Haiti in the News
Archive: March 2004

The Illegal Coup in Haiti - The Kidnapping of Aristide Violated US and International Law  3/31/04 Counterpunch

U.S. trained Haitian armed opposition  3/31/04 Granma: "That statement is the provisional conclusion by the Haiti Investigation Committee made up of religious and legal representatives from several different countries and created in 1991 by former U.S. Justice Secretary Ramsey Clark. "Two hundred soldiers from the U.S. Special Forces arrived in the Dominican Republic with the authorization of President Hipólito Mejía as part of a military operation to train Haitian rebels," revealed the report that was circulated in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo… Speaking at a press conference, Barrios said that the committee possessed many reports confirming that the Haitian conspirators were armed and trained in Dominican military camps situated in the eastern region of San Isidro and the western areas of Haina and Neiba. "It is clear that Dominican territory was also used by the U.S. government for the purpose of providing support to the Haitian opposition," stated the priest who, along with other committee members, mentioned various incidents including the deaths of two Dominican soldiers involving armed members of the Haitian coup faction. The committee is due to present its definitive report to U.S. Congress, the Dominican Republic, the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), which last does not recognize the new regime in Haiti."

U.N. Envoy Urges 20-Year Haiti Commitment  3/31/04 Newsday: "The international community must make a commitment of at least 20 years to bring peace to Haiti and raise living standards in the Western hemisphere's poorest nation, the special U.N. envoy said."

Aristide Must Be Restored to Power in Haiti  3/31/04 Znet: by Bill Fletcher Jr. - "The question facing pro-democracy forces is whether, in addition to demanding an investigation of the US role in the destabilization of President Aristide, and in addition to calling for the disarming of the thugs, that it is correct to call for the restoration of President Aristide to office. The arguments against making such a call seem to come down to the fact that President Aristide remains a lightning rod in Haiti and that there are many Haitian progressives on the ground in Haiti who oppose the president. Those who are against calling for the restoration of President Aristide are often concerned that supporting such a demand will color U.S. progressives as â€˜pro-Aristide,' leaving us little room to reach out to the broad Haitian progressive movement."

Crisis in the Caribbean - A Miasma Foretold  3/29/04 Counterpunch/Jamaica Observer: "The Bahamas put our position best: We simply have no choice but to deal with whatever Haitian regime is there. Of course, if we don't, the US might just find it necessary to issue a travel advisory about Bubonic Plague or Ebola fever in Nassau or Negril. Condoleezza Rice has apparently threatened Jamaica directly, telling Patterson to get rid of Aristide or face unspecified consequences."

Haitian rebel leader will cede city to police  3/29/04 Globe & Mail: "A convicted assassin who commands a group of armed rebels held high-level talks Monday about surrendering power to police in Haiti's second city, even as he vowed to kill ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide if he returns from exile. The contradictory messages underscore difficulties facing an interim government criticized for praising the rebels and forming alliances with shadowy leaders like Louis-Jodel Chamblain, co-leader of a disbanded army death squad. Mr. Chamblain's rebels still control much of northern Haiti, manning police stations that they torched during the rebellion and patrolling armed through the same cities that French troops are protecting."

French Return to Haiti After 200 Years  3/28/04 AP: "Haiti became the world's first free black republic after declaring independence on Jan. 1, 1804. But France did not recognize Haiti's independence until 1838 — after Haiti began paying France an agreed amount of 90 million gold francs to compensate former plantation owners. Speaking in November to honor the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Vertieres, which was fought just outside this colonial city, Aristide blamed Haiti's crushing poverty on having to pay off that debt. Payments continued into the 20th century."

Caribbean group withholds recognition for Haiti  3/27/04 AP: "Trinidad's Prime Minister Patrick Manning said as he left a summit meeting of Caribbean leaders that discussions had been "quite tense" and that a final determination would be put off until leaders discuss the issue again at a summit in July in Grenada. He gave no other details, but another leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they could not recognize Haiti's government because it was installed by what he called an insurrection."

Caribbean Leaders Withhold Haiti Backing  3/27/04 Guardian

Haitian Premier Shunned by Caribbean Neighbors  3/26/04 Black America Web: "According to CARICOM’s charter, only democratically elected governments can be members of the organization. In its rush to name Latortue Haiti’s prime minister, the committee of wise men violated Haiti’s constitution, which empowers the country’s president to appoint the prime minister. But instead of allowing the interim president who succeeded Aristide to pick a prime minister, the Bush administration put that decision in the hands of the committee of wise men, whose selection was heavily influenced by the Bush administration, which sent an occupation force of several thousand Marines into Haiti hours after Aristide departed the country. The U.S. may not be pulling all of Latortue’s strings, but there’s little doubt that he is their puppet."

The Haiti case demonstrates that media lies prevail  3/26/04 Granma

Mbeki: Haiti inspires Africans  3/26/04 News 24, SA

Activists to seek arrest of Haitian  3/26/04 Newsday: "Constant came to New York in 1995, fleeing Haiti after Aristide,a former Catholic priest with leftist policies, returned to power. Since then, human rights groups have been trying to get the United States to arrest and deport Constant. U.S. officials have refused, saying his safety could not be guaranteed in Haiti. Critics say the United States has been giving Constant special treatment because he was a self-acknowledged informant of the CIA in the early 1990s. Constant's mother, speaking in French and asking not to be further identified, said in a telephone interview that her son is innocent of crimes he is accused of, including involvement in the 1994 massacre of two dozen people in Raboteau, Haiti."

Wyclef Shooting Video To Support Haiti By Nolan Strong  3/25/04 All Hip Hop: Jean supported the rebellion against Aristide.

Haiti's Troika of Terror - Thugs, a Buffon, the Pirates  3/25/04 Black Commentator: "General Coleman’s helicopters provided limo service for the Gonaives ghoul-fest – a macabre exercise in nation-building that could only have been hatched by minds utterly consumed by racism. This is what Black government looks like to George Bush… However, fascist-minded Haitian Americans are cyber-wise, too. Emboldened by the gangster’s return to power, U.S.-based thugsters have issued threats to Aristide supporters on American soil. According to Marguerite Laurent, Chairperson of Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, pro-gangster e-mailers are circulating detailed information on potential targets… In an interview with Democracy Now! on Tuesday, TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, a close confidant of Aristide and resident of St. Kitts, ventured that Bush’s campaign to drive Aristide out of the Western Hemisphere “will collapse of its own weight, and it should, upon the idiots in the State Department and the White House who tried to implement such a fool hearty, callous plan.” Robinson praised Jamaican Prime Minister and current Caricom leader P.J. Patterson for distinguishing “himself in making a place for President Aristide in Jamaica, and he has met for that with threats by this administration directly from the White House.” "

Haiti Update V: The Day after Tomorrow  3/24/04 Africana: "If Haiti's democracy has been placed in the grasping hands of these freedom fighters, then the vision of US-backed stability comes into sharper focus. Stability here appears to be synonymous with suppression of dissent and, in this case, suppression of Aristide's Lavalas Family party. This party, which still commands the loyalty of millions of Haiti's poor and disenfranchised, has been excluded from the rising thugocracy; there appears to be evidence that members of the party are in hiding, fearing for their lives. Regardless of the problems of Aristide's leadership, the Lavalas party continues to represent the hopes for democracy and empowerment of Haiti's impoverished majority. The US-backed government's attack on this party is an attack on the electorate. This is stability through tyranny."

Self-Determining Haiti: The American Occupation  3/23/04 Africana: By James Weldon Johnson, first published in The Nation, Aug. 28, 1920.

Haiti: Security Vacuum in the North  3/23/04 Human Rights Watch: "French military forces must work with the Haitian National Police to quickly retake control of the Haiti’s northern region, Human Rights Watch said today. A large number of journalists and government officials from the region have gone into hiding out of fear for their safety. Two Human Rights Watch representatives just returned from an assessment mission to the North of Haiti, during which they interviewed several journalists and government officials who described their lack of security. One former official, parliamentary deputy Gabriel Ducatel of Port-Margot, was being illegally detained in Cap Haïtien by the so-called Armed Forces of the North (Forces armées du Nord)… Human Rights Watch also interviewed a number of radio journalists in Cap Haïtien, including journalists with Radio Nationale, who had gone into hiding. They described the lack of security and their resulting fears for their safety. These journalists gave Human Rights Watch the names of another dozen journalists who were said to be in hiding too. The vast majority of political representatives from the Lavalas party are also in hiding: nearly all of the local mayors, CASEKs (a local post), and municipal officials linked to the party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide."

Convicts Rule Haiti Town, Executions Plague Another  3/23/04 Reuters

Opposition to Haiti's PM attending Caricom meeting  3/23/04 Trinidad & Tobago Express: "The Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves; St Lucia's Kenny Anthony; and Antigua and Barbuda's Lester Bird said yesterday they could not envisage any such meeting with Latortue in the absence of a repudiation of his public attack on Caricom… Prime Minister Gonsalves, who met with the ousted Haitian leader over the weekend in Jamaica where he is on a ten-week stay, told the Express yesterday: "Mr Latortue has shown tremendous insensitivity in first announcing the freezing of Haiti's membership in Caricom, then to travel to Gonaives on Saturday to hail known murderers and political thugs as 'liberators', and now wanting to meet with Community Heads of Government to discuss the Haitian situation. I am totally opposed to any such meeting with him at this time". Gonsalves, who chairs five-member Prime Ministerial Working Group on "Options for Governance" in Caricom, that also includes Prime Minister Patrick Manning, said he also "has a serious problem with an official of the Organisation of American States sharing a platform with Latortue at what was a political rally in Gonaives". This was a reference to the OAS representative, David Lee, who along with members of Latortue's recently appointed cabinet were flown with the interm Prime Minister on a United States military helicopter to Gonaives for the rally where he welcomed as "liberators" armed rebels who had fought for the overthrow of the Aristide presidency."

African-American Coalition Launches Humanitarian Assistance Campaign for  3/23/04 VOA

Aristide's Bank Accounts  3/22/04 Haiti Web: the Opposition cries foul but where do they get their funds?

Six jeunes tués dans le quartier de Cité militaire  3/22/04 HPN: 6 youths executed by the police.

PAHO Says Haiti Needs 'Intensified Action for Health'  3/22/04 PAHO: " "Intensified action for health," restoration of water systems and quick repair of health facilities are all urgently needed to relieve the suffering of people in Haiti, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) experts said today."

Haitian Premier Hails Rebels As 'Freedom Fighters'  3/21/04 Haiti Democracy Project: just like the contras, the "founding fathers" of Nicaragua, the rebels are also fueled by the drug trade.

'We ugly! But we here!'  3/21/04 Jamaica Observer: "The so-called new prime minister of Haiti is one monsieur Latortue, who has a lot of chat for someone without a mandate from anyone except the US ambassador and his bosses. He is, he says, going to unite Haiti, so he has begun by boldly leaving out of his 'government' any representative of the people of Haiti. I give him three weeks… The political quagmire, according to the US and its clients, is entirely due to Aristide, except that the disputed senatorial seats were vacated three years ago and offers made for a new election. The Opposition refused. They refused as they have refused every single attempt by President Aristide to make peace and develop Haiti. One fundamental demand of the 'democratic opposition' was non-negotiable. There would be no democratic dialogue with Aristide! But, according to the US, it is Aristide that is the problem. The democratic opposition is almost entirely financed by USAID and by a far-right US Government outfit called the National Endowment for Democracy, which some describe as the human face of the CIA."

Head of Haiti Force Says Won't Disarm Gunmen  3/21/04 Retuers: "The commander of a multinational force in Haiti insisted on Sunday it was not his mission to disarm militants, differing with earlier U.S. assertions that the force would confiscate weapons. "This is a country with a lot of weapons and disarmament is not our mission. Our mission is to stabilize the country," U.S. Marine Corp. Brig. Gen. Ronald Coleman, head of the 3,000-strong U.N.-sanctioned force, told Reuters."

Haiti chief appears with rebel leaders  3/21/04 Seattle Times: ""I ask you for a moment of silence for all the people who fell fighting against the dictatorship, and especially for Amiot Metayer," Latortue said as the crowd went wild. Metayer was the leader of the Cannibal Army street gang, and anger over his death last year helped spark the rebellion. Rebel leaders who still run Haiti's fourth-largest city sat on a platform alongside Latortue, Organization of American States representative David Lee, recently installed interim Cabinet ministers Bernard Gousse and retired Gen. Herard Abraham, and new Haitian Police Chief Leon Charles."

USA-Led Occupation Targets Haiti’s Slums  3/20/04 World Socialist

Local chaplain talks about experiences in Haiti  3/20/04 WTNH: "They can't talk to each other because they don't know what side people are on and people literally disappear. Rebels take them, they're killed and bodies wash up on the seashores." "There's no police no government. Each town in Haiti is being run by little armies and they're all armed." "Although we get all these press reports that the us is there and disarming people and everything is fine. There is no disarmament. The rebels are still in charge and they're in for the long haul." Father Carrier will return to Haiti in a month."

Majority of Jamaicans Support Aristide, Welcome Ousted Leader  3/19/04 Black America Web: "Jamaicans in South Florida are appalled at the circumstances that forced Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically-elected president, out of office, some community leaders there say. Because of that, few of them have qualms about Aristide being granted temporary refuge in their homeland."

Haiti and the Impotence of Black America - Roll Back this Coup, Mr. Bush - By CYNTHIA McKINNEY  3/19/04 Counterpunch: "Now, according to one of my investigative sources, one of the contracts that Preval put in place was with the Steele Foundation to provide presidential security. The Steele Foundation, headquartered here in the Bay Area, is reportedly very close to the Pentagon, with its former leader coming directly from the Pentagon's Office of Intelligence. Interestingly, it reportedly maintains an office in Miami, the home of the headquarters of the U.S. Special Operations Command, which was reportedly involved in training the rebels who ousted Aristide. So, at the time of Aristide's "capture," he supposedly was protected by a Pentagon-sanctioned security team that just happened to fail to secure him. Additionally, according to this same source, some of the Dominican troops and Spanish and English-speaking paramilitaries trained by the U.S. during last year's Operation Jaded Task in the Dominican Republic were fighting alongside Haitian rebels in the north and on the southern coast of Haiti. We are told further that Haitian government authorities intercepted vans carrying new M-16s across the border from the Dominican Republic. According to the report I have received, Haitian authorities began intercepting vans carrying the weapons from the Dominican Republic beginning last year, and shortly after the U.S. military delivered 20,000 M-16s to the Dominican Army."

Haitians Under the Gun Getting the Word Out on Cell Phone  3/19/04 Pacific News Service: "One call from Haiti to a California radio station covering the coup aftermath came like so many others: on a shaky cell phone, with a connection that crackled and faded in and out, but which carried a clear message. This time it was the mayor of Milo, hiding from a group of armed former military men and convicted death squad leaders. We are swimming in blood everywhere. The oppression is atrocious," said Jean Charles Moise, who advocates for the return of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Moise's district of 50,000 persons counts many being targeted now by gunmen of the National Liberation and Reconstruction Front. Noel Vincent, a literacy teacher, is using cell phones to report from Cap Haitian to family in Florida. "I am so afraid I may never see you again," he told relatives as a reporter was allowed to listen in. "You must tell everyone what is happening here and in the Central Plateau... The death squads are reforming and they are coming for all who support democracy." ...Jean Kernazan is a radio producer on Radio Soley in Brooklyn, home to the largest Haitian community in the United States. Kernazan says he's spending hundreds of dollars weekly on calls to cell phones in Haiti. Many callers from Haiti, in order to save money, place quick calls and ask to be called back."

Marines Face Danger on Haiti Night Patrol  3/18/04 AP

US Builds Gangster State in Haiti  3/18/04 Black Commentator: "The US-led multinational force and the police bear down exclusively on Aristide supporters. "There's a lot of them" to be arrested, said Leon Charles, the newly appointed police director general. What about the lawless “rebels” that came to town with Guy Philippe? “The government has to make a decision about the rebels. That's over my head,” said Charles."

Exiled Aristide vows to stay out of politics  3/18/04 Independent, SA

Mercy, politics and history dunces  3/18/04 Jamaica Observer: "In addition, we should remember that slaves from Jamaica were sold in Haiti and vice versa. This means that families of slaves were split up between Jamaica and Haiti. So being charitable to Haitians means that we are doing so to our own extended families."

Haiti, a wake-up call for us all  3/17/04 Jamaica Observer: by Hazel Ross-Robinson, wife of Randall Robinson. "President Aristide co-operated fully with Caricom as the latter attempted to forge a non-violent, constitutional solution to the Haitian crisis, for this is the Caribbean tradition. Haiti's so-called opposition stubbornly refused, year after year, to go to the polls, deeming a selected government more appropriate for the Haitian people than an elected one, thereby pushing Haiti into a vortex of instability which to this day has not abated."

Probing U.S. ties to Haiti coup  3/17/04 Newsday: "Sen. Christopher Dodd says he wants to know whether U.S. taxpayers paid to train Haitians who plotted to overthrow President Jean-Bertrand Aristide… Dodd said he planned to ask the inspector-general of the U.S. Agency for International Development to investigate the International Republican Institute. Two years ago, USAID gave the institute $1.2 million to train Haitians. In the Dominican Republic, IRI then held a series of classes for 600 Haitians, who crossed the border from Haiti, said IRI spokesman Thayer Scott. Dodd is especially concerned about the involvement in IRI of a hard-line Haitian Aristide opponent named Stanley Lucas. Lucas had been "undermining" international efforts to get Aristide foes to moderate their positions, Dodd said, citing allegations made two years ago by Brian Dean Curran, then U.S. ambassador to Haiti. Dodd said USAID agreed to Curran's demand that Lucas be barred from the program, but Lucas wound up working with IRI anyway."

US coup in Haiti could spell trouble for African countries  3/17/04 NNPA: "The Bush administration has long been criticized for helping to block nearly $500 million in international aid for Haiti. Ironically, the basis cited for taking that approach was Haiti's disputed election in May 2000. The opposition movement and the Organization of American States, a regional organization that includes the U. S. and 35 other nations in the Western Hemisphere, disputed the way Haiti counted the votes for eight seats in the senate after 30,000 people ran for 7,500 seats. The senators eventually resigned, but the money, including $146 million in approved international funding and $350 million for which Haiti could subsequently qualify, was embargoed until Haiti paid arrears on other loans amounting to about $105 million. Only $45 million of the money was released. Among other things, the money was to be used for clean water, health purposes, roads and education. "In affect, what they did was simply pay Haiti back for the arrears clearance, so Haiti didn't actually get any money," explains Ira Kurzban, Aristide's attorney in Miami. "Now, I expect in light of President Aristide's so-called resignation, they will now expedite everything…This is the most fierce economic embargo against the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. I mean, Haiti was given not one penny for three years by the World Bank, the IDB (International Development Bank), the U. S., France and the European Union." "

Haitian activists being hunted down  3/17/04 SF Bay View: ""Friday evening (March 12) the 'whites' went up to the Bèlè neighborhood where they killed more than 16 people. They arrested a whole bunch of others whose whereabouts remain unknown to this very moment. "Today, Sunday (March 14), from what I have learned, these folks picked up several young men who belonged to 'Rene Civil's group.' They got hold of them in Dèlma 75, St-Martin Street, Tiremasse St. and in Bèlè. Right then and there, they placed a black bag on their heads and up to this moment no one knows what has become of these young men. "Please, what is the most important priority at this juncture of the struggle is to have a human rights organization present to help protect the activists and to find out where they are taken after arrest - especially in situations where no trace of their whereabouts can be found."

Furious at Jamaica welcoming Aristide, Haiti freezes diplomatic ties  3/16/04 AFP: "As the plane was landing in Kingston, Haitian prime minister Gerard Latortue announced in Port-au-Prince he had suspended relations with Jamaica. "I am immediately recalling the ambassador and we are freezing our relations with Jamaica," Latortue said at a news conference. He also said he would reconsider Haiti's relationship with the Caribbean Community (Caricom) group, which is currently headed by Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson."

Aristide Backers Left Out of Coalition  3/16/04 AP: "Wilgo Supreme Ebouard, leader of a neighborhood group, angrily complained that peacekeepers patrol the slum from dusk to dawn and that residents are afraid to leave their homes… An official involved in the process said all the 11 ministers chosen so far had not served in government since 2000 when Aristide was re-elected in a rigged vote. The official said the list included Yvon Simeon as foreign minister; Bernard Gousse, an anti-Aristide lawyer, as justice minister; Henri Bazan, president of the Haitian Association of Economists, as finance minister; and former Gen. Herard Abraham as interior minister."

Resistance Populaire contre la Repression  3/16/04 Haiti Progres: nice pic of large pro-Lavalas/Aristide demonstration.

Aristide Now in Jamaica; Haiti Denouncess Ex-president’s Visit  3/16/04 NYT

Liberal Says He Was Fired for Criticizing Aristide, Black Caucus  3/16/04 The Nation

Warrant snags Aristide aide  3/16/04 Toronto Star: ""It is not about a person with a history of crimes against humanity or fear of prosecution and persecution (in Haiti).... We have a person who has information that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration wants," Mamann told Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada adjudicator Ilze De Carlo. Meanwhile, Aristide returned to the Caribbean yesterday for the first time since being ousted as Haiti's president, enraging the new government with a visit to Jamaica. Haiti recalled its ambassador in protest amid fears that Aristide is plotting a return to power… "Those who are loyal to Aristide are being harassed and it has become a witch hunt. It's not just," Jean's close friend from Montreal, Serge Bouchereau, said after the hearing at the Immigration and Refugee Board's Toronto headquarters."

Haiti arms row rocks South Africa  3/15/04 BBC

Regional rift deepens over Haiti  3/15/04 BBC: "Mr Chavez, who is himself accusing the US of fomenting the opposition to his rule in Venezuela, said he supported Mr Aristide's claim to be the rightful leader of Haiti and would refuse to recognise the government of new Prime Minister Gerard Latortue. Haiti's Caribbean neighbour, Jamaica, also said it would not recognise Mr Latortue's authority, at least until after a regional summit of the Caribbean Community scheduled for next week."

The Haiti Support Project  3/15/04 BWT

U.S. Marine shot and wounded in Haiti  3/15/04 CNN: "The Marine was patrolling the Belair neighborhood, a stronghold of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, around 9:35 p.m. when he was shot in the left arm, Edwards said. The weapon was believed to be a small-caliber pistol, and the injury is not life-threatening, he said. Anger has been brewing among residents in the neighborhood since Marines -- under fire -- shot and killed two men on Friday. The Marines said the two were gunmen, but no weapons were recovered. Residents said those killed were neither militants nor armed, and that one was playing basketball."

US Military Intervention Number 3 - Haiti: a Coup without Consultation  3/15/04 Counterpunch: "Despite the heavy presence of troops from the United States, Canada and Chile--plus those that are to join them from seven other countries--occupying Port-au-Prince, disorder and chaos still reign in this city, where there is only one hospital. The facility is being managed by Cuban doctors who are continuing to give support and solidarity to the Haitian people having freely decided not to abandon the suffering population to its fate."

The Real Haiti Dilemma  3/15/04 Global Black News: "The significance of the Republic of Haiti goes far beyond anything currently reported in the news. It is almost an unwritten code by America and France that Haiti remains destabilized and the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Its anguish began with the first European contact by Columbus in 1492. Within a 25 year period after his arrival, the indigenous Arawak of Haiti virtually disappeared under Spanish genocide. It is no coincidence that 2004 is the 200 year celebration of Haiti's independence (1804), and the same year a democratically elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was forcefully removed by American military."

Aristide leaves for Jamaica - Clearance came after tense stand-off in Bangui  3/15/04 Jamaica Observer

French take over patrols for U.S. Marines in troubled Haiti neighborhood  3/14/04 AP: "A five-member delegation of American and Jamaican officials, including Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., met with Aristide late Sunday. Sharon Hay-Webster, a representative of the Caribbean Community regional bloc who is leading the delegation, said Aristide was likely to leave before midnight Sunday after a meeting with Central African Republic President Francois Bozize… French soldiers patrolled La Saline, a gritty seaside slum like many where Aristide still commands support and where resentment and anger brewed after Marines shot and killed two men in a firefight on Friday. The Marines said the two were gunmen, though no weapons were recovered. Residents said those killed were not armed or militant."

Debunking the Media's Lies about President Aristide  3/14/04 Dissident Voice

Haiti's Murderous Army Reborn  3/14/04 Pacific News: "CAP HAITIAN, Haiti--I am the mayor of Milo, a district of about 50,000 people near Cap Haitian. When I was elected nine years ago, at the age of 28, I was the youngest to serve in that office in Haiti's modern history. I've traveled in the United States on speaking tours, telling Americans about how we were building democracy in Haiti under the Aristide government. In late February my district came under attack by anti-Aristide forces and I fled for my life. From where I am now -- hiding in the woods -- I see the old Haitian army is back. Those they don't kill, they lock up in containers, because they burned down the jails. The kind of containers you put on ships… One has to ask, why is all of this happening? Is this because we used to have only 10 public high schools but now we have over 150? Is it because we made a democracy where people could go in the streets, protest, and be free to say whatever they want? Is it because black people in the country now, people who were poor and always kept out of the political life of the country, they have come out and have been participating in democracy?"

Four wounded as protesters clash with Haiti police  3/13/04 AFP: "At least four people were wounded by gunshots on Thursday as police clashed with supporters of Haitian ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide after security forces dispersed demonstrators outside the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince."

The International Wrong  3/13/04 In These Times: "Those circumstances would be farcical were they not so tragic—and so redolent of Western imperialism. The colonial scenario of masters banishing insurgent subjects to far-flung exile is etched into Western history; Aristide’s treatment is just a contemporary echo. There is little national concern being expressed about the Haitian situation because Aristide’s treatment conforms neatly to the Western narrative about unruly colonial subjects. For those reasons and more, the CBC’s shrill objections to business as usual in Haiti are particularly welcomed and very long overdue."

Aristide flying to Jamaica for 10-week visit -- Haiti fears trip means trouble  3/13/04 NYT

Four persons injured in pro-Aristide demonstration  3/12/04 Granma: "AT least four persons were injured in a demonstration by supporters of President Jean Bertrand Aristide when the Haitian police fired on protestors demanding the return of the deposed leader. Various journalists covering the demonstration confirmed that shots were fired and other witnesses stated that both the police and demonstrators exchanged fire, according to Europa press."

Role in Haiti Events Backfiring on Washington  3/12/04 Inter Press: "''The developing world is now challenging the U.S. and France for not being democratic; that is of great long-term significance,'' she added "

HAITI: Aristide's Call for Reparations From France Unlikely to Die  3/12/04 IPS

Canadian authorities arrest, detain Aristide's former security chief  3/12/04 Miami Herald: "With U.S. assistance, the notorious security chief of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was detained in Canada on Friday as U.S. Marines again came under fire on the streets of the Haitian capital… Aristide kept on Jean as chief of security at the National Palace even after Washington yanked his U.S. visa in 2002, over reports by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration that that he was involved in the drug trade."

Gerard Latortue, Haiti's Illegitimate Ruler  3/12/04 NarcoNews: "Where is Aristide's alleged "resignation letter"? AP's own translation of the supposed "resignation" letter reveals that it was not a resignation at all, not by any legal standard. The text that the US Embassy "translated" from the original Creole as "tonight I am resigning" more truthfully translates to "if tonight is my resignation." What kind of "resignation" is that? (And why haven't AP and other Commercial Media followed up on that story?)"

U.S. Marines Kill Two Gunmen in Haitian Shooting  3/12/04 Reuters

The killers that Washington backs  3/12/04 Socialist Worker: "Noriega’s star has risen rapidly--in part due to his close ties with former Sen. Jesse Helms (R-N.C.), for whom Noriega served as chief of staff. "Helms didn't just dislike Aristide," said Larry Birns, of the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs. "Helms loathed Aristide, because he saw in Aristide another Castro." ...Pardo-Maurer is deputy assistant secretary of Defense for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Just before the coup attempt in Venezuela, Pardo-Maurer met with the top general and coup plotter. "I viewed him as being in the same situations as Col. [Augusto] Pinochet in Chile in 1971," Pardo-Maurer said. During the 1980s, Pardo Maurer was aide to the head of the Nicaraguan contras."

Disarming Haiti may be difficult, experts say  3/12/04 Sun Sentinel, FL: "On Thursday, U.S. Marines raided a house in the capital's southeast section but found no guns, according to Maj. Richard Crusan, spokesman for the Marines in Port-au-Prince. A day later Chilean special forces raided a house and found a shotgun, rifle and pistol."

US aid subverted Haiti's sovereignty for a long time  3/12/04 Vive le Canada

New Haitian Prime Minister Says 2-Year Transition Needed Before Free Elections Can be Held  3/12/04 VOA: "Newly appointed Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue says the strife-torn Caribbean nation will need a two-year transition period before free elections can be held."

US Asks for Jamaica's Assurances that Aristide Visit is for Family Reasons, Not Political  3/12/04 VOA

Try Bush as a Global Pirate  3/11/04 Black Commentator: "Thus, the new “prime minister” of Haiti appears as surprised as the rest of his countrymen when conveyed the title by an “eminent” rump of persons chosen by the occupying power. The man picked for the job on Tuesday, business consultant Gérard Latortue, doesn’t even arrive in Haiti from his home in Boca Raton, Florida, until Wednesday. U.S. Marines believe they have killed Haitian gunmen in battle, but seem unconcerned as to their identities. Half a world away, the constitutional head of state, elected with overwhelming popular support in a process deemed free and fair by the entire international community, is held captive by an African military dictator after being kidnapped by the world’s superpower in cahoots with the former colonial master of his country."

Haiti News  3/11/04 Haiti Support: "Latortue went straight to work Thursday, meeting with interim President Boniface Alexandre to discuss a Cabinet he wants to include retired army Chief of Staff Herard Abraham, in charge of security, and businessman and former Aristide Prime Minister Smarck Michel as planning minister. Abraham supports recreating Haiti’s once-disgraced army, a key demand of rebels who helped force Aristide from office. Latortue said Aristide’s disbanding of the army in 1995 may have been unconstitutional."

KU prof asked to translate Aristide's statement  3/11/04 Lawrence Journal-World, KS: "Aristide, who is now in exile in Africa, has said he was kidnapped and denied resigning his post. Freeman translated the controversial passage as: "Thus, if this evening it is my resignation which can prevent a bloodbath, I agree to leave ... " "

WASHINGTON V. ARISTIDE  3/11/04 New Republic: "Helms's chief Haiti adviser was Roger Noriega, now assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, and the man responsible for the administration's Haiti policy. "Roger Noriega has been dedicated to ousting Aristide for many, many years," Robert White, a former U.S. ambassador to El Salvador and Paraguay, told reporters last week. In fact, in 2002, as U.S. envoy to the Organization of American States, Noriega said Washington could not help build democracy in Haiti while Aristide was in power. "When I met with Assistant Secretary Noriega, I got the distinct impression that the [Haiti] policy of this government is regime change," agreed Senator Bill Nelson of Florida at a congressional hearing in February. In recent months, Noriega has worked closely with National Security Council Latin America envoy Otto Reich, who also has strongly denounced Aristide and leftist leaders in Latin America, and who had contacts with some of the opposition forces who tried to overthrow Venezuelan President Chavez two years ago. Before Chavez was briefly deposed, Reich held a series of meetings with anti-Chavez forces. After the coup, Reich seemed to welcome Chavez's overthrow."

Aristide's allies  3/11/04 Robert Novak: "Republican Rep. Jerry Weller of Illinois, not known for incendiary statements, was more effective than the State Department representative at the hearing in describing Jean-Bertrand Aristide: "He was a brutal dictator, allowing children to be sold into slave labor, and if we hadn't gone in there, Mr. Aristide would be dead because the people would have killed him." Weller describes a situation that the Black Caucus overlooks, John Kerry minimizes and George W. Bush ignored for three years." The truth is that Aristide was not even allowed by the US to move against labor practices and rates in Haiti.

Aristide to press charges against French, US diplomats  3/11/04 The News, Pakistan: ""President Aristide has asked me to lodge a lawsuit in France ... for abduction and illegal detention" against French ambassador Thierry Burkard, the lawyer, Gilbert Collard, told AFP. He added that a US lawyer, Ira Kurzban, was to lodge a similar lawsuit in the United States against the US ambassador, James Foley. Kurzban told a news conference in Paris on Wednesday that he planned to file the lawsuit. The US lawyer was on his way back to the United States after meeting Aristide in the Central African Republic, where the ousted Haitian leader has been since being flown out of Haiti on board an aircraft organised by the US government on February 29."

Haiti: Les Colons Sont de Retour  3/10/04 Haiti Progres

U.S. Hand In Aristide Ouster America's Shameful Treatment of Haiti  3/10/04 Northstar Network: by Ron Daniels - "In the end, the violent insurrection that erupted in Gonaive by gangs formerly allied with Aristide provided the perfect opening for the U.S. to oust someone for whom the right wing ideologues had a deep dislike and distrust. As the rebellion spread and heavily armed former death squad leaders, drug dealers and human rights abusers crossed the border from the Dominican Republic, Washington and the international community watched as they captured town after town. Presented with a formula for power sharing and a government of national unity based on a proposal originally crafted by CARICOM, to his credit, Aristide quickly accepted. Even though he would have largely been reduced to a figurehead, he correctly argued that it was time that Haitians learned to move from “elected President to elected President instead of coup d’etat to coup d’etat.” "

New Haitian Prime Minister Arrives, Vowing to Restore Unity  3/10/04 NYT: "Gérard Latortue, the economist and former diplomat chosen by a United States-backed council to lead Haiti out of its political crisis, arrived in the country from southern Florida on Wednesday, promising to reconcile opposed factions and bring peace and prosperity to a nation long wracked by poverty and brutalized by generations of dictators."

The intrigues in Haiti's crisis  3/10/04 Trinidad & Tobago Express: "Incidentally, amid all the talk, in and out of the Caribbean region, about help for crisis-ridden Haiti, it is Castro's Cuba that has had in Haiti, for the past three years, more than 500 (five hundred) doctors and nurses spread across the country, providing desperately needed medical attention. Also in Haiti are Cuban technical experts in various fields, including agriculture, engineering and education, with the latter focused on promoting literacy. A question of immediate relevance is whether America under Bush, would want in Haiti what America under Reagan had forced in Grenada-getting rid of all Cubans-doctors, nurses, construction workers, or else. In the meanwhile, we await on the emergence of Caricom's case for UN probe into the circumstances of Aristide being out of power."

Port-Au-Prince by Johnny  3/10/04 Znet: "The U.S. Marines stood by and did nothing while the library at the Aristide Foundation was burned. With my own eyes I saw the American Marines stand and watch while rebels cut a woman and shot her. I yelled at them, “Do something!” and they swung their guns around toward me and yelled, “Get back!” While I hid in a field the American Marines put their hats on the bodies of dead people and posed for pictures with them. It made me sick because in Haiti we respect the dead. The Americans scare me; I don’t believe that they want anything good for the Haitian people because they support the criminals who oppose democracy. We are fearful of the old army because they are those who killed the street children of Lafanmi Selavi. They killed the peasants in the North who wanted to have democracy and supported Aristide."

African Union Blasts Haiti Ouster  3/9/04 AP

In Haiti, Cuban doctors stayed when no one else would  3/9/04 Dallas Morning News

Aristide’s Lawyer: Bush is getting even in Haiti  3/9/04 NNPA: "An attorney for former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, now in exile, says he believes President George W. Bush sought to finish the agenda of his father by removing rather than protecting the embattled president last week. “Dick Cheney was the secretary of defense, Colin Powell was the head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and George Bush, the father, was president at the time of the first military coup against President Aristide,” recalls the attorney, Ira Kurzban of Miami. “Is there a settling of scores in some sense? They thought they got rid of him the first time, but Clinton brought him back. And now they want to make sure, before the November election, that they get rid of him a second time.” ...“There is one issue that is at the core of the problems in Haiti that few people are talking about,” says retired Congressman Walter Fauntroy (D-D.C.), who served for 15 years as chairman of a Bi-partisan, Bicameral Congressional Task Force on Haiti. “In the last 10 years, Haiti has become a major illegal drug transshipment for the Cali, Medellin and Baranquilla drug cartels in South America.” "

S. Africa refused to take Aristide  3/9/04 Washington Times: from the Rev Moon's paper…

US-Haiti by Noam Chomsky  3/9/04 Znet

U.S. Marines say they killed one gunman at weekend demonstration  3/8/04 AP: "Several witnesses said they saw Aristide militants open fire from the roof of the Rex movie theater across the plaza. U.S. Marine Col. Charles Gurganus said gunfire broke out on the northeast corner of the plaza and several people were wounded before Marines spotted two gunmen. When the gunmen tried to attack the Marines, the troops shot and killed one of them, he said, adding that he did not know what happened to the other man." Sounds like a page from the Venezuela coup.

"A War Waged on the Aristide Regime" - An Interview with Robert Fatton  3/8/04 Counterpunch

Aristide's removal presents threat to Cuba says report  3/8/04 Rebelion: "Journalist and French writer Thierry Meyssan has claimed that France and United States agreed in the summer of 2003 to a joint plan to prepare a coup d'etat against the ousted president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, due, among others things, to utilize the country as a base of operations to finish off Fidel Castro "within five months". The other motive was the French reaction to Aristide's decision to demand that Paris refund debt payments contracted with the former colony throughout the XIX century."

Aristide Defiant, to Sue US, France, Over Kidnapping  3/8/04 Reuters

Haitians in U.S. lash out at Hill black caucus ties  3/8/04 Washington Times: "Leaders of South Florida's Haitian community met behind closed doors over the weekend and denounced some members of the Congressional Black Caucus for their ties to departed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "We have to wonder if some of the Congressional Black Caucus may have profited from their relationship with Aristide," said Carlo Jean-Joseph, an immigration lawyer from Lauderhill in neighboring Broward County."

Aristide repeats kidnapping charge  3/7/04 Al Jazeera: "Aristide, currently in the Central African Republic's capital Bangui, said he agreed to go to avoid a bloodbath and was forced to sign his letter of resignation. He urged his supporters to stand together under the Haitian constitution. "We also know that back home there are people who understand the game, but will not give up because if they give up, instead of finding peace, we will find death," Aristide said."

Time For Haiti To Move On - Roger F. Noriega  3/7/04 Barbados Daily Nation: Noriega is a member of the Miami narcoterrorist Mafia who, like others such as Reich and Negroponte, serve in Bush's administration and help define US policy in the Americas. Here he could be describing Miami - "Regrettably, our efforts in Haiti during Mr Aristide’s tenure proved fruitless. He was simply unwilling or incapable of building a political consensus, maintaining a professional non-politicised police force, reining in the rampant corruption and drug trafficking among his cronies, or promoting an atmosphere of security in which his political opponents did not fear for their lives."

Haitian immigrants protest Bush at rally  3/7/04 Chicago Tribune: "U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said that she had talked on the phone with Aristide's American-born wife, Mildred Trouillot, hours before the couple left the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, and that Trouillot had not said anything about an imminent departure. "I'm telling you that this was not a woman who was preparing to pack her bags," said Schakowsky, who called for a congressional investigation into the circumstances around Aristide's demise."

Witnesses: "Aristide Under Lock & Key" Sunday a.m. in the Central African Republic: Haiti President Is Cut Off from Attorney, Delegation  3/7/04 NarcoNews

Aristide muzzled - Contact with journalists restricted, say hosts  3/6/04 AFP: "Aristide levelled more accusations against the CAR's friends, accusing France of colluding with the United States to remove him from office after he asked Paris to repay Haiti's "independence debt", estimated to be worth $21.7 billion (17.8 billion euro). It's as clear as day. I demanded, on behalf of Haiti, the restitution of this debt, which was our right... They (the French) reacted by unkindness, resorting to persecution and a systematic campaign of disinformation, and by colluding in this political kidnapping," Aristide said in a phone conversation with French writer, Claude Ribbe, of which AFP obtained a recording… Observers have said that Bangui came under pressure from foreign powers to take in Aristide, probably in exchange for aid and international recognition of a post-coup government."

US troops head into Haiti rebel territory  3/6/04 AFP: "In the capital, US and French troops joined Haitian police for a second day of patrols through the streets to dissuade looters. They did not interfere with the large pro-Aristide, anti-US march from the presidential palace to the US embassy and then to the port, waving portraits of the ex-president and revolutionary Che Guevara. The crowd of between 3,000 and 4,000 shouted "Foreigners go come and come back with Aristide" and "Long Live Fidel Castro" as it moved through the streets, according to witnesses."

Mission Accomplished in Haiti - Onward to Venezuela?  3/6/04 Counterpunch: "Chavez blamed the CIA for the failed coup, and for good reason: Charles S. Shapiro, the US ambassador in Caracas and former Deputy Chief of Mission at the US embassy in Chile at the time of the CIA-sponsored coup against Salvador Allende, admitted that military training camps for Venezuelan opposition forces are currently being run in Florida. For some reason the Ministry of Homeland Security does not seem to mind. If it walks and talks like the CIA, good chance it is the CIA. "On January 29, 2003, The U.S. daily, the Wall Street Journal, published an editorial revealing the existence of terrorist training camps in Florida," writes CasaVenezuela editor Dozthor Zurlent. "Rodolfo Frometa, a Cuban, and former Army Captain Luis Eduardo Garcia, a Venezuelan, are named in the article as the leaders of the paramilitary coalition formed by the 'F-4 Commandos' and 'The Venezuelan Patriotic Junta.' Garcia, a former Captain, was one of the leaders of the defeated coup against democratically elected president Hugo Chavez Frias in Venezuela in April 2002." "

Aristide supporters plan Haiti backlash  3/6/04 Reuters: ""If they don't bring the president back, there's going to be a lot of blood," said Jean Gustave, near the ruins of St. Jean Bosco, the church where Aristide railed against Haiti's Duvalier family dictatorship in the mid-1980s. Aristide supporters promised daily demonstrations to protest the ouster of Haiti's first freely elected president, who won a second term in office in 2000 but was pushed out by armed rebels and political opponents who accused him of corruption and human rights violations. The council of "wise men" chosen on Friday to help pick a new government includes only one member of Aristide's Lavalas family movement, which had dominated the government. Four are from the political opposition and two are from churches. The council appeared to have settled on top candidates to replace Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, an Aristide ally."

High death toll in Haiti  3/6/04 The Age, Australia: "PAHO has supplied emergency generators to ten hospitals in the past few days, but staff has not returned and Cuban medics were attending emergency rooms, PAHO said. Cuba had sent around 500 medics to Haiti under an assistance agreement with Aristide's government, and most have agreed to stay on despite the violence, according to Cuban diplomatic sources in Washington."

Aristide Supporters March Through Haiti  3/5/04 AP

Call for probe into Aristide ousting  3/5/04 Daily Dispatch, SA: "Miffed that it was ignored in the resolution of Haiti's crisis, the Caribbean Community (Caricom) has called for an international inquiry into the ousting of Haitian ex-president Jean Bertrand Aristide. "Despite what we have heard in public and despite what we have learnt in private, we simply say that the situation calls for an investigation of what transpired," Jamaican Prime Minister Percival (PJ) Patterson, Caricom chairperson, was quoted as saying by the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper yesterday. After Aristide's resignation and abrupt departure under escort by United States forces, Patterson convened a two-day emergency Caricom meeting. In Washington, members of Congress on Wednesday grilled US Secretary of State Colin Powell and his top official for Latin America, Roger Noriega, over the international pressure put on Aristide to step down."

Bankrupt Bangui will let Aristide remain for life  3/5/04 Guardian, UK: "Since embarrassing his hosts by claiming that the US had kidnapped him and forced him to leave Haiti, Mr Aristide has been kept away from the media. It was not clear yesterday whether he would wish to remain in a decaying palace ringed with barbed wire in the capital, Bangui. The CAR's government, installed last year in a coup, is effectively broke, prompting Mr Mbaye to hint that others should pay for Mr Aristide's upkeep. "The country's going through a very difficult financial situation. I'm convinced that the international community will take this aspect into account," he said. The unstable CAR previously had no links with Mr Aristide and was thought to be only a stop on his way to South Africa, which had expressed a willingness to host him. But Pretoria said it had so far received no request for refuge."

US faces mounting international fury over Aristide's 'forced' exit  3/5/04 Independent, UK: "South Africa added its voice last night to a growing international chorus questioning the circumstances surrounding Jean-Bertrand Aristide's departure from Haiti and demanded an investigation into allegations that the US forcibly removed a democratically elected president from office. In a thinly veiled attack on the Bush administration, South Africa's Foreign Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, said that if Mr Aristide had been prised from power against his will, it would have "serious consequences and ramifications for the respect of the rule of law and democracy the world over"… Meanwhile, the Haitian consul general in New York has taken the position that Mr Aristide is still the country's legitimate president."

Jamaica returns arms to S Africa Plane with weapons for Haiti landed in Kingston Sunday  3/5/04 Jamaica Observer

In Aristide's Wake, a Land Long Divided by Class, Color Explodes  3/5/04 LA Times

ARISTIDE'S LETTER  3/5/04 Miami Herald: "Here is the text of the letter that Jean-Bertrand Aristide signed just before leaving Haiti on Sunday. The translation from Creole was provided by The Associated Press."

Aristide 'might stop' in SA  3/5/04 News 24, SA: ""There is a document that was signed to avoid a bloodbath but there was no formal resignation," Aristide told Haiti specialist Claude Ribbe, a friend of his. "This political kidnapping was the price to pay to avoid a bloodbath." He alleged Paris's attitude was in reaction to his demand for the restitution of Haiti's "independence debt" from its former colonial ruler, which Haiti estimates to be worth $21.7bn. "It's as clear as the day. I demanded, on behalf of Haiti, the restitution of this debt, which was our right. They reacted by unkindness, resorting to persecution and a systematic campaign of disinformation, and by colluding in this political kidnapping," he said."

Aristide Details Last Moments In Haiti, Calls For Stop To Bloodshed In First Address To Haitian People From Exile  3/5/04 Pacific News: "President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who left a tumultuous Haiti under shadowy circumstances Feb. 29, has delivered an impassioned address “To the Haitian People and the World” by cell phone to a Haitian journalist in the United States working with a radio station in Berkeley, CA. In the address recorded early Friday, Aristide aims his words at Haitians, urging them to “stand in solidarity and stop the spread of death.” He delivers a detailed account of what he calls his “kidnapping” from a palace surrounded by heavily armed “white men.” He refers to the leader of a massive slave insurrection of l791, Toussaint L'Ouverture, a national hero who died in a French prison."

Police battle Aristide gangs in Haitian capital  3/4/04 Agence France Press: France takes its turn as the US lap dog?

Haiti: Must the show go on?  3/4/04 Al Ahram: "With Aristide seemingly ousted, American and French troops have once again landed in Haiti to run the island's affairs, writes Gamal Nkrumah"

Calls for UN probe into Aristide exit  3/4/04 Al Jazeera

Gov't Disturbed with Aristide's Comments  3/4/04 Cameroon Tribune: "Aristide denied Washington's assertion that he resigned willingly, calling his ouster a "coup d'état" and likening his forced departure to a kidnapping. Mr Aristide said he was not taken away by Haitian forces, but rather by "Americans and Haitians together." He said they surrounded the "airport, my house, the palace Americans had the total control." Reacting to these comments yesterday, an official in Bangui said Mr Aristide could not have been alive had it not being of the diplomatic role played by the USA and France. He blamed Mr Aristide for undermining the hospitality of the Central African Republic."

House Members Blast Administration For Haiti Policies  3/4/04 Democracy Now: "Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega [Cuban-American] was grilled by Congressional Democrats yesterday for the Bush administration's handling of the crisis in Haiti at a hearing of the House International Relations subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere."

Host nation calls Aristide an ingrate  3/4/04 Knight Ridder: "The Central African Republic on Wednesday had strong words for former Haiti President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, painting the exiled leader as an ungrateful guest who probably would be dead were it not for its hospitality and the kindness of its allies. Government spokesman Parfait M'bay was only one of the officials who unleashed a torrent of criticism directed at Aristide as if he were a spoiled child. Foreign Minister Charles Herve Wenezoui told reporters that he personally led a delegation of ministers who met with Aristide and asked him "to respect his obligations" and be "on his best behavior," the Agence-France Presse (AFP) reported." Are the French worried about reparations?

Noriega and Otto Reich are behind Overthrow of Aristide  3/4/04 Radio Angulo

Rep. Gregory Meeks Questions U.S. Officials on Haiti Policy  3/4/04 US NewsWire

Haiti, Is That One of the Tahitian Islands? The Yuppie Silence  3/3/04 Counterpunch: "The "progressive" community in America has always and will continue to flabbergast my perception of know-all. As one who commonly identifies with the monolithic-activist-culture, furthermore a proud son of Haiti (albeit Diaspora) striving to fulfill the prodigal Caribbean prophecy, an anomaly has manifested itself on the crown of this dualistic self-perception; grant me the luxury of expounding as to why."

Haiti: "I Am the Chief. My Hero is Pinochet" Guy's Our Guy  3/3/04 Counterpunch: "To bad there's no one in the U.S. press with the cojones of Hugo Chavez who finished a defiant speech by calling George W Bush an "ASSHOLE." Chavez's only ommission was to include Colin Powell. Powell's stepin-fetchit apologetics on behalf of this lawless administration at the UN and now in defense of the Hait coup prove if nothing else he's a seperate but equal asshole in the Bush mansion."

Marines Retake Haiti - The US-Backed Coup Continues  3/3/04 Counterpunch: "While there are over 2000 Marines in ships off the Haitian Coast, the multinational force approved by the U.N. is taking its time to materialize as anything like the serious peacekeeping force that high-minded bureaucrats professed it to be. All the while, rebels enjoy a several-day license to kill under the pretext of neutralizing the pro-Aristide factions and halting widespread looting. Whether the bodies that are ending up in the streets hour by hour are random looters or members of Aristide's Lavalas party remains to be seen. The rebels know well that if elections are held in the near future, presumably many from Lavalas or other popular groups will win. Thus, it is abundantly clear that the lawlessness serves the dual purpose of reinforcing the rebels' hand (the goal of the remobilized Haitian army and paramilitaries) and purging the remainder of Aristide's allies (the goal of right wing officials in the Bush administration)."

U.S. Psy-Ops Exposed, South Africa Rejects Washington's Claim Aristide Was Denied Asylum  3/3/04 Democracy Now: "Democracy Now! has learned from the South African ambassador to the United Nations, Dumisani Kumalo, that President Aristide did not request asylum or exile in South Africa, nor did the South African government deny him amnesty or exile as alleged by the US State Department and The New York Times."

United States Kidnaps Aristide, But They Can't Keep Him  3/3/04 Foreign Aid Watch

Caricom draws South Africa into the loop over Haiti - Likely to coordinate response with Mbeki  3/3/04 Jamaica Observer: "Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders will resume their talks on the Haiti situation today, but it appeared last night that they were attempting to fashion a response to the overthrow of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in concert with South Africa, the world's most powerful black nation."

South Africa is 'concerned' about Haiti situation  3/3/04 Mail & Guardian, SA: "Briefing the media after Wednesday's fortnightly Cabinet meeting, government communications and information system (GCIS) chief Joel Netshitenzhe said the government is seriously concerned at the manner in which Aristide was forced to resign, as it was effectively a coup d'état. It is further concerned about the danger that criminal gangsters and groups previously involved in gross human rights violations could install themselves as the government in Haiti, thus reversing the nascent democratic process in that country. "Cabinet noted that the South African government was in consultation with Caricom and the AU [African Union] to make whatever contribution may be necessary to ensure that stability, democracy and legitimacy are restored in Haiti," he said. The issue of asylum for Aristide in South Africa has not arisen in the Cabinet, because no formal application for such sanctuary has been received."

Why Haiti? Why now?  3/3/04 SF Bay View: "“Why Haiti?” and “Why now?” Both questions can be answered simply and succinctly with just two words — Cuba, Venezuela. The removal of Aristide has been a long simmering coup in the making that dates back at least to the Clinton presidency and the refusal of Congress to release promised funding to the economically devastated island. However, the timing and execution of the Haitian coup has to be placed within a regional and world context. The coup - or extra-democratic process - that brought George Bush to the White House allowed him to hand over U.S. foreign policy decision making, as it effects the Western Hemisphere, to naturalized U.S. Cubans dedicated to the overthrow of the Cuban revolution. Their policies, although geared to the overthrow of Fidel Castro and socialism in Cuba, converge neatly with U.S. designs to destabilize the Caribbean and Central-South American region and insure U.S. supremacy and access to Venezuela’s all-important oil. Therefore, it is no surprise Otto Reich’s fingerprints are all over this week’s kidnapping of President Aristide. Otto Reich, you will recall, is the U.S. under-secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere who helped to orchestrate the short-lived kidnapping and ouster of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez."

The fire this time in Haiti was US-fueled  3/3/04 Taipei Times

Why they had to crush Aristide - Haiti's elected leader was regarded as a threat by France and the US  3/2/04 Guardian, UK: "But look a little harder at those elections. An exhaustive and convincing report by the International Coalition of Independent Observers concluded that "fair and peaceful elections were held" in 2000, and by the standard of the presidential elections held in the US that same year they were positively exemplary. Why then were they characterised as "flawed" by the Organisation of American States (OAS)? It was because, after Aristide's Lavalas party had won 16 out of 17 senate seats, the OAS contested the methodology used to calculate the voting percentages. Curiously, neither the US nor the OAS judged this methodology problematic in the run-up to the elections. However, in the wake of the Lavalas victories, it was suddenly important enough to justify driving the country towards economic collapse. Bill Clinton invoked the OAS accusation to justify the crippling economic embargo against Haiti that persists to this day, and which effectively blocks the payment of about $500m in international aid."

Maxine Waters: Bush Official a 'Haiti Hater'  3/2/04 NewsMax: this extreme right site is not the most reliable…

Aristide: 'U.S. Forced Me to Leave Haiti'  3/2/04 Scotsman: "Mr Aristide was put in contact yesterday with The Associated Press by the Reverend Jesse Jackson following a news conference where the civil rights leader called on Congress to investigate the president’s departure. When asked if he left Haiti on his own, Mr Aristide quickly answered: “No. I was forced to leave. “They were telling me that if I don’t leave they would start shooting, and be killing in a matter of time,” he said during the brief interview via speaker phone. He spoke English with a thick accent, his voice obscured at times by a bad connection. When asked who the agents were, he responded: “White American, white military. They came at night. ... There were too many. I couldn’t count them.” Mr Aristide told reporters that he signed documents relinquishing power out of fear that violence would erupt in Haiti if he refused to comply with the demands of “American security agents”."

National Conference of Black Lawyers blasts kidnapping of Aristide and calls for coordinated Pan-African economic warfare to block future imperialist intervention  3/2/04 SF Bay View

CBC: Bush helped rebels oust Aristide  3/2/04 The Hill: "Rep. Kendrick Meek (D-Fla.), said, “We were misled about their plan to force out Aristide. I don’t think any member of Congress can trust what this administration now tells us.”

"I Was Kidnaped"--Aristide  3/1/04 Black World Today: "The most alarming reports of Aristide's final hours in Haiti is that he was abducted by a contingent of U.S. Marines early Sunday morning and led from his home in handcuffs, according to reporter Kevin Pina during a special broadcast Sunday evening on the crisis in Haiti by Amy Goodman of WBAI-FM. Pina based his account on reports from a palace guard and a cameraman of ABC-TV. In another report, a security guard at Aristide's home said that the Marines came and escorted him away at gunpoint. "He did not want to go," the security man told reporters."

Drug allegation gave US leverage on Aristide  3/1/04 Boston Globe: "The most serious charges of drug-trafficking in Haiti have been leveled not at Aristide but at some of the leaders of the insurgency that had battled to unseat him in a revolt that began Feb. 5 in northern Haiti. Many analysts and diplomats remain nervous of a future Haiti government that includes these powerful rebels, many of them associated with previous, brutal Haitian regimes."

Haiti as Target Practice - How the US Press Missed the Story  3/1/04 Counterpunch

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE SAYS 'I WAS KIDNAPPED' 'TELL THE WORLD IT IS A COUP'  3/1/04 Democracy Now: "TransAfrica founder and close Aristide family friend Randall Robinson also received a call from the Haitian president early this morning and confirmed Waters account. Robinson said that Aristide "emphatically" denied that he had resigned. "He did not resign," he said. "He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president"

'This sets a dangerous precedent'  3/1/04 Jamaica Gleaner: "THE CARIBBEAN Community (CARICOM) yesterday deplored 'the removal of President Aristide' from office, as setting 'a dangerous precedent for democratically-elected governments anywhere and everywhere...' The statement, issued by Jamaica's Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, chairman of CARICOM, said that CARICOM Heads of Government would meet here tomorrow to discuss the situation."

U.S. Denies Aristide Was Forcefully Removed  3/1/04 Local 10

Haiti: U.S. political maneuvering behind the ouster  3/1/04 Newsday: "White, now president of the Center for International Policy, a think tank in Washington, said Noriega's ascent largely has been attributed to his ties to North Carolina Republican Jesse Helms, an arch-conservative foe of Aristide who had behind-the-scenes influence over policy toward Latin America and the Caribbean before retiring from the Senate two years ago. "Helms didn't just dislike Aristide, Helms loathed Aristide because he saw in Aristide another Castro," said Larry Birns, director of the Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs, which has been strongly critical of the Bush administration's policy on Haiti. Working hand in hand with Noriega on Haiti has been National Security Council envoy Otto Reich, who, like Noriega, is ardently opposed to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, say analysts such as Birns. Washington diplomats have seen Aristide as a leftist who is often fierce in his denunciations of the business class and slow to make recommended changes such as privatizing state-run industries. "On a day-to-day basis, Roger Noriega [has been] making policy, but with a very strong role played by Otto Reich," Birns said. Reich is a controversial Cuban-American criticized by some who have lingering concerns about his contacts with opposition figures who plotted a short-lived coup against Venezuela's leftist president, Hugo Chávez, two years ago. Reich also is linked to the Iran-contra scandal of two decades ago that was part of President Ronald Reagan's policy of defeating Marxists in Central America."

Jean Bertrand Aristide: Humanist Or Despot?  3/1/04 Pacific News: "Aristide said, "Change takes time, Lyn. Some people have spent years paying Haitians very little. When I wanted to raise the minimum wage in 1991, they had a coup and you know what happened." He reminded me that he had gone to parliament to raise the minimum wage in 1994, though it was still very low. "Of course people should be paid more, but in a democracy we have to share power and this is what was [voted on.]" he said. When a major American daily paper published an article that portrayed Aristide as a despot, I was aghast. "Don't you care that they're saying this about you?" I asked him. As much as I disagreed with some of his politics, I was hurt when I saw him so maligned. Aristide always had an answer: "What is important is not journalists, it's to make democracy real. How can we say we love our brother but we let him starve? How can we say we want democracy but we do nothing when people have no home? How can people have peace in their hearts when they have no peace in their stomach?" "

Aristide Tells U.S. Contacts He Was Abducted  3/1/04 Reuters: "But Rep. Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat and, like Waters, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, said after talking by telephone with Aristide that interpreting his allegations of "kidnapping" was "subjective." "They strongly suggested that he get out of town. The military helped him make the decision," Rangel told reporters as a Congressional Black Caucus delegation met in New York with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss Haiti. While there had been reports Aristide left Haiti in handcuffs, Aristide denied this, Rangel said. "He said he was not in handcuffs. He felt like he was in handcuffs." "

The Accomplished Destruction of Aristide, the Planned Destruction of Hugo Chavez  3/1/04 Venezuela Analysis

Haiti in the News
Archive: March 2004

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Haiti in the News Archive: March 2004

Contacting AfroCubaWeb

Copyright © 1997 AfroCubaWeb, S.A.

Haiti in the News
Archive: March 2004