Haitian Rebels Give Aristide Ultimatum

[DuctapeFatwa]

Rebels in Haiti are threatening to "liberate" the capital if President Jean-Bertrand Aristide does not step down.

New rebel leader Guy Philippe has urged the international community Thursday, to convince Mr. Aristide to resign quickly -- or else the rebels will take over the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince and other cities.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-2-19/19981.html

[bemildred]

1. I heard on the radio an hour ago that

Aristide said (paraphrasing) "I will die for Haiti
before I will step down".

[DuctapeFatwa]

2. that's all over the wires. the regime is sending operatives down there

presumably to confirm his sincerity.

[Suspicious]

3. That's quite different

from the story a rather blasé NPR reporter gave a day or so ago. According to him, the "rebels" would not dare step foot in the capital for fear of the heinous, horrible Aristide supporters. :eyes:

Yeah, right. I think it's pretty obvious to anyone paying attention who is inflicting the terror, death and destruction here.

[DuctapeFatwa]

4. I said the other day I think the regime may be playing both ends against

the middle, Aristede was not as obedient as they like their native overseers to be, and the socialist worker site had a really good piece along the same lines. I pasted the snippet from the thread below and JudiLyn has done a very impressive job collecting tons of background info and other stuff.

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THE MEDIA has a standard story line to explain the uprising in Haiti--one-time populist leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide has become a corrupt authoritarian who is relying on armed gangs to crush a popular uprising. In reality, the anti-Aristide opposition that is behind the uprising shaking Haiti today is a Washington-connected collection of Haitian businessmen and a scattering of former leftists....While the media has described the rebellion as led by former Aristide supporters, a key player is Jean "Tatoune" Pierre, who backed the 1991 coup that overthrew Aristide. Others involved include members of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH), a paramilitary organization that terrorized and assassinated Aristide supporters during the military regime that lasted until U.S. troops restored Aristide into office in 1994.

Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a former FRAPH leader, is centrally involved in Gonaïeves, as is Guy Philippe, a former police chief in the city of Cap-Haitien who was accused of plotting a coup in 2000. Both men had been based in the neighboring Dominican Republic, where they had been given refuge. By seizing Gonaïves, they’ve essentially cut Haiti in two.

Washington’s stated attitude to the uprising has been contradictory. On February 12, State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher, declared that "reaching a political settlement will require some fairly thorough changes in the way Haiti is governed, and how the security situation is maintained."...The following day, Secretary of State Colin Powell rounded up ministers from CARICOM, the organization linking the government of Caribbean countries, the U.S. and Canada, to declare, "We will accept no outcome that in any way illegally attempts to remove the elected president of Haiti." But deeds matter more than words--and there’s no doubt that Washington set the stage for uprising. The top FRAPH leader, Emmanuel Constant, who claims he was a CIA employee, remains at large in New York City. Major funding for Haiti’s umbrella opposition group, Democratic Convergence, comes from the National Endowment for Democracy, a U.S. foundation notorious for funneling U.S. aid to counterrevolutionary forces in Central America during the Cold War....

Moreover, the U.S. has helped wreck Haiti’s economy by withholding $500 million in annual aid..80 percent of people live below the poverty line--and most subsisting on less than a dollar a day...Washington wants to avoid the refugee crisis that followed a 1991 military coup months after Aristide was elected president. Thus, the aim has been to use the opposition to weaken Aristide until he’s forced to bow to the U.S. agenda....

http://www.socialistworker.org/2004-1/487/487_08_Haiti.shtml

[Suspicious]

9. Great link...

thanks.

They've had it in for Aristide from the start. You're right - he won't play ball, and all of his concern for the poor, trying to build up democracy, etc., truly pisses them off, as it does nothing to further the cause of the elite and corporate interests, and it sets a very bad example for the rest of the serfdom - we can't have them getting any ideas. Cuba has defied the master for years...if Haiti starts getting away with it, too...there goes the neighborhood!

[bemildred]

5. I think they are there to do a couple things,

but assessing his sincerity is not among them.

It buys time (See! We are doing something.)

It gives an on the ground assessment of how the destabilization
effort is going.

Maybe they can give the "rebels" a little help or advice, fresh
ammo, better guns, fresh intel, stuff like that.

---

Here is a nice contrasting story with some interesting bits:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/haiti/7486814.htm

Festivities set in Haiti; official visitors expected

...

Gonaves has been the site of continuous and violent protests for the past two months, and
authorities still lack control of the seaside slum of Raboteau, where members of an armed gang
have been demanding Aristide's resignation since the assassination of their leader.

When Aristide went to Gonaves for Jan. 1 celebrations this year, townspeople mostly stayed
away.

Voltaire said he was not worried about the unrest.

''A lot of pressure will be brought to bear on Gonaves,'' he said. ``When the government pulls
out the stops, it gets stunning results and can produce a massive turnout.''

---

This coincides with Stan Goff's assessment of the sort of power
Aristide has if he chooses to use it, which is a possible explanation
of why Arisitide is playing it the way he is.

[htuttle]

6. They just showed a short interview of the rebel's leader on ABC News

...and he and his entire 'cabinet' were all wearing matching sunglasses -- during the interview.

Boy, that brings back memories. Bad ones.

[Suspicious]

7. Telling, isn't it?

I've seen a couple of interviews, too, and they've been with the opposition groups, only (I will stop short of calling them what I believe they really are).

Has anyone seen an interview with anyone other than the government opposition leaders or Haitian exiles? Seriously, I have not seen one.

Aside from the matching sunglasses, just look who has all of the weapons and military gear.

[Just Me]

8. This just seriously pisses me off!!!

I have sent Judi's exceptional outlines to every link in my box. This kind of corrupt Gekko crap simply cannot contine. It is more than reprehensible,...it is just plain evil!!!

I am sick of this. Any normal, caring human being would be sick of this,...if s/he knew. I want every normal, caring human being to know!!! SCREW the conglomerate media,...we will get the truth out without their worthless existence!!!