19064: Fenton: Subject: Haiti: Five facts and One Urgent Appeal (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Anthony Fenton <apfenton@ualberta.ca>

Hi, FYI here's a call for action that we're distributing mainly in Canada,
launched today, coincidentally enough.

Five Facts about Haiti:

1. The US Government Backs the Haitian Opposition Financially
2. The US is Integral to Economic and Humanitarian Disaster in Haiti
3. The Haitian Population Continues to Support Aristide
4. Canada Supports US Aspirations for Regime Change in Haiti
5. Disputed Election are Now Referred to as "Flawed"

Elaborations and extensive documentation of these facts are available
here:

http://dominionpaper.ca/haiti

--

An Appeal:

After weeks of research, we have come to the following conclusions:

Haiti is in crisis, and an entire society stands on the brink of economic
and humanitarian disaster. This disaster is *not* the product of some
unfortunate circumstance, but the direct result of policies carried out by
our governments.

Paramilitary groups now control Haiti's second largest city, and are
currently threatening to take over the capital. Meanwhile, humanitarian
groups are not being allowed the access that they need, and untold
thousands are starving. A democratic government is in peril of being
subject to US-sponsored "regime change".

As those in whose names this state of affairs was created, we are best
positioned to change it.

For there to be any hope in Haiti, the paramilitary groups must be
stopped. After creating this horrible situation, our governments have
refused to do anything to reverse it, preferring to blame Jean Bertrand
Aristide, the elected president.

Meanwhile, the media spreads blatant disinformation about the situation.
To use a less delicate term: lies.

We have compiled five documented facts, listed above. We ask that you
take a moment to read some of the material we have compiled, do your
own research, draw your own conclusions, and take appropriate action.

The decision to "let Haiti live" can only be made now, and the impact will
be felt for decades. We think that's worth your time.

sincerely,

Anthony Fenton and Dru Oja Jay


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Five Facts about Haiti (full version):


[1] The US Government Backs the Haitian Opposition Financially

Between 1994-2002, "Washington has funnelled some $70 million to
fund and
organize an opposition to President Aristide." [1] This opposition goes
under
the broad name of Democratic Platform, which is made of various
elite-led
opposition groups such as Democratic Convergence and The Group of
184.
These groups are frequently cited by international media with no mention
of
their affiliation with the US government and the Brookings Institution (a
right-wing think tank), USAID, and the International Republican Institute.
[2]

Beginning before the election of Jean Bertrand Aristide (with 92% of the
vote),
the opposition (whose support is estimated at between 8% and 12%) has
called for
Aristide's resignation, demanding that he share the presidency with them.
[3] More recently, they have refused to negotiate with the elected
government [4], continuing to demand Aristide's resignation. They have
also called for the reinstatement of the Haitian Military.

Not coincidentally, US officials have repeatedly hinted that Aristide must
be replaced. [5]

Instead of condemning the opposition--which, given their sources of
funding,
would undoubtedly have a profound effect--the US and Canada have
placed the
blame on Aristide. [6] The US may also be supporting paramilitary groups
operating in Haiti. More than one comentator has pointed out the uncanny
timing of a military aid shipment of US-made M-16s to the neighboring
Dominican Republic and the simultaneous appearance of new M-16s in
the hands of paramilitaries. [7]


[2] US is Integral to Economic and Humanitarian Disaster in Haiti

As recently as 1991, the US is known to have supported a military coup to
overthrow a democratically elected government in Haiti. Former
Paramilitary
leader Emmanuel Constant told 60 minutes that the CIA supported the
coup,
during which over 5,000 Haitians were murdered. [8] Constant, who has
been
convicted of murder in Haiti, is one on many international terrorists being
harboured by the US. [9]

Since 2000, the U.S. has withheld over $500 million in direct economic
aid
to Haiti and has persuaded lending institutions, such as the
Interamerican
Development Bank and the World Bank to deny previously-approved
loans, in
excess of $150 million. [10]

By contrast, aid money and loans flowed freely from the US when the
murderous
"Papa Doc" Duvalier was in power, and during the rule of the military junta
between 1991 and 1994, when 5,000 Haitians were murdered and
thousands starved. [11]

Haiti's annual budget in 2001 was $361 million. [12]

Numerous aid organizations have called upon the international
community and
the United Nations for assistance, as the humanitarian situation in Haiti is
reaching crisis levels. [13] Thus far the Canadian government has
pledged to
send $1 million, while the US has offered only $500,000.

Repeated requests by Aristide for emergency military aid have been
denied
by the US, Canada and the international community, who have all refused
to
intervene "until a political situation is reached." [14] The denial of
financial or military support by the US continues while reconstituted
Haitian
paramilitaries continue to ravage the population. [15]


[3] The Haitian Population Continues to Support Aristide

In one of the largest protests in recent years, over 100,000 Haitians
demonstrated in Port-au-Prince on Feb. 7, demanding that Aristide
complete
his five year mandate, which ends in 2006. The day also marked the
anniversary
of the fall of the US-supported Duvalier dictatorship in 1986. [16] The New
York Times described a similar demonstration of tens of thousands on
Jan. 1
as a "small but enthusiastic crowd". [17]

Numerous parties that oppose Aristide in principle are supporting his five
year mandate, describing the possibility of an "opposition" government as
potentially horrific. [17.1]

The apparent misdeeds most frequently attached to President Aristide are
a
case of disputed legislative election results in 2000 (which the opposition
used to call for his resignation) and the violent actions of "pro-government
gangs" against the opposition. Minimally, it should be pointed out that in
what
was described as a move to placate the opposition, Aristide immediately
called on the relevant legislators to resign and for new elections to be
called. [18]
This did not stop the US from withholding aid for the next three years (see
above). Aristide has in many cases condemned and arrested government
supporters who have acted violently against opposition members. [19]

While the media continues to condemn Aristide for transgressions that
remain
vague, Aristide's Lavalas party has accomplished much in the few years
that it has held office. Since Aristide was first elected in 1994, more
schools have been opened than were opened between 1804 and 1994.
The military has been disbanded, health care systems have been
expaned, the minimum wage has been doubled, a major successful AIDS
education campaign was conducted, provision of anti-retroviral treatment
has begun, and progress has been made in increasing literacy. [20]

These gains, however, have been *in spite* of the dictates of the US. In
particular, the US put pressure on Haiti to not increase the minimum
wage. [21] The US government and corporate media have also actively
disregarded Haiti's achievements in all areas. Documentary filmmaker
Kevin Pina quoted a "prominent reporter" whom he spoke with in Haiti:
"Hey, I am sorry but they are not interested in positive stories about
Lavalas. I wrote it, submitted it and they told me they were not interested."
The story in question was about the government's conversion of a
Duvalier-era drug dealer's villa into a school for poor children. [22]


[4] Canada Supports US Aspirations for Regime Change in Haiti

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) has said that Canadian
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham is "closely aping" the US line on Haiti,
which "seriously distorts reality". COHA criticized also criticized Graham
for failing to publically recognize that Haitian opposition "has obdurately
refused in any way to join in a process of reconciliation". "The root of the
opposition's
strategy is the need to create the very chaos that Mr. Graham somehow
appears to attribute to Aristide," the COHA statement said. "There is
where Mr. Graham's outrage appropriately belongs."

"Bill Graham's recent remarks yesterday on Haiti indicates that he is
depending upon U.S. policymakers to orient Canada while not having a
clue as to what is really happening there." [23] There is, however, a great
deal of evidence that suggests that Graham isn't "clueless", but rather
implementing Paul Martin's new policy of "deep integration" with US
policy. Since he became PM, Martin has pledged close cooperation with
the US, and appointed a Defense Minister who supported the war on Iraq.
[24]

Journalist Michel Vastel pointed out Canada's complicity in Washington's
plans for regime change in l'Actualite in January. The Canadian
government carefully denied it. [25]


[5] Misrepresentation: Disputed Election is Now Referred to as "Flawed"

The 'platform' for Haiti's opposition and U.S. policy has been the disputed
elections of 2000, which saw 7 senate seats (out of a total 7,500
government positions involved in election) challenged over alleged
vote-rigging. [26] By all official accounts, this dispute was rectified.

However, the U.S. and the mainstream press have continued to grant the
opposition legitimacy on these grounds. This, despite the fact that the
opposition is largely responsible for stalling the democratic process:
President Aristide has repeatedly asked the opposition to sit down at the
table and set a date for elections, and they have repeatedly refused,
creating the so-called "political stalemate". [27]

With U.S. support, the opposition has built a disinformation campaign as
well as an Aristide "demonization campaign" which has made Aristide
appear as the
antagonist. [28] A familiar tactic finds opposition-controlled media feeding
falsehoods to the international press (primarily AP and Reuters), which
are picked by national and regional dailies throughout the world, and then
recirculated as 'international' news by the same opposition-owned media
in Haiti. Kevin Pina, US Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and others, refer
to
this as "the disinformation loop". [29] This way a disputed and resolved
political problem is able to become "flawed elections" and Aristide can be
characterized as a "heavy-handed dictator", while the bleeding of the
Haitian economy can be falsely attributed to Aristide's failure as leader.
The "flawed elections" are still the official reason for the contined
withholding of aid to Haiti. The people most affected by this are the
impoverished Haitian majority. [30]



Notes:

[1] Kim Ives at: "US policy towards Haiti promotes economic instability"
http://www.progressive.org/Media%20Project%202/mpin602.html

[2] On Democratic Platform and its connections to Haiti Democracy
Project
see:
"Anti-Aristide Groups split threat to future"
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-copposition14feb
14,1,7650882.story

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/006.html

http://www.haitipolicy.org, the website of the Haiti Democracy Project, and
specifically a telling transcript of their position as stated in
a National Public Radio broadcast:
http://www.haitipolicy.org/content/1490.htm?PHPSESSID=6321cf5e7fe78
3ade9215b8ffda7bf8d

Also see IRI's website for general information:
http://www.iri.org/countries.asp?ID=7826537582
see also their Haiti-specific website http://www.haitigetinvolved.com.

[3] See Stan Goff, http://counterpunch.org/goff02142004.html
For a discussion of the elections, see
http://www.progressive.org/oren0101.html

[4]
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/international/jan-june04/haiti_2-16.html

[5] Congresswoman Barbara Lee asks Colin Powell for clarification
http://www.house.gov/lee/releases/04Feb11.htm
http://www.house.gov/lee/releases/04Feb19b.htm

Council on Hemispheric Affairs describes Washington's "option zero"
policy
http://coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2003/
03.74_Haiti_Needs_Christmas_Present.htm

Also see a Feb. 11 statement and interview with US Congresswoman
Maxine Waters
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/16/1746202
http://www.sfbayview.com/021804/maxinewaterswarns021804.shtml

Stan Goff: Bush administration is preparing to declare Haiti a "failed state"
http://www.blackcommentator.com/78/78_haiti.html

[6]
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=3337§ionID=2
http://www.haiti-info.com/article.php3?id_article=148

[7] See Tom Reeves's "U.S. Double Game in Haiti at:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=4997,
and Anthony Fenton's "Media vs. Reality in Haiti”:
http://zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=2&ItemID=4977

For more on the possibility that the US is funding Haitian "Contras", see
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Feb04/Pina0212.htm

[8] On Constant, see under "1996":
http://www.geocities.com/~virtualtruth/constant.htm. Constant admitted in
a 1995 interview with 60 Minutes, that he was on a CIA payroll.

An eyewitness says the US and UN failed to act to prevent the coup:
http://www.newint.org/issue258/endpiece.htm

[9] See Chomsky's "Who are the Global Terrorists?" at:
http://www.chomsky.info/articles/200205--02.htm.

[10] See Tom Reeves's "Still up against the death plan in Haiti", on
economic sanctions at:
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Caribbean/UpAgainstDeathPlan_Haiti.h
tml

[11] http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/CIA%20Hits/Haiti_CIAHits.html
http://www.giles.34sp.com/biographies/papadoc.htm

[12] For economic data see:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/ha.html

[13]See "Caribbean Nations Appeal for Aid in Haiti" at
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/8008956.htm

[14] See "Canada assists the people of Haiti," press annoucement Feb.
17th, 2004 at:
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cida_ind.nsf/
dccfe1952450f552852568db00555b47/42e1e21cc6b2b01d85256e3d00
5ccb02? OpenDocument

[15] On health and general crisis, see Paul Farmer's "Haiti: Unjust Aid
Embargo during Health Emergency" at:
http://www.haitireborn.org/campaigns/lhl/unjust-aid-embarg-p-farmer.php.

[16] See Haiti-Progres' English coverage:
http://www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-11.html

[17] Haiti Action has the Times article and photos of the demonstration:
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/NYT.html

[17.1] The Jamaica Observer, Feb. 23 2004
http://jamaicaobserver.com/editorial/html/20040222T220000-0500_5613
0_OBS_HAITI_S_OBSCENE_NIGHTMARE.asp

[18] http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20040201t040000
-0500_55163_obs_the_end_of_nationhood.asp

http://coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2004/
04.03_Haiti_Aristide.htm

[19] One example of Aristide condemning violence which has gone
unreported:
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/0fb8b6892e24769cc1256df600400ee
9. During several recent press conferences, Aristide has categorically
denounced all violence, as have several government representatives,
publicly. Press releases courtesy of Michelle Karshan, Foreign Press
Liaison, National Palace.

[20] See Haiti Action's "Hidden from the Headlines:"
http://www.haitiaction.net/HidFrame.html

Also see a Feb. 11 statement by US Congresswoman Maxine Waters
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/16/1746202
http://www.sfbayview.com/021804/maxinewaterswarns021804.shtml

[21] See the National Labour Committee's "How to Get Rich on 11 Cents
an Hour" http://www.nlcnet.org/campaigns/archive/Haiti/0196/index.shtml

Also:
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/307.html

[22] http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Feb04/Pina0212.htm

[23]
http://coha.org/NEW_PRESS_RELEASES/New_Press_Releases_2004/
04.10_Canadian_Foreign_Minister_Must_Lead_as_well_as_Follow.htm

[24] http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/12/13/286297-cp.html

[25] Canadian Journalist Michel Vastel has said that Canada is complicit
in the US plan for "regime change" in Haiti. (Originally appeared in
l'Actualite)
http://www.radiohaitifocus.com/new36.htm

The official denial:
http://www.haiti-progres.com/2003/sm030312/actu03-12.html

"Mais enfin, en quelle annee et sur quelle galere vivons-nous?"
http://www.haitiforever.com/bbs/mensajes/101.html
[26] See Randall Robinson's 'global call for action'
http://www.blackcommentator.org/71/71_robinson_haiti.html
[27] See John Maxwell's "Imagine! Nigger's Speaking French!!!" at
http://www.nathanielturner.com/maxwellonhaiti.htm.
See also http://haitireborn.org, especially their section on the aid issue:
"Investigating the Human Effects of Withheld Humanitarian Aid", an
extensive 61 page report:
http://www.haitireborn.org/misc/delegation-report-1-11-2003.pdf
See: 'Haiti's Humanitarian crisis, $350 million in aid withheld by EU':
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/0/61aefc65a15e2bc049256da30008a4
92?OpenDocument
[28] For background see Ben Dupuy's "The Attempted Character
Assasination of Aristide":
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Global_Secrets_Lies/Aristide_CharacA
ssass.html
[29] See Maxine Waters and Randall Robinson at "Haiti Opposition
Attempts Naked Power Grab" at
http://www.blackcommentator.org/77/77_haiti.html
and see Kevin Pina at http://www.blackcommentator.com
[30] See Paul Farmer's "Haiti: Short and Bitter Lives",
http://mondediplo.com/2003/07/11farmer

apfenton@ualberta.ca