25093: Ives: (news) Haitian Community in NYC to protest Latortue's visit (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: K. M. Ives <kives@toast.net>

Coalition to Defend the Haitian Flag
P.O. Box 100614, Vandeveer Station, Brooklyn, NY 11210

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 12, 2005
CONTACT: Jacques Dossous, 917-337-6702, Kim Ives, 718-434-8100, Jan Stefan,
718-629-4050, Marguerite Laurent, 203-829-7210

HAITIAN COMMUNITY TO DEMONSTRATE AGAINST VISIT OF HAITI'S DE FACTO PRIME
MINISTER

Hundreds of Haitians and their supporters will demonstrate on Saturday, May
14, 2005 from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. outside the Puck Building at 295 Lafayette
Street in Manhattan to protest a fundraising event where the de facto Prime
Minister of Haiti Gérard Latortue will be honored.

The $250-a-plate gala affair, entitled the 201st Haitian Independence
Celebration Fundraising Ball, is sponsored by the Haitian Consulate, the
Association of Haitian Physicians Abroad, the weekly newspaper Haitian
Times, and the National Medical Association.
But a coalition of Haitian grassroots groups is organizing a protest action
against Latortue's visit, which falls near the May 18th anniversary of the
Haitian flag.

"Haiti today is under a reign of terror," said Jacques Dossous of the
Lavalas Family party, one of the organizations calling the demonstration.
"Latortue's government has killed thousands, illegally jailed hundreds more
and driven the vast majority into unprecedented poverty. He is a puppet of
the U.S. and France, which orchestrated the coup and military occupation."
President Jean Bertrand Aristide was kidnapped from his home by U.S. Special
Forces soldiers on Feb. 29, 2005 and was flown into exile in Africa.

"They are trampling our flag and constitution," said Berthony Dupont of the
Haiti Support Network, another demonstration sponsor. "Just as the people in
Haiti demonstrate every week against the government, we here in New York are
also going to let Latortue feel our outrage and determination to fight for a
return of democracy in Haiti."

The coalition of groups sponsoring the demonstration also includes the
National Popular Party (PPN), Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network, KAKOLA,
Komite Chalo Jaklen, Lakou New York, Patizan Jezikri and Pawòl Fanm.

The coalition is also organizing a march on Wednesday, May 18 from 3 to 8
p.m. from the corner of Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue to Vanderbilt
and St. Mark's Avenue, where they will demonstrate at the offices of the
Haitian Times, a Latortue booster.

"We are demanding an end to Haiti's military occupation and puppet
government, an end to the slaughter of the Haitian people, no sham elections
this fall and the immediate return of President Aristide," said Jan Stefan
of the Komite Chalo Jaklen.
North American organizations such as the ANSWER Coalition and the
International Action Center (IAC) are also supporting the demonstrations.

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