France May Send Troops to Quell Haiti Uprising

[DuctapeFatwa]

France may send troops to its strife torn former colony Haiti but first wants President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to push for talks to calm the country’s uprising.

The international community, including France, is ready to mobilise but “that supposes a spurt of effort by Haiti’s political class, that President Aristide commits himself to a respect of civil peace. That’s his first responsibility,” French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said today.

France has military resources at its overseas territories in the Caribbean near Haiti that could be rapidly deployed in the event of an emergency and a decision to intervene, de Villepin said.

Aristide has appealed for international help to quell the uprising that has killed more than 50 people and destabilised the country. Rebels have taken control of parts of the north and centre of Haiti.

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=2541273

[Fla_Dem]

1. I guess the US taught France a lesson

How to overthrow a country...

[Webster Green]

2. The rebels are trying to overthrow the country.

And it's elected leader. The US has helped them by imposing sanctions and embargos. The CIA is suspected of backing the rebels and supplying them with arms.

[BayCityProgressive]

3. I think France would

side with the elected government. The CIA backs the coup.

[Webster Green]

5. Exactly!...And Aristide has been trying to get the rebels to talk....

They won't come to the table. The mainstream media is doing a horrible job with this....as usual.

[mobuto]

10. Simplistic nonsense

Aristide's a dictator. Yes he was once democratically elected - fourteen years ago - and since then there have not been any free and fair elections. Instead, power has devolved to gangs of street thugs and local warlords loyal to Mr. Aristide. With luck, France will impose a solution that's a lot better than either of these unappealing sides. They may be bigger than the sum of their parts.

[On the Road]

18. No Elections in 14 Years?

Oh, the qualifier is "free and fair."

There have been two changes of power by election since Aristide was restored, which suggests that the elections are not being routinely stolen.

Preval was elected in 1995
Aristide was re-elected in 2000.

Aristide was elected twice to pursue a progressive agenda against the unwavering hostility of an entrenched upper class that was accustomed to using street violence to cow the population. The tonton macoutes did not melt away with the Duvaliers, even if they were no longer in power.

As I understand it, Aristide has had to abandon much of his agenda in order to satisfy the IMF. That has led to a loss of popular support and the resurgence of the right wing. But make no mistake about it, the insurgent leaders have no intention of ruling the country democratically or for the good of the population. They want the old RW banana republic back.

[mobuto]

20. Free and fair is everything

those elections were condemned by every relevent NGO and every government as being illegitimate. Aristide is popularly elected the way Robert Mugabe is.

[Suspicious]

21. Since you did not respond

to my reply to your assertion in another thread on the same topic, I'll post it here: your statement is false. "Every government" certainly did not condemn the 2000 election in Haiti as "illegitimate".

Aristide is also internationally recognized as Haiti's legitimate president-elect despite a bitter propaganda barrage from the mainstream media and certain foreign officials who sought to discredit the summer's electoral process leading up to his November victory. Although pressed by Washington to shun or at least scold his neighbor, new Dominican president Hipolito Mejia said he recognized Haiti's elections "as a matter of national sovereignty." Last week, Venezuela, the Philippines, and Taiwan all sent new ambassadors to Haiti, another sign of support. Multilateral lenders such as the Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank say they are ready to activate aid packages as soon as they are ratified by the Haitian parliament. The Parliament ratified three of the five agreements last week.

Perhaps the biggest blow to the opposition was a Dec. 1 letter U.S. President Bill Clinton sent to "President-elect Jean-Bertrand Aristide," implicitly recognizing the Haitian leader. "Now, as I prepare to leave office and you prepare to return, I believe we have an opportunity to set the basis for a strengthened relationship in the years to come," Clinton's letter reads.

http://www.haiti-progres.com/2000/sm001220/xeng1220.htm

[Judi Lynn]

25. Thank you for this article. It's not to be missed.

(snip) Most Haitians chuckle at the opposition's claim that less than 5% of population voted in November's election. The Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), an independent international observer mission, and a Haitian observer group all assessed participation as 60% to 65%. (snip)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I might add, the O.A.S. oversaw the elections, as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

U.S. Embassy spokesman Daniel Whitman clumsily tried to obscure the letter's import, claiming that "it would be going a little far to call it a note of congratulations," even though no FL spokesperson had called it that. Whitman said that Clinton called on Aristide to "pursue all possible ideas for finding a solution to the electoral impasse known since May 21, 2000" (when nationwide parliamentary elections went overwhelmingly to the FL), but the letter says nothing of the sort. Apparently losing all his diplomatic senses, Whitman went on to say that the CEP's calculations of 8 to 10 Senate seats "was wrong" and that "it is necessary that Haitian authorities restore, with a new Electoral council which would have credibility, its electoral process so as to restore the trust of the Haitian people and of the international community." Of course, in light of the U.S. election fiasco, such admonishments are more than ever ridiculous.

But the oppositon did get some solace from a Dec. 8 statement issued by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), and Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL). These three ultra-right Republicans, who have been at the forefront of most U.S. Congressional attacks on Haiti, called Nov. 26 a "sham election with the sole purpose of delivering absolute control over Haiti's government to Mr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide." They contended that Aristide "is not fit to join the democratically elected leaders at the Summit of the Americas in April 2001" in Quebec, Canada and called on the U.S. to deny or rescind visas, review the green card status, and freeze the assets of the "narco-traffickers, criminals and other anti-democratic elements who surrounded Jean-Bertrand Aristide." With Republican George W. Bush now set to assume the U.S. presidency in January, such virulent language may indeed spell trouble for the Lavalas.
(snip)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jesse Helms supported the side of Fulgencio Batista, also, in Cuba.

I can't believe ANYONE would admit to support for Francois Duvalier. He must have been very sure the right-wing in the U.S. would be able to dominate the hemisphere perpetually.

I hope history will prove he astoundingly wrong.

[On the Road]

23. OK, Then How Was Preval Elected When Aristide Was in Power?

and how did Aristide steal the 2000 election if he was out of power?

Nobody's saying that the elections were on a level with the US, but if you have power changing back and forth twice in five years, that's prima facie evidence that they are not sham elections. That's my point.

This demonization of Aristide just smacks of every dishonest propaganda campaign designed to keep the whole Western Hemisphere under America's thumb. I am deeply susceptible of these charges, and you should be, too.

[Flagg]

4. in case you haven't noticed there's no oil in Haiti

we just wanna help these people

[bpilgrim]

6. the neoCONs may object to that

will see...

peace

[0007]

16. The main objective isn't in Haiti -

"I think the neoCONs will object"

[David Zephyr]

7. Viva Le France! Now The World "Get's It" That Our Might is Only for Money

There was a time when the U.S. might have stepped up to doing what the French appear ready to do, but thank goodness the vanity of this nation's long pretense to "moral leadership" in the world has been usurped by the French.

That's the best thing that can be said about the current U.S. Administration: George W. Bush and Dick Cheney have made it obvious to the entire world that the American military serves only to further the aims of this nation's ruling class and corporate masters.

This White House has confirmed what the world long suspected anyway.

To use the language of our current popular culture: Bush and Cheney cut through the crap.

[BayCityProgressive]

9. Wasn't

Aristide put in power by Clinton after the overthrow of an ultra Right dictator?

[David Zephyr]

22. Yes.

One of the rare times of the U.S. Military being used for a good thing. This is what I was referring to with "There was a time when the U.S. might have stepped up to doing what the French appear ready to do."

[Burma Jones]

8. Are we going to hear a bunch of Monroe Doctrine crap from the RW

[mobuto]

12. right

that's the first thing I thought of as well

[mobuto]

11. Violation of the Monroe Doctrine?

France, you can take care of business in our own backyard that we're too apathetic too address, but if you do we'll have to declare war.

[Flagg]

13. bring it on

[Burma Jones]

14. I've always wanted to pay for the priviledge

of having someone else shoot a bunch of snail eatin', chain smokin', Jerry Lewis lovin' Frenchies.........

[Flagg]

15. too cowardly to do it yourself ?

[Burma Jones]

17. Too Rich

Fighting and dying are a poor man's (and now woman's) game dontcha know....

[Flagg]

19. I know it too well

[Judi Lynn]

24. Powell Sees No Foreign Forces for Haiti for Now

Powell Sees No Foreign Forces for Haiti for Now
13 minutes ago
By Saul Hudson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Tuesday all but ruled out foreign forces going to Haiti to quell an armed revolt despite spiraling violence and a surge in exiles returning to oust President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Criticized for doing too little to prevent spreading chaos in the poorest nation in the Americas, Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said his emphasis was on promoting a negotiated settlement through Caribbean mediators.

Last week, the top U.S. diplomat warned the opposition against trying to unseat Aristide and said he was talking to other countries in the region about possibly sending police to Haiti. On Tuesday, he made clear his preference was for police to be sent once the violence had abated.

"There is frankly no enthusiasm right now for sending in military or police forces to put down the violence that we are seeing," Powell told reporters.
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040217/pl_nm/haiti_usa_police_dc_4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As some of us read in a link yesterday, _Bush has spread the military too thin to be deployed here, and has already send heavy arms shipments to people in the Dominican Republic, who are joining the right-wing factions attacking Aristide.

[Judi Lynn]

26. French Considering Haiti Peacekeepers

French Considering Haiti Peacekeepers
1 hour, 12 minutes ago

By MARK STEVENSON, Associated Press Writer

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Haiti's premier said his country was in the throes of a coup and appealed Tuesday for international help — even as Washington and Paris stated reluctance to use force to stop the blood uprising.

In Paris, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called an emergency meeting Tuesday to weigh the risks of sending peacekeepers and how otherwise to help the impoverished island, a former colony that is home to 2,000 French citizens.

"Can we deploy a peacekeeping force?" he asked on France-Inter radio, noting it "is very difficult" when a nation is in the midst of violence.

He said France had 4,000 troops in its Caribbean territories of Martinique and Guadeloupe trained in humanitarian work. "We are in contact with all of our partners in the framework of the United Nations (news - web sites), which has sent a humanitarian mission to Haiti to see what is possible."
(snip/...)

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040217/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_uprising_17

[Jacobin]

27. Well, at least there will be no language barrier

[yellowcanine]

28. Oh goody. I think they are nuts, but it is hard to see how they can make

the situation any worse for Haiti. You can certainly make a better case for intervention in Haiti than Bush made for Iraq (I know, that is a really low threshold).

[Judi Lynn]

29. It would seem our CIA has intervened quite enough, already

(snip)
The A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition denounces any intervention by the Bush Administration against the democratically elected government of Haiti and its President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. We oppose the financial embargo of this Caribbean country by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank at the instruction of the U.S. government. We condemn any CIA support for the anti-democratic opposition and the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) programs it has in Haiti to funnel money to the opposition.

Today Haiti faces a serious threat to its nascent democracy. Armed gangs led by disbanded military officers, right-wing FRAPH coup makers who overthrew President Aristide in his first term and then conducted a reign of terror, and the death squad Ton Ton Macoutes movement loyal to the old Duvalier regimes, are invading cities, burning police stations, killing and beating Lavalas Movement supporters, and attempting to violently remove the elected government from office.

The whole world (except the CIA and some business interests) took hope when the Haitian people, through the Lavalas Movement headed by former priest Jean Bertrand Aristide, came to office with a landslide victory in 1990. The whole world (except the CIA and some business interests) mourned when a military coup overthrew Aristide in 1991. Aristide is now serving again as elected president and the same forces that opposed him before continue their efforts to overthrow him.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. President Aristide's efforts to respond to the desperate needs of Haiti's poorest citizens has been crippled from the beginning by U.S. government manipulation of aid and international loans, and by a complete cut-off of international aid and loans since 2000. In a country as poor as Haiti, whose riches were looted by its colonial masters, cutting off international assistance has had a corrosive effect on society, opening the way for a re-emergence of the violent, right-wing forces of the past. A.N.S.W.E.R. demands that the U.S. government release all aid money appropriated by Congress for the Haitian government and to remove its block on international loans and grants.
(snip/...)

http://www.actionsf.org/ansst040212.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(snip)
...........In a telephone interview from the Maryland jail where he is being held for deportation, Emmanuel Constant, the founder of FRAPH, said that from the moment American troops landed he was under pressure from the U.S. military to help it maintain a form of balance in Haiti between groups supporting President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and those opposing him.

Constant said he was told by the American military early in October 1994 that I should ease up the tension and avoid confrontation by giving a speech in which I promised to be a constructive opposition to Aristide. That speech was delivered soon afterward, and Constant maintained it was approved by the U.S. government, by the embassy people in advance.

In the interview, Constant acknowledged that he had been an informant of the Central Intelligence Agency before the American invasion but said he now feels betrayed. They have the wrong man in jail, he said. I've been an ally of the United States.

Haitian government officials and foreign diplomats here said it appeared the Defense Department and American intelligence agencies were acting to weaken Aristide, whom they had long distrusted. These officials suggested that U.S. government agencies might also have been trying to protect Haitian informants who might be useful in the future but had been discredited by the collapse of the military dictatorship that overthrew Aristide.
(snip/...)

http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/190.html
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/43a/index-bab.html