20827: Esser: Roger Noriega and "The Opposition" (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Catalyzer Online Journal
http://www.catalyzerjournal.com

March 13, 2004

The Theater of Coup.
Dramatis Personae: Roger Noriega and "The Opposition".
By Gilbert Wesley Purdy

The tiny Caribbean country of Haiti is in the news again. For those
who know it vaguely, it is no surprise to learn that it is in the
midst of a coup. Now that the President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, has
fled the country, surely there is no reason to pay further attention
to the matter.

But coups are not all of a kind — even in a land in which, in recent
times, they are attempted more often than elections — and coups do
not end with the flight of their intended victim. In the case of
Haiti, in particular, we may be well advised to ask how and why the
coup occurred, and what the principals intend to accomplish in the
wake of their having disposed a lawfully elected president of a
sovereign country.

The superficial coverage by the main stream media might have been
expected, Haiti being a tiny, impoverished country, but the result
was that the events of February 5th to 29th seemed to amount to
nothing more than a clash between two well defined forces: the
government of Aristide and some 300 armed rebels. When the American
point man, Roger Noriega, offered to mediate between “The Opposition”
and the President of Haiti, few in the media felt it necessary to
mention that “The Opposition” was not a reference to the rebels at
all. The rebel leader Guy Philippe was making it a point, during his
press conferences, as he proceeded across the country, on his way to
capture Port Au Prince, to clearly say that he was not associated
with “The Opposition”.

The question might reasonably arise (or might have arisen if the
story had been reported): Why, then, is Assistant Secretary of State
Roger Noriega acting as intermediary between Aristide and “The
Opposition”? Who is “The Opposition”? What is its relation to the
coup? And, most importantly, if both the rebels and “The Opposition”
deny that “The Opposition” is in any way party to the coup, what made
Roger Noriega think that coming to terms with it could possibly bring
an end to the rebel incursion?

When U. S. Assistant Secretary of State Noriega offered both the
Haitian President and “The Opposition” a compromise, Aristide
immediately accepted. “The Opposition”, on the other hand, refused.
The rebels had announced a pause in their progress, from city to
city, across Haiti. When “The Opposition” refused the proffered
compromise, the rebels began on their way once again.

Who, then, refused the alleged compromise offer of Noriega? The
answer to this question is that Andre Apaid refused the offer. But
who is this Andre Apaid whose name appeared in no mainstream news
story — who has been described euphemistically throughout as “The
Opposition”? Apaid, it turns out, is the de facto leader of the Group
of 184, a group of Haitian non-government organizations recently
assembled for coordinated activities against the Aristide government.
“The Opposition” specifically refers to the leadership of the Group
of 184.

The Group of 184 is not your average Haitian political entity,
however. It is run by the wealthiest members of the society. It can
command the votes of only a tiny percentage of the electorate of the
country. Instead it has relied upon massive foreign assistance —
financial and technical — in order to remain viable. It has among its
regular advisors, the International Republican Institute: a group of
proactive, generally neo-conservative members of the U. S. Republican
Party headquartered in Washington, D. C. The IRI has been established
to advise third world business interests on how to package their
efforts more effectively in order to have greater success in
influencing the governments of their countries. Many of its members
are actively serving in the Congress.

The IRI has distanced itself from any activities that might appear
unseemly, by doing just what it has likely advised the Group of 184
to do. It has created a front group, the Haitian Democracy Project,
with no ostensible ties to the IRI, to advise the Group of 184 on how
to network its way to success. Media manipulation is clearly a major
part of the 184 tool-kit. Coöpting token members of their political
opposition and advertising them as proof of non-partisan action is
also a new addition to their tactical array. In short, the means
utilized by the neo-conservative far right in the U. S. political
arena have been slightly modified to fit the exigencies of Haitian
politics and the leadership of the Group of 184 has been thoroughly
trained in their use. Right-wing radio talk shows have sprung up,
wherever there are Haitian communities, excoriating Aristide and
accusing him of every kind of crime. They have become the sources of
stories that are often dutifully reported as fact in the U. S. press.

The original funding for the Haitian Democracy Project was provided
by Haitian millionaire businessman, and Group of 184 insider, Rudolph
Boulos. The project was founded in November of 2002. The founding
members and present board members are almost entirely
neo-conservative Republicans. On the newer of its two web-sites, the
Project proudly posts the “Unity Statement of the Group of 184”.
While the mission statements of The Haitian Democracy Project are
very general statements of support for the Haitian people, it
functions as the executive committee of the Group of !84, a tiny
minority group working to return the wealthiest citizens to control
of the country. Its members provide virulent anti-Aristide commentary
to some of the United States’ largest media markets.

Beginning in mid-2003, the leaders of the Group of 184 apparently
felt that they were ready to try the methods they’d been taught by
the IRI and the HDP. They had already sponsored a number of
talk-radio hosts and launched a number of anti-Aristide newspapers
with accompanying web-sites. Through their Washington handlers, they
had the ear of an already sympathetic U. S. administration and a very
considerable number of right-wing journalists. The Group began
staging protests and actively attempting to paralyze the Aristide
government. They shut down many of Haiti’s schools, blamed every
murder in Haiti on Aristide personally, and obstructed scheduled
elections while accusing him of failing to provide vital government
services and attempting to rule outside of the constitutional
process. Their Haitian and U. S. media machine dutifully churned out
“official verification” of their allegations.

At the same time, the U. S. Government also joined the chorus
accusing Aristide of drug trafficking and repressive tactics against
“The Opposition”. It represented the Haitian President’s election, in
2000, as illegitimate, claiming that independent observers had
declared it corrupt. While these various activities weakened
Aristide, he remained the clear choice of the people of Haiti. “The
Opposition” had little to show for their efforts and the efforts of
their mentors. The leadership of the Group of 184 is reported to have
flown to the Dominican Republic to meet secretly with representatives
of the IRI.

On February the 5th, of this year, shortly after a Group protest, in
Gonaives, ended in bloodshed, a force of armed rebels arrived over
the border from the Dominican Republic, approximately one hundred
miles to the east, to “restore order” to their beloved country. The
U. S. has soldiers posted in the Dominican Republic, to patrol the
border with Haiti, but somehow these three hundred rebels managed to
get past them. It is not difficult to understand, actually, as the
rebels were armed with American issue M-16’s, and wore American style
fatigues and body armor. They could easily have been mistaken for a
small detachment of American soldiers.

As events unfolded, the Bush Administration chose not to support
Artistide while speaking of the advent of a more democratic Haiti.
Immediately after Aristide left the country, U. S. troops were
ordered to prepare for deployment. They are already being sent to
assist the democratic forces in Haiti to bring the situation under
control. Those democratic forces, of course, will consist of the
leaders of the Group of 184 and their handpicked men. It may be
predicted, with some confidence, that it will be quite some time
before free elections will prove to be possible.

A final note: The guests in attendance for the gala opening of the
Haiti Democracy Project, on November 20, 2002, included many of the
biggest names in U. S. neo-conservative politics.  Among the names
was one of particular concern to the Haiti watcher now: the name of
Roger Noriega, the Assistant Secretary of State for Western
Hemisphere Affairs: the Bush administration’s point man for the
Haitian crisis — its purported mediator between Aristide and “The
Opposition”.

I refer the reader to Kevin Pina’s exceptional article on the
situation in Haiti, written during 2003 and posted on The Black
Commentator web-site, for more detail on a number of the items
included in this article.

Gilbert Wesley Purdy’s work in poetry, prose and translation, has
appeared in many journals, paper and electronic, including: Jacket
Magazine (Australia); Poetry International (San Diego State
University); Grand Street; SLANT (University of Central Arkansas);
Orbis (UK); XS; Eclectica; and The Danforth Review (Can.). His work
in journalism has appeared in The Schenectady Gazette, The Source
(Albany, N.Y.) and the Eye on Saratoga. Query to gwpurdy@yahoo.com.
.