[Marxism] Haiti: US, Allies Extend Military Presence Amid Protests, Slayings...

["David Quarter" <davidquarter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[Forward from: Rick Rozoff]
---------------------------
1) Bypassing CARICOM, OAS, US To Lead Foreign Military
Operations In Haiti
2) US Troops Fan Out From Capital, Are Confronted By
Thousands Of Angry Protesters
3) American Military Takes Control Of Aid-Deprived
Haiti As Death Squads Continue Their Grisly Work
4) Aristide Accuses France Of Conspiring With US
5) Canada Commits Military Force For Occupied Haiti





1)
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040305163813.6zkn2jsg.html

Agence France-Presse
March 5, 2004

US to lead security force in Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP)- The US military will lead the
interim international security force deployed in Haiti
to restore order, the head of French forces, General
Henri Clement-Bollet said.
The force made up of US, French, Canadian and Chilean
troops is the advanced element of a UN peacekeeping
force expected to be ready in two or three months.

The US military agreed to officially take command of
the interim force at a meeting on Friday with French
and other counterparts, the general said.

Canada said Friday it will send 450 troops to join the
stablization force after President Jean Bertrand
Aristide resigned and fled.
------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040305192617.uluhv57p.html

Agence France-Presse
March 5, 2004

US troops move beyond Haitian capital


-[I]n the capital, US and French troops joined Haitian
police for a second day of foot patrols through the
streets intended to dissuade would-be lawbreakers.
They did not interfere with the large pro-Aristide,
anti-US rally that marched from the palace to the
embassy and then to the port, waving portraits of the
ex-president and revolutionary Che Guevara.
At various points, Creole-language chants of
"Foreigners go come and come back with Aristide" and
"Long Live Fidel Castro" rose up from the crowd as it
moved through the streets....


PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) - US troops at the vanguard of an
international stabilization force for Haiti moved for
the first time beyond the capital on Friday, sending
security assessment teams to at least two other
cities.
Meanwhile, thousands of supporters of ex-president
Jean Bertrand Aristide paraded through the streets of
Port-au-Prince, chanting anti-American slogans and
demanding the return of the exiled former leader as US
Marines looked on warily.

The Marines along with French troops have been
securing key sites in the capital, including the
presidential palace, the office of the prime minister
and the port, in a bid to restore order after chaos
erupted after Aristide resigned and fled the country
on Sunday.

That mission expanded on Friday to the cities of Cap
Haitien and Gonaives, both of which had been
strongholds of anti-Aristide rebels who played a key
role in the former president's fall from power.

"There are US forces that are moving into other areas
of Haiti to do security," said Marine Corps Staff
Sergeant Timothy Edwards, a spokesman for the US
contingent.

He said the small teams of helicopter-borne soldiers
would be assessing the needs of the Haitian national
police in Cap Haitien and Gonaives as well as
determining the possible scope of future international
troop deployments there.

The rebellion was launched in northwest city of
Gonaives on February 5 and quickly spread in the
region. Cap Haitien, in the north, is Haiti's second
largest city and fell to the rebels on February 22
just a week before Aristide, under heavy US and French
pressure, left the country.

Back in the capital, US and French troops joined
Haitian police for a second day of foot patrols
through the streets intended to dissuade would-be
lawbreakers.

They did not interfere with the large pro-Aristide,
anti-US rally that marched from the palace to the
embassy and then to the port, waving portraits of the
ex-president and revolutionary Che Guevara.

At various points, Creole-language chants of
"Foreigners go come and come back with Aristide" and
"Long Live Fidel Castro" rose up from the crowd as it
moved through the streets, according to witnesses, who
said the Cuban leader's name was being used to taunt
the US troops.

Witnesses estimated the size of the crowd at between
3,000 and 4,000.
------------------------------------------------------
3)
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/news/world/8098934.htm

The Orlando Sentinel
March 5, 2004

U.S. military establishes presence in Haiti
BY MATTHEW HAY BROWN

- The Marines rolled through Port-au-Prince in Humvees
and Light Armored Vehicles, stopping to push aside
burned-out cars used by Aristide supporters as
roadblocks last week in an attempt to halt the rebel
advance.
-[D]espite the rebel promise and the presence of
foreign troops, there was a gun battle in the seaside
slum of La Saline when the insurgents attempted to
disarm remaining Aristide militants. Three people were
reported killed.
The Caribbean Community bloc of nations, meanwhile,
said it would not contribute to the multinational
interim force approved by the U.N. Security Council
and called for an independent investigation into
Aristide's allegations that he was forced out of
office by U.S. officials.
-Several young men, thought to have been Aristide
enforcers, have been killed during the last week in
what appeared to be street executions.
-The uprising came four years into a political
stalemate between Aristide and opposition politicians
over the disputed results of the 2000 legislative
elections that led the U.S. and other donors to
suspend some $500 million in aid to the hemisphere's
poorest nation.



PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - (KRT) - The rebels who chased
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from the country
agreed to lay down their arms Wednesday and U.S.
Marines fanned out through the capital, trying to
restore order to streets ravaged by days of looting,
arson and killing.

The Marines rolled through Port-au-Prince in Humvees
and Light Armored Vehicles, stopping to push aside
burned-out cars used by Aristide supporters as
roadblocks last week in an attempt to halt the rebel
advance.

Marine Col. Mark Garganus, who arrived Wednesday to
take command of a U.S. force that now numbers 1,100
troops, said they encountered no problems.

"We've been over quite a bit of the city today,"
Garganus told reporters at the airport, where Marines
began arriving Sunday. "We're establishing a presence
to let the Haitian people know we are here to help."

But despite the rebel promise and the presence of
foreign troops, there was a gun battle in the seaside
slum of La Saline when the insurgents attempted to
disarm remaining Aristide militants. Three people were
reported killed.

The Caribbean Community bloc of nations, meanwhile,
said it would not contribute to the multinational
interim force approved by the U.N. Security Council
and called for an independent investigation into
Aristide's allegations that he was forced out of
office by U.S. officials.

A day after declaring himself military chief of Haiti,
Guy Philippe, who led the uprising that seized more
than half this Caribbean nation in little more than
three weeks, said that his men would stop patrolling
the city and disarm.

"Now that there are foreign troops promising to
protect the Haitian people and they have given the
guarantee to protect the Haitian people we will lay
down our arms," Philippe told reporters.

That announcement, which Philippe made after a
10-minute meeting with Garganus, appeared to avert a
confrontation between the international troops and the
gang of Army veterans, former death squad leaders and
ex-Aristide enforcers who had been positioning
themselves as leaders of a new Haitian army.

Cheering throngs had welcomed the rebels to
Port-au-Prince earlier this week, and they had begun
daylight patrols - and perhaps nighttime raids - to
consolidate their control of the city. Several young
men, thought to have been Aristide enforcers, have
been killed during the last week in what appeared to
be street executions.

Garganus said he was "very happy" with Philippe's
comments, and said he thought Philippe - a charismatic
former army officer and police chief linked to
brutality - would "be a man of honor." But he said the
Marines would have begun patrolling the city Wednesday
even without Philippe's pledge.

Garganus said he had received no instructions to
disarm anyone, or stop looting in the city. Under
standard rules of engagement, Marines may act to
defend themselves or others in the face of an imminent
threat.

"I hope we don't fire a single round while we're
here," Garganus said. "I'm hoping our presence out
there will lend stability and keep people from doing
bad things to each other."

The Marines, who have been sleeping on the airport
tarmac, said they were eager to get out into the city
of 1.5 million.

"We're here for a purpose," said Sgt. Christopher
Smith, guide for a 44-member platoon. "There are a lot
of bad people out there. We want to get out there and
help people."

Smith was among the Marines who had a run-in with
several rebels at the airport on Tuesday. He was
standing guard when about 20 armed men in camouflage
approached in an SUV and a pickup truck, looking for
two officials of the Aristide government they thought
were leaving the country.

A quick-response force of 20 Marines responded with
two machine-gun-mounted Humvees, Smith said, and the
rebels ran away.

The U.S. deployment, which could grow to 2,000 troops,
is the largest here since President Clinton sent
20,000 troops to restore Aristide to power in 1994
after he was deposed by a military coup and stem the
flow of refugees to the United States.

Aristide subsequently disbanded the Haitian military,
leaving security in this nation of 8 million to a weak
and corrupt national police force, and to his own
armed enforcers.

The Marines and 50 U.S. Air Force ground crew members
have been joined by Canadian and French troops at the
vanguard of the three-month force approved late Sunday
by the Security Council.

Rice University Prof. Richard Stoll, a political
scientist who studies national security and
international conflict, said the international forces
bring at least temporary stability to Haiti.

"Generally, you want to see that there isn't any
large-scale violence," he said. "You imagine that
there would be confrontations between the rebels and
the Aristide supporters, but you would hope that the
Marines would step in and keep things so stable so
that ordinary Haitians can go out and get water and
food and live their lives."

More than 130 Haitians have been killed in the
uprising that began Feb. 5 in the northern city of
Gonaives. With rebels closing in on the capital,
Aristide left the country early Sunday.

>From his exile in the Central African Republic, he has
said he was forced out by U.S. officials. The White
House and the State Department have rejected the
claim.

Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, speaking for
the 15-member Caribbean Community, said regional
leaders "do not envisage their participation" in an
international force.

Last week, when Aristide was still in power, the bloc
had appealed to the Security Council for the immediate
deployment of troops.

"The Security Council failed to respond then,"
Patterson. "We could not fail to observe that what was
impossible on Thursday could be accomplished in an
emergency meeting on Sunday. We are disappointed in
the extreme at the failure to act."

The uprising came four years into a political
stalemate between Aristide and opposition politicians
over the disputed results of the 2000 legislative
elections that led the U.S. and other donors to
suspend some $500 million in aid to the hemisphere's
poorest nation.

For Cpl. Harry Milbin, the deployment has been a
homecoming. The Port-au-Prince native left Haiti 11
years ago; his mother, father and one sister still
live here.

"I always asked myself when are we going back to Haiti
so I can help my country," he said. "After everything
that they've been through, the main thing is that they
stop killing people, burning things down and breaking
into people's houses.

"I just hope we can help the people."
-------------------------------------------------------
4)
http://www.granma.cu/ingles/2004/marzo/vier5/11aristide.html

Granma International (Cuba)
March 5, 2004

Aristide accuses France of conspiring with the U.S.

-Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson, president
of CARICOM, maintains that Aristide?s removal is a
dangerous precedent for democratically elected
governments everywhere.



Deposed Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide has
accused France of conspiring with the United States,
and also affirmed that he has not officially resigned
and still plans to return to the country, according to
the BBC?s online edition.

In a telephone conversation with Haiti specialist
Claude Ribbe, Aristide stated that he had signed a
document "to avoid bloodshed," but that it was not a
formal resignation.

Aristide emphasized that he was the victim of a coup
d?état and was forced by "U.S. agents to leave the
country." U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell
emphatically denied that charge, asserting that
Aristide went into exile of his own accord.

South Africa is among other nations calling for an
independent investigation into the circumstances
surrounding Aristide?s deposition last Sunday.

BUSH GOVERNMENT OPPOSES INVESTIGATION ON ARISTIDE?S
OUSTING

The George W. Bush administration today expressed its
opposition to an investigation into the circumstances
surrounding White House complicity in the Haitian
president?s removal, PL reported from Washington.

In response a CARICOM call asking Washington to
clarify whether it forced Aristide to resign, State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher stated that there
was nothing to investigate, and the department
certainly not want to encourage an investigation, nor
did it see any need for one.

U.S. Congress members are also calling for an
investigation to determine up to what point the White
House was involved in deposing the Haitian president.

Jamaican Prime Minister Percival Patterson, president
of CARICOM, maintains that Aristide?s removal is a
dangerous precedent for democratically elected
governments everywhere.

Haiti entered its fourth day without a government
today, a situation that has provoked insecurity among
the people, for whom there is no end in sight to the
chaos and violence.
------------------------------------------------------
5)
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20040305.wtroops0305/BNStory/National/

The Globe And Mail (Canada)
March 5, 2004

Ottawa commits military force of 450 to Haiti
By JEFF SALLOT AND DARREN YOURK


-?We are joining other countries, such as the United
States and France, to support the political process
under way in Haiti...."



The Canadian Forces will send a contingent of about
450 personnel to help restore stability to Haiti
starting Sunday, Defence Minister David Pratt said
Friday.

The group will include 160 infantry soldiers, a
headquarters unit to supervise the mission of soldiers
from Canada and other UN troop contributors, a
logistical support unit and a helicopter detachment
with four choppers.

Prime Minister Paul Martin approved the 90-day mission
and deployment Thursday night and Mr. Pratt and the
chief of defence staff, General Ray Henault, made the
announcement in Halifax.

?The troops will be deploying as part of the
multi-national interim force mandated by the United
Nations security council to establish and maintain a
secure and stable environment in that country,? Mr.
Pratt said.

?We are joining other countries, such as the United
States and France, to support the political process
under way in Haiti and to contribute to a peaceful and
lasting solution for the present crisis.?

Earlier in the week Mr. Martin promised Canada would
play a "leadership role" in sending troops, even
though he acknowledged the Canadian Forces are
stretched "very thin."

?The Canadian Forces has the capacity to do this
mission with only a very limited impact on other
operational activity and little or no impact on the
air and land force regeneration requirements that we
currently have,? Gen. Henault said. ?The company we
have committed was already on standby for short notice
missions of this type.?

?There is no doubt in my mind that the Canadian Forces
have everything they need to fulfill this mission
successfully.?

Mr. Pratt echoed those sentiments, saying the short
length of the Haiti mission coupled with drawing down
of forces in both Bosnia and Afghanistan in the coming
months gives the Canadian Forces the numbers it needs.


?I'm very satisfied that this deployment is not going
to have an affect on existing operations, on future
operations or on the issue of army regeneration in the
coming months,? he said.

?The need that the Canadian army has to regenerate
itself and to take a bit of a rest will be there.?

Mr. Pratt said Canada's force in Bosnia will shrink
from 1,200 troops to 600 in April and in Afghanistan
the contingent of 2,000 will drop to 500 in August.

The contingent will include members of the Royal
Canadian Regiment, based at CFB Gagetown in New
Brunswick. They will be joined by a helicopter
detachment from 4-30 Squadron in Valcartier, Que., and
members of the Joint Operations Group based in
Kingston, Ont.

There are currently about 100 Canadian military
personnel in Haiti, most of them providing security at
the airport for evacuation flights.

The U.S. has 1,000 marines in Haiti, serving with 440
French troops and 130 from Chile.






_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism