21078: radtimes: Waters Intercedes to Keep President Aristide in the Caribbean (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: radtimes <resist@best.com>

Waters Intercedes to Keep President Aristide in the Caribbean

http://www.blackvoicenews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1840&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

Apr 02, 2004
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.

.