30849: (news)Holmstead - Real reason for Haiti raid (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

FROM: John Holmstead

Real reason for Haiti raid
Monterey County Herald July 26, 2007

by John Yewell

Monterey County Herald - There were new suggestions
this week that a raid 10 days ago by Haiti's police
and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration may have
been an attempt to silence one of the leaders of a
2004 coup that toppled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide - a coup many believe was orchestrated by the
United States.

Guy Philippe, the target of the raid, avoided capture
and is now in hiding. He has since been heard on
Haitian radio claiming his attempted arrest was for
political reasons.

Between his alleged drug affiliations and human rights
abuses, Philippe has few friends in the government of
current Haitian President Rene Preval or in the United
States. But according to a report this week by Kevin
Pina, writing for the Haiti Information Project, there
may be another explanation for the DEA grab.

According to Pina, on May 27, after the arrest of
Wilfort Ferdinand, another coup participant, Philippe
went on Haitian radio and "began to name names of
business and political leaders who backed the
paramilitary insurgency against Aristide's government
by providing arms, ammunition and logistical support."

"High on (Philippe's) list," Pina continued, "was Andy
Apaid, the leader of the civil society organization
called the Group 184."

Seven weeks after Philippe's radio broadcast, the DEA
went after him.

In July 2004, Salon reported that Group 184, along
with a group called the Democratic Convergence, was
supported by the International Republican Institute,
dominated by Bush loyalists and funded by the National
Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. Agency for
International Development and conservative groups.

Aristide's supporters have long suspected American
support in the overthrow of his democratically elected
government. Now here is Philippe, a man they had
vilified, pointing a finger that leads to the U.S.
government.

Salon quotes Thayer Scott, then communications
director for the IRI, saying that the "IRI played an
advisory role in Group of 184's formation." Hardliners
in Group 184, Salon reported, "tapped Guy Philippe, a
U.S.-trained former Haitian police chief with a
dubious human rights record," to lead a coup.

The IRI's liaison to the Haitian opposition was
Stanley Lucas, who, according to the New York Times,
was accused by U.S. Ambassador Dean Curran of
undermining diplomatic efforts in Haiti. The IRI
denies this.

"Stanley Lucas was not IRI's 'point man in Haiti,'"
said Lisa Gates, IRI press secretary, in an e-mail to
The Herald. "In fact, IRI was not operating in Haiti
during the time in question."

That's not what the Bush administration was saying.
During a Senate hearing on March 10, 2004, 10 days
after Aristide's overthrow, Sen. Christopher Dodd,
D-Conn., asked Roger Noriega, then assistant secretary
of state for the Western Hemisphere, about a USAID
grant to the IRI that specifically limited Lucas'
activities.

"The approval of the new grant was conditioned on the
IRI (Haiti) director, Stanley Lucas, being barred from
participating in this program for a period of time
because the U.S. ambassador in Haiti had evidence that
he was undermining U.S. efforts," according to Salon.
"Is that not true as well?" Dodd asked Noriega.

"Yes, sir," Noriega said.

"Is Stanley Lucas still involved?" asked Dodd.

"As far as I know, he is still part of the program,"
Noriega replied.

The connection between Lucas and Philippe is less
clear. Philippe says they are old friends, and the
Times suggests there is circumstantial evidence the
two worked together. The IRI says the USAID
investigated their alleged connection in 2004 and
found "no evidence."

But USAID, which has international skeletons in its
own closet, shares political sympathies with the IRI.
Claiming it exonerates the IRI is a little like Bush's
2000 election being certified by Katherine Harris, who
was Florida's secretary of state at the same time as
she served as the co-chairwoman of Bush's Florida
campaign.

Without question, Philippe and Lucas shared contacts
among Aristide's opponents, and Andy Apaid may have
been the fulcrum. Within 24 hours of Apaid rejecting a
political compromise with Aristide, according to
Salon, Philippe launched his coup, which ended with
the U.S. hustling Aristide out of the country against
his will.

And if Pina is right, Aristide's opponents, including
the IRI, might be plenty nervous with a talkative
Philippe on the run.




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