Aristide arrives back in Haiti

[cal04]

Source: Reuters

Haiti's former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived back in his Caribbean homeland Friday, returning from exile in South Africa just days before a crucial Haitian presidential election.

The charter plane carrying Aristide and his family touched down at Port-au-Prince airport at 9.10 a.m. local time (10:10 a.m. EST)

Aristide, 57, who was ousted from Haiti in 2004 through an armed rebellion, had ignored a direct plea from the United States to delay his return until after Sunday's presidential vote.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/18/us-aristide-arrival-idUSTRE72H4D920110318

[rabs]

1. So far so good, no violence on the part of his followers

(Longer version from the AP, and kicking and reccing.)

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.

"This man is our father, without him we haven't lived," said 31-year-old Sainvil Petit-Frere, one of about 3,000 cheering and chanting supporters in a quickly growing crowd. "This is the doctor who will heal the country."

-------- 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

[cal04]

2. thanks for the update rabs

:hi:

[rabs]

4. You're very welcome -- and the irony

from Amy's report

The jet was provided by the South African government under serious protest by the United States. President Obama personally called South African President Zuma earlier this week to tell him not to do this. But the statement of the South African government was simply, "we will not bow to pressure."

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

So a black president, Obama, calls another black president, Zuma, to tell him NOT to allow another black president, Aristide, to return to his country.

Much to Zuma's credit, he told Obama to fluff off.

Amazing.

[maxsolomon]

6. Why the backhanded compliment?

Violent followers? Compared to Duvalier's Ton Ton Macoute?

[rabs]

10. "backhanded compliment?"

What I said there was no violence on the part of Aristide's followers.

Leaving open the possibility that there can be violence later not only from former Tonton Macoutes, but also from former members of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti (FRAPH), the former Cannibal Army thugs, and the Front pour la Libération et la Reconstruction Nationales. Among others.

Those are the ones to worry about.

As for the Aristide supporters, latest I read was that they were having a huge party.

(edit typo)

[cal04]

3. Amy Goodman Reports: Aristide Lands in Haiti After Seven Years in Exile

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/3/18/amy_goodman_reports_aristide_lands_in_haiti_after_seven_years_in_exile

I’m Amy Goodman, we just landed in Port au Prince. The former president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide has landed. We made it through a mad crush of over a thousand journalists, videographers, supporters, dignitaries at the airport. I am now standing on the veranda of the airport where Pres. Aristide is addressing the crowd. He is saying we will not forget the victims of the earthquake. He is addressing what it means for him to be here. This is an historic day, a president who was twice ousted by U.S. backed coups in 1991 and 2004. He has returned both times, the first time after three years in exile he returned as president of Haiti. This time, after being ousted in 2004, he has returned as a resident of Haiti rather than the president. He says his aspirations are to be an educator, or to do what the people of Haiti want him to do.

I interviewed him on the plane, as well as his wife, former first lady Mildred Aristide. They talked about their dreams becoming a reality. President Aristide says he doesn’t know what today will bring. If people want to meet to talk about reforming the medical school he is there to do that. He says now he responds to the will of the Haitian people.

This is Amy Goodman broadcasting from Port Au Prince, Haiti, just off the flight that the Aristide’s have taken from Johannesburg, South Africa to Port Au Prince, Haiti. The jet was provided by the South African government under serious protest by the United States. President Obama personally called South African President Zuma earlier this week to tell him not to do this. But the statement of the South African government was simply, "we will not bow to pressure." They flew the Aristide’s home, which is where former President Aristide, his wife and his two daughters are today. Pres. Aristide addressing the crowd.

The security is very intense. I am inside the cordon so it is hard to know what is going on outside. It is is mainly journalists, videographers. The crush of the journalists was quite amazing. Aristide expressed concern that security would be used to keep people away, something he did not want. He said he left protocol to the Haitian government. It was Haitian president Preval in his last days in office who has given Aristide the diplomatic passport he needed to come back home.

LIVE BLOG: Democracy Now! Reports On Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Historic Return to Haiti
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/3/18/live_blog_amy_goodman_reports_on_jean_bertrand_aristides_historic_return_to_haiti

[EFerrari]

9. CEPR has also been live blogging:

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/live-blog-aristide-returns-to-haiti

:hi:

[bigmonkey]

5. What is the specific U.S. govt. complaint against Aristide?

Can anyone fill me in? I remember him being elected, then paid little attention (years pass) then the Bushies make him leave. What's the context here?

[EFerrari]

8. A lot like the complaint against Zelaya of Honduras.

He wanted to take a tiny bit more of the pie that the vultures feed on and get it to the Haitian people. He wanted to raise the minimum wage a little bit. He was trying to protect Haiti from predation from the US, France, Canada. He wasn't a puppet.

They couldn't have that.

[marasinghe]

7. good for Aristide; good for Haiti. (n/t)

[Judi Lynn]

11. Great day for the Haitian majority. Hope his THIRD RETURN home will be far better,

after all these horrendous troubles.

As we know, he was so missed from the moment he was taken away again.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Jean-Bertrand Aristide exile ends with rapturous welcome home to Haiti

Jean-Bertrand Aristide exile ends with rapturous welcome home to Haiti
Seven years after he was ousted in rebellion, former president arrives on election eve talking of Haitians' plight
Isabeau Doucet in Port-au-Prince and agencies guardian.co.uk,
Friday 18 March 2011 19.57

Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the pastor-turned-president last seen in his native Haiti making a rapid, undignified exit seven years ago, has returned home to a rapturous welcome, injecting another variable into a febrile election atmosphere 48 hours before a drawn-out presidential race climaxes.

Aristide, the only Haitian leader to have been forced from office twice, offered an exotic mix of poetry and gratitude to the hundreds of supporters who feted him at the airport – and took a sideswipe at the troubled electoral process.

The atmosphere at the airport was charged. It was here after all that Aristide was bundled on to a plane in February 2004, leaving behind a rebellion in full cry and a power vacuum. Since then the country has endured landslides, political stasis and enduring poverty – all compounded by last year's earthquake which killed more than 300,000 people.

"Since the earthquake, the humiliation of the people under tents is the humiliation of all the Haitian people," Aristide said.

More:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/18/aristide-returns-haiti-election-eve

[cal04]

13. Amy Goodman's video before they left for Haiti and on the plane home

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/18/defying_us_former_haitian_president_jean
Great video, thank you Amy Goodman!

On board the plane report
http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/18/exclusive_aboard_jean_bertrand_aristides_airplane

[cal04]

14. Letters: Women of Haiti welcome Aristide

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/19/women-haiti-welcome-aristide

Among the supporters welcoming President Aristide (Jean-Bertrand Aristide defies US by heading back to Haiti, 18 March) are thousands of women who claim his return to Haiti as a culmination of their determined seven-year struggle.

A statement by "women in tent cities, in sweatshops, market women and small vendors", members of Oganizasyon Fanm Vanyan (Brave Women's Organisation) quickly garnered international support. They protested: "Since 2004, women have been facing increasing hardship, terrible living conditions, verbal abuse, lack of shelter, and then a devastating earthquake and no assistance from the government ... They take away all our rights: to housing, to send our children to school, to work, to vote."

Expressing their hope for change, they describe having had "to manage for many years without Titid (Aristide), without Mildred (his wife and colleague) ... we need them now so that together we can look for solutions."

On 14 March Hillary Clinton's state department tried to stop the Aristides' return: "We encourage the South African government, as a committed partner to Haiti's stability, to urge former President Aristide to delay his return until after the elections." In endorsing George Bush's coup against Aristide, Clinton does a disservice to women and to pro-democracy people everywhere.

[Vidar]

15. I wish him the very best, but our government will probably find some way

to do him in.

[David__77]

16. A victim of US intervention.

The US needs to stop bombing, stop occupying, stop subverting... Crimes upon crimes will not win the US support.