21005: (Hermantin) Sun-Sentinel-from Newsday-Convicted in Massacre, Constant tied to Vo (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

>From Newsday

CONVICTED IN MASSACRE

Constant tied to voodoo

BY RON HOWELL
STAFF WRITER

March 31, 2004

Emmanuel Constant, wanted in connection with a massacre in Haiti, apparently
has been seeking inner peace in the practice of voodoo, say local Haitians
who have seen him at ceremonies.

Several practitioners said Constant was initiated into the voodoo belief
system - which combines elements of Catholicism with African-based
traditions - about a year ago

But a decade ago, when Constant led an alleged right-wing terror group in
Haiti, he had invoked what he referred to as the power of voodoo for
political purposes. He threatened to use a magical powder against U.S.
soldiers attempting to restore then-exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
to power. The U.S. soldiers eventually came with Aristide and Constant fled
to New York.

This week in Brooklyn, Edline St. Amand, a mambo, or voodoo priestess, told
Newsday she officiated at Constant's initiation. "Yes, he is my spiritual
child," St. Amand said by phone from her home.

Saying she did not know much about Constant's shadowy past, she added: "I am
like a doctor and if a guy is sick, I have to treat him."

Constant, who now lives in Laurelton, could not be reached for comment. But
his mother said, "He doesn't involve himself in things like that." She said
he is Catholic.

The United States permits Constant to stay even though he was convicted in
Haiti for a 1994 massacre of two dozen Haitians.

Critics say Constant is being allowed to remain because he was once a CIA
informant, a relationship Constant has acknowledged.

A Haitian New Yorker - a public school teacher who did not want to be named
- said she saw Constant last year at the Brooklyn home of St. Amand, where
"sevite," or voodoo servants of God, danced and chanted to the spirits. "I
wasn't comfortable because I knew this guy had blood on his hands," said the
teacher.

The teacher said St. Amand, after receiving criticism from many Haitians,
severed ties with Constant. But St. Amand would not comment about their
current relationship.

A voodoo priest in Brooklyn said Constant's recent immersion is widely known
in the local community of believers."I want people to know that voodoo is a
good thing, not a bad thing," said Apre Dye, who said he saw Constant at a
voodoo gathering in Canarsie last year.

"When you believe in voodoo, you believe in a balance, that if you do good,
you receive good. If you do bad, you receive bad," he added.
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

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