21313: Esser: James Morell on Haiti and semantics (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

We all can breathe easier: Mr. Morell of the Haiti "Democracy"
Project has just told us that if it weren't for Latortue, Haiti might
be governed by Baby Doc and/or Guy Philippe or Dany Toussaint. Why
any of those people should have risen to power in Haiti remains a
mystery. Was it not only for French and U.S. intervention, that there
was a vacuum created? There might have been another way: namely the
kind of process not currently favored by the H "D" Project (Or should
I say: Plan Meriken?): democracy? It is this very hostility to
democratic solutions, admittedly harder to achieve, that seems to
have gotten Haiti in this current predicament.


<The alternatives to the transitional regime were considerably worse,
Morrell said. One alternative, if the ground were cut from under the
transitional regime, could be a takeover by one of the many
flamboyant personalities on the scene, ranging from Danny Toussaint
or Guy Philippe or even Jean-Claude Duvalier. This would return the
country to square one.> James Morell - April 9, 2004



And on another feel-good note: according to Mr. Morell it is just a
question of semantics to label Jean Tatoune, Guy Philippe, Jodel
Chamblain and their comrades in arms "freedom fighters". This should
be tremendously reassuring for all those misguided people that
thought having convicted human rights abusers running part of a
country with impunity through violence and then boasting about it,
might be highly inappropriate. It turns out that after all Mr.
Latortue is just a little shaky in the fine art of semantics, in this
regard he doesn't differ from his counterpart in the U.S.. And what
did the freedom fighters (I now leave the quotation marks out, not
wanting to expose my limited command of semantics) liberate Haiti
from? And has care being taken to inform Haitians of the importance
of semantical analyzation? One has to hope so, otherwise Haiti might
vote again for the wrong candidate as happened in 1990 and we all
know now what happens to a people that stubbornly choose
non-sanctioned leaders.


<... Latortue sought political cohesion out of his remark at Gonaives
characterizing the drug dealers and thugs of the rebel movement, who
had chased Aristide out of the country, as freedom fighters. Morrell
thought that this remark needed to be carefully considered. They did
free Haiti. They did fight. Did this make them freedom fighters?
Morrell asked. He considered this to be merely a question of
semantics.>

Both quotes from James Morell at Inter-American Dialogue. Forum on
prospects for new Haitian government. April 9, 2004. According to The
HDP website.
.