14823: This Week in Haiti 20:48 2/12/2003 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

"This Week in Haiti" is the English section of HAITI PROGRES
newsweekly. For the complete edition with other news in French
and Creole, please contact the paper at (tel) 718-434-8100,
(fax) 718-434-5551 or e-mail at <editor@haitiprogres.com>.
Also visit our website at <www.haitiprogres.com>.

                           HAITI PROGRES
              "Le journal qui offre une alternative"

                      * THIS WEEK IN HAITI *

                      February 12 - 18, 2003
                         Vol. 20, No. 48

DESTABILIZATION VIOLENCE SPIKES

Armed anti-government commandos attacked two members of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party (FL) last week,
killing one and hospitalizing the other.

The attacks come as guerillas, nostalgic for the Duvalier
dictatorships (1957-86), resurfaced on Haiti's Central Plateau,
and opposition politicians rallied in Cap Haïtien.

On Feb. 2 in Petit Goâve, heavily armed members of the "Lame san
manman" (Bastards Army) murdered FL member, Myrtil Fleurilus,
alias Potho. They also severely burned another FL member, Samuel
Polo, who is currently hospitalized in Port-au-Prince.

The "Lame Sanmanman" is close to the Washington-backed Democratic
Convergence opposition front and is based in the nearby Fort
Liberté locality. According to peasants living there, the group
hoisted a U.S. flag on the roof of a house they used as a
training base. After the attacks, a unit of the Haitian National
Police (PNH) made several arrests in the area.

Meanwhile, police arrested six men who officials say were part of
an armed group operating on the Central Plateau, particularly
around Lascahobas and Belladère. "A police detachment was
dispatched on Saturday, Feb. 8, 2003 to Belladère where six
individuals were apprehended in a pick-up truck," Police
spokesman Jean Dady Siméon said at a Feb. 10 press conference
where the six suspects were presented. "The PNH officers seized a
load of ammunition which was in this vehicle. We also found an
Uzi machine gun with 9 millimeter rounds. We recall that the
autopsy on Judge Christophe Lozama revealed the presence of 9
millimeters bullets. Therefore, we will try to find out if there
is any link."

Lozama, an FL activist, was gunned down last Nov. 28 in Belladère
(see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 20, No. 40, 12/18/2002). On Dec. 10, an
armed commando liberated two of the gunmen arrested for the
murder from a jail cell in the Lascahobas police station, killing
four policemen.

The police contend that the violence on the Central Plateau and
that in Petit Goâve stem from the same armed anti-Aristide
network. «We have found links between this group and the one
recently created in Petit Goâve known as 'Lame san manman,' which
terrorizes the population,» Siméon said. The six men arrested -
Jacques Charles, Hérold Edmond, St-Louis Emmanuel, Marc Ogé,
Marat Joseph and Milord Joseph - were almost all former soldiers,
according to Siméon.

In the seized pick-up, police also found inflammatory flyers
aimed, they said, at provoking violence during Carnaval, which
will occur from Mar. 2 - 4 this year.

Heavily armed commandos, likely linked to the arrested men, have
re-emerged in the locality of Pernal, near Belladère. In
December, the gunmen had fled after specialized agents of the PNH
descended on the area following the attack on the Lascahobas
police station. The commandos openly admit that they are former
soldiers bent on ousting Aristide, who disbanded the Haitian Army
in 1995. «We have no problem with the Police, but Aristide should
not use them against the people," one of the former soldiers told
journalists. "Now, we sincerely say that we are shifting into a
higher gear in our fight against Aristide. It's life or death!»
PNH units of the Company for Intervention to Maintain Order
(CIMO) and the SWAT team have been dispatched to the region to
root out the anti-Lavalas guerillas.

Meanwhile, Convergence politicians and self-styled "civic
leaders" held an anti-government meeting and demonstration in Cap
Haïtien on Feb. 7 and 8. Sponsored by the group Citizens
Initiative (IC) of arch-reactionary Frandley Denis Julien, the
so-called «Weekend of Hope» called for Aristide's removal from
power, but not through elections. Several opposition
intellectuals held debates on the matter on Feb. 7, the
anniversary of Jean-Claude Duvalier's 1986 flight from Haiti. The
next day, a few hundred people marched through the city's
streets, but most Cap Haïtien residents watched them sullenly
from doorways and balconies. The demonstrators marched for
several hours chanting anti-Aristide slogans like "Aristide and
Bin Laden are twins" and "George Bush, if you are not in
complicity, send Aristide packing!" The police finally dispersed
the demonstration because, according to a police source, IC
organizers refused to respect the initial march route agreed upon
with the PNH.

In response, the anti-Aristide demonstrators trashed a Ministry
of Public Health vehicle used for transporting medicines, an act
which further alienated on-lookers.

Ironically, the leaders of the supposedly «184 organizations » of
«Civil Society» accuse the government of sowing violence. But
these "civic leaders," like the Convergence politicians, have
never condemned the violence and attacks carried out by the anti-
government commando units now multiplying around the country.

HONOR OUR HEROES
by Wendy Francois

As I sit here reflecting on this week's column, I admire my
beautiful autographed picture of Haitian actress Garçelle
Beauvais, and my mind begins to drift off. I think of my lush
culture and the many Haitian men and women who have contributed
to our world. Then it hits me. Not many Haitian youths appreciate
the heroes that we too have. They are oblivious to the rich
culture into which they were born.

It is no accident that these thoughts creep into my mind during
Black History Month. No doubt there is a gap between African
American culture and Haitian culture - yet both are the object of
prejudice and lack acknowledgment. In fact, I would say that
Haitian culture suffers the most disrespect.

I, as a Haitian youth, would like to encourage all Haitians to
learn about our heroes and hold them in high esteem, so that they
may receive the acknowledgment they are due. Remember people like
Jean-Baptiste Nemours who unveiled compas in 1955 and
revolutionized Haitian music. Remember the father of Haitian art,
and one of the greatest natural painters of modern times, Hector
Hyppolite. It is time to beat our own drum and toot our own horn
during this February. Through the recognition of our legends, we
hope that the entire culture's dazzling light will shine and
break open the doors for our contemporary heroes like Edwidge
Danticat, a brilliant virtuoso of literature who has transformed
the art of writing.

Most importantly, as the acclaim trickles down, hope will be
absorbed into the roots that anchor Haitian youths, and dreams
will propel them to excel and succeed in spite of financial
hardship, family divisions, cultural isolation, and all other
circumstances.

WENDY FRANÇOIS is a senior and class valedictorian at Homestead
Senior High School. On the National Honor Roll in 2000 and 2001,
she also hosts a local radio show on issues affecting Haitian
teenagers.

All articles copyrighted Haïti Progrès, Inc. REPRINTS ENCOURAGED.
Please credit Haïti Progrès.

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