18258: (Chamberlain) Blanchet-Kurzban exchange (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

(Haiti Kanpe, 4 Feb 04)

A note to Ira Kurzban from Alice Blanchet

His response to her, and her own response to his e-mail.

Hi Ira Kurzban,


Hope all is well with you and yours and hoping for a better year in 2004!
Indeed, the situation in Haiti is prompting me to write to you as an old
colleague in the fight to bring democracy to Haiti. It is quite painful to
see the country in this state of violence and division and would hope that
your client could be brought to some reason in order to avoid the
inexorable bloodbath that will take place unless he ceases and desists
right now.

We both know that it is impossible to reason with President Aristide, he
doesn't have it in him as evidenced by his behavior over the last ten
years. Aristide is no longer defensible. he has no sense of history and
does not care about the country. Therefore, to prevent more bloodshed and
Aristide sponsored violence, could you advise your client to do what is the
ultimate sensible act: remove himself from the political scene!

I remember very clearly when you came down in 1994, while driving you back
to the airport, how scared you were of the military? Well, this is what we
all feel right now as Haitians, Haitian-Americans respectful of human
lives. Ira, as a lawyer you know that JBA's days are numbered even if he
orders his thugs to mass murder because the world will not allow him to go
unpunished. Too many have died. Too many have been brutalized and
victimized by Aristide and the country cannot endure more abuse.

You can make a difference by letting him know there is only one last chance
to avoid a catastrophic end----we would hope to be grateful to you as your
contribution to the liberation of Haiti. In this bicentennial year we would
rather remember you as the defender of the Haitian immigrants [as you were
for many years] and not as Aristide's accessory to tyrannize eight million
Haitians.




Dear Alice:

I respect your opinion and your genuine concern for the situation. But I
have to disagree with most of what you have said. Aristide has exhibited
remarkable flexibility and has said repeatedly that the way out of the
problem is democracy---to have elections. It is the opposition, many of
whom are the same people who supported the military in 1991-1994, that
still wish to pursue undemocratic means. Whether you like or dislike
Aristide, it would be a tremendous and permanent blow to democracy in Haiti
to have a fairly elected President resign.

Each day that I have to watch Bush on TV makes me ill. First, he was not
elected President by 92% of the American people as Aristide was elected by
the Haitian people. Indeed, he was not elected by the majority of people in
the US. He stole the election!  Today, not 15% or 20% of the people oppose
Bush (as probably oppose Aristide) but 45%. Yet we don't have violent
demonstrations in the streets where Bush supporters are being tortured by
the opposition (as the opposition in Haiti has tortured Aristide
supporters).

We do what the opposition should be doing. We go out and try to win the
hearts and minds of another 10% of the population so that we can get rid of
Bush. This is democracy. If you believe in democracy than you should tell
your friends in the opposition to organize a political party, run a
candidate against Lavalas in 2005 and do what needs to be done to have a
new government. Taking the government in the streets through force and
intimidation, preventing children from going to school, beating up market
women who want to work and stating they will take the National Palace by
force, is not democracy. It is thuggery. And you should disassociate
yourself from it.

I wish you well. And I wish Haiti well.

Ira




Dear Mr. Kurzban,

Thank you for your response to my e-mail and also for expressing your
respect for my opinion, I must however take exception with your remarks
that are essentially flawed and belied by hard facts.

You state that Mr. Aristide has "exhibited remarkable flexibility", please
enlighten me as to when and how ? As far as the whole world knows the man
has never kept his word and has done nothing but use stalling tactics and
intimidation that have only served to erode his credibility and establish
grounds to challenge his legitimacy.

You also affirm that many opposition members are the same that supported
the military. Unless my memory fails me, ADIH (Association des Industriels
d'Haļti) was the first organization to publish a press release against the
military coup, yet they are the ones who are taking to the streets today to
protest against the establishment of a long term dictatorship by the
so-called democratic Lavalas government you are so eager to defend.

I don't seem to recall students, labor leaders, former Aristide supporters,
doctors, human rights organizations, NGOs, serious private sector concerns,
the Catholic Church and the Protestant Federation supporting the military.
How do you explain that they have all stood up as one man to denounce the
excesses of the regime in place.

You also tried to establish a comparison between Mr. Bush and Mr. Aristide,
I will not even comment on that, since there are no similarities between
the US and Haiti. Suffice it to say that Mr. Aristide is indeed versed in
the art of stealing elections (May 2000), and if the sight of Mr. Bush
"makes you ill", Mr. Aristide gives us nightmares.
As to the 92%? who voted for Aristide you may recall that in November of
2000 only 5% of the electorate went out to vote so disgusted were they by
the results of their efforts to put Aristide in power back in December of
1990.

The best part of your letter deserves to be quoted in its entirety "Yet we
don't have violent demonstrations in the streets where Bush supporters are
being totured by the opposition (as the opposition in Haiti has tortured
Aristide supporters). We do what the opposition should be doing. We go out
and try to win the hearts and minds of another 10% of the population so
that we can get rid of Bush. This is democracy. If you believe in democracy
than you should tell your friends in the opposition to organize a political
party, run a candidate against Lavalas in 2005 and do what needs to be done
to have a new government. Taking the government in the streets through
force and intimidation, preventing children from going to school, beating
up market women who want to work and stating they will take the National
Palace by force, is not democracy. It is thuggery."

You are perhaps the very first person outside of the Haitian Government to
qualify opposition demonstrations as violent and intimidating. .Also, could
you please tell me of one single documented instance when an Aristide
supporter was "tortured" by the opposition. Because the one incident that
the pro-Aristide press made into such a big performance was denounced by
the victim himself as the actions of Aristide supporters.

Aristide supporters storming a university, breaking the rector's legs with
iron bars, beating and terrorizing students could not be termed thuggery, I
believe there are better phrases to describe this such as attempted murder,
assault with a deadly weapon among others.

Public vehicles and unmarked cars carrying civilians armed by the
Democratic regime to break up peaceful marches for freedom wouldn't be
thuggery, would it? Perhaps state terrorism might best describe it.

Would you describe the violence and arson perpetrated in the town of
Miragoāne by Aristide supporters as thuggery?

The destruction of the transmitters of some 12 radio stations throughout
the country by armed government supporters aboard unmarked rental cars is
certainly not thuggery, it is just a democratic way to silence the
independent press in preparation for the ongoing brutal repression.

Even if you have parted from all logic Mr. Kurzban, how can young people
armed with surgical masks and handkerchiefs take a bunker such as the
National Palace by force?

I could write a book about the thuggery of the Aristide regime, yet all you
do is echo the disinformation and propaganda of a dictatorial power. I
wonder if you are naļve enough to believe these lies or if you are a mentor
to the likes of Mario Dupuy and Jonas Petit, spokespersons for the corrupt
and revolting regime you choose to defend with such passion.

Last but not least, thank you for the advice that I disassociate myself
from the opposition. Thank God I have a choice in the matter, and between
good and evil, my choice is clear. Let's hope you will not repent for the
bloodshed which seems to be more and more inevitable by Mr. Aristide's
remarkable expression of flexibility.


Sincerely,

Alice Blanchet