22376: Re: Wilcken: Remembering Reagan (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lois E Wilcken <makandal-ny@juno.com>

Since events of the last week have triggered remembrance of the Reagan
years, I thought I'd share a pertinent memory of mine.

I had just begun my study of Haitian music in the fall of 1980.  I was
walking down 42nd Street in Manhattan around December 1 when I spotted a
Haitian demonstration, where the Consulate used to be.  I still have a
flyer that someone gave me.  There had been an extensive crackdown on
unions, political parties, and journalists on November 28.  Jean
Dominique was in hiding.  Michele Montas and Evans Paul were among the
many arrested.  Why?  In the heels of his election, Ronald Reagan sent
David Rockefeller on a tour to discuss his plans for Latin America with
its heads of state.  What was most clear, and stated in an OAS session,
was that the new North American regime would not pursue the human rights
policy of the Carter administration.  The Duvalier dictatorship was quick
to respond.