Thugs and the Interim Government of Haiti

In a statement released to the media Monday, a spokesperson for Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, said Nigeria had agreed to give temporary asylum to deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

According to the statement, the Nigerian government had responded to a request from CARICOM (the Caribbean Community). The statement also indicated that Nigeria consulted with the United States government before deciding to offer President Aristide temporary asylum.

Rep. Maxine Waters, who was instrumental in arranging President Aristide’s release from the Central African Republic and return to the Caribbean, says she was not surprised that Nigeria “consulted” with the U.S. government before agreeing to welcome President Aristide to Nigeria. Nor was she surprised that the U.S. government had “consulted” with CARICOM and Jamaica before the decision was made to move President Aristide out of Jamaica.

“I received a call from President Aristide on Monday, and he said he had been told by the Jamaican government there was a serious security threat that was causing them great concern,” Waters said. “President Aristide said the security threat came from unspecified classified sources indicating his life was in danger, and it would be necessary for him to leave Jamaica.”

After speaking with President Aristide, Waters contacted Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, who confirmed there was a threat against President Aristide’s life.

“The prime minister said President Aristide did not want to be a source of trouble for Jamaica and did not want to be blamed for any problems that might occur in Haiti,” Waters said. “Prime Minister Patterson told me that President Aristide was willing to leave Jamaica if it was, in fact, necessary and in the best interest of everyone involved.”

Rep. Waters, Rep. John Conyers, Rep. Charles Rangel and TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson arranged a conference call with Prime Minister Patterson and his foreign minister, Mr. K.D. Knight.

“We had a long discussion about what was really happening,” said Waters. “We determined that the United States had put pressure on Jamaica and CARICOM as well as Nigeria to move President Aristide out of the Caribbean. We learned that Nigeria had been pressured by Condoleezza Rice to send a plane to get President Aristide.”

Rep. Waters explained that President Aristide was willing to leave Jamaica as a gesture of good will, but he and his family preferred to remain in Jamaica for the eight to ten weeks agreed upon when he was invited to come. Prime Minister Patterson said his conversations with President Aristide centered on his safety and security, and he made it clear that he was not kicking President Aristide out of his country. Ultimately, the Nigerian plane never left the ground.

Rep. Waters concluded that U.S. officials are intent on removing President Aristide from the Caribbean because they believe his influence in the region is profound, and as long as he remains in the Caribbean, Haitians who support him will be demanding his return. Clearly, the Bush Administration is outraged that President Aristide, with the help of his friends and supporters, was able to find his way back to the Caribbean from the Central African Republic after they took him there, and they are prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to prevent him from living in the region.

“It is extremely important for the American people to understand the actions of the U.S. government, its role in the ouster of President Aristide and its efforts to prevent him from living in the Caribbean,” said Waters.

Last Saturday, March 20, 2004, while the Bush Administration was pressuring Jamaica to force President Aristide to leave the Caribbean, the new interim government of Haiti was showing its true colors. The interim government held a rally in the historic city of Gonaives to commend the armed thugs who were responsible for the overthrow of President Aristide.

The rally featured a government delegation consisting of interim Haitian Prime Minister Gerard Latortue; his Interior Minister, Herard Abraham; his Justice Minister, Bernard Gousse; and his Chief of Police, Leon Charles. The entire delegation was brought to Gonaives in two U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopters and one Chinook helicopter, all piloted by U.S. personnel.

The government delegation was joined by several leaders of the thugs, including Guy Philippe, Jean-Pierre Baptiste, Winter Etienne and Butteur Metayer. Interim Prime Minister Latortue called these thugs “freedom fighters” and asked for a minute of silence for Butteur’s brother, Amiot Metayer. However, their personal histories tell a very different story.

• Guy Philippe is a former police chief who led several coup attempts against President Aristide between 2000 and 2003. He is also suspected by U.S. and Haitian authorities of drug trafficking.

• Jean-Pierre Baptiste, who is also known as Jean Tatoune, was a local leader of FRAPH (the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti), the death squad that carried out numerous human rights violations during the three years following the 1991 coup d’etat. Tatoune was convicted of involvement in the 1994 massacre of residents in the Raboteau neighborhood of Gonaives.

• Louis-Jodel Chamblain, one of the organizers of last month’s violence, was the second-in-command of FRAPH and was convicted in abstentia for his role in the 1994 Raboteau massacre and the 1993 assassination of Antoine Izmery.

• Winter Etienne is a member of the “Cannibal Army” street gang and the self-declared mayor of Gonaives.

• Amiot Metayer, the founder of the Cannibal Army, was arrested in 2002 on charges that he set fire to homes of opposition leaders. Later that year, Cannibal Army members drove a bulldozer into the Gonaives jail, freeing Amiot and 150 other prisoners.

• Butteur Metayer joined the Cannibal Army in 2000 and became its leader in 2003, following his brother’s murder.

• Throughout the month of February, these thugs took over Gonaives and other cities, freeing criminals from prison and setting fire to police stations.

“Saturday’s rally was an attempt by the illegitimate interim government of Haiti to legitimize both the political violence and the thugs who carried it out,” said Waters. “The rally symbolized the return of the old ways of Haitian politics—rule by thugs, government change by coup d’etat, and support for criminal activities and human rights abuses.”

“The participation of U.S. personnel in Saturday’s contemptible rally is especially disturbing, as it directly contradicts assurances from the State Department that the instigators of the violence would not be allowed to play a role in Haiti’s future,” said Waters. “Our government must match its deeds with its words by assisting in the arrest and incarceration of these criminals, some of whom were already convicted in abstentia.

“The U.S. claims to be opposed to violence,” Waters continued. “Yet our government is condoning violence through its association with thugs and criminals, who have killed thousands of Haitians, who openly threatened to kill President Aristide and who are now killing members of President Aristide’s Lavalas Party. Every day, bodies of Lavalas Party members are being found in Haiti. Some bodies have been found riddled with bullets and with their hands bound by wire, and other bodies have appeared after being dumped into the sea.”

“While the U.S. officials were putting undue pressure on CARICOM, Jamaica and Nigeria, they were continuing to work with the thugs and criminals who caused all of the carnage in Haiti,” Waters explained. “These thugs and criminals have a working relationship with President Aristide’s opposition, the Bush Administration and the newly-appointed puppet government of Haiti.”

“To stabilize Haiti and help the Haitian people, the first thing the U.S. government must do is divorce itself from the criminals and thugs who have caused so much violence in Haiti,” Waters said.

http://www.blackvoicenews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=1840&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0