18823: loveayiti; S Floridians many countries sondemn Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: love haiti <loveayiti@hotmail.com>


 Posted on Thu, Feb. 19, 2004
Miami Herald


South Florida Ex-pats unite for Democracy


Americas expatriates join together

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES



When opponents of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide gather this weekend
in yet another rally to demand his resignation from office, Haitian Americans
won't be the only ones voicing their contempt for the embattled leader.

Joining them will be Cubans, Peruvians, Argentines and Venezuelans -- all of
whom are pressing for a variety of political agendas in their home countries.

''We want to send a message: We don't want any more dictators. We want liberty
in the Americas,'' said Samir Mourra, a South Florida Haitian-American
businessman and Aristide opponent who today will announce the formation of the
Coalition of the Americas.

The brainchild of several regional immigrant activists, the coalition was
formed in the hope of sending a clear message to the United States government
and the international community that it is time to restore true democracy to
the hemisphere, supporters say.

While the political climates vary in each country, they are all states
embroiled in economic and political upheaval. The unusual partnership
underscores the diversity of South Florida's expatriate communities and their
involvement in issues in their home countries.

''We all have something in common: totalitarian dictator governments and a fall
of democracy in our countries,'' said Betina Rodriguez Aguilera, founder of New
Generation Cuba and a member of La Unidad, an exile group pushing to end Fidel
Castro's rule on the island.

''People often refer to us as Latin America and the Caribbean, but we are all
part of the same American continent,'' she said. ``We are all in this
together.''

In Venezuela, critics of President Hugo Chávez say he is trying to impose an
authoritarian, Castro-style regime, though his supporters say he is sticking up
for the poor. In Argentina, President Néstor Kirchner is struggling to overcome
an economic crisis that has left millions without jobs. And in Peru, President
Alejandro Toledo's approval rating has dropped into the single digits as he
reshuffles his Cabinet for the fifth time in an effort to overcome a political
crisis.

Antigovernment rebel forces in Haiti have seized several towns since Feb. 5,
the latest manifestation of a three-year political crisis.

Herald staff writer Richard Brand contributed to this report.






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