25325: Saint-Vil (Pub) Haiti Trying to Put Out Fire: Arsonists, Please Abstain ! (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Jean Saint-Vil <jafrikayiti@hotmail.com>

In response to June 8, 2005 GLOBE AND MAIL article by Jeffrey Simpson:
(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20050608.COSIMP08/TPStory/TPComment/)

YES, HAITI IS ASKING FOR HELP: THE GLOBE SHOULD ASK 'WHY AND WHAT TYPE OF 
HELP?' by Jafrikayiti

Dear Mr. Simpson,

With all due respect sir, your article published this morning in the Globe and 
Mail reads like a paid advertisement from the Department of Foreign Affairs. 
This is not what one would expect to read from an independent national 
publication.

Yes, there is a mess in Haiti today. Yes Haiti needs the help of fellow human 
beings living across the world, including Canada. But, the pertinent questions 
your article fails to courageously ask or even attempt to honestly answer are 
the following: how and by whom did this mess come about? And what kind of help 
are Haitians asking for?

I am a son of Haiti and a Canadian citizen who, for quite some time now, have 
been following this “test case” for a “failed state” as you refer to it in your 
article. The mess you see in Haiti today is in no small way the result of the 
arrogant, short sighted and racist foreign policy being applied by our 
government for the past few years.

As described in the attached open letter to Senator Romeo Dallaire, the People 
of Haiti had chosen their own path through democratic elections back in 2000. 
However, under a modern version of the “White man’s burden” doctrine now dubbed 
“Responsibility to Protect”, the government of Canada decided to work with the 
Bush administration and France to undo the elections of 7000 Haitian State 
Officials, put in their stead non-elected thugs whom they thought they could 
better control from afar. Some of the puppet “leaders” imposed on the Haitian 
population are convicted criminals (Jean Tatoune, Louis Jodel Chamblain etc…) 
others are not even Haitian (Andre Apaid).  Perhaps, you can understand why 
Haitians are not surprised at the result. Would you entertain having imposed 
upon Canadians Karla Homolka as Mayor of Ottawa and Timothey McVey as Prime 
Minister of Canada, Mr. Simpson?

Indeed, the People of Haiti are asking for help. They need help to free 
themselves from this foreign- imposed mess. They need help finding courageous 
journalists willing to investigate the facts, beyond the official face-saving 
lies coming out of Ottawa, Paris and Washington. They need help to regain their 
God-given right to self-rule.  This is why a number of nations across the world 
as well as "Peace with Justice" individual activists and organizations refuse 
to recognize the non-elected Uncle Tom Regime of Port-au-Prince. The solution 
is none other than to return the rule of Haiti to Haitians, via 1) the return 
of their exiled elected officials and 2) genuine national elections decided by 
Haitians, not foreign powers.

In the final analysis Mr. Simpson, we, sons and daughters of Haiti who are 
trying hard to differentiate arsonists from firemen, would fair much better if 
most others would kindly and minimally agree to no longer block the path to our 
water source. Haitians did not start this fire alone, but they are the only 
ones suffering its consequences. If one cannot help, at least one can choose to 
let Haiti live!

Encl.
Jean Saint-Vil
Gatineau, Québec
For authentication call (819) 595-6967