The EPI Haiti Action Page (2)
Congresswoman Maxine Waters Condemns Violence in Haiti; Calls for State Department to Support the Democratically-elected government of Haiti and denounce Andre Apaid
PRESS RELEASEFor Immediate Release
Contact: Nancy Stevens (202) 225-2201
February 11, 2004Washington, D.C. -- Today, at a press conference on Capitol Hill, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) called for the State Department to support the democratically-elected government of Haiti and denounce Andre Apaid. She made the following statement:
Yesterday, I returned from a trip to Haiti, where I observed the escalation of political violence that occurred over the weekend. This was my second trip to Haiti so far this year. I am deeply concerned about the growing violence organized by the so-called opposition and what now appears to be gangs in the northern part of the country being supported in their violent activities by this so-called opposition.
Unfortunately, the opposition, led by Andre Apaid, under the banner of the Group of 184, is not simply a peaceful group trying to correct the problems of the government. Andre Apaid is a Duvalier-supporter, who allegedly holds an American passport and obtained permanent resident status in Haiti through deceptive means. Andre Apaid is ferociously adamant about forcing Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the first democratically-elected President in the history of Haiti, out of office.
Andre Apaid is the owner of fifteen factories in Haiti. He has been accused of tax evasion, operating sweatshops and being a President Aristide-hater. The so-called peaceful protests led by Andre Apaid and his Group of 184 are responsible for defying the rule of law as it relates to parade routes, notification of protest actions, and other laws that are normally respected in any democratic society. The protests he organizes have become increasingly violent. Police officers are confronted, property is damaged, and roads are blocked. It is my belief that Andre Apaid is attempting to instigate a bloodbath in Haiti and then blame the government for the resulting disaster in the belief that the United States will aid the so-called protestors against President Aristide and his government.
Andre Apaid refuses to negotiate despite the fact that the State Department, the Organization of American States and many other organizations are now supporting a proposal put forth by CARICOM. Andre Apaid continues to use inflammatory language, denounce President Aristide, refuse to negotiate and demand that President Aristide leave his democratically-elected presidency. His so-called opposition group has accused President Aristide of everything from corruption and drug trafficking to support for paramilitary activity. When asked for documentation, they have not been able to produce anything more than rumors, innuendos and allegations.
President Aristide disbanded the military when he returned to office and has a police force of only 5,000 for a country of 8 million people. The United States aborted its efforts to support and train the new police force and currently has a ban on selling guns and equipment to Haiti. This policy effectively denies Haitian law enforcement officers the essential equipment that they so desperately need to maintain order and enforce the rule of law.
President Aristide has given the United States special authority to assist with drug interdiction efforts by allowing the United States to interdict drugs in Haitian waters. The government of Haiti does not have the resources needed to wage a tough and consistent war against drugs, and the President of Haiti is begging the United States for assistance to eliminate drug trafficking.
President Aristide is pursuing a progressive economic agenda in Haiti. Under his leadership, the Haitian government has made major investments in agriculture, public transportation and infrastructure. On February 7, 2003, the government doubled the minimum wage from 36 to 70 gourdes per day, despite strong opposition from the business community. There have also been a number of reforms to prohibit trafficking in persons and protect the estimated 400,000 children from rural villages who work as domestic servants in households in the cities.
President Aristide has also made health care and education national priorities. More schools were built in Haiti between 1994 and 2000 than between 1804 and 1994. The government expanded school lunch and school bus programs and provides a 70% subsidy for schoolbooks and uniforms. The maternity wards of eight public hospitals have been renovated, and hundreds of Haitians are being trained as physicians. Twenty new HIV testing centers will open around the country during the next two years. All of this is being accomplished despite a continuing embargo by the IMF and the World Bank.
The so-called opposition is supported by many of the same people who were content with the brutal dictators of Haiti's past. These are the same people who enriched themselves on the backs of the poor in Haiti for so many years with the support of the United States government. These people do not want a strong president like Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who will force them to pay their taxes and provide decent wages to their workers.
Last Thursday, armed gangs took control of the Gonaives police station during a five-hour gunfight and set the mayor's house on fire. Since then, these gangs have set fire to the police stations of Gonaives, St. Marc and Trou du Nord. In St. Marc, they sealed off the city by dragging tires, debris and logs across the main roads and setting them on fire. The armed gangs have seized nearly a dozen towns in the past week, and at least 40 people have been killed.
Unfortunately, these gangs appear to be obtaining support from the so-called opposition in the hope that their attacks will help to fuel other attacks in other parts of the country and eventually a coup d'etat in Port-au Prince. This is clearly an attempt at a power-grab. Unfortunately, the same forces that fashion themselves as the opposition also have control over the broadcast media in Haiti. They have used the power of the press to discredit President Aristide and disseminate false information to the international press about the situation in Haiti.
The nations of CARICOM are trying to assist the people of Haiti to end the violence and resolve this crisis peacefully. The CARICOM proposal includes an outright rejection of a coup d'etat in any form and requires that any change in Haiti must be done in accordance with the Constitution of Haiti. CARICOM calls upon the opposition in Haiti to ensure representation on the Provisional Electoral Council so that the Council can begin to prepare for the holding of elections. CARICOM also calls upon the international community to provide economic support to Haiti. Economic assistance, including assistance from the United States, is essential to alleviate the suffering of the people of Haiti and build a foundation for political stability and economic growth.
The State Department must denounce Andre Apaid and the Group of 184 and must answer this question: How can the State Department remain silent while Andre Apaid, who allegedly holds an American passport, creates so much dissension, disruption and violence in this small, impoverished country?
The State Department must use its influence to help stabilize Haiti, provide assistance for health, education and infrastructure development, and discourage Haitians from building boats and rafts to get to American shores.
Finally, the international press must discontinue the practice of repeating rumors and innuendos and begin to spend quality time learning the truth and writing the truth about what is really going on in Haiti.
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- From: pierrelabossiere@hotmail.com
- Subject: Greetings and Articles on Haiti's Bicentennial Celebrations
- Date: Jan 11, 2004 10:20 AM
Dear Friends,Best wishes for a happy and peaceful 2004!!!
I recently returned from Haiti where I attended the bicentennial celebrations of the declaration of independence from France. It was a very inspiring week-long visit.
I was greatly dismayed by the gross inaccurate reporting of the festivities that I had witnessed both in Port-au-Prince and Gonaives. While in Haiti, I spent much time dispelling inaccurate stories that friends and relatives in the US were quoting from the NY Times and BBC among others.
The dissemination of these false stories, on this most special occasion for Haiti, Africa, Africans of the diaspora and freedom-loving people world-wide, follows in the tradition of negative portrayal of Haiti since its founding 200 years ago. This tradition, initiated by the US and French "slaveocracy", lives on in the western media.
The article below by Haiti Progres is preceded by Frederick Douglass? poem "Until She Spoke". The article reflects what I experienced both in Port-au-Prince and Gonaives; it follows an informative article by Sara Flounders on the page *This Week in Haiti* 1/7/04, www.haiti-progres.com/*.html
The San Francisco Bayview newspaper of 1/7/04, has a great article with photos of the bicentennial celebrations. It also reports on a solidarity conference of Haiti-based and other organizations from different parts of the world www.sfbayview.com/*/*.shtml.
In the same issue of the SF Bayview, Randall Robinson's informative article is a must-read www.sfbayview.com/*.shtml.
Pierre Labossiere
Until She Spoke
"Inspired by the high price paid by Haiti's revolutionaries for the sake of freedom, Frederick Douglass, who was appointed consul general to Haiti in 1889 and lived there for two years, left a lasting appreciation of his love and respect for Haiti in his poem "Until She Spoke"." SF Bayview 12/24/03Until she spoke, no Christian nation had abolished Negro slavery.
Until she spoke, no Christian nation had given to the world an organized effort to abolish slavery.
Until she spoke, the slave ship, followed by hungry sharks, greedy to devour the dead and dying slaves flung overboard to feed them, ploughed in peace the South Atlantic, painting the sea with the Negro's blood.
Until she spoke, the slave trade was sanctioned by all the Christian nations of the world, and our land of liberty and light included.
Men made fortunes by this infernal traffic, and were esteemed as good Christians, and the standing types and representations of the Savior of the World.
Until Haiti spoke, the church was silent, and the pulpit was dumb.
Slave-traders lived and slave-traders died.
Funeral sermons were preached over them, and of them it was said that they died in the triumphs of the Christian faith and went to heaven among the just.
- Frederick Douglass -
Haiti Progres 1/7/04Despite Opposition Boycott and Terror Campaign Haitians Joyously Celebrate Their Bicentennial
Many tens of thousands of Haitians filled the streets around the National Palace in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 1, 2004 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Haiti's independence. A smaller celebration of about 7,000 took place later the same day in Gonaïves, the city where Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haiti's first head of state, declared independence for the world's first black republic.
Despite threats of violence from the Washington-backed opposition and back-room pressure to dissuade them, many foreign delegations attended the bicentennial ceremonies. South African President Thabo Mbeki and his wife along with Bahamian Prime Minister Perry Christie shared center stage with President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, First Lady Mildred Trouillot Aristide, Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, and his wife.
The vice president of Surinam, and the foreign ministers of the Dominican Republic and of Benin, among others, also headed high-level delegations.
France and the United States only dispatched their local ambassadors, although Washington's Luigi Einaudi and Ottawa's David Lee attended representing the Organization of American States, of which they are respectively Assistant Secretary General and Special Representative to Haiti.
Festivities began the evening of December 31, when tens of thousands filled the streets in all corners of the capital to watch fireworks, listen to bands, and gather in large jubilant crowds. Thousands milled in the capital's central square, the Champ de Mars, to admire the normally white National Palace and the trees around it which were illuminated blue and red, the Haitian flag's colors.
Thousands more danced to rara street bands in the suburb of Tabarre, not far from Aristide's home. Another street party rocked the Caridad quarter of the capital, which, like many other neighborhoods, was festooned with tiny flags and had newly painted murals of Haiti's revolutionary war heroes lining the avenue.
In Bon Repos, just north of the capital, several hundred people gathered around a makeshift roadside stage to listen to speeches by local leaders and music by local bands. As midnight struck, the mountainsides around capital erupted in dozens of firework displays.
Stores and restaurants throughout he city were open practically all night. Ceremonies in front of the Palace began the next morning at about 8 a.m. when the presidential couple hoisted the Haitian bicolor. In their excitement, crowds collapsed the fence surrounding the Palace grounds as well as a wooden viewing platform constructed for the occasion.
"May the determination of these former slaves to forge a nation in a world hostile to their very existence inspire us to always continue to struggle for human dignity that is the sacred right of all people," Aristide declared in his speech, which outlined 21 accomplishments as well as projects "waiting for the 21 billion." He was referring to the $21.7 billion in reparations which Haiti has formally demanded from former colonizer France.
The ceremony featured marching bands, flag displays, the sounding of conch shells (used by Haitian maroons), and the release of doves of peace.
Later that afternoon, Aristide flew to Gonaïves where he delivered a similar address underscoring that he intends to serve out his full five year term, which ends in 2006. The opposition wants him to step down to be replaced by a 27-member "Council of Wise Men," which is completely unconstitutional.
Haitians overwhelmingly reject the opposition and their proposal. Like those in the capital and Gonaïves, crowds along the highway between the two cities greeted passing vehicles with an open hand, to symbolize that Aristide should serve out his full term.
In an attempt to disrupt the celebrations, the opposition held a march of a few hundred in the capital on Thursday afternoon which deliberately veered off the agreed march route. When the police blocked their advance with tear-gas, the opposition demonstrators threw up barricades and went on a rampage through commercial and residential districts, smashing car windshields and storefronts, burning vehicles, throwing rocks and firing shots.
A similar terror assault was carried out in Gonaïves after ceremonies were successfully concluded. In the Dekawo neighborhood, opposition hooligans hid behind the houses lining the southern exit route from the city to pelt buses of celebrants with rocks. One car had its back windows shot out.
That evening at the National Palace, government officials, diplomats and invited guests viewed a musical and theatrical extravaganza, featuring a host of artists including U.S. actor Danny Glover, the Cuban-Haitian vocal group Desandan, and Haitian singers Joe Trouillot, Carole Demesmin and Erna Letemps. Afterwards, Aristide awarded Mbeki with the "Award of Pétion and Bolivar."
- From: Haiti Action Committee haitiaction@yahoo.com
- Subject: Fwd: Haiti - Letter to the NY Times and Corrections to the Bicentennial Story
Just in case you did not see the corrections in the NY Times regarding the Haiti Bicentennial story, they are reproduced below the following letter to the NY Times from the General Counsel for the government of Haiti, Mr. Ira Kurzban, Esq.To provide truthful information about Haiti to the public and members of the media, please help us circulate this message.
Thank you for your assistance.
The Haiti Action Committee
----------------------------------------------------------Kurzban letter to New York Times re: Polgreen article
Ms. Lydia Polgreen
New York Times
New York, New YorkDear Ms. Polgreen:
I write to you and your editors because of numerous factual errors contained in your story on the January 1st celebrations in Haiti marking the 200 anniversary of that country's independence. I assume that the factual errors arose from your lack of familiarity with the political situation in Haiti or because you have been provided a good deal of misinformation. The article that I will address below was published on Friday, January 2, 2004 in the International section of the New York Times.
First, your article states that: "Mr Aristide was re-elected to the presidency in voting that many observers said was flawed" and that as result "the country had been locked in political crisis." You further stated that: "The dispute led international donors to suspend $500 million in aid." These statements are inaccurate. Such erroneous statements regarding Haiti often arise from the common confusion between the May 2000 parliamentary elections and the November 2000 presidential election. In May, 2000, there were 30,000 candidates who ran for 7,500 positions ranging from mayors and department representatives to Senators and members of the lower chamber. Of the 7,500 elections, the Organization of American States challenged the methodology used in counting 8 senate seats. While the independent electoral council (called the "CEP" in Haiti) claimed that the methodology used in counting the victors in those elections had been used in previous elections, the OAS observers disagreed. The OAS report is clear that there were no credible allegations of wide spread fraud in the elections.
In any event, no responsible international organization or observers contended that Mr. Aristide's election which occurred in November, 2000 was invalid or tainted in any manner as you suggested in your article. I invite you to review the OAS reports. It was clear in November, 2000 that Mr. Aristide's election was not marred by fraud or allegations of impropriety.
As soon as Mr. Aristide took office in February 2001 he used the power of his Presidency and as the head of his party to encourage the senators from the 8 contested seats to step down and pave the way for a new election. The seven senators from his party, Lavalas, agreed to do so. The eighth senator, who came from an opposition party, declined to do so.
The second error in your article is the claim that the international embargo was the result of Mr. Aristide's election. Again, this is erroneous. The international embargo began toward the end of Mr. Preval's term and had nothing to do with Mr. Aristide's election. Indeed, the United States government has repeatedly taken the position that Mr. Aristide is the democratically elected president of the nation. The embargo was continued under President Aristide's term under the claim that funds would not be released until a settlement was reached with the opposition, notwithstanding the fact that the seven senators had resigned. The embargo, which continues to exist today, and makes it impossible for the government to have any success in alleviating the poverty you address in your article, is therefore not in response to solving the political impasse. That impasse was solved when the senator's stepped down. Nor can the financial embargo be seriously linked to progress in making the country more democratic, because the World Bank, the United States, France and the European Union, who today refuse to provide any direct assistance to the Government of Haiti, provided financial assistance to the Duvaliers during their dictatorship, as well as the military governments that succeeded Duvalier. I leave it to your judgment and good sense as to the true reasons for the embargo. In any event, they are completely unrelated to President Aristide's election.
The third error in your article is simply baffling. I assume you attended the January 1st ceremonies at the National Palace in Port-au-Prince based upon the information contained in your story. The Miami Herald stated that there were "hundreds of thousands" of Haitians at the National Palace. Even the most minimum reasonable estimate of the number of supporters at the National Palace on January 1st, had to range conservatively from 50,000 to 100,000 people. Your description that Aristide spoke to a "small but enthusiastic crowd" simply blinks reality. I have taken the liberty to send photographs to a professional service that will provide me and your editors with a true count as to the number of people who appeared at the National Palace. Although the numbers game can be tricky and I am not assuming you had any bias in writing your article, one would literally have to be blind to say that there was a "small" crowd at the National Palace.
Your article also states that President Mbeki was the only head of state to attend the ceremonies. Your article states: "But it was a measure of Mr. Aristide's political isolation and Haiti's persistent troubles that only one [head of state] showed up." Your own article contradicts this assertion as you state later that the Prime Minister of the Bahamas attended the ceremonies. Indeed, as you were at the National Palace, I am sure you heard Prime Minister Perry Christie state that this was an historic occasion because it was the first time a head of state from the Bahamas had visited the Republic of Haiti. I understand that this may not detract from your general statement, but it certainly is misleading to single out Mr. Mbeki, to ignore Prime Minister Christie, and to ignore the scores of delegations from around the world who attended the celebration.
Finally, there is the question of violence. Your article was remarkably silent on the violence perpetrated by the opposition on January 1st and before that date. Opposition members burnt a police car on January 1st. They
blocked all three major roads into the center of Port-au-Prince by setting fires in the road and placing boulders throughout the city. I am sure you witnessed all of these events if you were in Port-au-Prince. Yet your article makes the opposition appear as law abiding democratically-motivated individuals who are subjected to tear-gassing by the police on one hand and violence by Aristide supporters on the other. Had you inquired sufficiently, you would have learned that more supporters of Lavalas have been killed since December 5, 2003 than in the opposition. I am not condoning violence on either side. However, it is misleading to suggest that the violence is simply directed at one side as opposed to the other.In light of the numerous errors in the article and as the counsel for the Government of Haiti in the United States, I kindly request that these errors be corrected publicly in a manner the New York Times deems appropriate.
As I am certain there was no intention on your part to be biased in the presentation of the facts, I would be honored to have the opportunity to discuss with you any of these or other matters that are of interest to you concerning the Government of Haiti.
Sincerely,
Ira J. Kurzban, Esq.
----------------------------------------------------------The New York Times corrects two points in its Bicentennial story
The New York Times saw fit to correct two points in their article on the Bicentennial which ran on January 2, 2004 entitled 200 Years After Napoleon, Haiti Finds Little to Celebrate By LYDIA POLGREEN and has added these two paragraphs as an addendum to the original article:
"An article on Friday about the bicentennial of Haiti's independence misidentified the election that outside observers called flawed, a finding that led to the suspension of $500 million in foreign aid to Haiti and
contributed to the current political crisis there. It was the May 2000 legislative election, in which the Organization of American States disputed the counting method used in eight Senate races -- not the November 2000 election of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which the O.A.S. said was not fraudulent.""Because of an editing error, the article also referred imprecisely to the size of the crowd that attended the bicentennial celebration outside the presidential palace. While the government estimated it in the hundreds of
thousands, and outside journalists' estimates ranged as low as 15,000, the crowd was not small."
- From: Haiti Action Committee
- Subject: The Chronicle, the BBC, and media distortions
On Monday 1/19, the San Francisco Chronicle carried a page 3 above-the-fold article about Haiti with a color photo, claiming Haitian gunmen had killed a marcher at a protest calling for the resignation of the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Following is the report of the Haiti-based Agence Haitienne de Presse - AHP (Haitian Press Agency) www.ahphaiti.org, with a COMPLETELY REVERSED SCENARIO of what happened, REPORTS FROM HAITI CLAIM NO ONE DIED IN THE DEMONSTRATION, AND THE CHRONICLE ARTICLE IS A LIE.
This article is one more example of the international media campaign to discredit the Aristide government and Haiti's democracy. The BBC carried a story this weekend saying that Aristide is "ruling by decree" as if he is some kind of dicatator, without providing any context that explained he is ruling by decree, because the Washington-backed opposition has prevented elections from taking place by withholding their participation in the elections council, despite stated promises. The reason they want to prevent elections from taking place is because THEY KNOW THEY WILL LOSE, hence an increase in violence and calls for "resignation," instead of a call for constitutionally mandated elections.As we read these headlines and listen to the lies on the radio (yes, sometimes even on dear old KPFA) the Haiti Action Committee encourages you to keep in mind the sequence of events leading up to the imposition of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile in 1973. After failing to prevent Allende from taking power, the United States launched a campaign of destabilization and the withholding of loans and financial aid, except to the military, as has happened in Haiti since the 2000 elections (only no military exists in Haiti.). Our government also paid anti-government labor unions to go on strike. A recent letter to the Miami Herald said, "As long as every political party leader is also the chief executive of a non-governmental organization receiving hefty foreign donations, and as long as playing victim of the current government can facilitate a U.S. visa, faking political persecution will remain an incentive."
The parallels with Haiti are clear, and we are at a particularly dangerous time, because like in Chile, the United States has turned to supporting a violent opposition to get rid of Aristide. In 1994 after they restored Aristide to power, the U.S. occupation troops refused to disarm the death squads, it is no surprise that at this time, the situation is becoming more violent.
Haiti Action Committee
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AHP News - January 18, 2004 - English translation (Unofficial)
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