22249: Esser: From the mouth of Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Jamaica Observer
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com

  June 04, 2004
Columns

 From the mouth of Aristide
by Geof Brown
browngeof@hotmail.com

Deposed Haitian President Aristide spent his 10 allotted weeks in
Jamaica in absolute silence. It was exactly what he promised. But he
opened his mouth on the day he left for South Africa, to receive a
top-level state welcome. Only a few hours before his departure on
Sunday, May 30, he held a press conference. As one of a relatively
small group of international and local media personnel, I was
privileged to hear from the ex-president's own mouth some sentiments
not mentioned in the official press release. President Aristide was
careful to a fault, avoiding any direct reference to the major powers
collaborating in his removal; he never once mentioned the US State
Department, for instance. But he did not hesitate to call by name and
designation as a crook the chief Haitian architect of his downfall.

As firmly as he declared his full intention to return to Haiti from
temporary exile, Mr Aristide was equally strong in calling for a
return to peace and democracy as a pre-condition of his restoration.
There was no resounding call to supporters to rise up and overthrow
the usurpers of his legitimately elected presidency. Indeed, the
press conference ended on a note of "Love", with Aristide declaring,
"With love will come the light, with love will come understanding,"
and thereby peace. The absence of rancour in any of the expressions
of a man who declares he was betrayed by "them" was the main
impression this writer took away from the press briefing. Indeed,
attempts made to draw out just who constituted "them" received the
adroit response, "a combination" (of Haitian rebels and others). The
man was anything but a loose cannon - a lesson for some too-glib
politicians.

But Aristide did belabour one image to illustrate the new conditions
of repression under the current Haitian regime, which he claimed is
as different from his own as "night from day". It was the story of a
five year-old girl arrested, handcuffed and jailed along with her
grandmother as suspected Aristide loyalists. In refuting several
allegations of corruption on his part, he constantly returned to that
image as the touchstone of a ruthless non-democratically installed
government whose accusations against him bear no credibility. And, in
repeated comparisons between the current status of Haiti and that of
Iraq, there was at least oblique reference implying foreign
interference with disastrous results.

The ex-president insisted that talk of elections in Haiti is
farcical, with ability of the populace to speak freely having been
aborted. The image of the arrested five year-old girl, symbolises the
smothering of any opposition to the current installed regime.
Aristide sketched a gloomy picture of suffering and deprivation of
the common Haitians, compounded by the recent floods. But he
contended that without the right to vote freely, even those objective
conditions are worsened by the subjective hopelessness of a people
now being brazenly repressed. He spoke feelingly of the compassionate
suffering of his wife and himself as they remain in "deep communion"
with the plight of the ordinary Haitian people. He nevertheless wants
to break the cycle of coup d'etat to coup d'etat with a return to
democracy, not a return by violent counter-revolution.

The exiled president faced a couple of allegations squarely. To the
charge that he was in league with illegal drug dealers, he pointed
out that not only did he sign a pact with the United States to pursue
drug dealers, but that there was a dramatic drop in the incidence of
drug-dealing under his regime and that this was supported by US
statistics. In a comic mock query, he asked how US authorities were
able to spot all the boats taking Haitian refugees towards American
shores - but not one boat was intercepted taking drugs. Asked about
source of funds and the allegation that he fleeced the treasury of
his country of large amounts of money, Aristide asserted that this
was "totally false". He said he and his family unpreparedly left
Haiti with no money; the generosity of Jamaica in hosting him and the
great generosity of South Africa in receiving him and his family to
live were, and are, his rescue.

The president did leave an air of mystery. Time and again he
admonished journalists. "Be patient." This is because he is writing a
book in which many questions surrounding his unwilling departure will
be answered. The book is due for early publication. He did leave on a
high moral note, however. What he wants to see changed is a world in
which four-fifths of the population consumes only one-fifth of the
resources. Peace, the president sees, is linked to that change. His
mission is enshrined in that linked pursuit of peace, freedom and
justice. He challenged all journalists to seek and speak the truth,
as he graciously thanked Jamaica for its kindness to the refugees and
his family.
.