25603: (reply) Chamberlain: 25598: Bob Corbett (ask) Aristide's "Pere Lebrun" speech (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

> " Ah Le père Lebrun, il sent bon le père Lebrun, il sent bon le père
Lebrun".

> As best I can tell, nothing of that sort is in the actual speech.

> Can anyone add to this.  Is this whole story a myth or is the text I have
on
my web page not accurate?



The transcription is quite accurate.  The invented quote above is what
happens when people's imagination and passions get to work, along with the
passage of time (14 years ago now).  Of course he means that it's the Pè
Lebrun that smells good and that's what everyone (pro and anti) interpreted
it as at the time.  But when challenged, he was able to speciously claim he
was only referring to the Constitution smelling good, which can also be
read (at a stretch) from the text.

Similarly, when challenged a few hours after his departure last year about
his "kidnapping" claim, he was quoted as saying (I think to Rep. John
Conyers): "Well, it felt like being kidnapped..."

The "Pe Lebrun" speech is an amazing performance (whatever the morality of
it).  Unfortunately, the recordings made at the time only pick up his words
but not the enthusiastic reactions of the crowd, which can only be heard
very faintly in the background.  Or is there a recording which includes
both?  Don't forget that when he spoke, he had already been told (by his
aides, notably Renaud Bernardin) that he was about to be overthrown (three
days later) by police chief Michel François (Cedras was forced to front the
new regime after being threatened by François), so it was a desperate
last-ditch effort to head it off.



        Greg Chamberlain