18342: Esser: Maxine Waters: Time for US to get tough with Apaid (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Congresswoman Maxine Waters

The Haiti Bulletin, What You Need to Know About the Region's Youngest
Democracy, February 2004

"Time for United States to get tough with Andre Apaid and the
opposition in Haiti. Haiti's opposition will just have to participate
in elections like every other opposition in every other country."

From: The Haiti Bulletin, What You Need to Know About the Region's
Youngest Democracy, February 2004

Congresswoman Maxine Waters is Co-Chair of the House Democratic
Steering Committee, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, and
the House Committee on Financial Services. Following the 2000 U.S.
presidential election fiasco, Congresswoman Waters was named Chair of
the Democratic Caucus Special Committee on Electoral Reform. Prior to
being elected to the United States Congress in 1990, Congresswoman
Waters served in the California State Assembly for 14 years, where
she rose to the powerful post of Democratic Caucus Chair. She has
been a key leader in the presidential races of Edward Kennedy, Jesse
Jackson, and Bill Clinton. She was a leader in the anti-apartheid
movement in the United States, was a key figure in Congressional
efforts to restore democracy to Haiti in 1994, and continues to be a
no-holds barred voice for justice and democracy at home and abroad.
In this interview she talks to Hazel Ross-Robinson about U.S. Haiti
policy.

HRR: When last were you in Haiti, and what were your impressions?

CW: I was last in Haiti in January to be a part of the celebration of
Haiti's Bicentennial. I was there for five days, and I got a pretty
good picture of the situation. I believe that the opposition in Haiti
is trying to foment a coup d'etat. They claim that they are staging
peaceful protests, but that is not what they are actually doing. It
is my impression that the opposition, led by Andy Apaid, is simply
involved in a power grab. They want to place a council of their
choosing in charge of the government and the country, instead of
accepting the will of the people and respecting Haiti's
democratically elected president. And they want to make sure that the
governing council represents only their interests as members of
Haiti's bourgeoisie. They want their group, "the elite", to totally
control Haiti. The opposition's protests are becoming increasingly
violent and the United States Government, my government, is not
providing the required leadership. It is not meeting its
responsibility to help de-escalate the crisis in Haiti. The situation
there is serious.

HRR: January 1 was the 200th anniversary of the Haitian Revolution.
Leading European and North American print and electronic journalists
have been telling their readers and viewers that there "is nothing to
celebrate in Haiti." Others outside of the media have been attempting
to convince members of the African diaspora that unrest in Haiti
makes this "not the time to celebrate the Haitian Revolution."
Comments?

CW: I find any argument that discourages the commemoration - and
indeed the celebration - of the Haitian Revolution to be absolutely
mistaken. How can anyone expect a people who fought not only for
their freedom, but for the freedom of us all not to be remembered,
honored, and celebrated? And the Haitians did not only fight, they
won! Most significantly did not defeat a minor, insignificant foe.
They defeated Napoleon, France, at the peak of their military,
economic, and political powers. As a result Haiti became a shining
example that inspired, not only Africans throughout the Americas, but
others throughout the central and south America to break free from
Europe's stranglehold.

We must understand that this "nothing to celebrate" talk is
consistent with the longstanding attitudes of those who never
supported the Haitian people, and never wanted Haiti to be owned by
Africans. It is consistent with those who have always had their hands
deep in the Haitian economy, and who are determined to deny the
Haitian people pride in themselves and pride in their spectacular
history.

I am just so pleased that President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa,
Prime Minister Christie of the Bahamas, the Foreign Minister of
Benin, and all the other delegations from Suriname, Korea, Taiwan,
and other countries came to Haiti to stand with President Aristide
and the Haitian people on Janaury 1.

And I am very pleased that I was able to be with the Haitian people
as they celebrated this phenomenal, unprecedented, and unsurpassed
accomplishment by black people for black people.

The celebrations turned out beautifully - untruths told by the
international media notwithstanding. I was a personal witness to the
hundreds of thousands of Haitians who turned out to cheer and show
their support for their president on January 1, but the international
media was not truthful when they reported on what happened in Haiti
that day.

I am just so proud that President Aristide refused to be intimidated
by the opposition.
They had threatened to assassinate him, they said they would
overthrow his government, they demanded that he back down and stay
away, but he did what he had to do. And he and his people celebrated
Haiti's glorious accomplishments and its magical, unsurpassed
history. It was a wonderful occasion.

You know, the State Department had advised those planning to travel
to Haiti around the time of the Bicentennial not to do so. I, for
one, was told by State that it was too dangerous for me to go to
Haiti. And just one week before the Bicentennial celebrations, a
delegation of my congressional colleagues was packed and ready to
travel to Haiti when they were discouraged by the U.S. Government
from doing so. So they cancelled their trip. As you know, those of us
who did go were absolutely astounded by what we saw. We had been told
that there would be absolute tumult - of course there were some
protests while we were there, but nothing like we had been told there
would be. We had been led to believe that it would be difficult
getting to our hotels, that driving through the streets would be
difficult, that there would be road blocks, that we were getting into
a terrifying situation. We got there and asked ourselves, "What were
they talking about?"

HRR: Haiti's Group of 184, headed by Andre Apaid, is demanding that
President Aristide step down. They say that their anti-Aristide
demonstrations prove that Aristide should go. What is your reaction?

CW: Andre Apaid is absolutely outrageous. He is power hungry. He
knows that Haiti has been undermined for years. He knows that Haiti
has been denied important resources - to which they were absolutely
entitled. And he is exploiting these weaknesses when he foments these
protests. This is a naked power grab and we need to find out more
about who this Andre Apaid is.

They tell me that he wants to be president of Haiti, but it is
alleged that he is a U.S. citizen, by birth. That complicates things.
I have been told that his family has been in Haiti for a number of
years now and that he reportedly owns some 15 factories there. At any
rate, we need to know more.

Where are the resources coming from to organize and publicize these
demonstrations? Are funds coming from Europe? They say that powerful
sources in the United States - including senators - have been
providing funding.
Why is Andre Apaid continuing his ridiculous quest to remove Haiti's
constitutionally elected president? Why is the opposition committed
to tumult and havoc instead of agreeing to participate in the
elections that President Aristide has been calling for?

HRR: I wanted to ask you about that. Aristide says that elections are
the only way forward. The opposition refuses to go to the polls. What
is the appropriate United States response to this impasse?

CW: This is one of the things that really bother me about the US role
in Haiti. We do not publicly identify and expose the obstacles being
placed in the path of democracy by the opposition in Haiti. The
United States should be adamant in supporting democracy in Haiti. We
should say to the opposition - "You have the right to protests, but
you do not have the right to provoke the police and try to create
crises. And you most certainly do not have the right to stay out of
elections and then blame Aristide. You are the ones who have
prevented the elections from going forward."

The United States should take the lead in ensuring that the world
community of nations understands that it is because of the opposition
that there have been no elections in Haiti.

HRR: The Jamaican media have quoted Prime Minister Patterson as
saying that Caricom might consider imposing sanctions on President
Aristide.

CW: I have undertaken a thorough review of Caricom's proposal. I
think that Caricom is attempting to make it clear to all involved
that they are going to be tough because there has to be a solution to
the crisis in Haiti. I think that Caricom is sending a message to
everybody that they mean business.

Caricom has also made it very clear that they expect the
international community to meet its obligations to Haiti by providing
the resources that will be required to implement the demands that
they (the international community) are making of this government.
That is very important. And then, of course, Caricom is standing firm
on the importance of Haiti's constitutionally elected president
completing his 5-year term as specified by the Haitian Constitution.
The opposition is going to have to participate in elections like
every other opposition party in every other country. So I saw the
sanctions reference simply as a means of serving notice to everyone
that Caricom wants and expects results.

HRR: Any other comments, insights, recommendations?

CW: Caricom is offering all sides the opportunity to de-escalate this
crisis. The United States is now in the position where they must
recognize that Caricom Heads of State are involved in this effort and
they (the US) can not coddle the opposition holding out on elections
any more.

Caricom's mediation efforts will expose the United States' position
in all of this, and I pointed this out in my most recent
conversations with the State Department, today. I stressed that
simply by observing the way that the Government of Haiti has
conducted itself during Caricom's mediation efforts, and contrasting
this with the way that the opposition has conducted itself (refusing
to even be in the same room as Aristide, rejecting any form of
negotiations, rejecting elections, demanding Aristide's resignation,
etc) makes it very clear where the problem is in Haiti.

The United States needs to get tough with Andre Apaid and the opposition.
They need to let him know that attempting to close down Haiti by
urging banks and other institutions to close is no substitute for
elections. The Haitian voter has to be allowed to speak.
Demonstrations are no substitute for the ballot box. Aristide has
embraced the Caricom proposal. Everybody else is supporting the
Caricom proposal. Andre Apaid and his opposition are simply going to
have to get in line. The United States is going to have to condemn
what the opposition is doing. It is time for us to get tough.

HRR: Thank you.

"Time for United States to get tough with Andre Apaid and the
opposition in Haiti."

The Haiti Bulletin, What You Need to Know About the Region's Youngest
Democracy, February 2004