Ousted leader Aristide plans return (Trinidad Express)

[struggle4progress]

-Juhel Browne
Saturday, January 16th 2010

... ’As far as we are concerned, we are ready to leave today, tomorrow, at any time to join the people of Haiti, to share in their suffering, help rebuild the country, moving from misery to poverty with dignity,’ Aristide said.

Haiti is a member of the 15-member Caribbean Community (Caricom), but was suspended from the organs of the organisation after Aristide’s departure in 2005. Caricom had taken a position that Aristide left Haiti under suspicious circumstances after he claimed he was taken out of his country by US forces. Caricom had also demanded a United Nations investigation into his departure and had refused to recognise the US-appointed administration led by Gerard Lartotue.

Caricom Heads of Government, including Prime Minister Patrick Manning, decided to welcome Haiti back into full participation in the regional body in July 2006 after the country’s existing President Rene Preval won democratically held elections earlier that year. Preval is facing severe challenges, including maintenance of law and order in the wake of the earthquake on Tuesday.

Getting into Haiti is also proving difficult. In a release issued yesterday, the privately owned cellular company Digicel expressed its ’grave concern that flights carrying the necessary experts and equipment’ to assist in its round-the-clock work to restore vital communications in Haiti ’are not able to land at Haiti’s international airport’.

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161583046

[Judi Lynn]

1. He could unify the people of Haiti, except for the corporatists,

and foreign financed death squads.

This will encourage all of the DU'ers who watched the re-destruction of Aristide helplessly last time, together, to keep a very keen eye out for the coming political information.

Hope somehow he will be safe. I'm certain he's prepared to lose his life, just as Archbishop Romero in El Salvador was, even when he was getting constant death threats from the US-supported and trained Salvadoran military.

[EFerrari]

2. If Aristide does return, the same number of witnesses need to mobilize

and go there to slow down the vultures as they tried to do in Honduras.

I envy my friend Medea that she can find a way to finance her trips to hot spots. I have to ask her how she does it! :)

[Judi Lynn]

3. You know Medea Benjamin? Stupendous! She is EVERYWHERE.

I'm still amazed by her trips to Iraq after the _Bush invasion. She seems fearless.

Fearless, even going down a street in Miami with a horde of rabid, furious Cuban "exile" fascists chasing her shaking their fists, cursing, and howling. It was tremendous. I think it's on YouTube.

Completely composed showing up, making appearances in hearings with Coldoleeza Rice, Rumsfeld, and various war mongering military and other civilian murderers.

She does go everywhere all the time. I'll bet _Bush and company had her under close watch.

And you know her! It figures!