6496: RE: 6281: Haiti Now (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: "Hoover, Julie H." <Hoover@pbworld.com>

Phil Knowles reports from his recent week in Haiti on December 19 that:

	" Talked with a few people, did not encounter  enthusiasm for
Aristede's presidency, but still some are hopeful. People are
> pretty discouraged, overall, I think." 
> 
I have just been in Haiti Dec. 19th-29th and came away with a very different
assessment.  In the solidly middle-class neighborhood of my mother-in-law (a
former French teacher),  I queried dozens of people and did not find one who
did not support Aristide wholeheartedly.   These people are not slum
dwellers or peasants--they are urban middle class.  All are extremely
optimistic about the prospect of an Aristide presidency.  The negatives
about Aristide I received came from  the bourgeoisie and the international
community.  Was greatly saddened by the misinformation that is being spread.