Counterfeit Protégé in Port-au-Prince Bailed Out

[seemslikeadream]

Wednesday, 28 July 2004, 9:39 am
Press Release: Council on Hemispheric Affairs


• Chile’s Juan Gabriél Valdés takes over as UN Special Envoy for Haiti, bringing hope that the international community led by Secretary General Kofi Annan will improve upon its deeply troubling previous behavior.


• The June 27 arrest of former Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune reflects interim Prime Minister Latortue’s targeted persecution of the leadership of the Lavalas party, as well as its rank and file members. Meanwhile, he blatantly ignores the real criminals who operate freely throughout the country and at times have joined him on stage as revolutionary heroes.

• Justice Minister Gousse’s skimpy – if not entirely invented – case against Neptune pales in comparison to the felony charges and convictions involving rebel leaders Philippe, Chamblain and Baptiste.

• U.S. troops used unacceptable force during their seizure of Anne Auguste and other Lavalas members, revealing Washington’s support for the self-glorifying Latortue’s policy that anything goes when it comes to snuffing out all memory of President Aristide’s rule.


Chile’s Juan Gabriél Valdés Takes Over UN-Haiti Mission
The international community may finally be preparing to take a more responsible position on the breakdown of democracy and the rule of law in Haiti which culminated in the deposition of the Caribbean republic’s president at the end of February. On July 12, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan selected veteran Chilean diplomat Juan Gabriél Valdés to be the Special Representative of the Secretary General for the United Nations mission in Haiti. Well-known as a principled diplomat who has taken a number of courageous stands in his distinguished career, Valdés will step into the post that his predecessor, John Reginald Dumas of Trinidad and Tobago, disgraced during each of his five months in office.


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http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/WO0407/S00268.htm