19642: Esser: No return of the Army, no coup makers in the government (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

http://www.oneworld.net
Mar. 01 2004

Haiti - no return of the Army, no coup makers in the government

Haiti Support Group

According to the AFP, opposition leader, Evans Paul, said the
Democratic Platform is meeting with the armed opposition of Guy
Philippe, Jean Tatoune and Louis Jodel Chamblain today, Monday
morning, in Port-au-Prince. Opposition leader, Micha Gaillard, said
there have already been contacts through intermediaries. Opposition
leader, André Apaid, said, "The insurgents must be part of the
solution because, after all, they are Haitians"

Interviewed by the BBC World Service yesterday, 29 February, Guy
Philippe was asked if he expected his armed force to be part of the
new government. He replied: "I don't 'expect' it. I know that we will
be part of it."

Interviewed by The Miami Herald on Saturday 28 February, Philippe
said that the man he most admires is former Chilean dictator General
Augusto Pinochet. "Pinochet made Chile what it is,'' gushed Phillipe.
Number 2 on his list is former US President Ronald Reagan.

On many occasions, the armed opposition's spokespeople have made it
clear they want to re-instate the Haitian Army. Some of them say it
already exists - de facto. André Apaid has on several occasions
intimated that he favours the return of the Army.

Jean Tatoune and Louis Jodel Chamblain are convicted killers, leaders
of the FRAPH death-squad of 1993-94.

Guy Philippe, a former Army officer, was trained by the US in Ecuador
and given a top post in the new Haitian Police Force. According to
Human Rights Watch, between 1997 to 1999, he served as police chief
for Delmas, on the north side of the Port-au-Prince metropolitan
area. During his tenure there, the UN/OAS International Civilian
Mission learned that dozens of suspected gang members were summarily
executed, mainly by police under the command of Inspector Berthony
Bazile, Philippe’s deputy.

Ever since its creation during the US occupation (1915-34), the
Haitian Army's primary roles have been to defend the country's tiny
and reactionary economic elite and to repress movements for
progressive political change. We fully expect a reborn Haitian Army
to play exactly the same role.

For this reason, the Haiti Support Group - a solidarity organisation
that has supported the Haitian people's struggle for justice, human
rights, equitable development and participatory democracy since 1992
- cannot accept that a reborn Haitian Army will serve the best
interests of the Haitian majority.


See the Haiti Support Group web site:
http://www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org

Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for justice, participatory
democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
.