21058: Esser: Condemning the Alliance between Haitian Thugs and the Interim Government of Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Black Voice News
http://www.blackvoicenews.com

April 02, 2004

Waters Intercedes to Keep President Aristide in the Caribbean
Condemns the Alliance between Haitian
Thugs and the Interim Government of Haiti

Riverside

In a statement released to the media Monday, a spokesperson for
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, said Nigeria had agreed to give
temporary asylum to deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

According to the statement, the Nigerian government had responded to
a request from CARICOM (the Caribbean Community). The statement also
indicated that Nigeria consulted with the United States government
before deciding to offer President Aristide temporary asylum.

Rep. Maxine Waters, who was instrumental in arranging President
Aristide’s release from the Central African Republic and return to
the Caribbean, says she was not surprised that Nigeria “consulted”
with the U.S. government before agreeing to welcome President
Aristide to Nigeria. Nor was she surprised that the U.S. government
had “consulted” with CARICOM and Jamaica before the decision was made
to move President Aristide out of Jamaica.

“I received a call from President Aristide on Monday, and he said he
had been told by the Jamaican government there was a serious security
threat that was causing them great concern,” Waters said. “President
Aristide said the security threat came from unspecified classified
sources indicating his life was in danger, and it would be necessary
for him to leave Jamaica.”

After speaking with President Aristide, Waters contacted Jamaican
Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who confirmed there was a threat
against President Aristide’s life.

“The prime minister said President Aristide did not want to be a
source of trouble for Jamaica and did not want to be blamed for any
problems that might occur in Haiti,” Waters said. “Prime Minister
Patterson told me that President Aristide was willing to leave
Jamaica if it was, in fact, necessary and in the best interest of
everyone involved.”

Rep. Waters, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Charles Rangel and TransAfrica
founder Randall Robinson arranged a conference call with Prime
Minister Patterson and his foreign minister, Mr. K.D. Knight.

“We had a long discussion about what was really happening,” said
Waters. “We determined that the United States had put pressure on
Jamaica and CARICOM as well as Nigeria to move President Aristide out
of the Caribbean. We learned that Nigeria had been pressured by
Condoleezza Rice to send a plane to get President Aristide.”

Rep. Waters explained that President Aristide was willing to leave
Jamaica as a gesture of good will, but he and his family preferred to
remain in Jamaica for the eight to ten weeks agreed upon when he was
invited to come. Prime Minister Patterson said his conversations with
President Aristide centered on his safety and security, and he made
it clear that he was not kicking President Aristide out of his
country. Ultimately, the Nigerian plane never left the ground.

Rep. Waters concluded that U.S. officials are intent on removing
President Aristide from the Caribbean because they believe his
influence in the region is profound, and as long as he remains in the
Caribbean, Haitians who support him will be demanding his return.
Clearly, the Bush Administration is outraged that President Aristide,
with the help of his friends and supporters, was able to find his way
back to the Caribbean from the Central African Republic after they
took him there, and they are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths
to prevent him from living in the region.

“It is extremely important for the American people to understand the
actions of the U.S. government, its role in the ouster of President
Aristide and its efforts to prevent him from living in the
Caribbean,” said Waters.

Last Saturday, March 20, 2004, while the Bush Administration was
pressuring Jamaica to force President Aristide to leave the
Caribbean, the new interim government of Haiti was showing its true
colors. The interim government held a rally in the historic city of
Gonaives to commend the armed thugs who were responsible for the
overthrow of President Aristide.

The rally featured a government delegation consisting of interim
Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue; his Interior Minister, Herard
Abraham; his Justice Minister, Bernard Gousse; and his Chief of
Police, Leon Charles. The entire delegation was brought to Gonaives
in two U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters and one Chinook helicopter,
all piloted by U.S. personnel.

The government delegation was joined by several leaders of the thugs,
including Guy Philippe, Jean-Pierre Baptiste, Winter Etienne and
Butteur Metayer. Interim Prime Minister Latortue called these thugs
“freedom fighters” and asked for a minute of silence for Butteur’s
brother, Amiot Metayer. However, their personal histories tell a very
different story.

• Guy Philippe is a former police chief who led several coup attempts
against President Aristide between 2000 and 2003. He is also
suspected by U.S. and Haitian authorities of drug trafficking.

• Jean-Pierre Baptiste, who is also known as Jean Tatoune, was a
local leader of FRAPH (the Front for the Advancement and Progress of
Haiti), the death squad that carried out numerous human rights
violations during the three years following the 1991 coup d’etat.
Tatoune was convicted of involvement in the 1994 massacre of
residents in the Raboteau neighborhood of Gonaives.

• Louis-Jodel Chamblain, one of the organizers of last month’s
violence, was the second-in-command of FRAPH and was convicted in
abstentia for his role in the 1994 Raboteau massacre and the 1993
assassination of Antoine Izmery.

• Winter Etienne is a member of the “Cannibal Army” street gang and
the self-declared mayor of Gonaives.

• Amiot Metayer, the founder of the Cannibal Army, was arrested in
2002 on charges that he set fire to homes of opposition leaders.
Later that year, Cannibal Army members drove a bulldozer into the
Gonaives jail, freeing Amiot and 150 other prisoners.

• Butteur Metayer joined the Cannibal Army in 2000 and became its
leader in 2003, following his brother’s murder.

• Throughout the month of February, these thugs took over Gonaives
and other cities, freeing criminals from prison and setting fire to
police stations.

“Saturday’s rally was an attempt by the illegitimate interim
government of Haiti to legitimize both the political violence and the
thugs who carried it out,” said Waters. “The rally symbolized the
return of the old ways of Haitian politics—rule by thugs, government
change by coup d’etat, and support for criminal activities and human
rights abuses.”

“The participation of U.S. personnel in Saturday’s contemptible rally
is especially disturbing, as it directly contradicts assurances from
the State Department that the instigators of the violence would not
be allowed to play a role in Haiti’s future,” said Waters. “Our
government must match its deeds with its words by assisting in the
arrest and incarceration of these criminals, some of whom were
already convicted in abstentia.

“The U.S. claims to be opposed to violence,” Waters continued. “Yet
our government is condoning violence through its association with
thugs and criminals, who have killed thousands of Haitians, who
openly threatened to kill President Aristide and who are now killing
members of President Aristide’s Lavalas Party. Every day, bodies of
Lavalas Party members are being found in Haiti. Some bodies have been
found riddled with bullets and with their hands bound by wire, and
other bodies have appeared after being dumped into the sea.”

“While the U.S. officials were putting undue pressure on CARICOM,
Jamaica and Nigeria, they were continuing to work with the thugs and
criminals who caused all of the carnage in Haiti,” Waters explained.
“These thugs and criminals have a working relationship with President
Aristide’s opposition, the Bush Administration and the
newly-appointed puppet government of Haiti.”

“To stabilize Haiti and help the Haitian people, the first thing the
U.S. government must do is divorce itself from the criminals and
thugs who have caused so much violence in Haiti,” Waters said.
.