#292: Mole Saint Nicolas : Diehl comments

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Kent Diehl <virtmuseum@earthlink.net>

I have labored hard these past 10 years to understand the underlying
reason behind the seemingly disproportionate amount of attention and
resources spent by the US military and intelligence community in Haiti.
I think the answer is beginning to surface with recent reports from the
area of Mole Saint Nicolas and surrounding communties in the deparment
of Jean Rabel.

Recent interviews, with local inhabitants from the area around the Mole,
indicate the presence of a mammoth US military construction project
including the use of large helicopters ferrying out what appears to be
debris and dirt while ferrying in what appears to be heavy construction
and earthmoving equipment.  As this activity has increased so has
reports of fly-over patrols by US jets and the presence of a US naval
cordone around the sea perimeter of the site.  The area of the
construction is only accessible by sea as all land routes have been
sealed off by tall barbed wire fences and concertina wire blockades.
Local residents, whose curiosity has gotten the best of them and have
tried to pass through the land barricades, have been stopped at gunpoint
by plainclothes english speaking men with large machine guns.  Boats
that have tried to catch a glimpse of the construction site by sea, have
reported being intercepted by US Navy and Coast Guard vessels.

Although no hard evidence has surfaced as of yet, several well placed
sources have speculated that US military operations are being
transferred from Panama, with the closing of Fort Howard, and
preparations are being made to relocate Guantanamo forces as well as the
date for a much publicized withdrawal approaches.

Mole Saint Nicolas has long been regarded as a prime location for a US
military base with regard to its strategic location in the Caribbean.
If these reports do indeed turn out to be true over the next few months,
it helps to provide a much clearer context for US foreign, military and
intelligence policy toward Haiti over the last decade.