13524: Casimir: The Wall Street Journal : The Black Caucus's Boat People (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Jean-Claude CASIMIR <jccasimir@hotmail.com>
>
>The Wall Street Journal
>(lead editorial, November 1, 2002)
>__________________________________________________
>The Black Caucus's Boat People
>The scenes of 220 Haitians jumping ship into Miami harbor this week have
>been painful to watch, with some of the refugees dressed in their Sunday
>best for what they hoped would be a better life. The agonizing might turn
>to anger, however, if more Americans understood that the indirect sponsors
>of their flight include some in the American Congress.
>
>We refer to the same Members of the Black Caucus who are now using these
>boat people as one more opportunity to take a pre-election shot at Florida
>Governor Jeb Bush. Congresswoman Carrie Meek called in the press to demand
>that Mr. Bush "call your brother," the President, "and ask him to release
>those Haitians." Unlike Cubans, who get automatic asylum in the U.S., the
>Haitians are by law detained before being repatriated; so Ms. Meek wants to
>elevate the issue of how black Haitians are treated just before election
>time.
>
>Well, one reason for their different treatment is that Cuban-Americans
>(more of whom in recent years are likely to be black) benefit from U.S.
>political asylum for fleeing the oppression of Fidel Castro. Haitians,
>meanwhile, are fleeing a country whose government is supposedly an
>enlightened democracy that has been routinely praised and supported by the
>likes of Ms. Meek and the Congressional Black Caucus.
>
>Haiti has been run for eight years by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was
>restored to power after a U.S.-led invasion deposed a military junta.
>President Clinton ordered that invasion after months of lobbying led by
>Black Caucus powers Charlie Rangel and John Conyers, among others.
>
>Far from restoring the rule of law, Mr. Aristide's reign has been a
>political and economic disaster. Already the most impoverished corner of
>the Americas, Haiti's annual per-capita income was $367 in 2000, according
>to the World Bank. Life expectancy fell to an appalling 54 years in 2000,
>from 57 in 1998.
>
>As Raymond Joseph reported on these pages yesterday, Mr. Aristide's
>paramilitary squads have terrorized the Haitian population. The
>Organization of American States, always loath to criticize a country other
>than the U.S., has protested his actions. Even Amnesty International says
>its examiners found that "Seven years after Haiti's return to
>constitutional order in 1994, many of the important human rights gains made
>in that time were in danger."
>
>The U.S. Congress has heard about all of this firsthand, most recently
>during an October 1 hearing of the Senate immigration subcommittee. Haitian
>refugee Marie Jocelyn Ocean testified that "I suffered several shocks as a
>result of Lavalas," Mr. Aristide's party. "They killed a brother of mine.
>They beat up one of my brother's children. Fifteen days after my brother's
>funeral, my father was killed. Because they did not find me, they beat up
>on my nine-year-old girl. These are the reasons I fled the country by
>boat."
>
>None of this seems to have dulled Black Caucus enthusiasm for Mr. Aristide.
>Mr. Conyers attended Ms. Ocean's hearing but was apparently unmoved. He
>limited his public comments to denouncing U.S. immigration policy. Ms. Meek
>said this Wednesday that the refugees were fleeing "persecution" but she
>never mentioned Mr. Aristide or Lavalas.
>
>These moralists have also resisted the Bush Administration's attempts to
>show U.S. disapproval. Most recently they've objected to Mr. Bush's
>decision to withhold all but humanitarian U.S. aid until Mr. Aristide
>complies with some minimum standards of democracy. "The Black Caucus has
>unanimously agreed that these funds be immediately released," declared Mr.
>Conyers.
>
>As for moral outrage, the Caucus invited Mr. Aristide only last month to be
>an honored guest at its annual Washington dinner. Mr. Aristide didn't make
>the gala. But we wonder what those Haitians jumping into Miami harbor think
>of the spectacle of Mr. Aristide being feted as a moral hero and champion
>of democracy in Washington salons.
>
>Mr. Aristide has other friends in the Beltway, some on his payroll. Former
>Black Caucus Member Ron Dellums, the law firm of Patton Boggs, and Hazel
>Ross-Robinson, the wife of Randall Robinson of the TransAfrica Forum, have
>all lobbied on his behalf. James Morrell, of the left-wing Center for
>International Policy in Washington, dared to criticize Mr. Dellums earlier
>this year, accusing him of working for "an arbitrary leader ruling by
>violence and fraud, whose purpose with foreign lobbyists is to avoid any
>power sharing with the opposition." Mr. Morrell was promptly sacked by CIP.
>
>America is a generous place, and we have no problem welcoming the Haitian
>refugees here. But Mr. Aristide is clearly using these boat people now as a
>political weapon to purge his domestic enemies and embarrass the Brothers
>Bush. Perhaps it's time for Mr. Aristide's American friends to admit and
>condemn what their sponsorship has wrought.
>
>Updated November 1, 2002


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