18550: Esser: Haiti is burning (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com


Haiti Erupts

http://wbur.org Boston
Hosted by: Dick Gordon
Show Originally Aired: 2/12/2004

Haiti is burning. In the past week, armed rebels across the country
have been literally setting fire to the homes and businesses of
supporters of Jean-Bertand Aristide, the nation's first
democratically elected President. Worse, some rebels have set fire to
the supporters themselves. This on an island with 8 million people
and a police force of just 5,000 to protect them.

Democracy is a recent and tenuous innovation in Haiti, where
opposition-as-blood sport is a tradition rooted in the island's 200
years of turbulent history. Regime change has always come by coup
d'etat. Arisitide's opposition runs the gamut from armed thugs to
civic activists. They want him out. He's refusing to go. And the
insurgents are saying they won't back down. Crisis in the Caribbean.

Guests:
Christian Wisskerchen, senior member, Haiti Support Group
Robert Maguire, director, Trinity College (DC) Haiti Program
Georges Michel, Haitian journalist and historian, and drafter of
Haiti's constitution


Listen to RealAudio:
http://realserver.bu.edu:8080/ramgen/w/b/wbur/connection/audio/2004/02/con_0212a.rm

.