20749: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-South Florida Jamaicans debate Aristide's welcome (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Wed, Mar. 24, 2004


SOUTH FLORIDA


Jamaicans debate Aristide's welcome

Jamaican Americans are talking about former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide's visit to their native country -- and expressing different
opinions.

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES

jcharles@herald.com


Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's bucolic stay in Jamaica's
countryside is prompting reaction from South Florida Jamaicans that ranges
from jokes about him enjoying the island's national dish, of ackee and salt
fish, to more serious debates over the wisdom of letting him visit.

Most seem glad that Prime Minister P.J. Patterson allowed Aristide to come
to Jamaica last week following his stay in the Central African Republic.

''Somebody has to take him in,'' said Sunrise resident Patrick Neal, while
picking up his lunch order Tuesday at Junie's, a well-known Jamaican
restaurant at U.S. 441 and Northwest 184th Street in Miami-Dade County.

''This is a good step on the part of Jamaica,'' said Miami resident Tishanie
Nelson, 22, while getting her hair done not far away. ``In Jamaica we
believe in the philosophy of being our brother's keeper.''

''If my neighbor calls for help, I can't ignore that,'' added her companion,
Lloyd Rose, 48, of Miami.

Certainly, the topic has engaged the attention of local Jamaican Americans.

They are calling in to Caribbean radio talk shows, debating the pros and
cons over lunchtime servings of curried chicken and rice and peas, and
jesting about it in between searches for Blue Mountain coffee and oxtail at
the West Indian grocery stores.

''If you help a fallen brother, there is nothing wrong with that,'' Lloyd
Gosling, 54, said while picking up a few groceries at the FA&M West Indian
and American Grocery Store, 18400 NW Second Ave.

Gosling, who works in Miami Beach as a driver, said he jokingly tells his
Haitian co-workers that they have to begin paying him for Aristide's upkeep
at the sprawling government-owned estate in the parish of St. Ann, where the
former president is temporarily living after reuniting last week with his
two daughters.

''He's one of us,'' store cashier John Thomas said standing a few feet away
from the March 19 edition of the Jamaica Observer, which featured on its
cover a color family portrait of Aristide and wife Mildred, reunited with
the girls.

Winston Barnes, an on-air radio personality at Caribbean-focused WAVS-AM
(1170), said even before Aristide's arrival in Kingston last Monday, he was
a hot topic among callers. ''The vast majority are in serious, serious favor
of what the prime minister did,'' said Barnes, who is also a Miramar city
commissioner.

Callers in favor of the move argue that Jamaica is a sovereign nation and
has the right to make its own decision, and cite historical connections
between the two nations.

Those who oppose it express fears about reprisals from the United States,
which has warned the Jamaican government that it could face sanctions if
Aristide's return to the region ignites more bloodshed in Haiti.

''I am kind of surprised that we did it,'' said Michael Smith, 35, of
Broward County, noting past rivalries among immigrants from the islands.

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