Delegation Supportive of Aristide Blocked From Visiting Or Speaking With H

[Dirty Hippie]

Delegation Supportive of Aristide Blocked From Visiting Or Speaking With Him in Central African Republic

A delegation from the United States has arrived in the Central African Republic to meet with overthrown Haitian President Jean Bertrand-Aristide. President Aristide was taken involuntarily to the Central African Republic following a U.S. coup d'etat on February 28. The group was granted visas on Thursday and Friday and departed the United States on Friday evening.
...
"We were stopped at the gates by a guard who contacted a Central African Republic official inside the building. A representative of the Central African Republic came out to speak with us," Ives reported. "We asked to go in to visit President Aristide and were told we could not. We asked if he could come out to see us, and we were told no. We asked if we could send in a note or our phone number, and we were told no. The official then told us that he had spoken with the Minister of Defense and that Aristide was not allowed to receive visitors."
...
"The world has been told that President Aristide is free to come and go, and that he has simply chosen not to leave," said Sara Flounders of the International Action Center. "The fact that our delegation has been denied all forms of contact with President Aristide confirms, in fact, that he is being kept under lock and key, at this point not even able to communicate by phone."

http://www.buzzflash.com/buzzscripts/buzz.dll/sub3

[donsu]

1. Free Aristide Now!

isn't it wonderful what the bloody hands bushgang does in our name

isn't it terrible that we can't stop them

[eablair3]

39. IAC requests people to take action on this

http://www.iacenter.org/haiti-alert1.htm

[I AM SPARTACUS]

41. IAC . REQUESTS. PEOPLE . TO. TAKE. ACTION. ON. THIS.

(deserved a loud echo...and the site makes it easy to saturate the media...)


<snip...>
HELP CIRCULATE THIS PRESS RELEASE TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH THE HAITIAN PEOPLE

Click on the following link to send an e-mail to your local and national media outlets urging them to cover this important story: http://www.capwiz.com/votenowar/issues/alert/?alertid=5296001&type=ME

After you click on the link, simply follow the easy-to-understand instructions. You will first enter your zip code and press "go." You will be taken to a list of media outlets. You can select the media outlets you want to send to and then choose "compose a message." You can then add your customized message (if you would like) and send the email.

Email circulated by: A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Act Now to Stop War & End Racism

Share this page with a friend
<snip...>

[WillyT]

42. Done And Done !!!

:kick:

[eablair3]

43. done and .. do it

[Just Me]

2. This situation is becoming increasingly outrageous!!!

I mean, damnit!!!! There just has to be international outrage at this kind of crap!!!

[WillyT]

3. We Need To Get South Africa (Nelson Mandela) Speaking Out On This !!!

Aristide was 'supposed' to end up in SA, what's the fucking hold up???

We need to get Mandela and Reverend Tutu complaining LOUDLY to the media. Otherwise, Aristide is apparently being held in America's 'newest' Guantanamo Bay. Guess we're gonna have one on every continent pretty soon.

:grr::nuke::mad:

[struggle4progress]

49. They're Paying Attention

05 Mar 04
South Africa calls for probe into Aristide's exile
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa says it backs a call by Caribbean states for an international probe into circumstances surrounding the exile of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2835802a12,00.html

04 Mar 04
South Africa has joined calls for an independent investigation into claims that Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was forced out of office. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/3534085.stm

03 Mar 04
Caricom draws South Africa into the loop over Haiti
Likely to coordinate response with Mbeki
Patterson told reporters that Mbeki, who attended the 200th anniversary of Haiti's independence on January 1, had told the Caricom leaders that there was a "close and continuing interest" in South Africa in the situation in Haiti. Mbeki's government had donated about US$1 million to Aristide's government to help finance the independence celebrations and at the ceremony he had hailed the importance of Haiti - where slaves defeated slave owners to create the world's first black republic - to black people around the world and its inspiration of its history to anti-apartheid fighters in pre-democratic South Africa. Shortly before Aristide ouster, it was reported in the South African press that Mbeki was sending arms to help shore-up Haiti's demoralised police force, but this was never confirmed.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040302T220000-0500_56547_OBS_CARICOM_DRAWS_SOUTH_AFRICA_INTO_THE_LOOP_OVER_HAITI.asp

[Just Me]

4. kick

,...evidence of a form of imprisonment should mean something,...and is additional proof of a form of oppression/suppression which is an anti-democracy behavior,...doncha' think?

[WillyT]

5. Yep... Basically He's Under 'House Arrest' In Another Country !!!

This continues to violate all sorts of laws!!!

But then... with our current criminal government, who's really surprised???

:nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke::nuke:

[eablair3]

16. it's not "basically" is it?

this just proves we can do away with the "basically" qulaifier .... Aristide is under house arrest in a country ruled by those who came to power in a coup and are backed by the U.S. and the apparently France, too. No wonder the U.S. chose to fly him there.

They whisked him out of the country to a country ruled by those who they control and who came to power by coup.

Wow, .. they really are supportive of democracy.

What a joke.

[WillyT]

17. Basically... You Are Correct, LOL !!!

:hi::silly::hi:

This situation makes me angry on so many levels, I really don't know where to begin!!!

:argh:

[eablair3]

19. i agree

it makes me angry, too, to see my country engaging in things like this once again. It's not like it's the first time. But, it's just one of the most recent. And, it's tragic.

[Just Me]

6. I also take note of the fact that,...

,..."windansea", "mobuto" and "spartacus" keep bumping up what they please,...which I view as coup-like tactics,...and it is really pissing me off. I take such manuevers, personally!!!!

[I AM SPARTACUS]

7. HEY, I gotta say it...get yer head out yer ass...

I figure I've a right to put my two cents in where I see fit. How the fuck am I "coup-like"...???

I asked ya to clarify before, and you ducked out of the oppotunity...so, c'mon, spit it out and let's get it cleared up...

And I'll clarify about why I think ya got yer head up yer ass - you lump me in with windansea and mobuto - you're WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY off base there, and way outaline...

[I AM SPARTACUS]

8. I'm bumping this 'cause I'm looking for an answer, Just Me...

not to mention the fact that I think the situation in Haiti warrants a place near the top of LBN (understatement)...

[Just Me]

10. My answer to you,...

,...piss off!!!

Enough said?

[I AM SPARTACUS]

12. No, it's not much of an answer.

C'mon, spit it out - what did I write that stuck in your craw so badly?

[Just Me]

13. *LOL* I owe you NOTHING,....

,...and my response remains the same,..."piss off" :D

I must be towing you in,...huh *LOL*

See ya!!!!

[I AM SPARTACUS]

28. I don't know 'bout you towing me...but I know I pulled my weight in Haiti.

Can you say the same?

[Just Me]

56. Smooch!!!

Sorry,...sincerely.

:hug:

[I AM SPARTACUS]

57. I just loooooovvve public displays of affection...

[Tinoire]

14. You 2 need to kiss and make up lol

JustMe, I hear your frustration and it's not 'just you' but I am Spartacus doesn't deserve to be grouped there. Can I vouch for that based on our PMs? He spent many years in Haiti, cares and knows more what he's talking about than a certain propagandist. Really cares. Like you and me.

The best thing to do with that RW propaganda is to let it sink. It's not as if those same stories and points aren't mirrored at FR for those desperate enough to read them. Though you must admit it's amusing to watch posters, who are flying under the radar, reveal themselves. The more exposure their talking points get, the more naked they stand.

[eablair3]

18. the anit- Aristide and anti-Chavez posters are no where to be seen on this

... no where to be seen on this thread.

They have a hard time "spinning" this story of people being denied at the gate in CAR from seeing Aristide, even his own lawyer.

They don't want to bump this one up. I think they'd rather this thread and story get forgotten and swept under.

[Tinoire]

21. They're too busy pushing their propaganda in other threads

Honestly. The nerve of people who supported the Iraq war crawling out of the wood-work to support the coups in Venezuela and Haiti. Seems some people merely have a personality conflict with Bush as opposed to an idealogical one.

[WillyT]

23. Hey Gorgeous... Wanna Go For A March ???

We puttin our protest shoes on this month???

:hi::loveya::hi:

I'm thinkin I'll be able to swing it, you???

:shrug:

[Tinoire]

27. I will definitely be there! w/ a huge "Respect Haiti! Free Aristide" sign

Won't miss this one for the world!

This madness has got to stop!

:loveya: and really looking forward to it!

:hi:

[tkmorris]

26. Seriously

I was trying to figure out how Spartacus got lumped in there too. He doesn't belong there Just-me, really he doesn't.

:beer:

[I AM SPARTACUS]

31. Thanks, T....when you care enough to send the best...

(all modesty aside...)



psst...Just Me...in case you don't know, that's a digi photo of a passport page, one of three in my passport that are covered with entry-stamps from my work in the country...

Epi Just Me, w'fe fau, selman ti m'oun ki repond kom sa...

[Tinoire]

33. Lol You have no idea

how many times I've done the same thing and had to apologize for it. It is very, very easy to do in the heat of the passion. Greater men than we have made such mistakes. It can be hard sometimes to see through disembodied words and I think JustMe has a valid point about those threads not needing to be "fed".

What's sad is that too many people in this word have such little regard for life that they deliberately spread the propaganda of killers.

[I AM SPARTACUS]

36. I learned long ago, from direct experience - ignore the propaganda...

...at your own peril. In the field - and I think the same applies here - you critical-read the propaganda machine from major media thru local gov't mouthpiece rags to the flyers distributed on the street.

Because it's predictive of their next actions.

And getting out in front of those actions, rather than reacting after-the-fact...that's part of the humanitarian effort.

[not systems]

24. I believe you are totally wrong about...

"spartacus" but right about the other two.

[eablair3]

9. is anyone surprised by this?

I'm not. But, I'm glad to see it confirmed, and thanks to the International Action Center for going there to confirm what everyone thought. That another lie was being perpetuated -- - that Aristide is free to go.

thanks for posting this.

from the IAC:

http://www.iacenter.org/haiti-alert1.htm

HAITI ACTION ALERT:
Aristide Under Lock & Key, U.S. Delegation Says

take action to get the word out

Dear friends,

We would like to encourage you help circulate the following press release on breaking news regarding the status of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who is being held virtually incommunicado on the instructions of U.S. authorities. We have established an easy-to-use system that will allow you to send the press release to the local and national media of your choice. This system also will allow you to send a brief customized message, if you would like, to the media outlet(s) you choose. By working together around the country, we can encourage and/or pressure the media to pursue this story.

Thousands of people in Haiti have risked life and limb in recent days to demonstrate in Port-au-Prince in support of the return of the democratically elected president of Haiti and in opposition to the U.S. coup d'etat and occupation. Take a few moments to help circulate this press release to show solidarity with the Haitian people.

Below is the press release, entitled "Aristide Under Lock & Key, U.S. Delegation Says." Below the press release is the link for the easy-to-use system that allows you to send out this press release to the media outlets of your choice.

ARISTIDE UNDER LOCK & KEY, U.S. DELEGATION SAYS

March 7, 2004

A delegation from the United States has arrived in the Central African Republic to meet with overthrown Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. President Aristide was taken involuntarily to the Central African Republic following a U.S. coup d'etat on February 28. The group was granted visas on Thursday and Friday and departed the United States on Friday evening.

The delegation includes Kim Ives from the Haiti Support Network, and Johnnie Stevens and Sara Flounders from the International Action Center. Ives, Flounders and Stevens are representing former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Also on the delegation are Brian Concannon, acting in the capacity of President Aristide's lawyer; and Katherine Kean, a friend of President Aristide.

Kim Ives, a personal friend of Jean-Bertrand and Mildred Aristide, said "This morning, the delegation went to the Palace of the Renaissance, the presidential compound where President Aristide is being held." Mr. Ives had spoken to the Foreign Minister on Thursday to inform him that the delegation was coming to the Central African Republic to meet with President Aristide.

"We were stopped at the gates by a guard who contacted a Central African Republic official inside the building. A representative of the Central African Republic came out to speak with us," Ives reported. "We asked to go in to visit President Aristide and were told we could not. We asked if he could come out to see us, and we were told no. We asked if we could send in a note or our phone number, and we were told no. The official then told us that he had spoken with the Minister of Defense and that Aristide was not allowed to receive visitors."

Mr. Ives also reported that he placed a call to the cell phone that the Aristides have been using to place calls to their friends, attorneys and the media. "Mildred Aristide answered the phone. I said, 'Hello Mildred, this is Kim Ives, we are here.' At that point, the phone line went dead. We have tried to call many times since then but there has been no answer."

Brian Concannon is also a member of the delegation, acting in the capacity of President Aristide's attorney. Standing outside the gates of the compound where President Aristide is being held, Mr. Concannon requested to meet with President Aristide alone for a consultation. This was also denied.

"The world has been told that President Aristide is free to come and go, and that he has simply chosen not to leave," said Sara Flounders of the International Action Center. "The fact that our delegation has been denied all forms of contact with President Aristide confirms, in fact, that he is being kept under lock and key, at this point not even able to communicate by phone."

"The U.S. and French governments chose to take Aristide to the Central African Republic, a formerly colonized and impoverished country," said Johnnie Stevens of the International Action Center. "The Central African Republic, similar to many formerly colonized countries in Africa and around the world, has been isolated and underdeveloped because of the past policies of France, the U.S. and other colonial and neo-colonial powers. The U.S. and France should be paying reparations to the Central African Republic."

To schedule an interview with a member of the delegation or to get more information, contact Sarah Sloan or Brian Becker at 202-904-7949 or 202-544-3389.

[nolabels]

30. The democratically elected President of a country of 8 million

Kidnapped at gun point, flown to a puppet dictatorship on a another continent and locked away from the rest of the world.

The people who did it have more to fear than the people it happened to. Guess the kidnappers haven't figured out why crime don't pay

Though I bet Al Capone would have been proud of some of these folks for how long they have been able to stave things off

http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/mob_bosses/capone/chapter_11.html?sect=15

The Final Chapter


Initially, Al was a prisoner at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta and quickly became its most famous prisoner. There were charges almost immediately that he was living "like a king." While that was certainly an exaggeration, he clearly lived better than the rest of the prisoners. He had more socks, underwear, sets of sheets, etc. than anyone else. He maintained these extravagances by virtue of a hollow handle in his tennis racket in which he secreted several thousand dollars in cash.
(snip)

On edit: Copone was only lucky enough to suffer from what was then incurable disase in prison before he finnaly died after being released on GOOD BEHAVIOR.

Think it's time to listen to "Alice's Rest-e-rant"

[AspenRose]

11. This stinks to high heaven

:thumbsdown: :kick:

[eablair3]

15. Brian Concannon

I have heard Brian Concannon interviewed on Pacifica Radio and on Flashpoints. He sounded like a very reasonable and very credible source to me.

Apparently, he had worked for years in Haiti as a lawyer in helping to prosecute and convict many of the murderers and human rights violators that had power in Haiti's past. Many were convicted over the years after trials under the rule of law. Now, all those people have jsut been released by the "rebel" opposition.

[R Hickey]

20. Free Aristide!... Free Aristede! ... Free Aristede!

The Republican explainations of this kidnapping are going to get entertaining if we keep asking the right questions.

A freak plane crash is soon going to kill Aristede and his wife on their flight to the Union of South Africa.

[Tinoire]

22. My friend. Did you watch the House Int'l Rltns Subcmte. Hearing on Haiti?

House Int'l Relations Subcmte. Hearing on Haitian Political Situation (03/03/2004)

Still listed here as one of the top watched videos: http://www.cspan.org

and here's the Real Player URL: rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e030304_house.rm?mode=compact

If you haven't seen it; it's a "must watch". Fast forward past the pasty Bush apologists at the beginning unless you have the stomache for the same kinds of lies you can read even here at DU. The fun begins when that ass Roger Noriega is called to testify a little before the halfway point.

[eablair3]

29. I was just amazed at Dan Burton

I noticed that the chairman of the committee towrads the beginning of the hearing yielded his time to Dan Burton, who proceeded to make a speech for the whole 5 minutes of his time.

Burton proceeded to call Aristide a murderer who supported putting tires around his opponents necks, filling them with gasoline and burnign them to death. Burton called the FBI and a US Ambassador under Clinton liars wrt to an investigation of a murder there. He claimed that Aristide was paid millions for taking part in drug trafficking -- his source was some unnamed drug cartel informant who testified recently in federal court in Miami. He said Aristide was involved in selling children and slave labor and sexual exploitation. It was just amazing. Burton obviously came in to give the Republican hit piece. And, at the end, Burton says (and this is a verbatim quote): "And, as far as this kidnapping charge is concerned, anybody that knows, knows that America does not operate that way."

yes, Dan, we know.

Do these guys have "absolute" immuinity for what they say? Or, only "qualified" immunity? If it's qualified, then I'd like to see someone file an action for slander and sue the shit out of Burton andmake him prove all his statements.

[Tinoire]

32. The breadth of the lies is stunning. D Burton is backer of Prosper Avril

On Nov. 27, U.S. Senators Dan Burton and Robert Torricelli wrote to Swing about Avril, saying, It is absolutely imperative that his life, his family, and his property be assured of protection especially in light of the continued assassinations of political opponents of President Aristide and the Lavalas party.

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/191.html


Prosper Avril Released, then Rearrested

As Prosper Avril stepped out of the National Penitentiary a free man on Apr. 15, he was immediately rearrested by heavily armed policemen and charged with involvement in a 1990 peasant massacre.

Gen. Avril is a former military dictator who took power in a 1988 coup but was driven from power in Mar. 1990 by a popular uprising.

He was first arrested on May 26, 2001 at a book- signing for his work entitled "The Black Book on Insecurity in Haiti," in which he accused President Jean-Bertrand Aristide of being responsible for political violence in Haiti over the past decade. Avril was charged with the 1989 beating and torture of democracy activists and for plotting to overthrow Aristide’s current government.

But the Haitian Appeals Court ruled for his release on Apr. 11, outraging two of the torture victims, Marino Etienne and Jean Auguste Mesyeux.

Meanwhile in St. Marc, Judge Henri Kesner Noel issued a warrant charging Avril as an accomplice in the Mar. 13, 1990 assault by soldiers on the town of Piatre in the Artibonite Valley, in which 11 peasants were killed, dozens of farm animals shot , and over three hundred peasant huts burned or destroyed (see Haïti Progrès, Vol. 7, Nos. 51 & 52, 3/21/90 & 3/28/90).

The assault stemmed from a land dispute the peasants had with Olivier Nadal, a prominent Haitian opposition businessman who has fled to Miami to escape warrants charging him in the massacre.

<snip>

http://www.haiti-progres.com/2002/sm020424/eng04-24.html

Under this coup, the National Penitentiary (as well as every other prison in Haiti) was broken into by the rebels and guess who the first person freed was? Dan Burton's good thug friend, Prosper Avril. Note who Avril did his dirty deed for, Olivier Nadal, the co-founder of group 184 who is part of the NED/ IRI's "Haiti Democracy Project" right along with Roger Noriega and Timothy Carney.

http://www.haitipolicy.org/gallery.htm

[eablair3]

35. thanks and couple others

Thanks for the info. Didn't know much on Nadal. I was doing a little more reading and researchign myself and came across some recent ones that some might be interested in-

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0403/S00014.htm

the original of that is here-
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/CHO402D.html
_________

and one more I ran across"

New York Times: 12/3/95

Haitian Ex-Paramilitary Leader Confirms CIA Relationship

Washington (Dec. 2) -- The former leader of Haiti's most feared right-wing paramilitary group has confirmed that he was a paid agent of the Central Intelligence Agency from 1991 to 1994.
The former paramilitary leader, Emmanuel Constant, now jailed in a Maryland detention center on immigration charges, said published reports linking him to the CIA were true. He made his admission in a videotaped interview to be broadcast on Sunday on the CBS News program "60 Minutes," which provided transcripts to other news organizations.

"I was meeting with the CIA on a regular basis," said Mr. Constant, whose group, known as Fraph, is accused of murdering, raping and beating hundreds of supporters of Haiti's President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. "We had an understanding. We had an alliance."

Mr. Constant said he was given a code name, "Gamal," a sophisticated walkie-talkie and $700 a month in cash by the CIA's station chief in Haiti, with whom he met regularly, sometimes daily.

The meetings, he said, usually took place during long drives in the station chief's car. He said he provided derogatory information about Mr. Aristide sought by the CIA, discussed his own aspirations to be Haiti's president -- which, he said, the station chief encouraged -- and gave full accounts of his political and paramilitary activities.

"They knew exactly what I was doing," said Mr. Constant, who entered the United States illegally last year and is fighting a Federal court order that he be deported to Haiti, where he faces criminal charges.

His relationship with the CIA, he said, started shortly after a right-wing military junta overthrew Mr. Aristide in September 1991 and ended shortly before Mr. Aristide's return to Haiti under the protection of United States troops last year.

It has already been reported that leaders of the junta were on the CIA's payroll from the mid-1980's until at least the early 1990's. It also has been reported that the agency had set up a Haitian intelligence service whose members attacked Mr. Aristide's supporters, as did Mr. Constant's paramilitary organization, the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti.

A CIA spokesman, Mark Mansfield, had no comment on the agency's relationship with Mr. Constant. He said the "CIA had no role in creating, funding, or guiding the Fraph organization" or in supporting "anti-democratic activities" in Haiti.

http://a4a.mahost.org/forget.html

[eablair3]

37. and one more interesting one

http://dominionpaper.ca/haiti/

Haiti: Five facts and One Appeal

An Appeal:

Haiti is in crisis, and an entire society stands on the brink of economic and humanitarian disaster. This disaster is not the product of some unfortunate circumstance, but the direct result of policies carried out by our governments.

...

Five Facts about Haiti:

1. The US Government Backs the Haitian Opposition Financially

...

2. US Policy is Integral to Economic and Humanitarian Disaster in Haiti

...

3. The Haitian Population Continues to Support Aristide

...

4. Canada Supports US Aspirations for Regime Change in Haiti

...

5. Misrepresentation: Disputed Election is Now Referred to as "Flawed"

...

[struggle4progress]

48. Constitution

Article 1 Section 6 Paragraph 1 "and for any Speech or Debate in either House they shall not be questioned in any other place."

Looks absolute to me.

[eablair3]

51. yeah

must be nice to have absolute immunity so you can just take the floor and completely slander and malign someone.

I wonder if Burton would say these things when he doesn't have the protection of in the House.

thanks.

[struggle4progress]

25. Related

Haitian Leader Silenced In Africa? (CBS)
<snip>
Authorities on Sunday read a statement attributed to exiled Haiti president Jean-Bertrand Aristide, quoting the ousted leader as saying he's “well-looked after” by his hosts and will personally address reporters at an unspecified “opportune time.” Aristide's wife, Mildred, looked on tight-lipped as the short statement was read, but did not speak to reporters. Aristide was not present. When reporters asked her if her husband was healthy, she nodded. Asked if the couple were prisoners, she sighed.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/03/07/world/main604493.shtml

Unseen Aristide Says Well-Treated in African State (Reuters)
<snip>
Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide said in a message read out by a Central African minister Sunday he was being well-treated in the African state to which he fled last week.
But the government of the Central African Republic refused to let Aristide's wife speak to reporters at a press conference called to reassure public opinion that the ex-president was not being held a virtual prisoner.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=4513296

Are those dirty US fingerprints on Aristide's ouster?
<snip>
This stonewalling brings to mind Groucho Marx's old line, "Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes?"
<snip>
With a violence-prone US government operating with impunity in many parts of the world, only the public's perseverance in getting at the truth can save us, and others, from our own worst behavior.

http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0308/p09s02-cogn.html

[Tinoire]

34. That's Chapter 2. In Chapter 4 Colin Powell will be speaking on

behalf of Aristide. What a bunch of RATS behind this coup! Them and their defenders.

[dax]

40. -reported Fe b 11- the Gang of thugs bought out some police

http://www.haiti-progres.com/eng02-11.html

check this out-I have been posting about it and had no links-there were definitely thugs recruited prior to the coup to act as Aristide supporters and do violence specifically for propaganda purposes and to mask the more targetted slaughter of Lavalas members and supporters-(referring to day after Feb 5)

"The next day, armed men from the opposition-aligned organization RAMICOS attacked the police station 25 miles south of Gonaïves in the town of St. Marc, which also straddles the strategic main artery to Haiti’s north. They also looted and burned the customs house and some containers. The police rapidly retreated, apparently in cahoots with the attackers, for whom they left behind all the station’s weapons and ammunition. One of the station’s commanders, a former Haitian army soldier, is known to be close to fellow former soldier and rising opposition leader, Dany Toussaint, who recently defected from Aristide’s Lavalas Family party (FL).

Police complicity appears to have been involved in at least a few of the other town takeovers by the opposition. While reports are conflicting, the armed opposition appears to have, at least briefly, controlled about ten smaller towns, among them Trou du Nord, Saint-Raphaël, Dondon, Marchand-Dessalines, Ennery, Gros-Morne, L’Estère, Anse-Rouge, Petite Rivière de l’Artibonite, as well as Grand Goâve in the south. In many cases, public buildings and the homes of government officials or supporters were burned or looted. Reports of these takeovers, however real or brief, provided fuel for the panic which opposition controlled radio stations, and consequently their corporate media information dependents, have sought to spread.

So basically- atrocities supposedly on both sides are all part of the gang- another site said they only had 4,000 police in Haiti at their highest level compared to 37,000 uniformed police in New York which has about the same number of people. Like to see Bloombutt run that town with only 4,000 cops-he would be one of those failed leaders we ought to overthrow real quick.

[eablair3]

45. How to Overthrow a Government

Stepehen Kinzer who wrote "All The Shah's Men" about how the U.S. and the CIA overthrew the democratically elected government in Iran in 1954 so that the Shah Of Iran could be re-installed explained the methods employed -- in the book, and on Democracy Now last Friday, which can be viewed and heard online here:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/05/1542249

STEVEN KINZER: The story of how the C.I.A. overthrew the government of Iran in 1953 is really an object lesson in how easy it is for a rich and powerful country to throw a poor and weak country into chaos. The C.I.A. sent one of its most adept operatives, Kermit Roosevelt, the grandson of President Theodore Roosevelt, to Iran with the mission of organizing the overthrow of the government. One reason I was so interested in writing this book is that I have always asked myself, how do you go about overthrowing a government? What do you do? Suppose that you are sent to a country with that mission. What do you do on the first day? How do you start and then what do you do? Well, now I know. Kermit Roosevelt set about trying to create chaos in Iran. He was able to do that very quickly by a series of means. The first thing he did was, he started bribing members of parliament and leaders of small political parties that were a part of Mossadegh 's political coalition. Pretty soon the public started to see the Mossadegh ’s coalition splitting apart and people denouncing him on the floor of parliament. The next thing Roosevelt did was start bribing newspaper editors, owners and columnists and reporters. Within a couple of weeks, he had 80% of the newspapers in Tehran on his payroll and they were grinding out every kind of lie attacking Mossadegh . The next thing Roosevelt did was start bribing religious leaders. Soon, at Friday prayers, the Mullahs were denouncing Mossadegh as an atheist enemy of Islam. Roosevelt also bribed members of police units and low-ranking military officers to be ready with their units on the crucial day. In what I think was really his master stroke, he hired the leaders of a bunch of street gangs in Tehran, and he used them to help create the impression that the rule of law had totally disintegrated in Iran. He actually at one point hired a gang to run through the streets of Tehran, beating up any pedestrian they found, breaking shop windows, firing their guns into mosques, and yelling -- "We love Mossadegh and communism." This would naturally turn any decent citizen against him. He didn't stop there. He tired a second mob to attack the first mob, to give people the impression that there was no police presence and order had completely disintegrated. So, within just a few weeks, this one agent operating with a large sum of cash and a network of contacts and various elements of society, had taken what was a fairly stable country and thrown it into complete upheaval.

[struggle4progress]

50. Reinstalling the Shah ...

sure produced some serious "blowback" twenty-five years later.

When will they ever learn ....

[Judi Lynn]

52. So glad to have seen the deomocracynow.org link!

So the vicious Iran takeover was conducted by Eisenhower! Interesting.

On his own, he activated his mobs on the 19th of August, just four days later, in a second coup attempt. They rampaged through the streets by the tens of thousands. Many of them, I think, never even really understood they were being paid by the C.I.A. They just knew they had been given a good day's wage to go out in the street and chant something. Many politicians whipped up the crowds during those days. Roosevelt had been spending $11,000 a week just to bribe members of the Iranian parliament. There were only 90 members. The average annual income in Iran at that time was about $500. So, you can imagine what this sum must have meant. At crucial moments, police and military units joined the crowd. They started storming government buildings. There were gunfights in front of important buildings. The crucial battle, the climactic battle was actually in front of the prime minister's house. It started at nightfall. There was heavy gunfire, including an artillery duel. About 100 people were killed just in the battle in front of Mossadegh 's house. Towards the end, members of a military unit, whose leader Roosevelt had bribed, arrived with a column of tanks, and with that, Mossadegh was no longer able to survive. By midnight, on August the 19th of 1953, his house was in flames, and he had fled over the back guard wall to surrender himself a couple of days later. And the general, who was a C.I.A. -- who the C.I.A. had selected as the designated savior of Iran was installed as prime minister.
(snip)

...in less than a year after the democratic government of Iran was overthrown by the C.I.A., the C.I.A. did the same thing in Guatemala. Now, these two seemingly great successes, purchased with modest effort and relatively low cost, I think, really thrilled Secretary of State Dulles and his brother, Alan Dulles, the C.I.A. director. Bear in mind, this was a time when the United States could not invade countries of which it disapproved, because of the Soviet Union. The Red Army was always a present threat. Here was a way that the U.S. could dispose of government's it didn't like without invading. I think it was the success of the Iran coup, and the Guatemalan one that followed ten months later, that sent the U.S. government off on this direction of covert action and regime change.

The Iran coup was the first time the C.I.A. ever overthrew a government. And Harry Truman never wanted the C.I.A. to go in that direction. I even found a phrase in one of his diaries. He used the phrase, 'American Gestapo', to describe what he was afraid the C.I.A. might become if it were allowed to run loose. So, he never used the it to overthrow governments.
(snip)

[eablair3]

55. it's amazing -- the similarities

they must have a "playbook" or "manual" ... it's always the same techniques used.

The book "All The Shah's Men" is really excellent, if you haven't read it.

[sonias]

38. This is very disturbing

Aristide is a political prisoner. I agree with a poster above that Nelson Mandela should take up his cause. First the coup now they have him under lock and key. No one wants him to keep talking. I am very concerned for his life. All of the members of Congress that have been involved in getting his story out should press for his release and press for continuing the investigation into the US involvement.

Congresswoman Barbara Lee Questions Bush Administration Officials at International Relations Subcommittee Hearing
http://www.house.gov/lee/releases/04Mar03b.htm
Lee also accused the Bush Administration of supporting and sanctioning the overthrow of the Aristide Government by blaming Aristide for the opposition’s refusal to negotiate. Secretary of State Colin Powell last week called the opposition rebels "murderers and thugs," but later backpedaled to the point that the Administration issued a statement, last Saturday, that said that "the long-simmering crisis is largely of Mr. Aristide's making."

Lee summed up her disgust with the Bush Administration’s actions by accusing Noriega and the Bush Administration of "aiding and abetting" the overthrow of the Aristide Government. "Regime change takes a variety of forms, and this looks like a blatant form of regime change to me," Lee told Noriega.
(/snip)

--------------------------------------
Colon Bowell is such a disgrace to humanity.

Sonia

[Isome]

44. Where are the networks on this story?

Oh' I forgot, they're on the side of the "opposition".

[eablair3]

46. that's what I was wondering -- Haven't seen it mentioned by even one

haven't seen the mass corporate media mention this even once. However, it's not too much of a suprise. They're not likely to publish things by IAC.

And, they won't send their own reporters there, either. It's just amazing how they are lap dogs for BushCo. They are not about to criticize BushCo.

[TankLV]

47. kick

our defenders of democracy - windandsea and mobutu - are still absent, sea.

Must be tough trying to get the RNC talking points downloaded - and then practicing them to make sure they're correct!

[Judi Lynn]

53. Overnight, heard on CNN, a report which said Mrs. Aristide had called

for a press conference. CNN said that the reporters went to the room where she was getting ready to make an address, when state security forces burst through the door, walked to the front of the room, disconnected the lighting for the tv cameras, and unhooked the other equipment.

They announced she would NOT be making a statement, and that her husband would make a formal statement within 72 hours.

Why aren't we hearing from our own _Bush mob on this? They probably are taking all the time they can to devise the PERFECT LIE, or to launch a NEW DIVERSION to get our minds off this complete sin against humanity.

[eablair3]

54. thanks

thanks, CNN actually reported that? which reporter(s) was it, if you know?

the CAR probably told Aristide that he had to shut up, but never told Mrs. Aristide that she had to shut.

oh, .. I bet they will have some tales to tell of their time in CAR, if they are ever fortunate enought to get out of there and be free people again with freedom to speak.