22971: Esser: Haiti Occupied: Full Support from US, Canada for Illegitimate Regime (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Dominion
http://dominionpaper.ca/weblog/2004/08/
haiti_occupied_full_support_from_us_canada_for_illegitimate_regime.html

August 13, 2004

Haiti Occupied: Full Support from US, Canada for Illegitimate Regime
by Harold Lavender*

The Haitian people are once more suffering under the heels of a US
-led occupation and a repressive regime that replaced democratically
elected President Jean BertrandAristide. In June thousands took to
the streets to demand the return of Aristide as President. To Haitian
activists the new regime under Gerard Latortue is no more legitimate
than the governments of 1915-1934 under US Marine occupation. At the
same time, the illegitimacy of the regime goes largely ignored in
North America and Europe.

Leaders of the 15 nation CARICOM (Caribbean Community) have twice
called on the United Nations to launch an independent investigation
into the circumstances surrounding President Aristide’s departure.
Since April they have been under intense diplomatic pressure from the
US to drop the matter. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said
that he “didn’t think any purpose could be served by an inquiry.

Canadian Ambassador to Haiti, Kenneth Cook, when asked on March 29
about Aristide’s removal, responded, “As far as I’m concerned there
is no evidence of a kidnapping. I don’t have a position on the
request to the United Nations by the CARICOM countries for an
investigation into the circumstances of the removal of Aristide. If
there were [an investigation] it should be brief in order not to
interfere with the task of rebuilding the country.”

The illegitimacy of this regime has been largely ignored in Canada.
The corporate media has thrown a suffocating blanket of silence over
the sordid coup that toppled Aristide and the subsequent occupation
and repression that followed. Canadian political leaders have, in
fact, justified Canada’s role in upholding the puppet regime.

While Liberal election ads denounced Stephen Harper as the man who
would have sent Canadian forces to war in Iraq, Martin noted the role
of Canadian forces in Haiti and Afghanistan in providing security,
stability, prosperity, and promoting democracy. During the election
campaign NDP leader Jack Layton vigorously challenged Martin on
missile defense and Star Wars, but failed to condemn Martin on the
occupations of Haiti and Afghanistan.

The Liberals portray the presence of Canadian troops in Haiti as a
justifiable intervention “into a crisis of our hemisphere.” There is
a hint that Haiti was, to use a fashionable interventionist term, a
‘failed’ state, and Canada’s mission is to restore democracy.

For over four months some 3,700 US, French, and Canadian troops have
occupied Haiti as a temporary security and stabilization force. The
bulk of the troops are from the US, but 500 Canadian soldiers have
been involved. This force was replaced in late June by a UN Security
Council-authorized force of some 6,000 troops led by Brazil. Canadian
troops will remain in Haiti. But the UN mission has a vague mandate
and is scheduled to last for just six months.

The Haitian coup/puppet regime of Gerard Latortue has specifically
asked the US to continue its presence. But the US seems eager to get
most of it troops back to Iraq. The US hopes that the newly
propped-up Latortue government has got Haiti pointing in the right
direction. The Latortue government wants the new UN force to act to
seize weapons, that is those held by pro-Aristide forces. Meanwhile
they are attempting to strengthen the police. Some 1,000 ex-army
personnel and paramilitaries have already been incorporated into the
new security apparatus. Eventually the government wants to restore
the Haitian army justly disbanded by Aristide because of its
notorious human rights abuses.

It sounds and plays out (minus spectacular violence and headlines)
like the occupation of Iraq, which Canadian refused to go along with.
The occupying forces seek to maintain a presence in Port au Prince
doing such things as enforcing a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew alongside
the reconstituted and militarized Haitian National police. US marines
regularly patrol and march into the poorest neighborhoods of Port au
Prince, once the backbones of Aristide popular support. It is an
almost colonial effort to ‘show the natives who’s boss.’

The Marines have often invaded private homes allegedly to search for
weapons –which they rarely find – often with an over-kill that
surprised even occupation supporters. US Marines and Haitian national
police have fired into homes and groups of people on the street. US
marines have killed at least eight Haitians and some say more.

Symbolic of the brutality of the occupiers was the attack on the
family compound of well-known folk singer Annette “ So Anne” Auguste.
Annette, one of the best known musicians in the Haitian diaspora,
returned to Haiti in 1994 and became a popular leader in Aristide’s
Lavalas Family political party. In the early hours of May 10, dozens
of Marines blew open the gate and invaded the house. Members of the
household, including a five year-old granddaughter, were thrown to
the floor, hand-cuffed, and hauled off to jail for questioning. Nine
people were held in restraints and questioned for over 6 hours.

US interrogators seemed preoccupied with questions about visits to a
local mosque and connections to Aristide, then in Jamaica. Auguste
herself was sent to jail while authorities figured out whether they
could charge her for allegedly inciting a confrontation at the
university last December.

Popular discontent has been rising as conditions in the poorest
country in the Western Hemisphere have gone from bad to worse. The
price of basic food necessities such as rice has doubled under the
occupation. Under Aristide people managed to eat at least once a day,
but now some of the very poor are eating only three times a week. The
price of gas has doubled, making transport for the poor increasingly
difficult. Basic services such as electricity are now lacking in some
neighborhoods. Unions face a difficult time with unemployment in the
official sector running about 70 percent. The new government is
supported by the likes of Andre Apaid, a US citizen who is Haiti’s
largest and most notorious anti-union sweatshop owner. The economy
and the military in Haiti remain firmly in the hands of the
oppressive elite. Meanwhile the US government blames the mess
entirely on the Aristide government. US Ambassador to Haiti, James
Foley, accuses them “of taking everything and leaving the treasury
bare.

On May 18 tens of thousand demonstrated their support for the return
of Aristide as president on Haitian Flag Day. The newly formed police
force called it an illegal gathering, claiming falsely that no notice
had been given 48 hours prior to the march, and responded with brutal
force. SWAT teams fired tear gas and shots indiscriminately into the
crowd. Associated Press reported one death, while Haiti’s radio
Solidarite reported at least nine killed. An American reporter
witnessed two killings, and US marines taunting demonstrators.

While this repression goes unreported in mainstream North American
press, evidence of its existence continues to surface. A delegation
from the US National Lawyers Guild has uncovered evidence suggesting
widespread summary executions following the coup. About 800 bodies
were dumped and buried by the morgue in Port au Prince on March 7,
and 200 more later in the month, a significant increase. Many were
reportedly young men with hands behind their backs and plastic bags
over their heads that had been shot. However, the delegation was
denied access to bodies and records.

Some families hesitate to claim the bodies. Members or supporters of
the Lavalas Party are targets of a widespread ‘witch hunt’. Right
wing radio stations read lists of Lavalalas Party supporters. Anyone
associated with the Aristide government or party is at risk. An
elected member of the legislature was driven from his town at
gunpoint. Some homes were torched by arson. Many have now gone into
hiding. Anti-Aristide forces watch and visit their homes.
Applications for asylum are not being accepted at the US, French,
Canadian, or Mexican embassies, but many fear returning to their work
and homes. Leaders of popular organizations that have worked with the
Aristide Government are also key targets. Many have received death
threats, and dare not sleep in their own homes. All government
support and funding for programs run by popular organizations, from
shelters for the homeless to orphanages have been cut off. Human
rights abuses by the new regime are ignored and unchallenged by pro
US human rights groups.

So-called human rights organizations such as CARLI (funded by USAID)
specialize in criticizing the dictator Aristide and have named 85
government members and Lavalas supporters as abusers of human rights,
but they have been silent about the persecution of Lavalas supporters
and opponents of the new regime. The Latortue government has not
lifted a finger to protect its opponents. Now that Aristide is gone,
their voices have fallen silent.

Elections to legitimize a new regime are scheduled for next year.
Lavalas was offered one of nine seats on an electoral council, but
declined on the grounds it was subject to systemic persecution. In a
context of a coup, threats, persecutions, and violent suppression of
demonstrations, the promise of free democratic elections seem hollow
and fraudulent.

*This article originally appeared in Latin American Connexions,
Summer 2004, Volume 15 #6. For more information e-mail
conexion@vcn.bc.ca
.