18229: Sylvain: Aristide and the current conflict (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: patrick sylvain <sylvaipa@hotmail.com>

It is seems to me that the folks who are supporting Aristide are focusing on
the “mistakes” of the media and are waiting for that sliver window of
opportunity to nitroglycerize their case.  Meanwhile, those who are against
Aristide are eagerly waiting on the deck with long fishing poles to count their
catch.

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As far as I am concern, once a strong supporter of Aristide, the issue is not
the racism of the international press or the reactionary element of certain
elements of the Haitian “marketing” class that is the real issue.  The number
one concern for most Haitians and to the friends of Haiti ought to be the
respect and the upholding of the Haitian Constitution. Now, base on the
constitutional guidelines we should measure the actions of Aristide (Lavalas)
as well as the opposition. Of course, beside the constitution we could add
moral and ethical precepts to form our fundamental judgments and to rally our
support for or against whatever group. As Howard Zinn said: “One cannot remain
neutral on a moving train.”



Given the fact that it is the government's responsibility to uphold the
constitution, the Aristide administration has a lot to shoulder and must act in
an exemplary manner as to maintain order and to prevent chaos. Prevention must
be done within the legal parameters and the judiciary must be independent and
strong to carry out its duties. …Hence, as former supporter of Aristide what I
see is a president who is acting as the Prime Minister, Judge, Senator,
Governmental spoke person, Lavalas supporter and Chimera Activist.  For those
who are skeptics, pull out of the speeches and intervention made by President
Aristide and will be able to come to the conclusion. … Let’s take the recent
abominable death of Renel Victor; by the way, it is irrelevant that he was or
was not a student, the question everyone should be raising is: who gave the
order to fire at such a close proximity at the crowd? Should the head of the
police and CIMO be investigated?  Unfortunately, Aristide made three mistakes
recently: 1- in his meeting with the Caricom leaders he agrees to disarm his
supporters (which implies he acknowledges the state involvement in aiding armed
thugs to transgress). 2. By meeting with the wife of Renel (Islande Gelin) as
made an innocent man’s life a political act (what is the difference between him
as a president versus the opposition?).  3. Aristide also admitted giving “the
Stopped March Order” when he did not declare a state of emergency thus removing
certain authorities from the mayors and chief of police from various towns
(Again, Aristide usurp power without regard to the constitution).



I could go on with other acts and inquiries, like the Manus case; the
Jean-Dominique case, the Ketant Affair; the 23 million dollars from Taiwan; the
December 5th killing at the State University; The Economic Corporative fiasco;
The 2000 election; The OAS resolution of 822; The Countless meetings with Rene
Civil; the $6 million paid to foreign security firm; The Private University
Aristide is building; the Service Plus buses; the Undeclared assets or
disclosure or assets required by law; on and on…



Before we blame the world, let’s take a serious look at ourselves and let’s do
a rational analysis of our situation in the legal and ethical context and then
let’s divulge our findings. To me, the opposition is a mixed bag of thugs and
of good folks; and the Aristide government is also a mixed bag. In the
meantime, Haiti is going to waste and those we claimed to be racist are really
having a field day with us. If we had serious lawmakers and judges in Haiti,
Aristide would have already been impeached and jailed.



...By the way, I'm also tired of those pseudonames. Let's talk in the light,
unmasked.



Hoping Haiti will truly be free and our institutions strong,



Patrick.


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