Re: [Marxism] Raoul Peck

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Anyone have an idea about the evolving politics of film director Raoul
> Peck (*Lumumba* *Sometimes in April*)?   I liked *Lumumba* which was
> generally praised in the Marxist press, but know nothing of his
> politics.  I was a bit surprised to see his op-ed on Aristide in this
> weekend's *Wall Street Journal*.   Has he perchance taken the Hitchens route?
>
> Louis G


In essence Raoul Peck argues that President Aristide was "forced out as a
result of his errors of judgment in making decisions as a chief of state".
To support this argument, Peck feels not the least bit compelled to provide
substantial evidence of Aristide' supposedly unforgivable sins. Instead, he
graces us with hyperbolae like "his closest collaborators have been
indicted on drug trafficking charges in Florida". As if Peck ignores that
drug trafficking has been and remains an integral part of the CIA's
operations throughout Latin America. As if Peck isn't aware that, in Haiti,
the U.S repeatedly uses and protects convicted murderers like Jean Pierre
Baptiste (Tatoune), Jodel Chamblain, drug dealers like Prosper Avril and
Guy Phillipe to conduct coup after coup...while claiming to be waging a
"war on drugs"? How many times has this so-called 'war on drugs' been used
around the world to topple or shape down regimes considered to have become
too hostile or not sufficiently compliant to Uncle Sam's desiderata?

It is indeed disturbing to note Peck's nonchalant "he had it coming"
response to the fact that, in 2004, the duly-elected Black president of his
native country had been, in the dead of night, surrounded by white U.S.
Marines and other co-conspiring foreign forces, shoved into an unmarked
plane and flown "back to Africa" - The abducted president and his spouse
were kept without knowledge of their own whereabouts for over 20 hours,
until they were to land in a hostile Central African Republic (CAR). Please
see Democracy Now's coverage of this amazing story at www.democracynow.org

full: http://www.haitiaction.net/News/JSV/12_17_4.html


________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism