Kurzban.

Local 10 has contacted Rep. Maxine Waters office and they did confirm that Waters told had such a conversation with Aristide. Kurzban also said that Aristide told Waters that he was flown around on a military plane for 20 or so hours and taken to the Central African Republic, where he is under house arrest.

Kurzban is now asking the State Department to make Aristide available in form of a news conference or press release so he can tell his story and assure supporters that he is alive.

http://www.local10.com/news/2886191/detail.html

[Say_What]

21. US refused to protect Aristide...

excerpts

...Kurzban is now asking the State Department to make Aristide available in form of a news conference or press release so he can tell his story and assure supporters that he is alive.

...Guards from Aristide's security team, employed by the San Francisco-based Steele Foundation, asked the U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince on Saturday whether they could count on American protection in the event of rebel hostilities at the presidential palace, the official said. Aristide's guards were told that no such protection would be provided, the official said.

Powell called former Rep. Ron Dellums, D-Calif., whom Aristide hired as a Washington lobbyist, the official said, and told him that the United States had no plans to protect Aristide.

[Say_What]

20. White House is denying it... uh oh, impeachment time!!

Knight Ridder papers, Miami Herald and San Jose Mercury are both running the kidnapped article.

<clips>

Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide claims he ''did not resign'' and was ''kidnapped'' by U.S. diplomatic and military officials, U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters told The Herald on Monday.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan called the claim ``complete nonsense.''

''It was Mr. Aristide's decision to resign,'' he said.

The claims relayed by Waters and others came as rebel leader Guy Philippe and his forces rolled unopposed into Port-au-Prince. Many people welcomed them with open arms. No new violence was reported.

At the same time, hundreds of newly arrived U.S. Marines and French and Canadian officers fortified their positions in the capital, which include the airport, the seaport and the presidential National Palace.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8078434.htm

[Moderator]

22. Dupe... locking.

Please keep all discussion of the "Aristide Kidnapped?" story consolidated into the original LBN thread, which can be found here:

Dem Now - Aristide confirms to Maxine Waters that he was kidnapped

It would be very helpful for consolidation if you could post any and all links within the original thread.

Thanks!

DU Moderator