Haiti WikiLeaks Sparks Political Furor and Elite Drama

[EFerrari]

Dan Coughlin
July 29, 2011

The release of secret U.S. Embassy cables by WikiLeaks has provoked a maelstrom in Haitian politics, threatening the approval of a prime minister-designate, damaging the career of a leading right-wing politician, and throwing Haiti’s tiny and ultra-rich elite into a paroxysm of public mea culpas.

"So it is with humility and simplicity devoid of artifice that I want to offer my sincere apologies, " wrote Fritz Mevs, a leading member of one of Haiti’s richest families, in an open letter to Senator Youri Latortue, one of Haiti’s most powerful right-wing politicians and a key ally of new President Michel Martelly. "I probably got carried away . . . and I confess that the words that I could have spoken in no way reflect my thoughts."

“I recognize the qualities of a fervent patriot, a tireless servant of the interests of your country," he added. "I stand ready to make honorable amends by publicly correcting any damage to your reputation,”

Mevs was walking back claims he made in a May 2005 meeting with former U.S. Ambassador James Foley that Senator Latortue was part of a “cabal” of business and political elites that controlled a network of dirty cops and gangs that thrived on narco-trafficking and generated political violence and instability.

http://www.thenation.com/article/162431/haiti-wikileaks-sparks-political-furor-and-elite-drama

[joshcryer]

1. Fritz knows who's going to be in charge. Doesn't change that Latortue...

...used Parliamentary Immunity to avoid any sort of investigation with his past under Aristide and Uncle Gerard Latortue. His ties to the drug trade and corruption are well known and uncontroversial.



Bill Clinton and Latortue.

[Judi Lynn]

2. It's impossible to make excuses now for Clinton's Haitian associates.

Long ago I believed he genuinely was on the right side when he helped (as it seemed) return Jean-Bertrand Aristide to office, as I saw it, using only the info. available through corporate media. How much LONGER it takes for the real information to ever surface here.

Sure hope Aristide can manage to avoid assassination by the right, considering Martelly has hacked away at his safeguards, protection, small security group.

If Haitians can EVER build a safe world for themselves in the midst of so much suffering it will be a miracle. Don't know what keeps them all from going mad.

Also linked at the side of this article is:

WikiLeaks Haiti: Country's Elite Used Police as Private Army
Dan Coughlin and Kim Ives

http://www.thenation.com/article/161596/wikileaks-haiti-countrys-elite-used-police-private-army

Thank you, EFerrari, for posting this article. Important information in your post.