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THREE
PRESIDENTS IN JAIL
Resolution 822
and the reality
Faces
of slavery: Haiti's forgotten children
Barry
U. educator wants to lead effort to free Haitian detainees
Statement
of Ambassador Roger F. Noriega To the Permanent Council of the OAS Concerning
the OAS Special Mission to Haiti
Déchets
polluants arrive à Jacmel de Porto-Rico.
RDNP’s Communiqué: Recuperation of our freedom of action
Remarks
by Otto J. Reich Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs;U.S.
Department of State Center for Strategic and International Studies
The
Americas:Aristide's Popularity Dwindles But He Still Has Valuable
Friends - WSJ. March 15, 2001
THREE
PRESIDENTS IN JAIL
The
new chief of the Southern Command, Army general
James
“Tom”
Hill
called drugs: “Weapon of mass destruction” being unleashed on the United
States-responsible for the deaths of 19,000 Americans last year. (
Miami
Herald-October 5, 2002).
The
President of Panama, General Manuel Antonio Noriega indicted on February 4, 1988
by a Federal grand jury, is now in Miami Jail serving a 40-year sentence on drug
trafficking.
The
President of Nicaragua, Businessman Arnoldo
Aleman who stoled
and laundered more than 100 million dollars, equals to the entire annual budget
of his country’s Health Department, while more than half of the nation live in
abject poverty. The
U.S.
assistant secretary of state for the
Western
Hemisphere
affairs Mr. Otto Reich is determined to help fight corruption in
Latin
America
.
Soon a judge will indict Mr. Aleman on fraud and
money-laundering charges. It is just a question of time before the media shows
Mr. Aleman, also known to his country man as the “The
Fat Man”
handcuffed on plane departing for Miami to join his Compadre General Noriega
also known by his fellow citizen as “God’s Favorite”.
The
President of
Haiti
,
Defrocked Priest Jean Bertrand Aristide, who completely destroyed a whole people
and a country, is next in line. Mr. Aristide also known as “Titid”
by his followers, turned the poorest country in
America
into a NARCO-STATE.
The
Priest has become a BILLIONAIRE
as reported in the news media, by exporting drugs to the
United
States
and money-laundering. The cocaine flow to
U.S.
Shores has increased significantly since he was put back in power by Clinton and
his Rascals.
The
tyrant, and his corrupt regime makes sure that Colombian drug dealers are
welcome to Haiti, and if they get caught, it is only a matter of hours, until
they get enough GREEN BACK to bribe the people surrounding the defacto
President.
U.S.
Customs agents are working hard to uncover millions of dollars worth of cocaine
from ships arriving from Haitian Ports. Just last week, agents inspected The
Marlin Express, freighter from
Haiti
to seize 277 Kilos of cocaine with a street value of more than $6 million.
Governor
Jeb Bush, started “OPERATION
RIVERWALK” to
target drug smuggling on the
Miami
River
.
Mr. Bush said: “We are sending a message to drug smugglers: you’re not
welcome here anymore.” Three vessels from Haiti namely: Etoile de Mer, Tacoma
and Miguana with $8 million worth of cocaine were seized and sunk by Customs
Service near Key Biscayne to create Reefs, for the benefit of scuba divers,
fishermen and environmentalists.
During
“OPERATION SHOWTIME”
Drug officials found 176 pounds of cocaine from the Terisa Express and 66 pounds
from the
Gilbert
Sea
as they entered the
Miami
River
in June 2000, both freighters were from
Haiti
.
According
to ABC News, 14 percent of all cocaine and heroin coming to the
U.S.
,
now passes through
Haiti
.
The flow has increased about 50 percent, smuggled aboard Haitian cargo ships.
Haiti
is the perfect transshipment country, with the complicity of the government.
Colombian drug traffickers can move freely in Haiti, with 100 percent chance of
not getting arrested. Aristide and his cronies have a vested interest in making
it easy for the dealers, since so much easy money is involved.
Haitian
officials concede that traffickers run no risk of being caught, since the
judiciary and the Directors of the police force are profiting. The President
even encourages the sale of
drugs, since he gets his share, and his ANTI-AMERICAN
stand is well known to the public.
Danny
Toussaint a well known Haitian Senator declared to the journalists: “Cocaine
is transported in the Presidential Car from one place to another.”
General
Barry R. McCaffey, the
Clinton
administration’s “Drug czar” said: “The situation in
Haiti
is very grim, there are major corruption problems and they do not control the
drug flow”.
Clinton
said: “Our national security, the well being of our children is at stake. We
can create a safer, more drug-free society. We can do this if we work together.
At the same time, he sends a Drug Dealer back to
Haiti
with 23,000
U.S.
troops. Is this hypocritical or was it a mistake on Bill’s part?
Michael
Vigil, the DEA Special agent in charge of the
Caribbean
said: “The Colombians are taking advantage of the situation in
Haiti
,
and are moving in so they can take direct…control.” Also, the
U.S.
government did not certify
Haiti
as a reliable partner in the drug war.
The
President of the
Dominican
Republic
during a visit last week in
Washington
told
U.S.
officials that time is running out for
Haiti
.
He said that: “
Haiti
has become the
Center
of
Drug
Trade
in the
Caribbean
.”
Mary
Anastasia O’Grady, Senior Editor of the Wall Street Journal, in an article
published June the 18, 2002 regarding Mr. Mario Andrésol, the former central
director of the Haitian Judiciary Police from 1988 to 2001, who commanded five
special units, including the anti-drug bureau and the bureau of criminal
affairs. She quotes the Haitian Top Cop.
Mr.
Andrésol who is now in hiding says, “People involved in drug
trafficking are working with Aristide. If you arrest one of them, the whole
country is shaken because you arrested the president’s man.” He also alleges
that “People I have arrested for drug trafficking and crime were promoted in
the police department.”
U.S.
Intelligence officials have enough evidence to indict Mr. Aristide and bring him
to justice. As
Army
General
James
Hills
puts it “Drugs is a weapon of mass destruction”, and we believe this for one
second, we do receive thousands of those bombs of mass destruction every
day in the
United
States
.
The
infamous drugs are massively destroying our children, the future of
America
,
annihilating entire families. Cocaine is undermining our youth, our school
system and the morale of the country. We now have more criminals, addicts,
people who would do anything without remorse, just to get a little bit of drug
to satisfy their urge for a high.
Aristide
must be dealt with NOW. He must be arrested NOW. No more IMPUNITY. One
more example to be sent to corrupt governments in Latin American.
There
are many forms of terrorism. Shipping cocaine is one of them, as destructive as
bombs or planes against towers. In 2001, three thousand people died at the
World
Trade
Center
in
New
York
,
and according to General Hill, drugs killed 19,000 Americans in the same year.
Soon,
we will have THREE CORRUPT PRESIDENTS in
Miami
Jails for
drug trafficking and money-laundering namely: Noriega, Aleman
and Aristide.
Georges
Sami SAATI
MOUN
Miami
,
Florida
Saturday,
October 6, 2002
Top
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Resolution 822
and the reality
That resolution has called for election and the opposition is
not ready for any election. Haiti needs to appoint a team of expert to put thing
in order first before any election. Haiti has a political problem, we should
find a way to resolve it first before proceeding. Now, the Lavalas government is
either paying or in the process of compensating the opposition.
What do we put in place to prevent a reoccurrence?
That new resolution like the 806 is not going to work, if we are truthful and
understand the real problem we should ask for a coalition government. The
Lavalas must share power with the opposition. Although there are thousand of
ways to resolve Haiti's eternal political dilemma, organizing an election today
is not one of them.
Let put aside the current OAS resolution; Lavalas and the Convergence shall
return to the negotiation table, please do your best to reach a political
compromise. Put in place a new government, appoint a new prime minister with
either Mr. Bazin, Mr. Theodore, Prof.
Latortue (you must ask him ) and some others well respected folks in the
country, they will form a coalition government with all sectors.
Don't leave anyone out, since a rejected person may become a danger for any
system, we should integrate everyone. Give people a second chance they can prove
themselves.
The latest OAS resolution might look good on paper but it cannot
be implemented 100% with the current Haitian reality.
Again, I strongly believe a good coalition government can help the country. Well
some are going to say, you have to go to the poll to get a mandate, now what
prevent you from moving forward. Try something new: create a coalition
government with all sectors, in order for Haiti to move forward the Lavalas must
share power with the opposition: election is not going to do it. Assume you
organize any election today, tomorrow or for the next 3 years, you may have the
same people in the congress, are you going to solve the problem? No
Senou
Top
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Faces
of slavery: Haiti's forgotten children
(Series on Haiti from The Cincinnati Post)
http://www.cincypost.com/news/haitiseries0600.html
There's a dirty little secret in America's backyard. Hundreds of thousands of
children are living in slavery in Haiti - taken from their families in the rural
villages or given up by desperately poor parents for the promise of a better
life in cities like Port-au-Prince, Jacmel or Les Cayes. The promise is rarely
kept. Post reporter Ellen Lord went to Haiti with Cincinnatian Jean-Robert Cadet
to report on child slaves, who are known as restaveks. Cadet grew up as a
restavek. A three-part series.
June 3:
About the system
Poverty prevalent in Haiti
Cadet a voice for children
June 5:
How children become slaves
Government on shaky ground
June 6:
What happens to children who were
restaveks
'It's hard to learn how to trust'
How you can help
Click on the following link to view this Article:
http://www.cincypost.com/news/haitiseries0600.html
Top
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Barry
U. educator wants to lead effort to free Haitian detainees
By Jody A. Benjamin
Staff Writer
Posted April 30 2002
Update by Lecontact.com: A Federal District Court Judge
recently rejected a discrimination charge brought against the INS, because the
Court did not have jurisdiction.
MIAMI · Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, the community-minded leader of Barry
University who last tried to broker a deal for Elián González, now has taken
up the plight of Haitians who are being detained while they fight for asylum.
O'Laughlin last week offered to find community sponsors for all 270 detainees
and to make sure they appear for their asylum hearings -- if the Immigration and
Naturalization Service would release them to her.
At a news conference Monday called by U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, O'Laughlin said
she was moved by the plight of 60 Haitian women being detained at the
maximum-security Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center. She made a similar
gesture 20 years ago when she brokered the release of 300 Haitians to the
sponsorship of Barry University and Fordham University in New York.
"These are not terrorists. These are not people that will harm this
country," O'Laughlin said. "These are people that will contribute to
this society. They have a right to ask for freedom. We must not deny them that
right."
INS said Monday it had not received a formal sponsorship request from O'Laughlin,
but if it does, it is willing to consider her offer. Since December, when an INS
rule change for Haitians took effect, the agency has released small numbers of
Haitians after considering their claims "on a case-by-case basis,"
said INS spokesman Rodney Germain.
"If Sister Jeanne wants to support the Haitians, that is not a problem with
us," Germain said. "But she will have to show she is able to provide
monetary support, housing and food for them. We want to determine that she is
able to care for them."
Meek gathered two dozen community leaders Monday to add her voice to a
growing chorus calling for federal immigration officials to release the
Haitians.
A Democrat whose Miami district includes one of the largest concentrations of
Haitian-Americans in the country, Meek criticized INS treatment of non citizen
Haitians, particularly the women at the county jail.
Last week Meek asked INS Commissioner James Ziglar to accept O'Laughlin's
offer.
"Today there is clear and overwhelming evidence that Haitian refugees
seeking asylum are treated differently," said Meek, whose April 26 letter
to Ziglar calls the treatment discriminatory. "We want INS to stop dragging
its feet. We want them to stop ignoring legitimate immigration claims and to
release the Haitians immediately."
Meek dismissed INS's claim that it changed its policy toward arriving Haitians
out of concern for their safety, saying the real reason for the change is
election-year politics. The Bush administration in Washington wants to keep
boatloads of Haitian refugees away from Florida's shores to protect the fall
re-election bid of the president's brother, Gov. Jeb Bush, Meek said.
"They have put political concerns ahead of humanitarian issues," Meek
said.
Gov. Bush on Monday rejected Meek's charge as "ridiculous" and
"ludicrous." "The accusation that this has something to do
with my campaign is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with it," Bush said.
Bush said INS should stick to its policy of paroling asylum seekers who have
demonstrated credible fear of persecution to asylum officers.
"I don't think we should have a policy that encourages people to risk their
lives to come to our country," Bush said. "But where the INS agrees
that [the Haitians] have a credible fear of persecution, they should not be
detained."
The plight of the Haitian detainees, particularly that of the jailed women, is
drawing the attention of a growing number of groups, from the Catholic Church
and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, to local community groups
representing blacks, Cuban-Americans and others.
Saying they are trying to draw national attention to the issue, a number have
written letters to Attorney General John Ashcroft and INS Commissioner Ziglar
appealing for the Haitians' release. Some say they are planning a demonstration
next month when President Bush is scheduled to visit South Florida.
"Other issues we have seen dealing with refugees have been a little fuzzy
and less clear," said Miami lawyer H.T. Smith. On Monday he appeared for
Sankofa, an informal network of black professionals from the United States and
the Caribbean who support the Haitians' release. "But on this issue, it's
clear-cut discrimination. I feel comfortable in saying that my government is
wrong."
Others agreed.
"We support fair treatment for all refugees, including Haitians," said
Jose Basulto, president of Brothers to the Rescue, which has searched for Cuban
migrants crossing the Florida Straits.
On Dec. 3, an overloaded boat carrying 167 Haitians ran aground in Biscayne
National Park. INS subsequently changed its rules toward Haitians seeking
political asylum, declining to release most of them as a way of preventing other
Haitians from attempting dangerous sea crossings on flimsy boats.
Since then, about 100 Haitians have arrived in South Florida by plane, according
to the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, which has tracked the cases and filed
a federal discrimination lawsuit seeking their release.
Separate from the women, Haitian men are held at the INS's Krome detention
center, unaccompanied children at the Catholic Charities Boys Town shelter and
families with children at a local motel.
Advocacy center Director Cheryl Little said the Haitian detainees are being
given overly quick asylum hearings -- often without attorneys -- by immigration
judges transferred to Krome to handle the backlog. Some of the hearings last
only a half-hour, including translation, Little said.
Jody A. Benjamin can be reached at jbenjamin@sun-sentinel.com
or
954-356-4530.
Top
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Statement
of Ambassador Roger F. NoriegaTo the Permanent Council of the OAS Concerning
the OAS Special Mission to Haiti
Washington, D.C. April 5, 2002
Thank you Madam Chairman. I want to begin by thanking the Secretary
General and the Assistant Secretary General for their continued leadership in
dealing with the current crisis of Haitian democracy.
And I also want to congratulate the Secretary General, the Assistant Secretary
General, and their staffs for preparing an excellent planning document for the
Special Mission to Haiti. According to that document the objectives of the
Mission will be:
To find “a solution to the current political crisis in accordance with
Permanent Council Resolution 806; and, “To implement the new mandate of
that Resolution within the context of the Initial Accord.”
We acknowledge and are pleased by the completion of the first important step of
this process, which is the successful signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
between the OAS and the Government of Haiti on the fundamental terms of a
Special Mission.
We fully expect the Haitian government will abide by these agreements and will
be open and flexible, so that the OAS Mission can carry out its mandate freely
and thoroughly.
My delegation is pleased with the Secretary General’s appointment of David Lee
and Denneth Modeste to lead the mission. They are exceptionally
well-qualified persons as individuals and will, no doubt, make an effective and
responsible team. We are also quite satisfied with the designated members
of the Commission of Inquiry, who bring integrity and independence to a
complicated and delicate task.
We hope that the Government of Haiti and all members of Haitian
society-including the political opposition-will see the OAS Mission and its
component commissions as useful, constructive instruments for strengthening
Haiti’s institutions; for defending all of the essential elements of
democracy; and for reaching and implementing, faithfully and fully, a resolution
of the political impasse.
Madam Chairman, written commitments are good, but they are only a beginning.
The public and private comments of Haitian officials in support of the Mission
are also good, but only a start. What are needed now are concrete actions
that create a climate conducive to the resumption of the political negotiations,
concrete actions that bring peace and hope to the embattled people of Haiti.
It is fair to say that some positive acts have taken place in recent days; but
it is also fair to say that more tangible steps must be taken “on the
ground” to change substantially the insecure environment that has persisted
since the violence of December 17, 2001.
Just as my government stands ready to support the OAS Mission and OAS mediations
efforts, we are prepared to respond bilaterally to positive acts on the ground
in Haiti. Much remains to be done to create a climate conducive to renewed
political dialogue. Moreover, perhaps the most important contribution of
the OAS Mission will be a candid and independent assessment of the reality on
the ground.
My government appreciates the constructive role played by CARICOM, particularly
in insisting on and supporting an “independent” inquiry into the events
surrounding December 17. We are encouraged by their commitment to
working within the framework of the OAS, so that Haiti’s people can enjoy the
benefits of the kind of democratic government that characterizes the rest of the
Caribbean.
The Secretary General has drawn $500,000 from U.S. donated funds to support the
initial activities of the Mission in Haiti. My government will follow
closely the work of the Mission and the efforts of the Government in Haiti to
work with all political parties, civil society, and other relevant Haitian
institutions to implement each of the provisions of Permanent Council
Resolutions 806. We will consider making additional contributions as
warranted. My delegation also commends the other donors for their
impressive commitment to the full restoration of democracy in Haiti.
Madam Chairman, it is not a sound practice for diplomats to speak of “last
chances”-precisely because it is our craft to create opportunities. So,
I will resist characterizing this current round of OAS engagement as its “last
chance.” However, let us say that Haiti cannot afford to squander any
more opportunities. We join with others in urging Haiti’s leaders to
make the most of its important, latest opportunity.
Thank you, very much, Madam Chairman.
Top
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Déchets
polluants arrive à Jacmel de Porto-Rico.
Dear Friends and neighbours from the global village:
Please help! Send your protest to the Haitian Parliament in
Port-au-Prince, and alert the international environmental movement at the above
addresses and throughout the haitian community abroad,
or anybody who cares, that there is a barge that arrived in Jacmel, on the
southeastern coast of HAITI, from Puerto-Rico, on Monday 04/01/02 at 9:00 AM
carrying 4100 tons of shredded-used-tires.
The barge was pulled by a tugboat flying the flag of the United States of
America, the cargo to be unloaded in the port of Jacmel.
Tuesday 04/02/02 at noon, neither the Port Authority of Jacmel (APN), nor Jacmel
customs officials were cooperating with the public in providing information to
me ( an eyewitness to the arrival)or anyone else as to who the consignee was.
Rumors have it that it's combustible for the Electric Company of Jacmel (EdH).
EdH denied it. Employees of JACOSA, an alcohol and essential oil manufacturing
company, have confirmed that the company was interested in experimenting with
burning the rubber in their furnace.
The latest official information received at about 1700hour today,(Tues.
04/02/02) the cargo was consigned to the Star Multi-Services Maritime Agency of
Jacmel run by Mr. Frantz (aka Fanfan) Gaspard, a very close associate of Senator
Fourel Celestin
himself a very close associate of J-B Aristide, and currently President of the
Haitian Parliament. The order to import the stuff in Jacmel was signed weeks ago
by the former Prime Minister, M. Jean-Marie
CHERESTAL.
The name of JACOSA a company owned by Guerig Boucard, did appear on the manifest
for 2000 tons, according to the correspondent of Radio Metropole (one of Haiti
major radio station).
More rumors have it that "they" plan to pile the stuff along the
Jacmel Grand'Rivière bed about one mile and a half inland. Can you imagine what
will happen to the bay of Jacmel as we enter the spring torrential rainy season?
The part of the barge visible above the water line is more than 100x40 meters.
The stuff is piled about another 30 meters high. The piece of shredded tires
seen at a ten to fifteen meters distance appear to be
the size of a hard boiled egg.
Hear that !!! The docking of the barge was authorized by the Directeur-General
of the Police Nationale d'Haiti, who just happened to be in Jacmel for the
Easter weekend and had not left for work in
Port-au-Prince by Monday morning 9 o'clock.
Latest info...people in Jacmel are already talking about taking to the streets
to prevent the unloading of the stuff. Weds. 04/03/02, we are planning a human
chain to oppose the unloading. We need your help. Alert the Haitian community in
your area. Alert your friends in the International.org Do something we need your
help.
Thanks and courage...Guy Bauduy
Top
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RDNP’s Communiqué
Recuperation of our freedom of action
The RDNP, holding to the principles that have always guided its action and
considering the recent political evolution, after some serious evaluation and
deep reflection, believes that it is its responsibility and duty to declare
publicly that it is assuming its total autonomy and its complete freedom from
the Convergence Démocratique as it is composed and functioning now.
Our traditional sincerity, seriousness and the clarity of our positions
require that we do not leave the impression by staying a full fledge member of
the Convergence that we are endorsing the ambiguity which consist of affirming
publicly and contradictorily, on the one hand, calling for a national
mobilization to force Aristide and his lavalas regime to leave power
immediately, on the other hand that they agree to resume, under condition, the
negotiation, hoping to share the political power with Aristide through a
compromise.
The present RDNP’s declaration does not in any way change its availability to
work loyally with all political parties and organizations, pursuing the same
progressive, patriotic and democratic objectives, for at last together, change
our people’s life. Its autonomy and its availability recovered, render
possible a reconfiguration of the active political forces and a transformation
of the Haitian political topography, more broad and diversified for the unity of
a Haitian democratic opposition without exclusion, personal monopolizing and
ideological deception. Alone or with others, the RDNP’s ideal and objective
remain, Haiti’s democratization and modernization, within social justice and
humanistic globalization.
Port-au-Prince April 2, 2002
After deliberation, the above communiqué was unanimously adopted and signed by
the members of the National Executive Council: Fritz Benjamin, Assistant
Secretary General, Mirlande Manigat, Assistant Secretary General, Martial
Célestin,
General Consillor, Daniel Mallebranche, member and Marcel Perreira, chargé de
mission.
Leslie F. Manigat
General Secretary and RDNP’s political leader.
Top
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Remarks
by Otto J. Reich Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs;U.S.
Department of State Center for Strategic and International Studies
Willard Inter-Continental Hotel
March 12, 2002
Haiti: In many ways, this is the most vexing challenge in the
hemisphere. It is a country that is suffering the cumulative effects of 200
years of bad leadership commanding a predatory state. The current regime in
power is only the most recent manifestation of that 200-year history.
Breaking this cycle is Haiti's biggest challenge. Our policy in the short-
to medium-run is focused on supporting the
Organization of American States' efforts to help the government and the
opposition reach an accord to break the most recent political impasse,
which is now almost two years old. We are constantly seeking ways to
encourage both sides to negotiate seriously and in good faith. Reaching an
agreement is only part of the answer, though. Ensuring compliance with any
arrangement the parties arrive at will be essential. It will be a major
determinant of success.
Mitigating humanitarian distress is another immediate priority. We will
continue providing generous amounts of humanitarian assistance through
non-governmental organizations. In the longer run, we hope to help the
Haitian people create a democratically competitive political environment,
in which human and civil rights are respected and in which economic growth
becomes possible.
Top
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The
Americas:Aristide's Popularity Dwindles But He Still Has Valuable
Friends - WSJ. March 15, 2001
By Mary Anastasia O'Grady
The Americas (03/15/2002)
Page A11
One day last fall, 31 year-old Haitian journalist Brignol Lindor
hosted a Port-au-Prince radio show that included critics of the government.
Within days, Mr. Lindor was dead. Murdered, eyewitnesses said, by a mob loyal to
Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide and his Lavalas party.
As the details of Mr. Lindor's murder are pieced together, a snapshot of systematic political repression emerges. As does an explanation for the
massive defection of once-tried-and-true Aristide backers.
There is now broad support -- both foreign and domestic -- for withholding
international financial aid to Haiti until political space for the opposition can
be guaranteed. Yet, as the nearby photo suggests, Mr. Aristide retains some hardcore U.S. support. Haiti is tragically poor but
the former priest from the Port-au-Prince slums still finds what he needs to buy influence in Washington.
A preliminary investigation of the Lindor murder by the Haitian Press Federation alleges that, just after the radio show, the victim's name was
publicly added to a Lavalas enemies list. His murder was brutal. "His tie
is pulled dragging his body forward as another individual, totally hysterical,
hit him with a pickaxe on the back, piercing through to his chest," the
investigation says. "Then his frail body is sliced with machetes, knives,
as if he were a dangerous animal. The crowd holds him by the tie and drags his
body through the streets then turns the bloody and massacred cadaver face up.
One of them suggests burning Lindor's body, the majority protests saying that
they must leave the body as an example and symbol."
Haiti's army, which had a role in decades of repression during the Duvalier dictatorships, is no more. It was dismantled when the U.S. returned the
democratically elected Mr. Aristide to power in 1994. Yet, official oppression
is little changed. Mr. Aristide controls the national police. He controls the economy. He has his own "armed forces," street thugs,
which he unleashes to defend his increasingly unpopular government. In January, the Haitian Press Federation listed 27 journalists who had gone into exile in
recent months. Another 17 claim to have been threatened. There is also the famous unsolved murder of radio journalist -- and Aristide critic -- Jean
Dominique, which this paper's Jose DeCordoba wrote about in detail on Jan. 29.
Attacks against Lavalas opponents, election fraud and corruption
have prompted sharp criticism all around. Human Rights Watch, Reporters Without Borders, the International Press Institute and the French
newspaper Le
Monde have all objected to the regime's methods and policies. Amnesty International has condemned the intimidation committed in
Lavalas' name. A
number of French leftists and communists, including Danielle Mitterand, have
withdrawn support.
The left-leaning Center for International Policy, headed by former ambassador
Robert White, has also become a critic. CIP's James Morrell, an analyst who backed Mr. Aristide's return to power in 1994, has reviewed the
2000 senatorial elections and called them fraudulent.
The U.S. State Department annual report, released last week, says "The government continued to commit serious abuses during the year, and its
generally poor human rights record worsened." It was also critical of the national police. "Allegations of corruption, incompetence and narcotics
trafficking affect all levels," the report said. Last week it was reported that the U.S. cancelled the visas of four top Haitian police officials.
The desperate plight of so many victims of this terror has prompted the U.S. to earmark some $55 million in international humanitarian aid to be sent
straight to non-governmental organizations. Even this worries democracy
advocates, who say that much of it will go to NGOs loyal to Mr. Aristide and
tied to violence.
Meanwhile, Mr. Aristide's quandary is how to get his hands on the much greater volume of aid that is still withheld, without accepting the reforms
that could threaten his grip. In that effort, he appears to be largely relying
on some of his old pals who worked for him during his exile in Washington. What
that costs is not entirely clear, but as members of the Democratic Party machine
keep turning up in Aristide photo-ops, it's worth thinking about.
The New York-based National Coalition for Haitian Rights, once a frontline
fighter for Mr. Aristide, now condemns his government for its repression. But
that hasn't stopped New York state gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo and his
wife Kerry Kennedy-Cuomo from calling on the U.S. "to release the
funding." At a pro-Aristide event in North Miami in December, Connecticut
Senator Chris Dodd did the same.
A new infusion of aid would prop up Mr. Aristide and secure his control over such businesses as Haiti's government monopoly telephone company,
Teleco.
Ms. Kennedy-Cuomo's brother, Joseph P. Kennedy II, is a close ally of Mr.
Aristide's and also on the board of Fusion Telecom. That company begrudgingly
admitted last year that it was a player in the lucrative long-distance market
from the U.S. to Haiti. Fusion isn't telling how it gained access to the
non-transparent state monopoly network. But Haitians think the relationship
deserves closer scrutiny.
Mr. Aristide also pays for more traditional lobbying efforts. In June 2001, Patton Boggs said it was hired by Haiti at $50,000 a month to the
year-end to enhance the country's image. Hazel Ross-Robinson, wife of Washington
black-power crusader Randall Robinson, also has been on the Haitian payroll. In
the seven months ending Dec. 31, 2001, Dellums, Brauer, Halterman &
Associates LLC reported $210,000 in fees from its efforts for Haiti. This
involvement by the firm of former Congressman Ron Dellums has enraged Mr Morrell
at CIP. "Dellums represents an arbitrary leader ruling by violence and
fraud, whose purpose with foreign lobbyists is to avoid any power sharing with
the opposition," he writes.
It is a bitter irony that so many Washington worthies who feign concern for the suffering Haitian people also happily lobby for their tormentor. But
one thing Mr. Aristede learned during his U.S. sojourn was where the soft spots are in American politics.
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