» Archive: Haiti
January 13, 2006
Haiti's Deadly Class Divide
Class war takes on a new meaning in Cite Soley
by Leslie Bagg and Aaron Lakoff
Port-au-Prince, January 10/06 - Driving into Cite Soley on January 8th, the day Haitians were supposed to go to the polls in a presidential election, there is no mistaking the fact that we are entering an occupied zone. The streets are almost deserted, the atmosphere tense, and UN armored personnel carriers patrol the streets.
Cite Soley, one of Port-au-Prince's poorest neighborhoods, is home to around 500,000 people living in abject poverty. According to Jean-Joseph Joel, the Secretary General of the local branch of Fanmi Lavalas, the area's residents are virtual prisoners, and their movements restricted by armed police at checkpoints. Vilified as bandits or chimeres by the elite-run press, he says they face persecution if they do manage to escape the neighborhood. There is no work and signs of malnutrition are obvious in the children.
read more...January 07, 2006
Firing the Supreme Court
So there's this country with a non-elected government that's backed by Canada, right? The one where the Canadian government has specifically taken a major role in "rebuilding" the police and justice systems?
Does anyone remember that time that Globe and Mail and CBC and other leading media sources had big headlines about the fact that the "interim" Haitian government fired five Supreme Court justices?
Neither do I.
July 25, 2005
Haiti Solidarity, One Blog at a Time
Writer/Haiti Action Committee activist Ben Terrall blogs from Haiti.
A couple of solid new articles discuss Canada's role in Haiti. Both indicate how this story is finding it's way into broader indymedia circles. The first one is Mike Smith's, originally published in Toronto's Now Magazine, "Canada's Quiet War." The other one, by Ron Carten in The Republic, explains, based on interview with Yves engler how "Canada Subverts Haiti."
Speaking of Indymedia, the mother website has featured the Haiti crisis on its front page twice recently, the most recent focus being the arbitrary arrest and detention of Priest Gerard Jean-Juste. His crime? Feeding the poor and joining them in their call for Aristide's return.
Another solid blog, 'La Luchita'
Also, Shirley Pate's Haiti: The Gaza Strip of the Caribbean"
July 19, 2005
UN Massacre in Haiti
Village Voice: Haitians Accuse the U.N. of Massacre
What's undisputed in this case is that some 300 U.N. troops descended on the shanty town at 3 a.m. on July 6, rolling through in tank-like APC's, or armored personnel carriers. Witnesses say they shot up pretty much everything, in some accounts in a battle with armed gang members loyal to the ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But while eyewitnesses and human rights workers say a minimum of 20 people, including women and children, were gunned down, some through the walls of their shacks, the U.N. says no civilians were harmed.Warning: graphic photos.
One Haitian human rights worker, who says he cannot risk identifying himself for fear of being shot to death by the Haitian police or those working under the direction of the U.N., captured some of the gore on film from which stills have been taken.
May 04, 2005
Neo-cons on the Rise in Haitian Affairs
The Narcosphere takes a look at the Neo-con Haiti "Democracy" Project...
And Ira Kurzban, former attorney for the Haitian government, decries John Bolton's role in the transfer of arms to Haiti's U.S. and Canada-backed death squads...
Maxine Waters has called on Senators to investigate Bolton's role in fuelling the killing machine in Haiti.
May 03, 2005
Haiti's PM Neptune's Life Hangs in the Balance
May 2, 2005
Demand a Stop to the Forced exiling of Yvon Neptune from Haiti
Please send appeals immediately
(Also: Sign the petition demanding release of Yvon Neptune)
*
Yesterday, May 1, 2005 there was an attempt to force Yvon Neptune out of Haiti with the condition that he cannot return without being charged for the trumped charges he is currently on a hunger strike to protest. After our urgent action alert, Ap changed its story to say that Prime Minister Neptune would be going to the Dominican Republic for medical care, neglecting to mention, he would then not be allowed back into Haiti.(see below, "Yvon Neptune reportedly will be forced into exile" by Marguerite Laurent, May 1, 2005 and, "Attny. Marguerite Laurent on Fanmi Lavalas broadcast, Radio Soleil, May 1, 2005
March 21, 2005
Canada and Haiti, action, news
Haiti Solidarity B.C. delivers U of Miami's human rights report to five NDP MP's on global day against war and occupation. See here...
Also, see Canada's Duplicitous 'Leadership' in Haiti, by Anthony Fenton.
And this just in, see Cesar Chelala's Japan Times piece, Human Rights and Public Health in Haiti...Significantly, Chelala corroborates an assertion made several months ago by Kevin Pina on Flashpoints Radio, concerning 600 bodies that had collected in the State hospital in the wake of the new wave of violence, beginning on September 30th when Haitian police fired on unarmed demonstrators. Chelala writes:
"Last October, the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince called the Ministry of Health demanding emergency vehicles to remove more than 600 corpses that had been deposited there, the result of killings that had taken place in the previous weeks."
March 17, 2005
Haiti Resource Page
Be sure to check out the Haiti Resource Page at Autonomy and Solidarity, for the latest news, commentary and analysis pertaining to the ongoing occupation and de facto colonization of Haiti's poor majority.
February 28, 2005
Police fire at Hundreds killing at least two
Associated Press has reported that Haitian Police have fired on protesters, killing two on the first anniversary of Aristide's 2004 ouster.
January 25, 2005
Hear Tom Griffin on Haiti Human Rights, Co-op Radio Wednesday
Tune in at 7:00 P.M. PST, 10:00 EST, Wednesday, January 26th. The topic of discussion will be the University of Miami's recently released explosive human rights report. If at all possible, don't miss this show...Vancouver's Co-op Radio, with host Charles Boylan and "Wake-Up With Co-op" Correspondent Anthony Fenton.
January 24, 2005
Haiti Human Rights Report
Last Tuesday the Center for the Study of Human Rights at the University of
Miami Law School issued a groundbreaking human rights report, based on
wide-ranging interviews with businessmen, grassroots leaders, gang members, victims of human rights violations, lawyers, human rights groups and police and
officials from the UN and the Haitian and U.S. governments, and observations in poor neighborhoods, police stations, prisons, hospitals and the state morgue. The report examines the violence committed against Haiti's poor majority, and
shows how institutions that should protect the poor- the police, the government,
the UN, the public health system- are actually contributing to the violence.
The report also sheds light on US government programs that employed current
government officials to undermine the authority of their elected predecessors.
The whole report, including compelling photographs, is available at www.ijdh.org.
January 12, 2005
Haitian Intifada and Solidarity
Stan Goff's latest Haiti analysis, "The Haitian Intifada," is now available for all to read. Part One and Part Two.
Thanks to Vancouver-based blogger Arnie Hoffman for this heads up...
Have a look at Yves Engler's latest, "Haiti Solidarity." Engler went to Haiti at the end of December to investigate conditions since Aristide's ouster on February 29th, 2004.
In case you missed Roger Annis's "Against All Odds: Haitians Protest Illegal Regime, Foreign Occupation," it appeared again in the latest edition of Seven Oaks Magazine
January 11, 2005
Canadian Money Laundering in Haiti
On the same day that the IMF announces $17 million for "post-conflict" reconstruction in Haiti, Canada announces approximately the same amount to be allocated to Haiti's elections, slated for later this year. Canada's contribution to Haiti's election process exceeds that of both the U.S. and the EU. These both come within days of the World Bank's forking some $73 million to the puppet regime, though only after Haiti paid off its odious $53 million debt to the World Bank. And how did it pay this debt off? Why, with the help of a $12.7 million grant from Canada. Important to note that the World Bank, IMF, Canada, EU, U.S., all withheld money from the Haitian government under Aristide, beginning in 2000 after the legitimate elections that were fraudulently labelled as fraudulent by the OAS and other putschists.
Canada's financial committments are publicly framed in the context of "support to Haiti through the ICF (Interim Cooperation Framework), which emerged from the donor's conference held in July. Canada was also top donor at this event, and we now are beginning to see how they plan on spending the $180 million thus committed. Peruse the ICF (.pdf) document, and you'll see that there is a disturbing amount of emphasis on the need for "reintegrating" former Haitian soldiers into society. They don't specify how this is to be done, only that it is to be done, in the midst of eventually building a 20,000 strong [presumably highly repressive] police force. This should be seen in relation to the recent announcement that former soldiers would be receiving back-pay for their efforts as part of a $29 million 'death squad welfare' package, a move that Congresswoman Maxine Waters and 13 other members of congress have condemned. Some obvious questions arise given the scenario above are: how much of this (bloody) $29 million is coming from Canada, and how much of Canadian cash is going to be used to buy weapons now that the 13-year U.S. arms embargo on Haiti has been lifted?
January 09, 2005
Latest Haiti
A bunch of news, commentary, and analysis on Haiti to peruse:
*Attorney Tom Griffin appeared on NPR on January 6th, revealing some of his extensive findings from a recent investigative trip to Haiti...Should you tune in, you'll also hear Griffin's interesting exchange with NPR's correspondent in Haiti, Amelia Shaw. Shaw, who the NPR assures is a credible and objective journalist, also works for Population Services International, a USAID-funded Republican front group, on whose Board of Directors sits none other than Frank Carlucci, head of the Carlye Group and former Defense Secretary under Ronald Reagan.
*Socialist Voice's Roger Annis breaks down some analysis with a Canadian focus, as does Tim Pelzer, writing for People's Weekly World.
*In a very important piece anthropologist Greg Beckett explores the "Silencing of the Present in Haiti."
*The Haiti Information Project has posted the usual heavily supressed realities of the UN misdeeds with the pictures to prove it, "UN Occupies Bel Air," and UN Helps Squash Followers of Aristide in Haiti." [Canadian readers note: whenever you see "UN" bear in mind that the CIVPOL aspect of the mission is commanded by the RCMP's David Beer, while all UN logistics are being coordinated by members of Canadian Forces.]
*Last but not least, the Narconews's Benjamin Melancon looks behind the recent debt and dependency issues and activity at the World Bank in his "Wealthy Nations Give Haiti Under Dictatorship Aid Denied Democracy."
January 05, 2005
Why Are the Impoverished and Disenfranchised Haitian People Being Forced to Pay
Debt Breeds Dependency Equals Foreign & Corporate Domination
by Marguerite Laurent
Why is war-torn Iraq giving $190,000 to Toys R Us? For the same reason the
Haitian people are being forced to pay the bloody Haitian military ten years
back pay. It's what Naomi Klein calls "the upside-down morality." (See Naomi
Klein's article on Iraq. "Why is war-torn Iraq giving $190,000 to Toys R Us? Iraqis are still being forced to pay for crimes committed by Saddam" by Naomi Klein, Saturday October 16, 2004, The Guardian )
December 29, 2004
Haiti's de facto Dictator Pays off Former Brutal Military
Port au Prince, Haiti (HIP)-
"The US-installed regime of Gerard Latortue has begun making compensation payments to Haiti’s former brutal military in an apparent move to reward them for their role in overthrowing the democratically elected government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide."
December 27, 2004
Mayor in Hiding Speaks, Christmas in Haiti
Jean-Charles Moise, democratically elected mayor of Milot, addressed the world on December 23rd, on Flashpoints Radio. Here are his words, heart-wrenching and transcribed.
In a similar vein, please read the Haiti Information Project's recent editorial Christmas in Haiti.
December 23, 2004
Jean-Juste and Tom Griffin interviewed
Democracy Now! recently conducted a very important interview with recently released political prisoner and Priest Gerard Jean-Juste and attorney Tom Griffin, who reports on a recent trip to Haiti.
Watch, listen, or read here...
December 19, 2004
Goff on Haiti
Go to Left Hook, scroll down a ways, and listen to Stan Goff's "What is happening in Haiti?" an important talk given earlier this month to the People's Organizaiton for Progress. Goff, a former U.S. soldier who travels frequently to Haiti, refers to the resistance as a "Haitian intifada" in the face of imperialist occupation, where a number of "no-go zones" have been established by Haiti's resistance in Northern Haiti, indicative of a "rural insurgency" of sorts. If you have a subscription, be sure to read Goff's "The Haitian Intifada: a Story of Politics, Black and White, High and Low" at From the Wilderness
December 14, 2004
Haiti is not for sale
Yves Engler: Haiti is not for sale
Enough. The Canadian government must support democracy in Haiti. The first step is to stop providing cover for the terrible repression going on.
Canada must remove itself from all discussions about withholding Haitian sovereignty or making Haiti a UN protectorate. Canada must call for the return of the elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and begin paying reparations to those victimized in the past nine months. Then, we should provide proper levels of aid to build both human and physical infrastructure.
Will Canada do this? Only if we build a movement for Haitian solidarity.
November 23, 2004
KLA thugs, Canada in Haiti
The latest issue of Seven Oaks Magazine is up; their "Seven Questions" features an exchange with Haitian-Canadian activist Jean Saint-Vil, author of a recent strongly-worded letter to Paul Martin.
Fenton's latest article "Kosovo Liberation Army helps establish "protectorate" in Haiti is also up.
November 11, 2004
Haiti Report
Haiti Konpay is a new Haiti Solidarity organization based in Haiti. Check out their latest Haiti report, an extensive rundown of the latest on the ground Haitian realities.
The latest Flashpoints interviews with Kevin Pina are up "Haiti and Bush" at Znet and "Latortue Regime's Facade Crumbling" at Autonomy and Solidarity.
Days after GWB's re-selection we learned that Paul Martin will be the first of the primary war criminal heads-of-state to visit Haiti to have a look [from armoured SUV convoys] at his handiwork. Just like his daddy, Paul Martin Sr., who did so, for example, as number two man to Prime Minister Lester Pearson during the Vietnam War, Martin Jr. is helping to take the load off his war-mongering counterpart to the South in a show of "solidarity." Both Martin Sr. and Jr. now have experience at feigning neutrality while denying the reality of their own hawkish nature, not to mention actual involvement in these acts of aggression, war crimes, war propaganda, and war profiteering.
Discussed in the latest Pina interview is the resignation of electoral council member Roselor Julien, who was disgusted by, among other things, the $112 million proposal put forward by the Group of 184, the usual suspects led by Andy Apaid, sweatshop king, coup financier, and friend of Canada and Gildan Activewear, to bring electronic voting to Haiti. Will this be of the Diebold or Venezuelan type of setup? Either way, they'd better run on batteries, or Hydro Quebec had better make some fast bids on "reconstruction" projects.
Counterpunch posted an inspirational letter by jailed priest Gerard Jean-Juste, where he names names:
"I thank of all of you who advocate for my release, all who demand the release of all political prisoners, under the "de facto", illegal, unconstitutional Latortue-Alexandre government imposed facistically by the administration of Presidents G.W. Bush, Jacques Chirac, and Prime Minister Paul Martin."
November 05, 2004
Haiti: Poverty's Abstract
Check out Jason Chesworth's "Haiti: Poverty's Abstract" at Scene and Heard, a solid publication which also has strong pieces on Canada-US relations and the Missile Defence fiasco.
In the context of missile defence, Jack Layton 'accidentally' brought up Haiti in the House of Commons during an exchange with Paul Martin:
Layton: Will he [Martin] say today that he will respect the values of
Canadians and say no to missile defence?
Paul Martin (Prime Minister, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada will work with the U.S. administration on a vast multitude of files and we will certainly reflect our values; our values which are being reflected in Haiti at this very moment; our values which are being reflected in Afghanistan at this moment...Those are Canadian values and we will continue to push our value system wherever we are."
Translation: "Canadian values" expressed in Haiti and Afghanistan function to worsen the lives of the majority of these populations. If BMD is consistent with these values - which, since 'BMD is really all about the Project for a New American Century's designs on weaponizing space - then of course Canada will be along for the ride.
October 26, 2004
Haiti Disinformation, Coup Connections, RCMP's dirty deeds
See the latest news on the latest UN-RCMP-Haitian police raids.
Fenton looks at the National Post's recent exercise in Haiti disinformation
Mother Jones looks closely at the International Rebulican Institute's coup-assistance and planning efforts.
October 24, 2004
Latest on Haiti
As always, check out the Haiti Action Committee's latest.
Read the latest interview with Flashpoints Correspondent Kevin Pina, transcribed and readable at Autonomy and Solidarity's new Haiti Resource Page.
Dr. Kwame Nantambu has written an extensive piece, "CARICOM-Haiti-U.S. Relations: Afrocentric View".
October 12, 2004
Concannon, Fletcher on Violence in Haiti
Oregon's KBOO Radio report on Violence in Haiti
by Jacob Fenston, Brian Concannon, and Bill Fletcher
“Over the past week a new wave of violence has erupted in the
hurricane-ravished Haiti. The Associated Press has reported the beheadings
of several police officers in Haiti. The beheadings reportedly are the
work of supporters of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in what
they’ve dubbed “Operation Baghdad.” But human rights groups in Haiti say
there’s little evidence that the beheadings were the work of Aristide
supporters. They blame the violence on government forces. KBOO’s Jacob
Fenston reports.”
Bevy of Haiti news and analysis
The Council on Hemispheric Affairs cuts through mainstream distortions like a hot knife through butter, with their latest "Violence in Haiti: Colin Powell and Gerard Latortue Blame Aristide, When the Blame Lies With Them."
Writing for People's Weekly World, Tim Pelzer discusses the recent escalation of repression in Haiti.
Also see the latest Flashpoints interview with Kevin Pina, transcribed and posted on Znet.
Last, but by no means least [or exhaustive], Global Research has posted an important piece by Haiti's former drug czar and defense minister and one of Haiti's most widely respected political actors, Patrick Élie, who dates the origins of this year's coup to the assassination of journalist Jean Dominique on April 3, 2000.
October 05, 2004
McDonough's Letter to Pettigrew on Haiti
Below is a letter sent to Pierre Pettigrew by NDP foreign affairs critic Alexa McDonough last week. She clearly needs to be pressured to take a *much* stronger stand than that demonstrated in the letter. The timing is now crucial, as parliament has resumed.
You can contact McDonough, e-mail: mcdona0@parl.gc.ca, or call her office at 613-995-7614, or her assistant Anthony Salloum: 613-794-1070.
read more...October 03, 2004
Urgent Haiti Action Alert
First, read about the stand-off at the independent radio station Caraibes which resulted in the illegal arrests of former [see: overthrown] Lavalas officials.
Next, read about the aftermath, how the arrests went down, and the gamut of human rights abuses that have taken place since Aristide supporters demonstrated for his return en masse beginning September 30th.
Finally, follow the advice [and directions] of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership and take URGENT ACTION against these illegal detentions and human rights abuses.
Canadian contact information to follow...
October 02, 2004
Haiti Protests: UN/Brazilian Troops Stand-by as Haitian Police Provoke Violence
On September 30, supporters of Aristide took to the streets commemorating the 13-year anniversary of his first overthrow and were fired upon indiscriminately while UN troops stood by.
September 23, 2004
Haiti Floods and more...
Flashpoint Radio interviews Kevin Pina, who provides the political context to this that is *completely* absent from corporate coverage. Read the transcript of the interview here ,or listen to the Tuesday, September 21st broadcast at Flashpoints.net
Fenton's latest commentary is up: "From Monroe to Bush...to Martin? Failed State Doctrine in Haiti
Also, read up on the latest human rights delegation "Worsening Conditions Continue to Plague Haiti," from the latest issue of Worker's World
September 22, 2004
New Haiti Analysis
Extensive piece by Charles McCollester, "Haiti Matters!" in Monthly Review
Press
Vancouver Co-op Radio's Charles Boylan interviews Kevin Pina, "Rolling Back Haiti to Colonialism"
UBC Professor Claude Adams discusses poor journalism in "Blindsided in Haiti"
September 21, 2004
Haiti Updates
Interview with Anthony Fenton in the latest issue of Seven Oaks
*Important,* Human Rights Office Attacked by reactionary thugs in Haiti:Haiti Action Committee
September 17, 2004
'Haiti's 9/11' and 'Untold Story' of Aristide's Overthrow
See: Lavalas Braves Climate of Terror to March and Demand for Aristide's Return:
"September 11th is a date well-fixed in the consciousness of progressive Haitians. It marks the anniversary of a brutal massacre in Aristide's former parish of St Jean Bosco in 1988 as well as the anniversary of the slaying of Lavalas supporter Antoine Izmery in 1993. To honor the victims and demand the restoration of democracy to Haiti, thousands of Lavalas activists took the streets this September 11th and braved the climate of terror that has gripped the country."
and
Kevin Pina's latest on Black Commentator One Man's Democracy is Another Man's Chains:
"In the days preceding Aristide’s overthrow a press report surfaces that causes panic in the U.S. State Department. An undisclosed Venezuelan diplomat is quoted as saying his government is prepared to provide unilateral assistance to the Haitian government under the terms of the Rio Treaty and the Democratic Charter of the Organization of American States."
September 15, 2004
Interview With Denis Paradis on Haiti Regime Change
Interview Conducted September 11, 2004
Despite Paradis contradicting what he himself told Vastel, which was also, according to Vastel, corroborated by the French government, Paradis denies that regime change was discussed in January 2003.
I will be following this up soon with an analysis of the "Responsibility to Protect" to which - as you will see - Paradis refers repeatedly, like a mantra. Clearly, it is a corollary to the emerging Failed State Doctrine that has "evolved" in the broader post-9/11 Bush Doctrine and the 'war on terror,' which the Canadian state is fully committed to waging.
September 14, 2004
Foreshadowing Haiti Coup - The 'If at First you don't succeed' M.O.
Look at this 1993 LA Times article that shows the modus operandi of the "political opposition" in Haiti. At the time they were openly in bed with the U.S. supported death squad FRAPH, and the military regime that overthrew Aristide, led by Raoul Cedras. These tactics re-emerged in February of 2004. The difference this time around has largely to do largely with public opinion.
9/11 gave the "opposition" the "diplomatic" support they needed for reinstituting authoritarian rule to Haiti. Where in 1991 the OAS, the UN, followed by the U.S., Canada, etc. condemned the coup and acknowledged Aristide's Presidency, everyone was on board this time around thanks to a significant 'Orwellian shift' by way of the invocation of imperial doctrines such as the "Responsibility to Protect" and the emerging Failed State Doctrine.
Where Western governments actually brought about the "failure" of democracy in Haiti, they simultaneously managed public opinion through their control of the mainstream [corporate] media. The *real* propaganda war of the "low intensity" variety, manufactured the perception that Aristide was "failing," brought about the "justification" for intervention, "legalised" through the new post-9/11 'war on Terror' framework, which effectively re-legalises imperialism [or, at least the "option" of imperialism], by suspending the parts of the UN Charter pertaining to state sovereignty and the right to self-determination. They can do this when the "international community" [see: "rich white people"] deems a country to have failed to maintain their conception of "good governance."
read more...CNN Interview With Jean-Bertrand Aristide
If you haven't read this CNN interview, conducted on March 1, 2004, the day After Aristide was kindapped by "foreign" forces, please do so. It is very revealing. It is clear why the U.S. and France scuttled attempts to investigate the circumstances of his "departure."
Given the mysterious RDI broadcast the night of his overthrow, which announced that Canadian troops had secured the Port au Prince airport, one has to wonder the extent to which Canada was involved on the ground during the kidnapping. It was proven on March 3rd that it was Canadian Joint Task Force Two special forces that flew to Haiti on February 25th, joining five others who were already there.
Bear in mind also that South Africa, where Aristide is living in exile, is still recognizing him as the legitimate President of Haiti...
September 09, 2004
Congresswoman Waters Slams Canada's Liberals for Duplicity in Haiti
Press Conference yesterday on Capitol Hill:
"These former members of the Haitian Army are the same thugs and killers that carried out the coup d'etat that overthrew President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the democratically-elected President of Haiti, on February 29, 2004, with the cooperation of the United States, France, Canada and the Haitian opposition's Group of 184."
[...]
"The United States, France and Canada created this mess, and they have an obligation to clean it up. There can be no democracy in Haiti until these thugs and killers are disarmed."
Read on at www.haitiaction.net
September 08, 2004
URGENT: Bush's Policy Returns Predators to Haiti
Dear Friends,
As I write this, Haiti's former military is being allowed by the Bush administration and the United Nations to return to power. While the U.S. and U.N. have been quite effective in backing the current regime and its police in arresting and persecuting members of the Lavalas political party, they have done absolutely nothing to challenge the former military and their allies from seizing and controlling territory in Haiti. The summary executions, political murders, brutal repression and corruption in the areas they control are a mere foreshadowing of what daily life will look like in the country if they are allowed to resume their traditional role in Haitian society.
read more...Live From Occupied Haiti: Interview With Kevin Pina September 8th
Tune in live to Vancouver's Co-op Radio, for an hour long interview and discussion with journalist and filmmaker Kevin Pina, 7:00-8:00 P.M. PST Wednesday, September 8th.
Pina will join host Charles Boylan along with Anthony Fenton.
Pina is co-editor of the Black Commentator.
Show will be archived at Wake Up With Co-op
September 04, 2004
Interview With Ben Dupuy of Haiti's National Popular Party
In the latest issue of Socialism and Liberation
Q: Do you have a message you would like to give to the progressive movement, the working-class movement in the United States, who want to support the struggle of the Haitian people?
Yes, I think it is very important for U.S. progressive forces to understand the dynamics of the struggle in Haiti and to be aware of the force of the traditional media in shaping public opinion. Sometimes even progressive people fall victim even unconsciously to this form of propaganda. We think that the struggle in Haiti should not be looked at from a racialist standpoint but from a class struggle standpoint, and as a struggle for national liberation, which is the only basis that can create the conditions for a new socialist society.
August 28, 2004
Prisons in Haiti: Attica of the Americas
by Justin Felux
"Both places have a population of several million, mostly dark-skinned people. In both places, those who are able to find work can only obtain poverty wages under conditions that differ from slavery only in name. The right of the people to vote is not respected. The lights only stay on for a few hours a day. People are often raped, beaten, and even killed with impunity. Those who manage to get out of either place are usually apprehended by the authorities and returned, regardless of whether or not their return is warranted. One is the country of Haiti. The other is the U.S. prison-industrial complex. At first glance, the U.S. government's policy of black mass incarceration and its policy of undermining democracy in Haiti don't seem to have much in common, but on a basic level, they have nearly everything in common."
August 27, 2004
Real News From Haiti
TODAY'S HEADLINES, From L'Agence Hatienne de Presse [AHP], posted at www.haitiaction.org.
Former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune says he is a political prisoner of the current government which he accuses of wishing to destroy Fanmi Lavalas
Further condemnation of the trials of Chamblain and Joanis: Bernard Gousse is on the hot seat
The GDP reacts again to the promise made by Bernard Gousse to open an investigation into what might have happened at La Scierie
The Chamblain/Joanis case: CONAP affirms that the country will not accept the shameful trial of August 16
The women of MOFAVAH and members of Fanmi Lavalas hold another sit-in calling for the release of all political prisoners
GDP writes to the director general of Radio Métropole seeking the right of response to a broadcast seen as defamatory toward senior officials of the Aristide government
The threat of a boycott of the opening of classes in the North of the country
The Education Minister continues to face a strike by examination graders
Catch up on reality in Haiti...
COINTELPRO, soccer, and the water in our eyes
by Malaika Kambon, SF Bayview
"In much the same way that the Brazilian soccer team was used as a prop for the illegal, U.S.-installed, terrorist Latortue regime in Haiti, the main exporter of terrorism, George W. Bush and the U.S. seek to use the Olympic Games and the Iraqi soccer team as “proof” of an alleged U.S. “defeat of terrorism” and to justify murder and occupation in Iraq while masking the stealthy stealing of Iraqi oil."
Read on at SF Bayview, "National Black Newspaper of the Year"...
August 26, 2004
Updates on Haiti's "Freedom Fighters"
New graphic details on the reign of terror of US-backed Haitian paramilitary deathsquads...
August 25, 2004
Haiti Assassination Trial An Affront to All Those Who Have Worked and Died for Justice
by Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti Thursday, Aug. 19, 2004 at 9:14 PM
"In the early hours of August 17, a sham trial in Port-au-Prince acquitted notorious Haitian rights abusers Jackson Joanis and Jodel Chamblain of the 1993 murder of businessman Antoine Izmery. Neither the judiciary nor the prosecution made even the minimum effort required by law to pursue this important case. The absence of effort combined with top Haitian officials' public support for Chamblain and his colleagues compels the conclusion that Haiti's interim government staged the trial to deflect criticism of its human rights record without alienating its military and paramilitary allies. The trial is an affront to the thousands of people who have worked and sacrificed for justice in Haiti over the last fifteen years."
Read on at www.indybay.org
Congressman Conyers: Remarks for Haiti's Bicentennial
JOHN CONYERS JR.
Today, this Bicentennial "Cruise Into History" is a hopeful rededication to Haiti's future.
It caps several years of effort, under Ron Daniels inspiring leadership, to reintroduce the United States to the physical and cultural beauty of Haiti and its people. I salute Ron and everyone else who joined his cruise. Sadly, this cruise also comes at a time of terror and tragedy for most Haitians. It sails with a heavy cargo of history..
August 24, 2004
Blood on the Hands: A Survey of Canada's role in Haiti
From the Latest Issue of Seven Oaks Magazine
by Roger Annis
"The capitalist media in Canada presented the coup as a popular uprising against an unpopular regime. Since then, they have kept a discreet censure about conditions in Haiti under imperialist occupation. New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton spoke not a word about the ongoing tragedy in Haiti during the federal election campaign in May and June. Trade union leaders have also been silent.
The truth urgently needs to be told about Ottawa's crime against the Haitian people."
August 14, 2004
CBC's "The Current" Discusses Canada's Coup-Plotting in Haiti
What do you get when you combine "public" radio, a mainstream reporter, a former ambassador, a political activist, and a modern day imperialist?
An interesting cocktail of reality [see Michel Vastel, Jean Saint-Vil, and Lionel Hurst], versus neo-imperial doublespeak [see James Morrell]. Notice how Morrell, of the Haiti Democracy[as in, apartheid] Project confronted with the reality of Canadian coup-plotting against Haiti, attempts to squirm his way out of questions, ducking and deflecting the whole way, peppering his answers with well-worn lies and disinformation.
Why did CBC have a Washington-based organization on the show instead of a Canadian one anyway?
Word has it that the show was supposed to have Saint-Vil and Morrell debating one another. When Morrell realised that *reality* was going to be discussed, he demanded that they structure the show differently, so that he wouldn't have to confront Saint-Vil, following the typical modus operandi [see: cowardice] of coup planners and their apologists.
read more...August 13, 2004
Haiti Occupied: Full Support from US, Canada for Illegitimate Regime
by Harold Lavender*
The Haitian people are once more suffering under the heels of a US -led occupation and a repressive regime that replaced democratically elected President Jean BertrandAristide. In June thousands took to the streets to demand the return of Aristide as President. To Haitian activists the new regime under Gerard Latortue is no more legitimate than the governments of 1915-1934 under US Marine occupation. At the same time, the illegitimacy of the regime goes largely ignored in North America and Europe.
read more...The Case of Haiti: Failed State or Failed Media
by Jared Ferrie, writing for Latin American Connexions
"Catholics and Communists have committed great crimes, but at least they have not stood aside, like an established society, and been indifferent. I would rather have blood on my hands than water like Pilate."
- Graham Greene, The Comedians
If Shakespeare were alive today, the recent events in Haiti could have provided fodder for one of his tragedies. Consider the central character: Jean Bertrand Aristide. He is a ruler who is lionised by his people, but fails to meet their expectations, a man with many enemies, forced to make unsavoury alliances in order to survive, sold out in the end by his so-called friends. And of course, there is the inevitable bloodbath...
August 08, 2004
Were Canadians involved in a massacre in Haiti?
Investigations into what happened the night of March 12 in Belair, Haiti reveal a potential massacre as US forces invaded and overthrew the elected government of Aristide. Canada's special forces may have participated in the spree.
"On July 29th, the Commander of the Canadian Forces contingent in Haiti, Lieutenant Colonel Jim Davis, acknowledged to a well-attended media teleconference call that at least 1,000 people had been killed in Port-au-Prince since February 29th . He also acknowledged that occupying forces took part in a massacre of between 40 to 60 Lavalas civilians in the neighbourhood of Belair on March 12th."
See the rest in the latest issue of The Republic
August 07, 2004
Canadian Racist Imperialism Invades Haiti
Canadian Liberal Imperialists: Organizers of the Invasion and Occupation of Haiti
Charles Boylan* Interviews Jean Saint-Vil**
Charles: Jean, welcome to the show. You've recently been speaking at public events, providing people with an education about an aspect of the history of Latin America and the Caribbean, specifically, Haiti, where you are from originally. Attending your presentation last night, I found this very enlightening. Tell us a little bit about your presentation and last night's meeting in Vancouver.
Jean: Last night I had the pleasure and honor of being invited by
StopWar.ca to make a presentation, entitled, "Haiti: Fighting White Supremacist Terrorism: Before Napolean I, Beyond Bush II". The presentation focused on the fact that the history of terrorizing people on the American continent is something that really begins in full force with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492, and that this has specifically targeted non-whites.
July 27, 2004
Human Rights Horrors in Haiti
By Anthony Fenton
On July 19th, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti released a nineteen-page report: ‘Human Rights Violations in Haiti: February – May 2004.’ [1] One is immediately struck by the copious documentation and graphic detail of the report, and this is, according to the IJDH, “only a tiny fraction of the violations committed during the period covered.” Information is difficult to come by because “many victims or relatives are in hiding”, and many have a “fear of further retaliation.” Additionally, the areas under the control of the “rebels”[note US-supported], have largely been inaccessible, with the coverage relegated to Port au Prince and the Central Plateau. Perhaps the most telling detail is the commonality amongst victims:
“With the exception of four victims and for those whom it has not been possible to obtain their identity, interviewees have reported that the victims were supporters of Aristide or Haiti’s former constitutional government.”
read more...July 24, 2004
Gildan Activewear: Taking Sweatshops to new depths in Haiti
by Anthony Fenton
“Let’s look at it from the point of view of the people of Bangledesh [or Haiti] who are starving to death, the people of China [or Honduras] who are starving to death, and the only thing they have to offer anybody that is worth anything, is their low cost labor. And, in effect, what they are saying to the world…they have this big flag that says ‘come over and hire us, we will work for 10 cents an hour because 10 cents an hour will buy us the rice we need not to starve’ and ‘come and rescue us from our circumstance’, so when Nike [or Gildan] comes in they are regarded by everybody in the community as an enormous godsend.”
- The Fraser Institute’s Michael Walker, excerpt from the critically-acclaimed documentary The Corporation
June 28, 2004
Haiti's Prime Minister Yvon Neptune Arrested
June 27, 2004
Last week, the Constitutionally appointed Prime Minister of Haiti, Yvon Neptune, courageously came out of hiding after his initial first statement demanding an investigation of the Coup D'etat back in early March, 2004 and publicly denounced the systemic political repression of the Haitian people by the un-elected Latortue U.S.-backed regime.
This morning, Sunday, June 27, 2004, at 10:00 am, Yvon Neptune, Haiti's legitimate Prime Minister was arrested by the imported U.S. dictator, Gerald Latortue.
read more...June 27, 2004
Canada’s Martin Faces An Uncertain Fate in Upcoming National Elections
Washington-based Council on Hemispheric Affairs [COHA] tells Canadians how it is on Haiti...
• Scandal casts shadow over Liberal Party’s prospects
• An inept foreign policy on Haiti, with Bill Graham totally out of his depth
• Martin’s aping of U.S. contrived policy towards Aristide makes Haiti a non-issue in the campaign
On Monday, June 28, Canadians will go to the polls in general elections called by an increasingly beleaguered Prime Minister Paul Martin, in a last-ditch bid to rejuvenate his own fading mandate. The reputation of the long-dominant Liberal Party, now led by Martin who only inherited its mantle and tattered liberal credentials as of last December, has ever since been steadily eroded by a stream of corruption charges and recent political setbacks, as well as his fawning courtship of the Bush administration. This has raised the prospect of a rare political upset in-the-making as the result of next Monday’s vote.
June 16, 2004
A U.S. Photojournalist and a U.S. Lawyer Investigate the Murder of Cassey Auguste
I am a photojournalist and traveled to Haiti from May 29 to June 4, 2004. I
traveled with an immigration/asylum attorney who practices in Philadelphia.
We were traveling to Haiti to bring medical and office supplies to a hospice
in Port au Prince. Several people who learned we were traveling asked us to
look into two different events that happened since President Aristide left
the Haiti. Among these people were attorneys from Haiti and the United
States; family members of those involved and journalists. We summarize
below what we learned about one of these cases, the murder of Cassey
Auguste.
June 14, 2004
Big guns stoke war to prove blacks can't rule
June 13, 2004
The United Nations is a failure, says Jean Baptiste Aristide, the former Haitian president. And he is relieved that the United States-backed Organisation of American States is investigating his unlawful ousting.
Aristide fled Haiti on February 29 during a coup he insists "had the blessing of the UN".
June 13, 2004
Interview with Paul Farmer in Haiti
Haiti now, from the inside
After the flooding and the departure of Aristide, former Hernando County doctor Paul Farmer fights more difficulties in providing care to the poor.
By DAN DeWITT, Times Staff Writer
Published June 13, 2004
In January, the St. Petersburg Times visited former Hernando County resident Dr. Paul Farmer, who has provided health care in central Haiti for more than 20 years. We interviewed him again recently to ask how his organization, Zanmi Lasante, withstood last month's flooding and the political uprising in February, when U.S. troops arrived in Haiti and former President Jean-Betrand Aristide departed.
read more...June 12, 2004
Black Community Will Not Vote for Candidates Who Endorse the Coup in Haiti...
Black Community Will Not Vote for Candidates Who Endorse the Coup in Haiti and Support the Ongoing Plunder and Genocide in Congo-Kinshasa
- Press Release, June 10, 2004 -
News reports revealed that some Canadian politicians were implicated in the February 2004 coup d'état in Haiti (L'Actualité, March 2003; National Post, March 9, 2004) while others contributed to the current looting and genocide of four million Congolese in the Democratic Republic of Congo (U.N., October 16, 2002; BBC News, June 7, 2004). The Afro-Canadian community calls on all citizens not to vote for candidates that may, in any way, be considered accomplices in these tragedies.
For further information: CHORHA (Comité des Haitines de l'Outaouais): (613) 663-6274; AAfCa (Assembly of Afro-Canadians): (613) 878-7333.
June 10, 2004
FRANCE Must Return the Charles X Ransom to Haiti
Haiti demands Restitution of the 1825 Ransom Exacted by France as Compensation for the Repeal of Slavery
Open Letter to the People of France
June 6, 2004
"Citizen of France, you are probably unaware that your government is currently committing a number of crimes against Haitians (1), an impoverished people whose history has some very unfortunate and unpleasant connections to that of your own.
We take this opportunity to alert you to this fact and to call upon your sense of honor to disavow and help redress the wicked and despicable actions that the government of Jacques Chirac and Jean-Pierre Raffarin have thus far committed, in your name, against Haiti."
June 03, 2004
Letters Replying to anti-Haitian Propaganda
Check out Kevin Skerrett's response to Ta-Nehisi Coates's Village Voice Article
"How disappointing that Ta-Nehisi Coates chose to highlight the expenditures of the Aristide government on a handful of beltway lobbyists, without providing any explanation for why it might have made these expenditures.
[...]
Understanding Haiti's recent history, and the despicable role played by the U.S. government in its suffering, is a prerequisite for putting Aristide's "mistakes" in context.
See also Fenton's Response to Peter Dailey's May 20th letter in the London Review of Books:
An interview with Haitian attorney Marguerite Laurent
Black is the color of liberty
by Wanda Sabir
Marguerite Laurent has a visual presence that is just as striking as her written one, which is how I met her initially. Born in the Haiti, her family moved to New York in 1968 when her dad couldn't keep steady employment under the Duvalier regime. Proud of her heritage, more specifically a cultural and religious legacy vilified by colonists and their henchmen in her homeland, the fiery sister has taken on the task of rectifying this slander through her poetry, dance and legal advocacy.
June 02, 2004
Latest Znet Haiti Articles...
"Propaganda and Destabilization in Haiti"
by Fenton...
and...
"Chile in Haiti and Iraq" by Roberto Manriquez
The Time Has Come to Re-ignite a Vast Movement of Working People Against War and Occupations...
The Time Has Come to Re-ignite a Vast Movement of Working People Against War and Occupations and for Fundamental Social Change in America
By RALPH SCHOENMAN
Working people—the vast and overwhelming majority of the population—confront an unprecedented crisis. The government and the State itself have been captured by a tiny oligarchy of the corporate rich. They have hijacked our political process in a class war of the privileged few against the exploited many.
Haiti's Coup and the Constitution
Boston Haitian Reporter, June 1, 2004
Brian Concannon Jr.
In the debate over Haiti's events of February 29, we have heard from almost all angles. We have heard from opponents and supporters of the elected government and its replacement, and from officials from France, the U.S., the Caribbean and Africa. We have not, for the most part, heard from the law. Although both the new and old government claim "legitimacy" (from the Latin word lex, or "law"), there has been little analysis of what Haiti's law requires in the circumstances.
read more...May 31, 2004
Statement by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide
May 30, 2004
Kingston, Jamaica
As my family and I prepare to leave Jamaica for South Africa, I once again
thank Prime Minister Patterson, the people of Jamaica and the entire
Caribbean family for hosting us during this very special time. We extend
this heartfelt appreciation on behalf of the Haitian refugees as well. For
them too it's a special time.
May 28, 2004
Let Them Eat Gruel in Haiti
by Justin Felux
May 27, 2004
The track record thus far of Gerard Latortue's puppet regime in Haiti indicates that Randall Robinson was being too generous when he referred to the U.S.-supported Prime Minster as a "buffoon." He has praised the murderous coup leaders as "freedom fighters" and accused his opponents of being preoccupied with "black power" (something he obviously doesn't have much use for). Energy and sanitation conditions are on a downward spiral while the cost of living is skyrocketing. The cost of rice has doubled. Latortue's callous and arrogant solution is for Haitians to "change their dietary habits by henceforth consuming more corn gruel, cassava root and other foods seen to be less expensive and of lesser quality," according to AHP.
Read the rest of this story here
May 26, 2004
STATEMENT FROM ANNETTE AUGUSTE (So Anne) from Haiti Prison
Dear Friends,
So Anne is a prisoner of conscience in Haiti arrested for her political
beliefs. Please distribute this generously and for more information on how
to help with the campaign to free this brave and dear soul please see:
http://haitiaction.net/News/hac5_11_4.html
For further background please see:
http://haitiaction.net/News/HIP/5_12_4.html
http://haitiaction.net/News/HIP/5_24_4.html
May 25, 2004
Haiti and the insanity of "official" denial
May 24 , 2004
Anthony Fenton
From the latest Issue of Seven Oaks Magazine
As many as nine peaceful demonstrators were killed in Haiti on May 18, as tens of thousands of people took to the streets despite the risk (and reality) of violent repression by international forces and a militarized Haitian police force. These demonstrators were calling for an end to the illegal occupation by US, Canadian and French forces, and for the return of overthrown President Jean-Bertrand Aristide [See: Haiti Action Committee]
Read the rest of this story here
May 21, 2004
Coup d'Etat - This Time in Haiti
In 1953, the CIA overthrew Iran's democratically elected government. It took 47 years to report that coup d'etat to the American public. Twenty-seven years after the CIA engineered the coup that ousted Chile's democratically elected president, the agency's report finally saw the light of day. How long will it take for the United States government to admit its role in forcibly removing the Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, whose people had elected him with 80% of the vote?
read more...May 19, 2004
Haitian Police kill peaceful demonstrators
May 18, 2004
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Special Forces units (CIMO) of the Haitian National Police (PNH)
killed Lavalas demonstra-tors today in Port-au-Prince as a larger
U.S. Marine "peacekeeping" force of about 50 soldiers stood by.
About 6,000 Lavalas demonstrators in one of many separate marches
tried to converge near the Champ De Mars for a larger demonstration.
The march had been planned for some time and the organizations that
planned the march received written approval by the PNH to hold this
demonstration on Haitian Flag Day.
May 11, 2004
Urgent Appeal from Occupied Haiti
URGENT ACTION APPEAL
*****
Re: Campaign One - Stop U.S. military and brutal political repression of
unarmed Lavalas civilians and systematic de-mobilization of the mass electorate by
big U.S. and Haitian business and their Western military forces in Haiti.
Arrest of So Anne and handcuffing of five-year old Shashou by full metal
jacket U.S. soldiers in the dead of night in Haiti.
From: Haitian Lawyers Leadership Network
Date: May 10, 2004
May 06, 2004
Black Caucus Meets Haitian Prime Minister; Critics Bristle
Date: Thursday, May 06, 2004
By: CHRISTINA ROYSTER-HEMBY, BlackAmericaWeb.com
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus held a morning meeting with
interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue Wednesday. Afterward they
met with Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss rebuilding Haiti, the
crisis in Iraq and upcoming G-8 and NATO summits.
CBC Chairman Elijah Cummings told Powell that caucus members "are
concerned about the humanitarian problems and efforts currently ongoing in
Haiti," Paul Brathwaite, CBC executive director told BlackAmericaWeb.com.
Statement on the Current Situation of Workers, the Labor Movement, and Human Rights in Haiti
Tuesday, May 4th, 2004
From: The International Labor/Religious/Community Fact-Finding Delegation to Haiti (April 26-May 2nd) organized by the San Francisco Labor Council
A nine-member international labor/religious/community fact-finding delegation has just returned from a week spent in Haiti. Its objective was to assess and report on the current situation of Haitian workers, the Haitian labor movement, and the state of human rights in that country. Within this mandate, particular attention was given to understanding the new realities following the coup d'etat that deposed President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on 29 February 2004. The brief statement, which follows, is an initial report on our findings.
read more...Haiti Update X: The Six Month Plan
http://www.africana.com
By Avi Steinberg
May 5, 2004
http://www.africana.com
Once progress is declared, the US will forget about Haiti and the
country will fall into the hands of the criminals who are now poised
to take over.
April 19, 2004
Haiti Q&A with Anthony Fenton #2: US and Canadian involvement in mass killings
[In the coming weeks, I'll be conducting a long-form debriefing interview with Anthony Fenton, who recently returned from Haiti. The goal is to get relevant information into public view. If you have any questions you'd like to ask Anthony, add them in the comments section below.]
There have been a number of claims that US and Canadian forces in Haiti were either involved in mass killings of pro-Aristide Haitians, as well as claims that they allowed armed gangs to fire on peaceful demonstrators. What evidence has come forth to support or discount these claims? What evidence is there that suggests direct Canadian involvement in the reported killings?
I would put the most credible reports at approximately 1,500 people murdered since February 29th, with at least 1,000 of these actually taking place on or around the night of the 29th, when Aristide was overthrown. I know of two individuals who have photographs of the morgues which held at least this many bodies, one of them being a photographer with a major news service who has refused to print these photos out of fear for reprisal.
read more...April 15, 2004
Haiti Q&A with Anthony Fenton #1: Rules of Engagement
[In the coming weeks, I'll be conducting a long-form debriefing interview with Anthony Fenton, who recently returned from Haiti. The goal is to get relevant information into public view. If you have any questions you'd like to ask Anthony, add them in the comments section below.]
What are the official rules of engagement for US and Canadian troops operating in Haiti? Can you talk about some examples of how their military power is used?
Essentially, all 'multinational' troops operating currently in Haiti fall under the rubric of the UN Security Council mandated force, effective March 1st, 2004. The US has of course been overseeing this force. The following summarizes neatly the rules of engagement that the US have been following since March 11th:
U.S. Marines sent to quell violence in Haiti have received new orders to seize guns from Haitians they encounter on patrol and to open fire, if necessary, to prevent further killings, the senior American commander in the region said yesterday." (Washington Post)read more...
February 29, 2004
Haiti Commentary
Black Commentator: "In willful ignorance and with every bad intention, the U.S. corporate media ask the ridiculous question, Should the US intervene in Haiti, or not? The bloody answer screams back from the Haitian mountains and cities: Washington has already intervened militarily in Haiti, through its surrogates’ armed invasion from the Dominican Republic."
Democracy Now: "Many of the men leading the armed insurrection in Haiti right now are well known to veteran Haiti observers and, for that matter, the US intelligence agencies that worked closely with the paramilitary death squads which terrorized Haiti in the early 1990s. People like Louis Jodel Chamblain, the former number 2 man in FRAPH, Guy Philippe, a former police chief who was trained by US Special forces in Ecuador and Jean Tatun, another leader of FRAPH."
Body and Soul: "Whatever the reasons for Bush's dislike of Aristide, it's becoming more and more obvious that this administration is not remotely interested in any sort of "political solution," as they've been suggesting. They simply want Aristide gone, and don't seem particularly concerned with what amalgamation of business elites and death squad leaders takes his place. If this administration were interested in compromise, we wouldn't have a Republican congressman saying that Aristide has two choices -- he can leave in a plane, or leave in a body bag."