Aristide at SAfrica airport en route to Haiti

[rabs]

Source: Associated Press



By DONNA BRYSON and MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press Donna Bryson And Michelle Faul, Associated Press – 9 mins ago
JOHANNESBURG – Declaring the "great day has arrived," Haiti's Jean-Bertrand Aristide bade farewell to South Africa Thursday, on his way home after seven years in exile despite President Barack Obama's bid to keep the hugely popular but controversial figure away until after a presidential election this weekend.

Aristide addressed about 50 reporters in several languages from South Africa and elsewhere on the continent at a small airport in northern Johannesburg that often handles charter flights. South Africa's foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane accompanied him, his wife Mildred and two daughters to see them off. Michaela, 12, and Christine, 14, have spent half their lives and their most formative years in exile.

"The great day has arrived! The day to say goodbye before returning home," he said in Zulu, a language he studied in South Africa. "We are delighted to return home after seven years. In Haiti also they are very happy .... Their dream will be fulfilled. Together, we will continue to share this endless love."

Thousands are expected to welcome him home. As word spread in Haiti of his imminent return, several dozen people adorned the courtyard of his foundation with small Haitian flags and photos of him. One woman showed up with a bouquet of flowers that she wanted to present to him, while another knelt on the concrete in prayer. A third elderly woman simply wept.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110317/ap_on_re_af/af_south_africa_aristide

---

Looks like the Hil/Obama pressure on S. Africa to not allow Aristide to leave came to naught.
Aristide expected to arrive in Port-au-Prince at noon Friday.
The runoff election is on Sunday. Gonna be an agitated weekend in Haiti.

[EFerrari]

1. Helmets, everyone!

:woohoo:

[rabs]

2. Did Amy have something on this today?

She said in yesterday's video she would be on the same plane with Aristide and family.

[EFerrari]

3. Here is her report from today:

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/17/7_years_after_ouster_in_us

[rabs]

7. Tks for the link, Danny Glover is cool

Browsing Latam sites, some more info:

1. Lavalas Party to give news conference later this evening on the situation.

2. OAS/Caricom has 200 observers on the ground for Sunday.

3. The runoff primary results of Sunday will be announced on MARCH 31, 11 days after the election. Final results set for APRIL 16.

(Plenty of time for all sorts of voting shenanigans to occur.)

[EFerrari]

8. New shenanigans (although timely today!) will only be icing

on this triple layer caca cake, imo.

[freedomnorth]

4. I guess its bye bye

from Baby Doc Duvalier for now...

[sabrina 1]

5. I hope he remains safe and his people will be thrilled.

Wilileaks cables proved it was the U.S. that made it impossible for him to return.

Another U.S. backed coup, a crime that has never been addressed in this country.

I hope he can help his country and without interference from the U.S. this time. Things went from bad to worse in that poor country after the U.S. illegally ousted him from office.

[jwirr]

6. I suspect he is one of the few people who can keep the poor in

control. They know he is for them. Now just so they do not expect him to do miracles. He will only be able to help depending on the money he has to work with. I never understood why Clinton helped to kick him out.

[EFerrari]

9. So he would negotiate a return.

Clinton got tariffs that benefited American Big Ag and that killed ag in Haiti.

[sabrina 1]

10. Clinton actually reinstalled him after Bush Sr.

ousted him the first time, then Bush Jr. backed the second coup against him.

Aristede wanted to improve the standard of living for Haiti's people, as Chavez did in Venezuela. That meant increasing the minimum wage and drastically improving Haiti's educational system.

For the Global Corps those are unacceptable goals for a third world country. Keeping the population poor and uneducated is THEIR goal. There is really no other word for it than 'evil'.

But after forcing Aristedes out, what did they do for the country? It is so much worse now. Had he been helped by the U.S. Haiti could have made similar progress in its poverty rate and its illiteracy rate as Venezuela has.

I guess the U.S. and its Global Corp allies succeeded in their goal of keeping the Haittian people down.

Evil is probably too good a word.

[naaman fletcher]

11. good news.

Hope the State Department doesn't have any nasty surprises waiting for him.

[fascisthunter]

12. the Democratically Elected Leader the Right Wingers helped over-throw

[struggle4progress]

13. ... President ... Aristide said in Zulu: “Dear brothers and sisters, a great day has arrived, a day

to say goodbye before returning home, the day to whole-heartedly thank President Zuma and the government, former President Mbeki and his wife, our beloved Madiba and his family”—referring of course to Nelson Mandela. “Dear friends at the University of South Africa and Wits University—all of you brothers and sisters of South Africa. My family and I will never forget this long and beautiful time spent with you in the heart of Mama Africa. We saw the spirit of Ubuntu the first day we met with Minister Dlamini-Zuma in 2003 until today. Indeed, the cleverness of our ancestors is outstanding. Ubuntu is an honor to Africa and to this country. The world truly needs this philosophy. May the starts of Ubuntu shine in the sky over the entire world.” ...

He spoke in Swahili, in Zulu, in Afrikaans and in Tswana ...

We had a private meeting with the president and his family this afternoon and the delegation that’s accompanying him, Danny Glover – the actor and activist – James Early, Smithsonian Institution, formerly chair of the Institute for Policy Studies ...

We don’t know the itinerary at this point, we just know that we expect to land in Port-au-Prince, Haiti about noon on Friday ...

March 17, 2011
Exclusive: Aboard Aristide’s Airplane
Ex-Haitian Leader Returns From 7 Years In Exile
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/3/17/exclusive_aboard_aristides_airplane_ex_haitian_leader_returns_from_7_years_in_exile

[struggle4progress]

14. ... Aristide's spokeswoman in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince said he was expected to arrive

Friday morning, and his Fanmi Lavalas party has called for a rally at the airport to welcome him home ...

In addition to Aristide's wife and two daughters, actor Danny Glover boarded the plane to escort him home. Glover, who starred in the "Lethal Weapon" franchise and "The Color Purple", heads a charity involved in Haiti.

"We have a long history together. He is my friend and I am in support of his return to help the Haitian people rebuild, to be a part of all the wonderful things that he championed as president," Glover told AFP.

Aristide says he wants to promote educational projects to help Haiti recover from the January 2010 earthquake that flattened the capital and killed more than 220,000 people ...

Haiti's Aristide heads home, despite US pressure
Joshua Howat Berger
March 18, 2011 - 8:59AM
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/haitis-aristide-heads-home-despite-us-pressure-20110318-1bz9q.html

[marasinghe]

15. k&r

[struggle4progress]

16. ... "We can't hold him hostage if he wants to go," South African Cabinet Minister Collins Chabane

was quoted as saying earlier Thursday ...

Actor Danny Glover, the chair of TransAfrica social justice forum, came to South Africa to accompany Aristide home. Glover asked why former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier could return to Haiti unhindered and not Aristide.

"People of good conscience cannot be idle while a former dictator is able to return unhindered while a democratic leader who peacefully handed over power to another elected president is restricted from returning to his country by external forces," Glover wrote on the TransAfrica Forum website ...

"We are going to party," said 36-year-old mechanic Assey Woy, passing the afternoon on street corner with friends. "It will be like New Year's Day" ...

Haiti's Aristide Heads Home, Ending SAfrican Exile
Haiti's Aristide heads home, ending 7 years in exile as vital elections approach in homeland
The Associated Press
By DONNA BRYSON and MICHELLE FAUL
JOHANNESBURG March 17, 2011 (AP)
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=13156657

[struggle4progress]

17. ... "Today is a great day for me knowing that President Aristide is coming back to his country,"

said Medjine Theodore, 27, who lives in a tent camp for homeless earthquake survivors in the Petionville suburb of Port-au-Prince ...

UPDATE 3-Aristide says he's returning home to Haiti
Thu Mar 17, 2011 6:33pm EDT
* Aristide says has to 'leave today'
* Obama called Zuma to urge delay
* South Africa says cannot prevent return (Adds supporters welcoming news of his return trip)
By Marius Bosch and Ed Stoddard
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/17/safrica-haiti-idUSLDE72G1XJ20110317

[struggle4progress]

18. ... On Wednesday, South African’s Caribbean representative Mathu Joyini arrived in Port-au-Prince as

part of the welcoming committee that is expected to include supporters from Miami and members of the Congressional Black Caucus. Also arriving was Aristide’s longtime eye specialist who flew from Miami, presumably to see his former patient who said that he needs to leave South Africa for medical reasons because he was “six years in eye surgery six times.’’ ...

“While Aristide’s return may be a destabilizing force in the political environment, it is an opportunity to further test the judicial system, to address the rule of law, to confront painful issues that we frequently choose to avoid,’’ said Michel Eric Gaillard, a Port-au-Prince-based analyst. “This is a good test for democracy.” ...


Posted on Thursday, 03.17.11
Aristide expected by midday Friday
As exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide prepares to return to Haiti from South Africa after seven years, many wonder whether Haiti is ready
By Jacqueline Charles and Lesley Clark
[e-mail]
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/16/2118783/aristide-expected-return-to-haiti.html?asset_id=Upcoming%20presidential%20election%20in%20Haiti&asset_type=html_module

[struggle4progress]

19. ... Nkoana-Mashabane said Aristide, who received a doctorate from the University of South Africa for

a comparative study on Zulu and Haitian Creole, had held a “goodbye interaction” with President Jacob Zuma.

Nkoana-Mashabane said Zuma wished Aristide “bon voyage” and a happy landing as he set about trying to help rebuild Haiti, which was ravaged by an earthquake 14 months ago ...

Aristide says goodbye to SA
March 17 2011 at 11:50pm
By Stuart Graham
http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/aristide-says-goodbye-to-sa-1.1043502

[CHIMO]

20. Jean-Bertrand Aristide defies US by heading back to Haiti

Source: guardian.co.uk

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president of Haiti, is expected to end seven years of exile by touching down in Port-au-Prince on Friday, defying Barack Obama's concerns that his return could jeopardise the country's election.

Aristide left his base in South Africa, accompanied by the Hollywood actor and campaigner Danny Glover, who is chairman of the TransAfrica social justice forum.

Such are Obama's misgivings that he called Jacob Zuma, the South African president, to discuss the matter, according to US National Security Council spokesman, Tommy Vietor.

"The United States, along with others in the international community, has deep concerns that President Aristide's return to Haiti in the closing days of the election could be destabilising," he said.



Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/17/jean-bertrand-aristide-haiti-return

[Sonoman]

21. I'll bet the Medillin guys are drooling.

They will get Haiti back from Cali.

"It's the Real Thing"

Sonoman

[EFerrari]

22. If Aristide were in the drug business, they'd be begging him to come back. n/t

[Sonoman]

25. Yep

When he switched from Cali to Medellin distribution, we sacked him.

Sonoman

[defendandprotect]

27. True, true --

[EFerrari]

23. So, if the US had nothing to do with Aristide's leaving Haiti

why is there so much pressure from the White House to keep him away?

Obama called South Africa? Really? But, no pressure!

[struggle4progress]

34. The Bush gang, elder and younger, ran Aristide out of Haiti twice

Without a transcript of the Obama-Zuma conversation, I cannot really form an opinion about it -- but perhaps the conversation did not make much of an impression on the South Africans:

... A Zuma spokesman said he was not aware of the call.
Associated Press
Obama has 'deep concerns' over Aristide return
Associated Press, 03.17.11, 10:12 AM EDT
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2011/03/17/general-cb-haiti-aristide-return_8361034.html

Post Honduras, one might suspect that knowledge of our Southern neighbors is not the President's strongest suit, and that he might rely too much on rightwing dead-enders in the State Department for his insights: they, of course, will babble up the usual business bugaboos about the importance of stability. So I might guess the President called Zuma and blathered these concerns -- and Zuma wasn't terribly struck, one way or the other, by the call. But, of course, lacking real knowledge, I couldn't say for sure. Aristide, meanwhile, may be concerned that he better get home before the election, lest his passport be revoked afterwards

[bhikkhu]

24. I don't see why US opinions should matter

Aristide is Haitian and should be entitled to return to his country.

[EFerrari]

28. Haiti is the only occupied country in this hemisphere.

US opinion matters because our government holds most of the strings.

[defendandprotect]

26. One of the best things that ever happened to Haiti -- met with CIA violence

once again !!

America, the "Superpower" -- :rofl:

[Judi Lynn]

29. So President Aristide "defies" the U.S. by returning to his homeland. Jesus H. Christ.

What's twisted about that point of view, anyway?

The U.S. has no business dictating where this man goes. Savagely nasty bullying from this country.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

30. So is the USA going to kidnap him again?

[EFerrari]

31. I hope he doesn't slip in the bathtub or anything.

It's time for Haiti to catch a break.

[rabs]

32. Haiti may not catch a break

according to this Haitian blogger.

If Sweet Micky wins: "Expect corruption and debauchery at a level unseen during the last twenty five years."


-------------------

The unholy alliance: the cross, the drum and the stick

Haitian Link
This Sunday the people of Haiti will go to the polls to elect a new president for the next five years. In all likelihood and barring an unexpected surprise, Michel Joseph Martelly, 50, will be Haiti’s 56th president when the results are made public 1 or 2 weeks after the March 20 election. Unbelievable as this may appear, the Haitian people in their search for this new society will have - paradoxically – turned to their former tormentors (and a few others) to lead them out of their abject poverty. Indeed, behind Martelly’s Repons Peyizan (Ah, only in Haiti) congregate various hardcore members of the despised Duvalier regime. History rarely repeats itself, but this time it’s really close and certainly not a caricature.

---------- snip ---------------

Michel Martelly’s presidential (yes, you heard it right) bid has had a fruitful start and major boost at the inaugural campaign event in Haiti’s second most populous city Cap-Haitien where the candidate was joined by arguably the most powerful and respected leader of the Haitian Catholic church Msgr. Louis Kebreau.

-----------------

A few folks throw their support for Martelly because of their aversion for the traditional political class. Fine, but this stand doesn’t jibe with the overt presence within the Martelly camp of some of the worst political characters in Haiti. I don’t pretend to know how Martelly – if elected – will govern Haiti. I know this: Expect corruption and debauchery at a level unseen during the last twenty five years.
I hope the people of Haiti prove me wrong this Sunday.


http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/03/16/2118566/the-unholy-alliance-the-cross.html#

[EFerrari]

33. And our pal PJ Crawly is back on twitter today.

Maybe you never really retire from State, either:

@PJCrowley Philip J. Crowley
#WSJ editorial page nailed it regarding troubling #Aristide return before election. The last thing #Haiti needs. http://on.wsj.com/hzL5sl
11 minutes ago via web

http://twitter.com/#!/PJCrowley/status/48570762910629888

[burrowowl]

35. Good NEWS!

I wish him godspeed!

[Vidar]

36. Now if he can just steer clear of American hired hitmen, he can go

back to making Haiti and the world a better place.

[rabs]

37. He made it

By BEN FOX and TRENTON DANIEL, Associated Press Ben Fox And Trenton Daniel, Associated Press – 20 mins ago
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti – Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned home from seven years in exile to a celebrity welcome Friday, mobbed by close allies and journalists outside his private plane before being hustled into an airport VIP lounge as crowds of supporters rallied in the streets outside the terminal.

Aristide waved and blew a kiss to the small crowd at the runway, then began to deliver a speech in which he thanked his chanting, jubilant supporters. His wife, Mildred, wept.

--------- snips ---------------

Following his arrival, there was no sign of any unrest in the Haitian capital, where life went on as usual. Many Aristide supporters were simply joyous.

"We are going to party," said 36-year-old mechanic Assey Woy, discussing the news of the ousted leader's return with friends on a street corner downtown. "It will be like New Year's Day."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110318/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_aristide