23460: intervision2000: FW: Brazilian general blames Kerry for wave of violence in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: InterVision2000 <info@intervision2000.com>


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Brazilian general blames Kerry for wave of violence in Haiti
Sunday, October 17, 2004
Associated Press

Associated Press, SAO PAULO, Brazil: Comments made by Sen. John Kerry more
than seven months ago may have helped trigger the recent wave of violence
afflicting Haiti, according to the Brazilian commander for the U.N.
peacekeeping troops in that Caribbean nation.

In an interview posted Saturday on the Web site of Agencia Brasil, the
Brazilian government's official news agency, Lt. Gen. Augusto Heleno Ribeiro
said that comments made in March by Kerry had raised the hopes of supporters
of Jean-Bertrand Aristide that the former Haitian president would be able to
return to power.

"Statements made by a candidate to the presidency of the United States
created false hopes among pro-Aristide supporters,'' Ribeiro told the
agency. "His (the candidate's) statements created the expectation that
instability and a change in American policy would contribute to Aristide's
return.''

Ribeiro was referring to statements made by Kerry to the New York Times on
March 7.

The Democratic presidential candidate told the New York Times that U.S.
President George W. Bush's position on Haiti was "shortsighted'' and sent "a
terrible message'' to the region and democracies.

Kerry said he would have sent an international force to protect Aristide as
rebel forces were threatening to enter the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince.

"Look, Aristide was no picnic, and did a lot of things wrong,'' Kerry said
in the Times interview. But Washington "had understandings in the region
about the right of a democratic regime to ask for help. And we contravened
all of that. I think it's a terrible message to the region, democracies, and
it's shortsighted.''

A Kerry spokesman, David Wade called the comments in the Brazilian story
"utterly absurd.''

"John Kerry has long been a strong supporter of the democratic process in
Haiti, keeping faith with decades of American leadership in the
hemisphere.,'' Wade said.

Violent clashes have been frequent in Haiti since a Sept. 30 commemoration
of a 1991 uprising that deposed Aristide. He returned but left the country
again in February after a bloody three-week revolt.

Accused of corruption, profiting from cocaine smuggling and using police to
suppress his opponents, he left on a U.S.-chartered plane as ex-soldiers
leading a bloody rebellion neared Port-au-Prince, the capital.

Now in South Africa, Aristide has accused the United States of orchestrating
his ouster and insists he remains Haiti's democratically elected leader. The
United States denies his charges and says he signed his resignation before
he boarded the plane.

Brazil has kept 1,200 soldiers in Haiti since May as part of a multilateral
U.N. force. According to a U.N. resolution in April, the multinational force
should have 6,600 soldiers and 1,600 police.

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Please join us in writing these persons to tell them you support Brazil's
role in Haiti. Please forward the following message to the addresses below:

Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations
webmaster@mre.gov.br

Brazilian MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS
webmaster@mc.gov.br

U.N. Chief of Communications in Haiti
TouissantKongo-Doudou
kongo-doudou@un.org

Dear Friends of Haiti,

The Haitian community wishes to express our wholehearted support for your
dedication and sacrifice to bring peace and security to our country. You now
have first hand evidence of the criminal tactics deployed by the lavalas
government against the Haitian people. You now realize as we do that the
Lavalas regime was little more than a narco-state providing expert lip
service to democracy and black rights via its hired mercenary propagandists
here and abroad. As you can observe firsthand the criminal Lavalas regime
has brought nothing to the Haitian people nor to mankind other than the
deadly spectacle generated by 15 years of corruption, drug-trafficking,
hatred and barbaric violence. Aristide is nothing more to Haiti than Pablo
Escobar was to Columbia: A drug lord disguised as Robin Hood. Imagine if
Escobar had become President of Columbia.

Keep the faith, the Haitian people appreciate and thank you for your
support.

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