Re: [A-List] Haiti Update

["Patrick Bond" <bond.p@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Bev, is this accurate??

Just off to Zim to launch Zim's Plunge second edn tonight.

Did you get the email about Dennis and George wondering about CEJ's interest in a Jo'burg branch??

Cheers,
Patrick

>>> sherrynstan@xxxxxxx 11/26/02 03:20PM >>>
Haiti update (bear in mind that Aristide is under siege from the US/OAS and their quislings in the "opposition", but also from his left flank, who are former supporters whom he has betrayed by his concessions to the former.  So some continually find themselves in the paradoxical position of defending him from the former, which is not really a defense of him but of national sovereignty, while criticizing him from the left. -SG):
The following news briefs are culled from international news agency wires, the Agence Haitienne de Presse (AHP), Radio Metropole, Haiti Press Network (HPN), Haïti Progrès, AlterPresse, and other sources.  In reverse chronology. 

NOVEMBER
25 November - Six demonstrators - three anti-government and three pro-Aristide supporters - were shot on Monday during protests in west-coast Gonaïves and in the capital, where thousands more marched in a pro-government rally. In Petit-Goâve, students shook anti-Aristide placards and clashed with Aristide supporters who tried to disrupt the protest by throwing rocks. In Gonaïves, demonstrators called for Aristide to step down. Three people, including one high-school student, were shot and injured, officials said. No other details were immediately available. In the capital, more than 2,000 Aristide supporters marched through the streets. Some demonstrated outside the National Palace and, on the way, stoned an African studies center where anti-government students were meeting. Three pro-Aristide demonstrators were shot outside the center and were in critical condition, government spokesman Mario Dupuy said. (AP) 

24 November - The United States has pledged to assist the Dominican army seal the border with Haiti, beginning with the donation of 20,000 M-16 assault rifles. Eventually, the aid will include technical assistance and joint training maneuvers. The promise of help came from U.S. Army Major-General Alfred Valenzuela, commander of Army South (This command is actually called Southern Command or SOUTHCOM. -SG) in Puerto Rico, who has visited the Haitian-Dominican border twice in the past week. His visits come in the wake of a tougher policy against illegal migration in the United States, prompted by the arrival of a boatload of Haitians in Miami earlier this month. The Immigration and Naturalisation Service has characterized such arrivals by undocumented migrants as a threat to national security. The closer relationship between the Dominican and US military is part of a worldwide strategy since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to give new attention to borders where security is lax or nonexistent, officials said. (Miami Herald) 

23 November - The city of Port-au-Prince is apparently calm, although ever wilder rumours are circulating regarding the possibility of the President standing down from power. However, the Secretary of State for Communication, Mario Dupuy, announced that there was absolutely no question of President Aristide resigning as he must fulfill his five year mandate. The head of a pro-Lavalas Family popular organisation in the Bel Air region of Port-au-Prince also told the press that the Head of State was going nowhere and would stay in the country to die with his supporters.

There are unconfirmed suggestions regarding the resignation of the Minister of Education, Myrtho Celestin, and the possible flight of the Minister of the Interior, Jocelerme Privert. Mario Dupuy confirmed that Privert is in the Dominican Republic but is there on government business. Dupuy did not confirm or deny the news of Myrtho Celestin's resignation.

Speaking on Radio Kiskeya, Evans Paul, leader of the Confédération Unité Démocratique (KID), a member of the opposition coalition, the Democratic Convergence (This is the NED/US constructed "opposition" I spoke of earler. -SG), refused to comment directly on the rumours of a possible political upheaval in Haiti. Nevertheless, he reflected on the weakness of the government, noting popular pressure, student mobilisation, international and private sector pressure, political repression, attempts at intimidation, and rumours of the possible fall of the head of state. (AlterPresse)

22 November - Hundreds demonstrated outside the National Palace, saying they stand behind President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and against a rash of recent opposition protests. "Aristide, stay your course!" they chanted in the peaceful demonstration, in which they accused Haiti's opposition of trying to unseat the elected government (which is absolutely true). Meanwhile, smoke billowed from flaming tyre barricades in Port-au-Prince as sporadic gunfire rang out and some people threw rocks at passing vehicles. No one was reported seriously injured, but the disturbances blocked buses and closed schools, businesses and government buildings. Many people stayed away from work, and traffic was light on the capital's streets. There was no visible police presence in many parts of the city.

"We have tried to restrain our troops, but they are unable to refrain from expressing their frustration at the way the opposition is blocking the country," said Jonas Petit, acting head of Aristide's governing Lavalas Family party. Petit said the opposition risks driving the country to a violent confrontation. "We've risen to say no" to calls for Aristide's resignation, said René Civil, a chief of grassroots Aristide backers. (AP)

21 November - Thousands of high school students and their supporters rallied in the provincial city of Petit-Goâve, southwest of the capital, holding aloft a bloody school uniform and protesting the shootings a day earlier of seven high-school students by police. The students, who were calling for Aristide to be replaced and protesting against an increased tax students must pay to take their final exams, were wounded as they tried to tear down the Haitian flag from the local police station. (Reuters) (And this is the opposition from Aristide's left. -SG)

21 November - Students in Port-au-Prince took to the streets demanding President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's resignation. "Aristide is a criminal! Aristide must go!" high school and university students in the capital chanted, as more than 3,000 marched from the Ministry of Education building to the vicinity of the National Palace. Along the way, the students dispersed a pro-government demonstration with a hail of rocks. No injuries or arrests were reported.

Several schools in Gonaïves, Haiti's fourth largest city about 110 kilometers (70 miles) northwest of the capital, closed after hundreds of students poured into the streets protesting the shooting of school pupils during a demonstration in Petit-Goâve. They defiantly lowered the Haitian flag at the Gonaïves police station, but police did not retaliate. Later, police did not intervene when a group of heavily-armed Aristide partisans shot into the air and threw rocks at the protesters who quickly dispersed, reported independent Radio Vision 2000. Government supporters also threatened local reporters covering the event, independent Radio Signal F.M. reported. Thursday's protests marked the fifth day of anti-government demonstrations since Friday, reflecting a growing antipathy with Aristide's leadership. (AP) 

20 November - In Petit-Goâve, at least ten people, four of them schoolboys have been wounded, and a Teleco vehicle has been set on fire, during a demonstration by final year pupils from the Lycée Faustin Soulouque. The pupils were protesting in response to the rumour that the Minister of Education will demand a 750 gourdes registration fee for the next official examinations. According to eye-witnesess the violence occured out after opposition supporters disguised as schoolboys infiltrated the protest which was quickly transformed into an anti-government demonstration. The demonstrators dressed up as schoolboys attacked the Petit-Goâve police station, throwing stones as they shouted "grenadiers à l'assaut". The police responded with gunfire.

The town mayor Réginald François condemned these incidents, as well as the behaviour of certain sectors who according to him, are trying to manipulate the schoolkids for political ends. He called on the population to remain calm and resist provocations. The Minister of Education denied rumours that education chiefs were intending to increase the cost of taking part in school graduation exams. The Minister claimed that the rumours were without foundation. (AHP) 

20 November - More than two weeks since the missed OAS resolution 822 deadline for the establishment of a new electoral council, the Executive has only succeeded in obtaining the conditional nomination of some of the agreed sectors. The Catholic, Epsicopalian and Protestant Churches, the private sector, and the human rights organisations submitted the names of their representatives on 19 November, but they stipulated that they would only officially enroll when all the parts of the two relevant OAS resolutions are implemented. These resolutions refer to the prosecution of those who have carried out acts of violence, the disarmament of armed bands, and other measures to be taken in order to provide a secure climate for campaigning. (AlterPresse)(This is bullshit from the right. -SG) 

19 November - Members of the Thirtieth of September Foundation human rights organisation have demonstrated in front of the office of the Inter-American Development Bank in Port-au-Prince to denounce what they call the economic embargo on Haiti.Foundation head, Lovinsky Pierre Antoine, accused the US administration of supporting the sanctions which he said were unjustified and were strangling the economy. (Metropole) 

18 November - Thousands poured into the streets of provincial town of Petit-Goâve, demanding justice for slain journalist Brignol Lindor and calling for the resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Marching under police protection through streets and down the highway, as many as 8,000 protesters chanted "Down with Aristide!" and "Justice for Brignol!". Police patrolled and dispersed a counter demonstration of about 30 Aristide partisans to prevent any possible clash.

Lindor was ambushed and hacked to death on December 3, 2001, after allowing opposition politicians to speak on his evening talk show programme. Ten members of a pro-Aristide grassroots group have been indicted for the slaying, which happened just outside Petit-Goâve, about 44 miles west of the capital. Human rights groups, however, have protested the fact that Petit-Goâve's pro-Aristide mayor, Bony Dume, was not indicted, even though he had publicly accused Lindor of being a "terrorist" and urged government supporters to implement a "zero tolerance" policy against him. (AP) 

17 November - In the largest public demonstration against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide since his election two years ago, tens of thousands have marched peacefully in the city of Cap-Haïtien, calling for an alternative to his allegedly anti-democratic government. "We're hungry! Aristide must go!" chanted the boisterous crowd that included business leaders and politicians, workers and unemployed. Local radio stations reported up to 60,000 participants. [Reuters reported that police sources estimated the crowd at around 8,000 people.] Under heavy police protection, the protesters marched 2 miles outside Cap-Haïtien to Vertières, where on November 18, 1803, an indigenous army defeated French colonial forces after 11 years of bloody struggle for emancipation from centuries of slavery. (This is the real deal!  Historically, when shit falls apart in Cap Haitien, look out!  Cap is the center of gravity for revolutionary activity. -SG)

Sunday's march, endorsed by opposition parties, culminated a series of activities under Unity Weekend, organized by the nonpartisan Citizens Initiative in an effort to simultaneously "reflect on our history and social and economic situation," spokesman Frandley Denis Julien said. (AP) 

15 November- Hundreds of demonstrators - students, lecturers and opposition party supporters - have stormed the State University and reinstalled the former Rector, Pierre Marie Paquiot. The demonstrators chanted slogans hostile to Charles Tardieu who had been named head of provisional management committee following the expiration of Paquiot's term of office. Members of the Resistance Front for the Defence of the University called on the University Council to relaunch the electoral process with a view to normalised the University's administration. (AHP) 

14 November - The movement in support of the autonomy of the State University of Haiti was relaunched this week with in a march on Parliament by hundreds of students and a strike at the University itself. The students, organised by the University Resistance Front were protesting what they called government interference in the education system. University faculites were paractically empty following a strike called by the University Council that is composed of students, professors and administrative personnel from the 11 faculties. (AlterPresse)

14 November - Members of the Guêp Panyòl popular organisation have clashed with police at Savanne Roche, near Miragoâne. Police arrived to unblock the national highway after protestors seized the keys of vehicles and positioned them across the road. The protestors want the Lavalas government to respect the promises made two months ago and carry out public works in the area.

The same road was also blocked at Carrefour Dufort, near the turn-off towards Jacmel, where local people were protesting against the Léogâne municipal council's decision not to authorise the construction of a new police post in the area. (Vision 2000)

12 November - Relatives of Rosemond Jean (the spokesperson of CONASOVIC, the organisation of those who lost money in the savings cooperatives collapse) are continuing to call for his release from custody while denouncing the illegal nature of his arrest. His brother, Charles Labonté Jean, called on human rights organisations to keep up the pressure on the authorities. (Vision 2000)

12 November - Josué Mérilien, the coordinator of the UNNOH teachers' union who has been accused of defamation by the government, has once more rejected the allegations against him. He said, "All that I did was denounce a plot hatched by the Lavalas Family authorities to plant drugs in my car in order to have a pretext to arrest me." He said that this could not be described as defamation. (Vision 2000) 

11 November - A high-level Caricom (Caribbean Community) delegation has begun talks with Haitian officials to implement Haiti's membership in the regional organisation. Membership could help Haiti's ailing economy, stimulating such industries as arts and crafts and developing others such as coffee. Discussions with commerce, economics and finance ministry officials will also be held about legal and administrative arrangements. Haiti became the 15th member of the Caribbean Community in July, its 8.2 million people more than doubling the economic bloc's population and increasing marketing opportunities for regional manufacturers. (AP)

8 November - Police killed seven gang members when they stormed a gang base in the Soleil 17 district of the Cité Soleil neighbourhood. Mayor Bruxon Xavier told Radio Metropole, "The gang members opened fire on police as they attempted to enter the zone, and the police responded with force." Among those killed was a feared local gang leader, Maxo Moreau, known by his nickname, "Colonel". Some Cité Soleil residents disputed the official version of the raid, saying the gang members were killed by civilian vigilantes acting on government orders. (Reuters) 

4 November - Haiti's government has failed to meet an Organisation of American States (OAS) deadline for setting up an electoral council to organize elections next year. The OAS had urged the government to have the nine-member council in place by Monday, drawing members from the government, churches, business associations, human rights groups and political parties. But by Monday, only the governing Lavalas Family party had agreed to choose its representative, while more than 20 opposition parties in two blocs said they would boycott the council. Some groups that didn't name representatives said they first want the government to comply with a 4 September OAS resolution by collecting illegal guns to disarm partisans, and by bringing to justice those responsible for past political attacks.

Churches and other groups gave the government two weeks to meet their demands. The government didn't immediately issue a response. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has pledged new elections would be held in a secure environment next year, at a date to be fixed by the new electoral council.

At the end of this month, 18 of 27 senators and all of the 83 House representatives will have their terms expire, leaving Haiti with no legislature when new lawmakers are supposed to take office 13 January. As the standoff wears on, it is unclear whether Haitian officials might have to extend lawmakers' terms in office, or whether Aristide would rule by decree until new elections could be held. (AP)

OCTOBER

28 October - President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has assured all Haitian and foreign depositors that their cash holdings in foreign currency deposited in commercial banks in Haiti will not be converted into gourdes and that there never was such a plan from the Government, contrary to a persistent rumor that has been going through Port-au-Prince since last week. This declaration was made after a meeting held in the National Palace with economic and financial authorities of the country and members of the Professional Banking Association (APB), representing financial institutions of the country. (President's press office)

25 October - The government has denied rumours that the Minister of Finance and the deputy governor of the Central Bank are about to be dismissed. The rumours had started to create a sense of panic at the Central Bank, and the nervousness has worsened the already troubled exchange rate. A number of banks stopped trading dollars altogether. Others would sell no more than 250 dollars in any one transaction. The rate has deteriorated to around 36 gourdes to one US dollar. (AlterPresse)

24 October - Haitian economists are expressing extreme concern, bankers are trying to curb the panic, and officials talk of "invisible hands plotting against the government" as rumours circulate that the government plans to seize all US dollars in the country. Fearing imminent plans to nationalise their dollar bank accounts, small account holders earlier this month withdrew a total of 25 million dollars from banks over a period of less than five days. Authorities are denying reports that they plan to ban dollar accounts. (IPS) 

22 October - Jean Tatoune, an opponent of President Aristide who recently escaped from prison has led several hundred supporters on a march in Gonaïves. Tatoune, convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in a 1994 massacre of Aristide supporters in the city, said the march was designed to keep pressure on Aristide until he resigned. "We're going to keep the pressure on and we will paralyze Gonaïves, until Aristide goes and we have new elections," Tatoune told Radio Metropole. Police did not try to block the march.  (I personally arrested Tatoune in 1994, "Hideous Dream" www.softskull.com, page 137-138.  This is opposition from the "macoute" sector, or the big landowners... the Duvalierists. -SG)

Tatoune was freed from the Gonaïves penitentiary on Aug. 2 along with 150 other prisoners when supporters of Amiot Métayer, a local gang leader and one-time Aristide supporter, attacked the jail with automatic weapons and a bulldozer, bringing down the prison wall. Following the escape, the city was gripped by three days of anti-government rioting as Métayer, who had been detained on charges that he had organized the burning of homes belonging to supporters of a rival gang leader, called for Aristide's ouster. Métayer has since muted his calls for rebellion pending a judicial review of his case. Tatoune was seen parading through the streets of Gonaïves and embracing Métayer after the jailbreak. (Reuters)

15 October - A rumour that Haiti's cash-strapped government planned to convert US dollar-denominated bank accounts into local currency at an unfavorable rate led worried depositors to withdraw US$20 million in the last three days, a banking official said. The government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has denied the rumour. Gladys Coupet, president of the Associate of Professional Banks, sought to play down the significance of the withdrawals over the last three days, which she said were chiefly by business and non-governmental organisations, as well as private depositors. (Reuters) 

12 October - Traffic in many areas of Port-au-Prince ground to a halt as national police set up roadblocks as part of a new government disarmament campaign. Cars were stopped and searched by machine-gun carrying plainclothes policemen supported by uniformed officers.

Roadblocks began popping up around the capital earlier in the week without warning. Police officials explained they were part of the latest disarmament campaign by the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in response to an Organisation of American States' resolution.

On Saturday, police targeted Pan-Americaine, Canapé-Vert and upper Delmas areas, main thoroughfares running from downtown Port-au-Prince to the wealthy mountainside suburb of Petionville. Traffic was backed up for miles, leaving thousands of motorists sweating under the sun and autos stalling as they ran out of gas. (Reuters)

12 October - "Yes to life, No to the Free Trade Area of the Americas, an another America is possible" is the slogan under which numerous mobilisation activities will take place this weekend across the American continent under the umbrella of the "Cry of the Excluded", organised each year on 12 October.

In Haiti, the first meeting of the Caribbean branch of the Convergence des Mouvements des Peuples des Amériques (COMPA) will be held in Ouanaminthe, in north-east Haiti, on 14-16 October. More than 150 representantives of organisations from Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago will meet to discuss the Free Trade Area of the Americas. The meeting will be opened with a march in solidarity with the peasants of Maribahoux who are opposed to the development of a free zone on fertile agricultural land. (AlterPresse)

10 October - President Aristide has received the credentials of the new British ambassador to Haiti, Andrew Ashcroft, who is also the ambassador to the Dominican Republic and is based in Santo Domingo. In his first press interview, the British diplomat said, "The historic links between the Haitian and British people were at the centre of the discussion between him and the Haitian head of state." The British government representative promised to increase the funds allocated by his country for projects for the provision of drinking water, and food, and for public works and rural development projects. He said he would be liaising with British non-governmental organisations. (AHP)

7 October - Demonstrators blocked the main road near the town of Miragoâne by parking 17 mini-buses in the road. Some of those organising the road-block said they would carry on their protest until the government carried out infrastructure rehabilitation in the town. (HPN) 

4 October - Renaud Bernardin, Haiti's ambassador to Canada and founder of the Louvri Baryè political party, has died in hospital in Ottawa. Bernardin was Minister of Planning in the Aristide-Préval government in 1991, and went into exile when that government was overthrown by the September 1991 military coup d'état. He then founded the Pati Louvri Baryè (PLB) which formed part of the Lavalas Political Organisation coalition - along with the OPL and MOP - that triumphed in the 1995 elections. Bernardin was elected Senator for the Northern department, and served as head of the Senate Finance Commission. He was appointed ambassador to Canada at the end of 2001. 

Foreign Minister,Joseph Philippe Antonio, said Bernadin was a militant for democracy, and that his death was a great loss for the country. The head of the women's organisation Fanm Yo La, Marie Laurence Jocelyn Lassègue, who once stood as a Senate candidate for the PLB, said Bernardin had been a good supporter of women's emancipation. (HPN)

4 October - Members of the pro-Lavalas Family popular organisation, Bale Wouze, blocked the main road at Saint Marc to further their demand that the lower Artibonite is declared an adminstrative area separate from rest of the Artibonite department. They called on the regions' MPs to support them as they prepare for next week's opening of an extraordinary Parliamentary session. (HPN) 

3 October - Journalists from Grand-Goâve, Petit-Goâve, Miragoâne and Léogâne organised a demonstration in Léogâne to show their intention to defy the constraints applied by the government authorities in the area. They also called for justice for murdered journalists, Jean Dominique and Brignol Lindor. The demonstration was supported by local people who shouted slogans hostile to the Lavalas Family government. Police units were present, and the demonstration concluded without incident. (HPN) 

1 October - The Haitian Bishops' Conference has denounced the escalating level of violence and has called on the authorities to take action. The Conférence Episcopale d'Haïti's statement bemoaned the fact that "not a day passes without threats being made, not a day passes without violence of all sorts that makes us recoil in horror, not a day without crimes and bloody murders that leave us in mourning, while there is carnage in the poorest areas." The bishops concluded with a call to halt the violence and crime, and for the establishment of a climate of peace without which fair elections will not be possible. 

According to the recent OAS resolution, the Bishops' Conference must nominate one of the nine delegates to form an Electoral Council to organise new elections in mid-2003. (HPN).



"What is logical to the oppressor is not logical to the oppressed."

-Malcolm X