Haiti has problems and Bush refuses to help

[ck4829]

I heard on the radio a while back that the war-torn and impovershed nation of Haiti needs some money. $196 million to be exact. So far it hasn't got any. Wait a second. Didn't Bush give Iraq $87 billion? $87 billion. 196M is less than 1% of 87B, I am infuriated that Bush refuses to do anything for a country that is really a neighbor of ours.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. Not to give Bush credit

Haiti: 7.6 million people
Iraq: 25.3 million people

Not to mention that little part of us bombing the shit out of Iraq and being completely responsible for its demise. Haiti needs A LOT more funds, I completely agree, but comparing the two is an apples and oranges analogy.

[newscaster]

2. Why in God's name should anyone be surprised.

Haiti has no oil.
Haito has no industry
Starving people is no big deal to Shrub
and Santaria is not a religion that Bush approves of so....

"Screw 'em!"

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

3. Exactly

There's no vested interest for Bush in helping Haiti (or South America, or Africa, or East Asia). So he's not going to. Unless they have oil or something else of value, they're not humans in Bush's book.

[Cleita]

4. I was about to say the same thing.

:thumbsup:

[MichiganVote]

5. Haiti has always had problems

its the armpit of the world. The French abandoned them and so has everyone else, other than the criminal element. Sorry, no money left for a donation to any country that won't play ball with George--that's the message and it will stay the message.

[tabasco]

8. A lot of countries have problems.

I seem to recall strenuous opposition to Clinton's loans to Mexico based on the same "logic". Those loans were repaid early with interest. It serves our security when we help to stabilize nations (especially in this hemisphere) that "have always had problems." Unfortunately, we are wasting our resources where they are not needed, leaving more imminent problems unmitigated.
- What are your thoughts on the Iraq invasion? Was it justified intervening in a nation that has had problems for thousands of years?
- What does playing ball with George have to do with anything?

[MichiganVote]

21. Reply

To say that a country like Haiti has always had problems is self- evident. If you read a judgement in those words then you are surely more clairvoyant than I.

Regardless, you asked-
- What are your thoughts on the Iraq invasion?
My thoughts before the "invasion" (not humanitarian / values / democracy in action aid program) were that it was bullshit and inspired by oil and oil companies. I haven't changed my opinion.

- Was it justified intervening in a nation that has had problems for thousands of years?

We bombed the shit out of a country with a long standing culture that in no way posed a threat to us, that does not and did not have WMD, despite the cautions of our past allies. We wrongly accused a civilization that is not our own of harboring the terrorists we claimed to be at war against.We abused citizens, children and the human rights of the imprisoned. We deliberately placed our soldiers at risk by failing to provide adequate food, shelter and reasonable protection. We denied the assistance of fellow nations even when that assistance could have been invaluable and in the process we damanged international relationships around the world. That's an intervention?

- What does playing ball with George have to do with anything?

What is this Life 101? Playing ball with George has everything to do with the choice of who and why receives financial assistance or "intervention" from the US as you cleverly put it. If you don't think so, then you must have a ride on reality the rest of this country isn't privy to. Factually, all countries have problems. Factually, we have the same problems in the United States as every other nation on earth. We have people who are hungry, homeless, drunk, disorderly, dugged up and criminal, child abuse, bad roads, even worse food, an environment that is hanging by a thread and corruption.

So when do we begin taking care of our own? How arrogant are we to presume to "rescue" countries with the same problems we have that we ourselves have not corrected in our own culture? This two hundred year old country may be the wealthiest in the world but it didn't get that way by not playing politics, wisely or not.

[seemslikeadream]

11. The people of Haiti were not even asked to play ball

didn't even get an invitation to the game.

[MichiganVote]

20. That's right and they won't

In George's game either you have something of value to trade for American assistance or influence or you don't. They took the "bad" guy away and that is that. Give Haiti a nuclear weapon and they become a strong priority. Hunger, starvation, no economy--throw them a bone. The US does not hand out invitations unless it has another motive.

[seemslikeadream]

6. Why would bush give money to a country he just destroyed

BUSH'S PLAN FOR PEACE IS THE PEACE OF THE COMMON GRAVE
EVERY DEATH CREATES NEW ENEMIES
MORE TERRORISTS
MORE DANGER
MORE DEATH
AND REMEMBER...

HE IS JUST GETTING STARTED...

BUSH'S PLAN FOR PEACE
IS THE PEACE OF THE COMMON GRAVE

http://www.bushflash.com/pax.html WATCH THIS VIDEO


Wumpscut
Totmacher

sie ahnten nichts von mir
von meiner wilden gier
doch als du kamst zu mir
da wurde ich ein tier
kein gedanke an danach
als ich dir die knochen brach

tot tot tot ich mache dich tot
tot tot tot von blut alles rot

tot

fuer mein naechstes leben
schoepfe ich neue kraft
ich bin dem toeten ergeben
in der einzelhaft

tot tot tot ich mache dich tot
tot tot tot von blut alles rot
tot tot tot ich mache dich tot
tot tot tot von blut alles rot

ein dahinsichen
von gottes hand
ich kann dich riechen
und das denken verschwand

tot tot tot tot tot tot tot ich mache dich tot
tot tot tot von blut alles rot tot tot tot tot

ich mache dich tot ich mache dich tot
ich mache dich tot ich mache dich tot

sag mir was du willst
dass du meine sehnsucht stillst
ich mache dich tot fuer immerdar
von blut alles rot auf gottes altar

tot tot tot ich mache dich tot
tot tot tot von blut alles rot

ich mache dich tot fuer immerdar
ich mache dich tot glaub mir es ist wahr
ich mache dich tot fuer immerdar
ich mache dich tot auf gottes altar


TRANSLATION

Wumpscut - Deadmaker

They didn't expect me
never expected my wild lust
I turned into an animal
No thought about afterwards
When I broke your bones

Dead, dead, dead I make you dead
Dead, dead, dead stained from blood so red

Dead

For my next life (life after death in the religious sense)
I get the power I need
I’m a slave to the killing
In solitary confinement

("einzelhaft" (solitary confinment) has become part of the german vocabulary after the terrorist attacks of the Red Army Fraction during the 70's. It's used for people in prison, who are put into complete isolation not just from other people, but from all kinds of information. It's what might be known in the US as "sensual deprivation", a kind of torture-technique to destroy people's self.)

Dead, dead, dead I make you dead
Dead, dead, dead stained from blood so red
Dead, dead, dead I make you dead
Dead, dead, dead stained from blood so red

Wasting away
By God’s hand
I can smell you
And my thought disappeared

Dead, dead, dead I make you dead
Dead, dead, dead stained from blood so red
Dead, dead, dead, dead

I make you dead I make you dead
I make you dead I make you dead

Tell me what you want
That you fill my longing (that you satisfy my desire)
I make you dead for evermore
God’s altar stained from blood so red

Dead, dead, dead I make you dead
Dead, dead, dead stained from blood so red

I make you dead for evermore
I make you dead believe me its true
I make you dead for evermore
I make you dead on God’s altar


All his stuff is amazing
http://www.bushflash.com/animation.html


Conclusive Evidence of U.S. Role in Kidnapping and Coup
PRESS ADVISORY
Monday, April 4, 2004
Media Contact: Dustin Langley 212-633-6646

As Bush Administration Scrambles to Shore Up Appointed Haitian Regime Commission to Present Conclusive Evidence of U.S. Role in Kidnapping and Coup

Date: Wednesday, April 7
Time: 6:30- 9:30 pm
Location: The Whitman Theatre at Brooklyn College

Panel to include: Rep. Maxine Waters, Rep. Major Owens, Former Attorney General Ramsey Clark, Ossie Davis, Gil Noble, Amy Goodman, Ron Daniels, and other prominent activists and journalists

The Bush Administration is facing a growing crisis over its role in the coup in Haiti and the kidnapping of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who continues to speak out about his abduction by the U.S. The 15-member organization of Caribbean nations, CARICOM, has refused to recognize the U.S.-installed regime and has called for an investigation, despite intense pressure and threats from the U.S. The 53-member African Union has raised the same demand.

On Wednesday, April 7, the Haiti Commission of Inquiry will initiate a public inquiry of the role of the Bush Administration in the crisis in Haiti. Delegations that visited both the Central African Republic and the Dominican Republic will present conclusive evidence that U.S. Special Forces armed, trained, and directed the "rebels" and engineered the abduction of President Aristide.

The preliminary report from the Commission states, "two hundred U.S. Special Forces soldiers came to the Dominican Republic as part of 'Operation Jaded Task,' with special authorization from President Hipólito Mejia. We have received many reports that this operation was used to train Haitian rebels. We have received many consistent reports of Haitian rebel training centers at or near Dominican military facilities. We have received many consistent reports of guns transported from the Dominican Republic to Haiti, some across the land border, and others shipped by sea."

Johnnie Stevens of the International Action Center, a member of the delegation to the Central African Republic, said, "The U.S.-installed Prime Minister, Gerard Latortue, has hailed the paid mercenaries as freedom fighters, and had thus discredited himself among the Caribbean nations."

Secretary of State Colin Powell, in a desperate bid to lend some credibility to the Latortue government, is now visiting Haiti for the first time. This attempt to put U. S. weight behind the isolated colonial-style regime is a response to its growing isolation. Sara Flounders, of the International Action Center, said, "This visit by Powell is a sign of the Bush Administration’s growing isolation and disarray. The U.S. is desperately trying to shore up a discredited regime in the face of international opposition to the appointed government of Haiti after the stinging rebuke directed at the U.S. by the recent CARICOM meeting." Flounders is a member of the Haiti Commission of Inquiry and was part of the delegation to the Central African Republic, where she visited with President Aristide shortly after his kidnapping.

Kim Ives from Haiti Progres, who was part of the delegation to the Dominican Republic, told the media, "In the course of our investigation here, we met with many Haitians who were forced to flee Haiti following the coup d'etat of Feb. 29. Their testimony gave very concrete names and faces to the stories of violence which we have heard that the so-called rebels, trained and assembled in the Dominican Republic, have carried out in Haiti over the past month. We were also touched by the tears of refugees who told us of how they are apprehensive over the fate of their loved ones left behind in Haiti."

From 2/23/2003:




US Troopers Secretly Land in Dominican Republic
http://english.pravda.ru/world/2003/02/20/43514.html
The military training operation nicknamed Jaded Task took by surprise Dominican Foreign Ministry.

The US Army started today a training operation in the Caribbean country as part of routine maneuvers of the Southern Command. The landing had been kept so secretly that Dominican Foreign Ministry Hugo Tolentino was reported... by the TV.

As per the first reports, the US troops are training Dominican soldiers on anti-terrorism operations in the north of the island. When the national media started announcing the landing, country's Foreign Minister was having a lunch. Tolentino said that, as chief of the Dominican diplomacy, he should have been formally advised, as personally requested to the Dominican Army and the US Embassy to Santo Domingo.

(snip)

However, the most interesting thing, here, is that the Communist Party of the Dominican Republic did know about the operations. This correspondent had access to two formal communications issued by the US Embassy including details of these activities, during the Communist summit held in Buenos Aires in January. There, the US ambassador to Santo Domingo reported about 10.000 soldiers coming to the Dominican Republic to take part of the training.

Moreover, the communists and other leftist forces in the country made know such documents to the local media in November. According to the denounce, US soldiers can freely enter and leave the country without any kind of permission. Also, they can do it through owned means of conveyance.

(more at link)

more
Conclusive Evidence of U.S. Role in Kidnapping and Coup
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=465773
Who's who of the Haiti Coup - death squad veterans and convicted murderers
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1307941
Haiti: Drugs, Thugs, the CIA, and the Deterrence of Democracy
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1257891
Political Crisis in Haiti House Committee Hearing C-SPAN3 2pm et
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1189042

[htuttle]

7. Um...Bush CAUSED the current situation in Haiti

Who cut all foreign aid to the Haitian government (but not to the rebels) when he came into office? Who gave Aristide an ultimatum to leave the country? Who gave him a ride out of the country in a sealed plane where they weren't told where they were being taken? Who's International Republican Institute funded the likes of Louis Chamblain and Guy Phillipe?

As far as Bush is concerned, everything is going fine in Haiti.

[seemslikeadream]

9. The Invasion of Haiti Anthony Fenton interviews Stan Goff

The Invasion of Haiti
Anthony Fenton interviews Stan Goff

by Stan Goff and Anthony Fenton

Fenton: What kind of background should one be familiar with when undertaking this type of investigation?

Goff: There's been a longstanding relationship between the Dominican military and the old military apparatus that developed after Papa Doc had his rapprochment with the Americans.

A lot of people think that Papa Doc was vaulted into power by the Americans, but actually, the opposite was true. The ideology of Papa Doc was one that grew out of a very xenophobic and nationalistic resistance against the Americans, and they in fact plotted a coup against him early on. There were two factions of the ruling class: one was was very much based on the old share-cropping land system and then there were the up and coming compradore class that were much more international and cosmopolitan in their outlook and they were the ones that were gaining the most from the military occupation - the 19 year military occupation from right after World War I, all the way up until the mid-30s, by the United States.

For 19 years the US Marines basically ran Haiti directly, and Papa Doc was vaulted into power in reaction to that because the Capitalist form of agriculture that was brought into Haiti was a real threat to this land tendency system, this share cropping system. This is really the social base of Papa Doc's movement was this landed class, the big land owners. One of the origins of the tonton macoutes was that this was a militia that he used to protect himself from an army that was still in many ways loyal to this competitor class, the compradors, and were politically unreliable until Papa Doc had time to affect his own transformation in the military.

This military that developed under Papa Doc had a relationship with the Dominican military. In fact , they sort of existed with one another as their raison d'etre. They both collaborated in a lot of ways: they collaborated in criminal enterprises, they collaborated in security issues, they collaborated politically, because both of them were sort of the armed enforcement wing of their respective states, and had a direct interest in stability on both sides of the border, and this relationship has lasted. The Dominicans themselves, the dominant Dominican elites, were not at all happy about Aristide, just as many members of the Dominican military were unhappy about Aristide dissolving the military {Aristide dissolved the military when he came back the first time}.
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=55&ItemID=5557


Bushwhacked In the Caribbean

By Randall Robinson
Wednesday, May 19, 2004; Page A23

In addition, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has warned Caricom leaders that if one U.S. soldier is killed in Haiti, Caribbean governments will be held responsible because the Aristide family was granted sanctuary in the region. In short, the Bush administration is strong-arming the Caribbean to confer on Haiti's new "government," headed by Gerard Latortue, a legitimacy it has not earned and does not deserve. Indeed, 33 of the 39 members of the Congressional Black Caucus stayed away from a recent Washington meeting arranged by two congressmen for Latortue.

The United States' demand that Caricom abandon its long-held insistence on democratic principles is psychic poison to the region. When Eastern Europe was going through its totalitarian nightmare, when coups and despotic rule were "normal" in Central and South America, and when civil strife and dictatorship wracked much of Africa and Asia, the Caribbean steadfastly upheld its democratic traditions -- and it continues to do so today. This is because of the region's well-educated populace and the caliber of its leaders; no military thugs in business suits here. From Rhodes Scholar-Prime Minister Percival J. Patterson of Jamaica in the north, to professor-lawyer Prime Minister Ralph Gonslaves in the south (St. Vincent-Grenadines), and from the physician Prime Minister Denzil Douglas in tiny St. Kitts-Nevis to the economist Prime Minister Owen Arthur in Barbados, Caribbean heads of government understand the lessons of history. They recognize the supremacy of the ballot. And they know that only democratic values will keep the Caribbean a zone of peace. Reinhold Niebuhr warned that man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but that man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. Yet the United States has unleashed its venom on Caribbean governments because they have proclaimed Caricom's democratic principles to be inviolable.

The Bush administration, however, has been implacable. Its officials were to have come to the Caribbean in April and May to discuss, among other things, terrorism, but the administration presented Caribbean governments with an ultimatum: no recognition of Latortue, no meetings between the United States and the Caribbean leaders. Caricom reminded U.S. officials that Latortue was not elected by anyone. And so the meetings are off. Why is the unelected Latortue more important to the Bush administration than the Caribbean's 14 democratically elected governments?

Americans must speak out against their government's behavior abroad. And they must recognize that the atrocities inflicted by U.S. soldiers on Iraqi prisoners grow out of a hubris and contempt that far too many U.S. officials display when dealing with much of the rest of the world. If stable Caribbean democracies are being slapped around by America because they uphold democratic values, who is safe in this unipolar world? Certainly not the American people, who are being made targets of global rage because of these tactics.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38008-2004May18.html

Haitian Police kill peaceful demonstrators
by Anthony Fenton Thursday May 20, 2004 at 12:18 PM
[e-mail]

Chile is part of an illegal occupation that has overseen the slaughter of as many as 3000 Haitians since February 29th. Emerging evidence shows that the destabilization and coup d'etat began in 2000, planned and executed by the US, UN, Canada, France, EU, and the Dominican. Empires and vassals. The same forces that helped overthrow Allende have repeated history in Haiti!!!


by the Haiti Information Project

May 18, 2004
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Special Forces units (CIMO) of the Haitian National Police (PNH) killed Lavalas demonstra-tors today in Port-au-Prince as a larger U.S. Marine "peacekeeping" force of about 50 soldiers stood by.

About 6,000 Lavalas demonstrators in one of many separate marches tried to converge near the Champ De Mars for a larger demonstration. The march had been planned for some time and the organizations that planned the march received written approval by the PNH to hold this demonstration on Haitian Flag Day.

It is hard to estimate the actual size of the demonstration but figures of 30,000 to 60,000 different demonstrators in various parts of the city seem credible.

A contingent of about 50 U.S. Marines patroled every hour at the start of one march in Bel-Air trying to intimidate the population there. One of the marines officers in command tried to threaten an American journalist who was filming the action. Whenever, any of the groups of marchers tried to reach Champ de Mars a CIMO unit would "appear out of nowhere" and commence shooting into the crowds of demonstrators.

Reports of similar killing is coming in from different areas of the city. At 10PM in Haiti, there were nine verified dead by the U.S. trained killers. The Marine's seem to be coordinating this carnage, and are standing by with heavy artillery in case the population tries to stop the killers.

Recently the U.S. Marines have been directly involved in the current violent political repression of Lavalas activists. Last week the Marines used explosives to gain access to Annette Auguste's home before they arrested her and her family on the pretense that she was arming Lavalas militants to attack the Marines during Haitian Solidarity Week. No weapons were witnessed or found in possession of any of the protesters today.

Even though the demonstrators were rather angry no rocks were thrown or violence was witnessed to provoke the shooting.

One demonstrator who was shot 30 yards in front of the journalist lay dying of a gunshot wound to the head. The only item in his possession was a Walkman disk player. The CIMO unit that shot the non-violent Lavalasien drove up in a red truck license plate: 1-0060.

Later reports indicate that the U.S. Marines have begun reprisals for the large show of solidarity, once darkness descended on Port-au-Prince

fair use


Haitian leader misses Flag Day celebration

Staff report
Posted May 20 2004

Pompano Beach · The aftermath of violent political protests in Haiti kept Prime Minister Gérard Latortue from keeping an appointment to celebrate Haitian Flag Day at the Worldwide Christian Church Center on Wednesday night.

The church, along with the Louverture Center for Freedom and Development, scheduled a week of special events and services to commemorate Flag Day, which was Tuesday. Latortue was scheduled to pick up the Louverture Haiti Renaissance Award. Gov. Jeb Bush, who could not attend, was given the Star of Freedom Award.


On Tuesday, the Westminster Academy Haiti Missions Team from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and Jean Colin, executive director of the Haitian Health Foundation of South Florida, were given the Spirit of Excellence Award during a celebration sponsored by Minority Development and Empowerment Inc
more
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cfla... ...


At least 9 demonstrators killed during huge march on Haiti’s Flag Day

This pro-Aristide demonstrator, Titus Simpson, 23, was shot by Haitian Special Forces (CIMO) less than 30 yards in front of an American journalist covering Tuesday’s march celebrating Haiti’s Flag Day. U.S. Marines threatened the journalist with arrest for filming the events, and he was shot at twice. Simpson was unarmed, the only item in his possession a Walkman disk player.

Marchers face down US Marines, shout ‘Liberty or death,’ ‘Bring back Aristide’

by Marguerite Laurent, J.D.

Haitian Lawyers Leadership

This pro-Aristide demonstrator, Titus Simpson, 23, was shot by Haitian Special Forces (CIMO) less than 30 yards in front of an American journalist covering Tuesday’s march celebrating Haiti’s Flag Day. U.S. Marines threatened the journalist with arrest for filming the events, and he was shot at twice. Simpson was unarmed, the only item in his possession a Walkman disk player.
May 18 is Haiti’s Flag Day, and a demonstration was planned and authorized by the police authorities. Copies of the authorization letter, dated May 10, were sent by Fanmi Lavalas to the United Nations, OAS and CARICOM.

Yet today the Haitian police, along with U.S. Marines, shot indiscriminately into the crowd aiming to break up the demonstration.

“They slapped us hard today,” one of the demonstrators stated over the phone from Port-au-Prince. “But we slapped them right back because they thought all their killings of Lavalas and torturing had intimidated us all into hiding in our own country. They did not expect so many of us to take to the street to ask for the return of President Aristide and the disbanding of the army soldiers who are now running the Haitian National Police. That’s why we slapped them back.”

more
http://www.sfbayview.com/051904/haitisflagday051904.sht...


Thousands demonstrate in call for return of Aristide to power

Supporters of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide march during a demonstration celebrating the 201st birthday of the Haitian flag in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Tuesday, May 18, 2004. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20... ...


Pro-Aristide March Turns Violent in Haiti

By AMY BRACKEN
Associated Press Writer

Supporters of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide march during a demonstration celebrating the 201st birthday of the Haitian flag in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Tuesday, May 18, 2004. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Thousands of demonstrators called for the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide during a Flag Day rally Tuesday that turned violent, leaving at least one man dead.

Waving flags and carrying umbrellas bearing Aristide's smiling face, the demonstrators marched from the pro-Aristide stronghold of Belair toward the National Palace, just blocks away from a cathedral where interim President Boniface Alexandre was attending a Mass.

As the protesters neared the cathedral, riot police fired tear gas and then warning shots to disperse the crowd, which reacted by pelting government vehicles with rocks.

A 23-year-old demonstrator was shot and killed. It was unclear who fired the fatal shot, and police were not immediately available for comment.
more
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20... ...


Thousands demonstrate in call for return of Aristide to power

As the protesters neared the cathedral, riot police fired tear gas and then warning shots to disperse the crowd, which reacted by pelting government vehicles with rocks.

Demonstrator Titus Simpton, 23, was shot and killed. It was unclear who fired the fatal shot, and police were not immediately available for comment.

U.S. Marines helped the police by conducting patrols but did not fire any rounds, according to Colonel David Lapan, a spokesman for the U.S.-led multinational force that will be replaced by a U.N. force. Peacekeepers and international police are scheduled to start arriving on June 1.

Aristide claims that the United States forced him to resign amid a spreading three-week revolt on February 29, a claim the United States denies.

The 15-nation Caribbean Community, which has refused to recognize Haiti's interim government because of the allegations that Aristide has made, has asked the Organization of American States to investigate the circumstances of Aristide's departure.
more
http://www.etaiwannews.com/World/2004/05/20/1085022289....


Former Rebels Form New Political Party in Haiti

VOA News
20 May 2004, 14:13 UTC

AP
Guy Philippe
(File photo)
Former Haitian rebels who played a major role in February's ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide say they have formed a new political party.
The former members of the National Resistance Front have created a group called the National Reconstruction Front.

Former rebel leader Guy Philippe is expected to have a lead role in the party, which says it will field candidates in Haiti's general elections next year.

The announcement was made Tuesday in Haiti's fourth-largest city, Gonaives, which the rebels held during the armed revolt that led to Mr. Aristide's departure.
more
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=824A0A42-87... ...


Rebel commander Wilfort Ferdinand, also known by the nickname Ti-Wil, greets leader Guy Philippe, right, with an affectionate pat as he arrives with a group of rebel troops in Cap Haitien, Haiti, Saturday. (AP /Pablo Aneli).


Haitian rebels form political party
Rebel leader Guy Philippe, 36, who was sacked by the Aristide government for plotting a coup, Winter Etienne, 40, and Buteur Metayer, 32, will hold respectively the roles of secretary general, general coordinator and president.

Mr Etienne is a supporter of fellow rebel leader and former death squad member Louis-Jodel Chamblain, who was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1993 murder of Mr Aristide's financier Antoine Izmery.

Mr Metary is the leader of the Cannibal Army gang in the northern city of Gonaives and a former Aristide supporter

Tuesday's announcement was made before a crowd of 1,000 in Gonaives, held by the FRN rebels during the armed insurgency against Mr Aristide.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1112625.htm


In Haiti's chaos, rape without punishment was norm

"It was worse than I have ever seen," said Yolette Jeanty, director of the women's rights group Kay Fanm. "At least before, there were some ways to get justice."

Rape has always carried a certain level of impunity in Haiti. Even the concept of rape is often limited to young victims.

"The adult women, they don't consider it rape," Jeanty said. "There is this mentality that if you're not a virgin, it's not a rape."

By law, it is considered a crime against honor - a squandering of virginity that can often be settled with a payment to the victim's family.

"Sometimes the judge will even suggest as a reparation that the rapist marry the girl," Jeanty said.
more
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0520HaitiRape20-...


Haiti: Marines arrest woman leader on Mother’s Day
U.S. Marines invaded the home of renowned entertainer and community leader Annette Auguste after midnight May 9, arresting and detaining everyone present including four great-grandchildren, TransAfrica said, citing reports from Haiti.

While the others were later released, Ms. Auguste, known as So Ann, was interrogated throughout the night without counsel or anyone present except herself and the Marines. She was then transferred to the Haitian National Police where she was still detained late last week.

The Marines breached her gate with explosives, shot and killed the household dogs and ransacked the home, searching for non-existent weapons.

TransAfrica said it believes Ms. Auguste was arrested because “she is a prominent leader of Haitians who understand and object that the right-wing elite has returned to Haiti behind the guns of convicted criminals and death squad thugs, with the blessing of their right-wing allies here in the United States.”
more
http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/5264/1/216


Chile Approves Troops For Haiti Peacekeeping

Thursday, May 20, 2004; Page A26

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chile's Senate agreed Wednesday to send 650 troops to Haiti as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission that will take over the task of restoring stability from a U.S.-led multinational force on June 1.

Chile, a member of the U.N. Security Council, deployed 130 troops in March after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled Haiti under international pressure as an armed rebellion threatened the capital, Port-au-Prince.

That Chilean deployment is due to end in June. The new contingent, approved by a vote of 27 to 0 with 15 abstentions, adds to that military presence and includes 38 members from the national police force.

The Security Council unanimously approved on April 30 the new mission of up to 5,700 U.N. troops and as many as 1,622 police officers.
more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41466-20...


Brazil to send 1,200 troops to Haiti
Brazilian soldiers receive training in Brasilia, Brazil, before their Haiti deployment.

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) -- Brazil's Senate agreed late Wednesday to send 1,200 troops to Haiti to lead a U.N peacekeeping mission as Brazil seeks to build a role as a regional crisis mediator.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has championed the interests of the world's poorest nations since taking office, offered Brazil's biggest ever U.N. peacekeeping force to head the mission.

The Senate vote was the last hurdle for deployment. It was approved with 38 votes for and 10 votes against.

Lula, who objected to the U.S.-led war on Iraq last year, conditioned Brazilian leadership of the mission on international support to build a democracy in Haiti after two U.S.
more
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/05/20/brazil.hai... /


Haitian Police kill peaceful demonstrators
by Anthony Fenton Thursday May 20, 2004 at 12:18 PM
[e-mail]

Chile is part of an illegal occupation that has overseen the slaughter of as many as 3000 Haitians since February 29th. Emerging evidence shows that the destabilization and coup d'etat began in 2000, planned and executed by the US, UN, Canada, France, EU, and the Dominican. Empires and vassals. The same forces that helped overthrow Allende have repeated history in Haiti!!!

by the Haiti Information Project
May 18, 2004
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Special Forces units (CIMO) of the Haitian National Police (PNH) killed Lavalas demonstra-tors today in Port-au-Prince as a larger U.S. Marine "peacekeeping" force of about 50 soldiers stood by.

About 6,000 Lavalas demonstrators in one of many separate marches tried to converge near the Champ De Mars for a larger demonstration. The march had been planned for some time and the organizations that planned the march received written approval by the PNH to hold this demonstration on Haitian Flag Day.

It is hard to estimate the actual size of the demonstration but figures of 30,000 to 60,000 different demonstrators in various parts of the city seem credible.

A contingent of about 50 U.S. Marines patroled every hour at the start of one march in Bel-Air trying to intimidate the population there. One of the marines officers in command tried to threaten an American journalist who was filming the action. Whenever, any of the groups of marchers tried to reach Champ de Mars a CIMO unit would "appear out of nowhere" and commence shooting into the crowds of demonstrators.

Reports of similar killing is coming in from different areas of the city. At 10PM in Haiti, there were nine verified dead by the U.S. trained killers. The Marine's seem to be coordinating this carnage, and are standing by with heavy artillery in case the population tries to stop the killers.

Recently the U.S. Marines have been directly involved in the current violent political repression of Lavalas activists. Last week the Marines used explosives to gain access to Annette Auguste's home before they arrested her and her family on the pretense that she was arming Lavalas militants to attack the Marines during Haitian Solidarity Week. No weapons were witnessed or found in possession of any of the protesters today.

Even though the demonstrators were rather angry no rocks were thrown or violence was witnessed to provoke the shooting.

One demonstrator who was shot 30 yards in front of the journalist lay dying of a gunshot wound to the head. The only item in his possession was a Walkman disk player. The CIMO unit that shot the non-violent Lavalasien drove up in a red truck license plate: 1-0060.

Later reports indicate that the U.S. Marines have begun reprisals for the large show of solidarity, once darkness descended on Port-au-Prince
More details on this tragic event later.
http://chile.indymedia.org/news/2004/05/18974.php
fair use


Let America be America Again...by Langston Hughes

Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

[seemslikeadream]

10. WHILE I SIT HERE TRYING TO THINK OF THINGS TO SAY

SOMEONE LIES BLEEDING IN A FIELD SOMEWHERE

SO IT WOULD SEEM WE'VE STILL GOT A LONG LONG WAY TO GO

I'VE SEEN ALL I WANNA SEE TODAY

WHILE I SIT HERE TRYING TO MOVE YOU ANYWAY I CAN

SOMEONE'S SON LIES DEAD IN A GUTTER SOMEWHERE

AND IT WOULD SEEM THAT WE'VE GOT A LONG LONG WAY TO GO

BUT I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE

SWITCH IT OFF IT WILL GO AWAY

TURN IT OFF IF YOU WANT TO

SWITCH IT OFF OR LOOK AWAY

WHILE I SIT AND WE TALK AND TALK AND WE TALK SOME MORE

SOMEONE'S LOVED ONE'S HEART STOPS BEATING IN A STREET SOMEWHERE

SO IT WOULD SEEM WE'VE STILL GOT A LONG LONG WAY TO GO, I KNOW

I'VE HEARD ALL I WANNA HEAR TODAY

TURN IT OFF IF YOU WANT TO (TURN IT OFF IF YOU WANT TO)

SWITCH IT OFF IT WILL GO AWAY (SWITCH IT OFF IT WILL GO AWAY)

TURN IT OFF IF YOU WANT TO (TURN IT OFF IF YOU WANT TO)

SWITCH IT OFF OR LOOK AWAY (SWITCH IT OFF OR LOOK AWAY)

SWITCH IT OFF

SWITCH IT OFF

SWITCH IT OFF

SWITCH IT OFF

SWITCH IT OFF

TURN IT OFF

Thanks to
phil collins for the words
the people of Haiti for their struggle
bob

[redqueen]

12. Thank you

for these posts... all your posts...

[seemslikeadream]

13. Oh God redqueen, thank you

for noticing the people of Haiti.

[redqueen]

15. How can people not notice?

It breaks my heart that this is gone now... a coup just like every other... but this one is somehow not as newsworthy, even to the left.

:cry:

[seemslikeadream]

17. Yea not even to the left

:cry:
Paddy's Lament Lyrics

Well it's by the hush, me boys, and sure that's to MIND your noise
And listen to poor Paddy's sad narration
I was by hunger stressed, and in poverty distressed
So I took a thought I'd leave the Irish nation

Well I sold me horse and cow, my little pigs and sow
My FATHER'S FARM of land I soon did part with
And me sweetheart Bid McGee, I'm afraid I'll never see
For I left her there that morning broken-hearted

Here's you boys, now take my advice
To America I'll have ye's not be going
There is nothing here but war, where the murderin' cannons roar
And I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin

Well myself and a hundred more, to America sailed o'er
Our fortunes to be making we were thinkin'
When we got to Yankee land, they put guns into our hands
SAYING "Paddy, you must go and fight for Lincoln"

Here's you boys, now take my advice
To America I'll have YOUSE not be going
There is nothing here but war, where the murderin' cannons roar
And I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin

General Meagher to us he said, if you get shot or lose your Head
Every MOTHER'S SON of youse will get a pension
Well in the war I lost me leg, AND ALL I'VE NOW'S a wooden peg
And by soul it is the truth to you I mention

Here's you boys, now take my advice
To America I'll have YOUSE not be going
There is nothing here but war, where the murderin' cannons roar
And I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin

Well I think myself in luck, if I get fed on Indianbuck
And old Ireland is the country I delight in
To the devil, I would say, God curse Americay
For the truth I've had enough of your hard fightin

Here's you boys, now take my advice
To America I'll have YOUSE not be going
There is nothing here but war, where the murderin' cannons roar
And I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin

I wish I was at home
I wish I was at home
I wish I was at home in dear old Dublin
Sinead

[seemslikeadream]

14. Go America. Just GO! GO AWAY!

from my friend Tinoire

Go America. Just GO! GO AWAY! / My response to your powerful post


But these light-skinned people, descendants of the Old Colonials, and their darker skinned "house niggers"

living in these houses

and riding these very rare horses in Haiti on jump courses most Upper-class Americans can only dream of

thought it was worth it

to send School of the Americas thugs like these to kill our own countrymen

and bring the Ton-Ton Macoute Republican/DLC-loving tortures back.

These people, very dark-skinned as you can see, disagreed.

This boy will die from it

This girl, still alive, dreams of a better world
http://www.sakapfet.com/photocontest/2003/images/entries/Mariejo%20Mont-Reynaud,%20Palo%20alto,%20CA/The%20%20Red%20Kivet,%20Fort%20Kampon,%204hrs%20Hike%20from%20Leogane.jpg
Be afraid America. We will gracefully carry our burden but we shall expose your shame once again, just as in 1804.
http://www.sakapfet.com/photocontest/2003/images/entries/Andre%20Boulmier,%20Meyrin%20Switzerland/Commerce%20de%20Proximite,%20Port-au-Prince.jpg
because our children, too, have a right to dreams & rightful expectations of a decent life
http://www.sakapfet.com/photocontest/2003/images/entries/Jermain%20J%20Merola,%20Jacquet%20Haiti/Haut%20de%20Kenscoff1.jpg
We shall not forgive you or the evil bogeymen you bought

We shall not forget the boys you slaughtered

all in the name of Americans and Haitian collaborators who live in homes like this

So take your ass-hole

Take your DLC

Take your God-damned imperialistic military

And get the fuck out of my country

No need to fly your Stars and Stripes

because we have our own flag of which we are sufficiently proud, & which means things through its colors which give you NIGHTMARES

& a constitution that REALLY meant something and liberated South American countries from 'subsidizing' your way of life

Haiti, not America, was the first "Free" Republic in the Western Hemisphere but it galls America, built on the blood & sweat of slaves, to acknowledge that a bunch of slaves whooped imperialistic ass.

18 May, 2004 denouncing the US occupation of Haiti

Tens of thousands of Haitians took to the streets on May 18 to call for the return of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and for an end to the country’s foreign military occupation.

Haitian police units backed up by U.S. Marines fired in the air and into crowds, killing at least one demonstrator. Saintus “Titus” Simpson, 23, of Delmas 33 was shot in the head, spilling his brain, as demonstrators approached the central Champ de Mars square.

Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership cited sources saying that at least four people died. “One Haitian woman seized the fourth body that fell next to her and refused to give it to the Marines,” Laurent reported. “She removed all her clothes to show she had no weapons while Marines surrounded her at gunpoint. She cursed in Kreyol, calling on the revolutionary ancestors and shouting “Liberte ou lamo!” (Liberty or death!) She picked up the body herself and put it on her bare back, daring the Marines to kill her also while she carried it away.”

<snip>

The night before the march, U.S. helicopters flew and hovered low all over the city, Washington’s now common form of psychological warfare in Haiti.

<snip>

http://www.haitiprogres.com/eng05-19.html


:hi:T whereever you are

[redqueen]

16. *sigh*

I've been thinking about Tinoire lately... where did she go. I miss her beautiful posts.

Glad you're still around to keep these things from being forgotten.

Oh and one last comment before I go:

FUCK YOU, DLC!

[Cha]

18. And how much did he give Pakistan?..where their

Countrymen beheaded Daniel Pearl.

[seemslikeadream]

19. Thanks for asking-US cancels $495.3m Pakistani debt

Saturday, July 17, 2004
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_17-7-2004_pg1_3

By Zamir Haider
ISLAMABAD: The governments of United States and Pakistan on Friday signed a debt cancellation agreement worth $495.3 million in official government-to-government debt owed by Pakistan to the United States.

Dr Waqar Masood Khan, secretary Economic Affairs Division (EAD) and Ms Nancy J Powell, US ambassador to Pakistan, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective governments.


July Surprise
http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=20040719&s=aaj071904

A third source, an official who works under ISI's director, Lieutenant General Ehsan ul-Haq, informed tnr that the Pakistanis "have been told at every level that apprehension or killing of HVTs before election is absolute must." What's more, this source claims that Bush administration officials have told their Pakistani counterparts they have a date in mind for announcing this achievement: "The last ten days of July deadline has been given repeatedly by visitors to Islamabad and during meetings in Washington." Says McCormack: "I'm aware of no such comment." But according to this ISI official, a White House aide told ul-Haq last spring that "it would be best if the arrest or killing of HVT were announced on twenty-six, twenty-seven, or twenty-eight July"--the first three days of the Democratic National Convention in Boston.

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3158456

"Pakistan said Monday it plans to repay $1.08 billion of its debt to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank ahead of schedule to free up money for social programs.

Pakistan’s Foreign Exchange reserves surged to an all-time high of more than $11 billion after the country joined the U.S.-led coalition against terror in 2001. Its alliance with Washington triggered a surge in foreign aid and debt rescheduling by Western nations."