[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
7106: Confused re: Events in Haiti (#7090) (fwd)
From: amedard@gte.net
> (from Caribbean Insight newsletter)
>
> (16 Feb 01)
>
> <snip>
>
> A civilian former diplomat, Arvel Jean-Baptiste, was appointed
> deputy police chief (inspector-general) on February 13. The
> influential Sen. Dany Toussaint is expected to be named head of
> the force to replace
> Pierre Denizé, who had been a target of strong Lavalas
> criticism, but recent reports have spoken of tension between
> Aristide and Toussaint.
After reading the paragraphs from the "US News & World Report"
article <http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/000529/haiti.htm>
below ... IF the accusations and implications are true, I am
wondering ... THIS is the kind of person being considered for
HEAD of the POLICE Force ?! There must be something that I just
don't understand ! (?) Please enlighten me!
The cocaine connection
Amid poverty and political disarray, traffickers find
Haiti open for business
By Linda Robinson
PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI?On May 7, the chief of Haiti's
U.S.-trained antidrug police force, Armand Jean-Robert,
quietly boarded an Air France flight to Miami
<snip>
was one of a dozen police superintendents being
investigated by the inspector general of Haiti's
police.
<snip>
A U.S. News investigation reveals that traffickers and
their allies now operate here with near impunity,
intimidating or killing anyone who stands in their way.
"They have very, very high-level contacts," says one
Haitian official. "I feel like I'm the enemy."
Alerted by rumors of an investigation, some of the
suspect police superintendents sought help from a
powerful figure in Haiti's ruling party, Dany
Toussaint. According to several U.S. and Haitian
officials, Toussaint used his political connections to
secure protection for the police officers and the
ouster of the inspector general. U.S. officials think
they know why. "We suspect that certain individuals
associated with Fanmi Lavalas [the ruling party] are
involved with drugs," says a senior Clinton
administration official. "In his [Toussaint's] case,
it's more than a rumor." Toussaint denies allegations
that he is involved in drug trafficking.
Burying the truth. Those seen as causing trouble for
drug traffickers and their friends become targets. The
secretary of state for public security fled into exile
in Guatemala last October, and his presumed successor
was shot dead the next day. A week later, an
assassination attempt was made against the chief of the
judicial police. And Haiti's most prominent radio
journalist, who had denounced Toussaint and "the
defamation of honest officials" in a fiery broadcast,
was slain in front of his radio station last month.
<snip>
[Note: to read a transcript of Dominique's broadcast, see
<http://www.haitionline.com/1999/11026.htm>
a little more than half way down the page and
<http://www.us.net/cip/radio.htm>]