a712: President Aristide denounces continued freeze on international aid

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>


Haiti: President Aristide denounces continued freeze
on international aid
BBC Monitoring Service - United Kingdom; Feb 9, 2002



Text of report by Haitian Metropole radio on 8
February

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide openly criticized the
opposition, the international community and the
economic elite in a declaration in Leogane yesterday
on the occasion of the 7 February celebration.
Aristide, who was visiting the Darbone sugar factory,
held the economic elite responsible for the
underdevelopment of the country and the difficult
situation in which the Haitian masses are living.

In the same speech, Aristide denounced the freezing of
international assistance. If sanctions had not been
applied against the country, he said, my government
would have already started several development
projects. The head of state is pleased with the call
issued by Caricom in favour of lifting the sanctions
and he encouraged the opposition to support the
position taken by the regional organization. Aristide
claimed to be willing to work with the opposition in
order to resolve the crisis and change the image of
the country. The following is an excerpt from the
statements made by the president of the republic.

[Aristide - recording, in Creole] The alpha-economic
programme will allow you to learn to read and write
but, meanwhile, you have intelligence, which causes-
[changes thought] so that when they think they are
persecuting the people to lead them into provocation,
they realize that the people are more intelligent and
will thwart their efforts. The people stop them
backwards and forwards, right and left. At the same
time, the people are involved in the cooperative
movement, which will make it possible for them to
obtain loans that will fight poverty as we move
forward.

I come to tell you that you are going to get more help
this year, if the people who are persecuting you have
more understanding. If they had not blocked the money
that was supposed to come to the country in the past
year, we would have accomplished wonderful projects.
If they had not plotted with the others [the
international community] to block the money, a lot of
roads would have been built. A lot of hospitals would
have been built. A lot of schools and universities
would have already been built. We would have completed
a lot of projects.

What is lacking is good faith and understanding. I am
also the president of that small group that still does
not want to understand and I hope that they will come
to understand some day. Because, if they want to
understand, they will realize that we care about them,
respect them and will embrace them as brothers so
that, in the coming year, they may do the same as
Caricom and ask for the lifting of the economic
sanctions, that is, the embargo, the blocking of the
external financing.

We say thank you to the Caribbean countries, to
Caricom, for the solidarity they have shown when they
asked for the lifting of the economic sanctions
against the country. Let us say a big thank you to
Caricom.

Source: Radio Metropole, Port-au-Prince, in French
1145 gmt 8 Feb 02

/BBC Monitoring/ © BBC.



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