Thousands of Haitians March in Support of Aristide

[Khephra]

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - Thousands of Haitians marched on Friday to show support for former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and called on the international community to include Aristide in the search for peace in the troubled Caribbean country.

The march was peaceful, in contrast to other recent demonstrations against an interim government appointed after Aristide was ousted in February.

Protesters kept to slum areas where support for Aristide still runs deep and Haitian police and Brazilian-led U.N. troops trying to keep the peace did not intervene.

"There cannot be peace, reconciliation and democracy without Aristide," said rally organizer Samba Boukman. "Denying Aristide is denying a majority of the Haitian people."

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6931977

[peacetalksforall]

1. Just this morning, I was grieving for Haiti and wondered how long it has

been since I've heard any news. I made a note to check in at Amnesty International. Thanks for the update.

So Reuters is bringing us this - wonder if the NBCs will.

[bhikkhu]

2. I don't expect much. Everything to do with Haiti

seems to disappear from the news. NPR is usually a reasonable source for such things, but I still don't understand how spin-doctored their coverage of the coup was. And now the country seems to be a non-story.

[struggle4progress]

3. kick

:kick:

[scarletlib]

4. kick

These people have courage

[Judi Lynn]

5. If it weren't for what Bush has done to Iraq it would be possible to say

one has NEVER seen a country so vilely abused as Haiti has been by _Bush's dirty, contemptuous, utterly bloodthirsty actions.

I would think he's going to HAVE to go back on the sauce permanently if he intends to drown what's left of his conscience. His entire circle of confederates are probably hammered most of the time, anyway. How COULD they look at anyone in the eye who's not like them?

Poor, poor Haiti. We have seen it (the population) beaten nearly to death, and no one powerful enough to help has stepped forward. They are so poor, they can't buy the attention of advocates in the media, as if there were any moral voices left there.

[bhikkhu]

6. I wish it were only *

but doing some googling - apparently Carter was very anti-Aristide as well. And a part of the Clinton deal to reinstall Aristide was US access to Haiti's markets, which had the effect of collapsing Aristide's self-sufficiency programs and ruining much of the economy. Leading somewhat directly to the coup.
I am not well versed on the history, but it seems the country hasn't gotten an even break in a very long time.