20724: Esser: Is the U.S. Trying to Expel Aristide From the Hemisphere? (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Democracy Now!
http://www.democracynow.org

March 23rd, 2004

Is the U.S. Trying to Expel Aristide From the Hemisphere?

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Nigeria yesterday agreed to a request by Caricom to grant President
Aristide temporary asylum one week after his historic return to the
Caribbean in defiance of the Bush administration. We speak with
Randall Robinson who was part of the delegation that accompanied
President Aristide from the Central African Republic to Jamaica.
One week after his historic return to the Caribbean, President
Aristide is once again facing possible expulsion from the Western
Hemisphere. Aristide said he was taken by force from Haiti to the
Central African Republic in what he calls a US-orchestrated coup.

Yesterday, Nigeria agreed to a request by the 15-nation Caribbean
community (Caricom) leaders to grant Aristide temporary asylum. It
has not been confirmed what prompted the request by Caricom, but one
thing is certain: Aristide's return to the Caribbean was a trip the
Bush administration clearly did not want to happen. In very public
statements, the most senior US officials said bluntly that they did
not want Aristide in the Western Hemisphere.

The US-installed Prime Minister of Haiti, Gerard Latortue, recalled
Haiti's ambassador to Jamaica, in protest of that country's welcoming
of Aristide. Latortue also halted Haiti's participation in Caricom.
Caricom has called for an independent investigation into the
circumstances of Aristide's removal from Haiti.

At least three Caricom leaders yesterday signalled their
unwillingness to sit with Latortue unless he repudiated his recent
attacks on the Community and distances himself from the armed gangs
who helped overthrow Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Latortue yesterday
hailed the leaders of the gangs as "freedom fighters."

At this time, President Aristide his Haitian-American wife Mildred
remain in Jamaica with their two young daughters, in defiance of the
United States.


• Randall Robinson, a close friend of the Aristides. Last week he was
part of the delegation that accompanied President Aristide from the
Central African Republic to Jamaica. He is also the founder of
TransAfrica and the author of several books. He joins us on the line
from his home in St. Kitts in the Caribbean.

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