[A-List] 200 Year Hiatus: French Troops, FM In Haiti For First Time Since Napoleon's Defeat

[Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>]

1) 60-Year-Old Woman Terrorized As Western Occupation
Regime Continues Witch Hunt Against Aristide
Supporters
2) French Troops, Foreign Minister In Haiti For First
Time In 200 Years, Since Toussaint L'Ouverture's
Forces Defeated Napoleon's Grand Armee



1)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N15647861.htm


Reuters
May 15, 2004


Aristide party denounces new wave of Haiti arrests
By Joseph Guyler Delva


-In recent weeks, the inmate population of the
renovated national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince
swelled to just short of 150 people from about 20,
prison guards said.
-Auguste, 60, was arrested on Monday when U.S. Marines
leading a 3,600-member peace force burst into her
house. The community leader, who had an operation
three months ago, was sleeping at the time.
-"Arrest all of us, we are all Lavalas."


PORT-AU-PRINCE - The political party of ousted Haitian
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide denounced a wave of
arrests of members and partisans as it prepares for a
march on Tuesday in support of its exiled leader.

Lavalas Party spokesman Gilvert Angervil said at least
12 party members and sympathizers - including Annette
Auguste, or "So Anne," one of Aristide's most
influential supporters - had been arrested over the
past 10 days.

"Those people have been arrested arbitrarily, without
a warrant and in violation of their rights," Angervil
said on Friday.

Haitian police spokesman Bruce Myrthil confirmed
several of the detentions, while police Chief Leon
Charles said police were looking for other Aristide
allies suspected of being involved in crimes.

"I have a lot of warrants, we are looking for those
people, so that they may face justice," he told
Reuters.

In recent weeks, the inmate population of the
renovated national penitentiary in Port-au-Prince
swelled to just short of 150 people from about 20,
prison guards said.

It was impossible to verify how many were linked to
Lavalas, which has denounced a "witch hunt" by the
U.S.-backed administration of Prime Minister Gerard
Latortue since Aristide fled a monthlong armed revolt
on Feb. 29.

Lavalas supporters have been keeping a low profile
since Aristide's departure. Their march planned for
Port-au-Prince on Tuesday will be one of the first
indications of how much support Aristide still
commands in the country.

Latortue's government, named by a council of prominent
Haitians to lead the impoverished Caribbean country to
elections in 2005, has denied targeting Aristide
supporters while rebels that helped drive the former
Roman Catholic priest from power remain armed and at
large.

"When people commit crimes, they should face justice,
regardless of their political affiliation," said
Justice Minister Bernard Gousse.

The arrest of So Anne, or "Sister" Anne, has become a
rallying point for Lavalas supporters, many who came
from the slums where Aristide was revered as a
champion of the poor.

Auguste, 60, was arrested on Monday when U.S. Marines
leading a 3,600-member peace force burst into her
house. The community leader, who had an operation
three months ago, was sleeping at the time.

A spokesman for the multinational force, Lt. Col. Dave
Lapan, said U.S. troops searched Auguste's home after
receiving information about possible activities that
could threaten them.

Auguste is accused of being behind a clash on Dec. 5
between students and pro-Aristide street thugs at a
university campus. The university dean's legs were
broken.

Auguste and 11 relatives - six children and five
adults -- were taken to the multinational force's base
for questioning and held for about seven hours. All
were released but Auguste, who was handed over to
police.

"I challenge anybody to prove I have been involved in
any criminal activities," she said from prison. "But I
know the regime now in power considers being close to
Aristide an awful crime."

About 200 people, mostly women, gathered in front of
the investigative judge's office in support of Auguste
on Friday.

"Arrest all of us, we are all Lavalas," they chanted.
------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/85135/1/.html

Agence France-Presse
May 15, 2004

French foreign minister in Haiti, 200-year first


-France's relations with Haiti, tense under president
Jean Bertrand Aristide, have warmed in recent months,
Latortue having officially invited Chirac to become
the first French head of state to visit Haiti since
its independence in 1804.
Under Aristide, Haiti sought repayment of a "debt of
independence," which he reckoned to be 21 billion
dollars. Latortue assured Paris that the claim had no
legal foundation.
-There are some 1,000 French troops on the ground in
Haiti.
Last month, French Defense Minister Michele
Alliot-Marie visited Port-au-Prince....


PORT-AU-PRINCE : For the first time in Haiti's
200-year independence from France, a French foreign
minister has paid a goodwill visit to the impoverished
Caribbean island.

Michel Barnier arrived Friday for a 24-hour visit. He
visited with interim President Boniface Alexandre and
at midday met Prime Minister Gerard Latortue as well
as Haiti's ministers of economy and finance, justice,
interior and foreign affairs.

Before leaving, he is slated to sign an agreement to
grant Haiti a million euros (1.2 million dollars) in
aid, according to diplomatic sources.

Latortue, who visited French President Jacques Chirac
in Paris Thursday, hoped that France would come to the
aid of the Haitian economy with "a line of credit for
French companies to rebuild Haiti's infrastructure,
especially energy and roads."

During an interview Wednesday with Le Monde, Latortue
told the Paris newspaper that he estimated needed
investments in electricity, roads, health and
education at 200 million dollars annually over five
years.

France's relations with Haiti, tense under president
Jean Bertrand Aristide, have warmed in recent months,
Latortue having officially invited Chirac to become
the first French head of state to visit Haiti since
its independence in 1804.

Under Aristide, Haiti sought repayment of a "debt of
independence," which he reckoned to be 21 billion
dollars. Latortue assured Paris that the claim had no
legal foundation.

France has been one of the largest contributors to an
interim multilateral force under UN command after the
departure of Aristide on February 29.

There are some 1,000 French troops on the ground in
Haiti.

Last month, French Defense Minister Michele
Alliot-Marie visited Port-au-Prince with a "message of
friendship and support from France regarding the
Haitian people and their government after a crisis
that has shaken their country."

"This is also a statement of our will to stand by the
Haitian people in the long term, to assist and take on
the reconstruction of the country," he said.

Barnier was also to meet the heads of Haitian
non-governmental organizations and political parties.

Early in the day, he reviewed French troops deployed
in Haiti and thanked them for having "shown the good
side of France, an intelligent side, that is not
arrogant, you have done honor to your country."

Barnier also headed to Dessalines, northwest of the
capital, to see a cooperative project between the town
and the French regional association "Pays de Savoie
solidaires" before visiting an orphanage in
Port-au-Prince.

A brief meeting was slated with students of a
Port-au-Prince agronomy school, as well as with
representatives of the French community in Haiti.





	
		
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