21244: Esser: Haitians march on Capitol, urge U.S. forces to leave (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The State News [Michigan]
http://www.statenews.com

April, 12, 2004

Haitians march on Capitol, urge U.S. forces to leave
By DON JORDAN

Lansing - Every day, Paul Justin makes the same phone call to local
airlines.

The Haitian immigrant, now residing in Lansing, is trying to get home
to his wife and two children, who remain in the recently ravaged
country. But each day, he receives the same response from the airline
officials: It's too dangerous to go back.

As the country regroups after bloody uprisings prompted former
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down, Justin has vocalized
his disapproval for U.S. involvement in his home country.

He was one of a handful of Haitians carrying cardboard placards and
Haitian flags who marched through Lansing to the Capitol on Saturday,
calling for Aristide to be reinstated and for the U.S. military to
pull out of Haiti.

"We want the nations to stand with us, not lie down," Justin said,
with the Haitian flag he held billowing over his shoulder.

The United States sent Marines into the country on Feb. 23 to protect
the U.S. embassy after rebels overran Cap-Haitien, Haiti's
second-largest city. On Feb. 29, Aristide stepped down after weeks of
violence and pressure from foreign governments. He later said he was
forced to leave by U.S. forces.

Justin argued that President Bush's idea of democracy only satisfies
his own agenda.

Although Justin said he wasn't Aristide's biggest supporter, he
argued that the man represented a new era for Haiti, and most people
in Haiti agreed. Aristide was the country's first democratically
elected president.

"Aristide was the best guy for the job at the time," Justin said. "He
is the guy who most of us thought could start something."

According to Rodrigue Flamand, a Lansing resident and Haitian
immigrant who also marched in the protest, the country's progress
under Aristide already was apparent.

Since Aristide took office, the number of high schools has increased,
Flamand said.

Flamand also argued that most people didn't want Aristide to be
overthrown, they only wanted to urge the government to change.

"The 15 percent that might be against the government - they are
always fighting to get powers for them and not for the rest of the
nation," he said.

Dwoyen Frazier, the protest's coordinator and a Haitian immigrant,
said he hopes their voices, although not very numerous, will be heard
and changes made.

He carried with him a Haitian flag emblazoned with the slogan, "Pays
De Reves," meaning "A Country of Diversity."

"We want a chance to live," Frazier said. "We want Bush off our backs."

But now, with U.S.-backed interim Prime Minister Gerald Latortue in
control of the country, Haiti still is not safe, Justin said.

His wife, caught in the country, is always on his mind, he said.

"She is safe because of God and not because the nation is safe,"
Justin said. "This is the only thing I can rely on."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
.