#5196: Armed Resistance - in ref to K. Klarreich's post (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Mary Durran <durranmary@hotmail.com>

Some years ago, shortly after the return of Aristide, a peasant organizer 
who is today a prominent FL member,  gave
me a vivid account of popular organizations' operations during  the coup to 
smuggle significant amounts of arms to Le Borgne for what he described as  
the then nascent resistance movement.

This would have been around the time that the military carried out a house 
burning campaign in the Borgne and Ti Bouk Oboy (PEtit Bourg de BOrgne)area, 
claiming that the popular organisations were armed.  This was - 
understandably - vehemently denied by the popular organizations at the time. 
(However, even if it had been true, the houses of many ordinary families who 
would never have been armed under any circumstances were burned.)

I was never sure how much to  believe of what my contact told me - it could 
have been completely exaggerated bluster with a tiny grain of truth to it, 
or it could have been true.  I very much doubt it was completely made up.

Indeed, in the 1995-1996 period, there was definitely evidence of some stray 
arms floating around Borgne - some of which were in the hands of
delinquents,who had been members of the pro-democracy movement during the 
coup.  But it was not possible to evaluate the quantity of stray arms.

I still wonder what really went on in Borgne during the coup, how
significantly armed were the popular organisations, and where are those arms 
today?

Mary Durran

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