20712: Blanchet: Fw: Haiti's army turns back the clock (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>

----- Original Message -----
From: <Tttnhm@aol.com>


> Haiti's army turns back the clock
> by Charles Arthur
>
> Red Pepper magazine - April 2004 -- http://www.redpepper.org.uk/
>
> It didn't take long for the new order in Haiti to reveal itself. The day
> after President Aristide 'left' for exile, 34 union members at the
Ouanaminthe
> garment assembly factory run by the Dominican Grupo M company, were fired.
The
> next morning, when the 600-strong workforce decided to strike, a group of
armed
> men launched a violent attack. Some unionists were handcuffed, many others
> were beaten up, and the workers were forced back inside the factory.
>
> The aggressors were members of the so-called rebel force, fresh from their
> victory over the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. They said
they
> had been called to the factory by management, to deal with workers
"causing
> trouble".
>
> As in so many Haitian towns, the Ouanaminthe insurgents had taken over
from
> the police. Their leaders say they are former members of the Haitian Army,
the
> FAD'H, a force demobilised by Aristide in 1995. Some, such as Guy Philippe
and
> Gilbert Dragon, were trained by the US in Ecuador and flown home to senior
> positions in the new Haitian police force in the mid-1990s.
>
> When Aristide's predecessor, President Rene Preval, discovered them
plotting
> a coup back in October 2000, Philippe, Dragon and a handful of other
police
> chiefs, fled to the neighbouring Dominican Republic. There they carried on
> plotting, meeting with representatives of Haitian opposition parties such
as Paul
> Arcelin and Jean-Baptiste Joseph, and with former members of the FAD'H
death
> squad, the FRAPH, like Louis Chamblain.
>
> Throughout 2003, their followers conducted a low level insurgency in the
> remote border region with the Dominican Republic that claimed around 30
lives. In
> February, their campaign suddenly caught fire and within weeks, an armed
> insurrection had toppled Aristide. The rebels' leader Guy Philippe
triumphantly
> told a press conference in the capital, Port-au-Prince: "I am the chief.''
Asked
> what he meant, he said, "the military chief."
>
> Although the insurgents' links to the businessmen heading the Group of 184
> coalition that led the anti-Aristide protest movement remain sketchy, it
is
> clear that the armed and unarmed elements of the rebellion are moving
closer
> together.
>
> When downtown Port-au-Prince was besieged by looters in early March,
Maurice
> Lafortune, head of the Chamber of Commerce and a leading figure in the
Group
> of 184, called on Philippe and his men to restore order. Another G184
leader,
> the sweatshop owner, Charles Henri Baker, could hardly contain his
admiration
> for the "liberators", speaking of the need for an army to protect
businesses
> from "the mob".
>  Political party leaders, including the long-time US favourite, Evans
Paul,
> held friendly talks with Philippe and other insurgent leaders.
>
> Amnesty International protested about the apparent political influence of
> convicted murderers such as Chamblain and the Goniaves FRAPH chief, Jean
Tatoune.
> "The last thing the country needs is for those who committed abuses in the
> past to take up leadership positions," it said.
>
> As ever though, the US attempted to maintain the existent power structure
> during the transition. Philippe quickly announced his men would lay down
their
> arms, after a dressing down from senior officers in the US military
intervention
> force. Days later, Philippe responded to the murder of demonstrators
> celebrating Aristide's departure, with the words: "very soon I will be
obliged to
> order my troops to take up arms again."
>
> Continued violence and instability in Haiti, will increase the pressure to
> re-instate the FAD'H. Foreign governments that have committed
peace-keeping
> troops want their forces out as soon as possible, and the political
parties that
> control the interim government are beholden to the forces that enthroned
them.
>
> Behind the scenes, members of the country's tiny elite, especially the
> assembly sector businessmen who bankroll the political parties, want the
FAD'H back
> to guarantee the established order. It has done so ever since its creation
> during the US occupation of 1915-34.
>
>
> Charles Arthur is director of the Haiti Support Group solidarity
> organisation: www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org and author of 'Haiti in Focus; a
guide to the
> people, politics and culture.'
>
>
> ______________________________________________
>
>
> This email is forwarded as a service of the Haiti Support Group.
>
> See the Haiti Support Group web site:
> www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org
>
> Solidarity with the Haitian people's struggle for justice, participatory
> democracy and equitable development, since 1992.
> ___________________________________________