12708: Pina responds to Hudicourt (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

FROM: Kevin Pina      <kpinbox@hotmail.com>

According to a very reliable source, Mr. Hudicourt may not know that the
money from the IRI has finally come in for the Democratic Convergence. This
certainly goes a long towards explaining their apparent indifference to the
international critisizm they continue to receive for their intransigence in
the last round of "negotiations". He may also be unaware of the reports that
a lot of that money is being spent to foment unrest and undermine the
credibility of the Haitian government. Oh, if only Mr. Salvador Allende of
Chile were alive to give a lecture tour today!!

Of course, that could not possibly be true after what we learned about the
U.S.'s role in the failed attempt to topple the populist government of
Chavez in Venezuela. It is simple ALL the Haitian government's fault and the
U.S. and its representative institutions here have no influence whatsoever
on events in Haiti.

In reponse to Mr. Hudicourt I would refer him to the following excerpt from
a New Times article on the attempted coup in Venezuela, a situation very
much akin to what we are seeing in Haiti today:

Published on Thursday, April 25, 2002 in the New York Times
U.S. Bankrolling Is Under Scrutiny for Ties to Chávez Ouster
by Christopher Marquis

"The endowment[National Endowment for Democracy] also provided significant
resources to the foreign policy wings of the Republican and Democratic
parties for work in Venezuela, which sponsored trips to Washington by Chávez
critics.

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs was given a
$210,500 grant to promote the accountability of local government. The
International Republican Institute, which has an office in Venezuela,
received a grant of $339,998 for political party building. On April 12, the
day of the takeover, the group hailed Mr. Chávez's ouster. "The Venezuelan
people rose up to defend democracy in their country," the institute's
president, George A. Folsom, said in a statement. "Venezuelans were provoked
into action as a result of systematic repression by the government of Hugo
Chávez".

The full text of the article can be found at:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines02/0425-03.htm

The parallels to what is happening in Haiti today are uncanny if not
frightening.

Now given that U.S. foreign policy in Latin America and the Caribbean is
being led by the same individuals in Washington, namely Otto Reich, Roger
Noreiga and John Negroponte, what makes him think that the strategy to
destroy a populist movement would be any different in Haiti?

By the way, we just got electricity in Delmas and one of those big blue and
white buses just pulled up in front of the cybercafe. I think I'll take it
home and watch a little CNN.


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