(Haiti) Rebel leader delays final assault

[bemildred]

REBEL leader Guy Philippe said today he would hold off attacking
Haiti's capital for a day or two in response to US appeals he read
about on news websites.

Rebels would continue to converge near the capital in the meantime,
he said in an interview with The Associated Press from his base in
Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second-largest city that fell last Sunday.

"I heard the United States asked our men to stop their advance to
Port-au-Prince," he told The Associated Press. "It's on the news on the
Net."

Asked if the United States had directly contacted the rebels, he said
no, that he was acting on information he had read on the Internet.

Weekend Australian

Some other Haiti stories:

Rebel chief says he is a servant of his nation

unintentional humor.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/8063565.htm

Aristide Urges Calm After Gangs Rampage in Haiti

"If you think barricades are necessary, yes, you can do that ... but when the sun appears and the people have to go to work people should be able to work." Aristide said.

He urged the country's 46,000 civil servants to go to work on Monday, adding, "I will also be in my office on Monday."

In Washington, U.S. defense officials said they were considering sending a three-ship group carrying U.S. Marines to Haiti to help deal with the crisis in the Caribbean country of 8
million, the poorest country in the Americas.

Aristide, who has predicted a blood bath if the rebels enter the capital, told CNN by telephone from Port-au-Prince Washington should take a stand for democracy in Haiti.

http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=827143&tw=wn_wire_story

TT Defence Force "on alert" for Haiti

As one Caricom initative to save Haiti draws its last breath, another - to have a peacekeeping force put in the country - is limping
along. Nevertheless, the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force is on the alert to go to Haiti as part of a peacekeeping force, Prime
Minister Patrick Manning stated yesterday. Manning also made it clear that despite the growing international opinion from countries
like France, US and Canada, that Aristide should step down, Caricom is holding fast to its principled position that the Haitian leader
was lawfully and democratically elected and therefore Caricom was not prepared to "countenance" his removal by "unconstitutional"
means. Manning also disclosed that on Thursday he called five Caricom leaders, including Aristide, Barbados Prime Minis-ter Owen
Arthur (for "very cordial discussions") and Jamaica Prime Minister PJ Patterson discussing what contribution they would be prepared
to make if a peacekeeping force had to be put in Haiti.

http://www.newsday.co.tt/stories.php?article_id=14432

Haiti's President rules out resigning

Haiti's President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, says it is out of the question that he will resign.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1055540.htm

Haiti's unrest hurting S. Florida's commerce

Take that, Jeb.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/local/sfl-zhaitibiz28xfeb28,0,4929343.story?coll=sfla-business-front

U.S. Readies Marine Force For Haiti

http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_haiti_022804,00.html

[Darranar]

1. I doubt it...

the more likely situation is that he is afraid of the consequences of attacking.

I'm pretty convinced that he has other venues of communication with the US beyond "news websites", too...

[bemildred]

3. He is a lying sack of shit.

If his mouth is open he is lying.
If he is not going in, it's because:

a.) His masters have told him to wait

and/or

b.) He figures he might get his ass shot off if he tried it

[Bonhomme Richard]

2. I noiced that too. It seems that...........

he was going out of his way (read on the internet, yeah right!) to distance himself from and protect bush. We know who is giving the marching orders.

[Judi Lynn]

4. Thanks for these links.

Just located this, from 2002, on US/Haiti relations:

Direct military assault is only one of several means which the U.S. employs to impose its will on nations throughout the Third World. Political destabilization, media demonization, proxy guerrilla harassment, diplomatic machinations, and economic sanctions are also weapons in Washington's arsenal. These are the tools of "low-intensity warfare," a topic on which Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is an expert. An assistant professor of Justice and Peace Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, Nelson-Pallmeyer is the author of numerous articles and books on U.S. foreign policy including "War Against the Poor: Low Intensity Conflict and Christian Faith" (Orbis Books 1991); "Brave New World Order" (Orbis Books 1992); and "School of the Assassins: The Case for Closing the School of the Americas" (Orbis Books 1997).
(snip)

Nelson-Pallmeyer: Low-intensity conflict is a U.S. military strategy for intervention in non-traditional settings. It's primarily directed toward countries in the so-called Third World or Two-Thirds World. It's a type of warfare that implies, or involves, not direct combat between soldiers, not a high technology warfare as you see in the bombing of Afghanistan or Iraq.... It's implemented through diplomatic channels, through economic leverage through institutions like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank. It's basically designed to achieve objectives that are similar to war. You want a country to capitulate. You want a country to do what you want them to do, but you fight the war through non-traditional channels.
(snip)

In the case of Haiti, what you see is just an attempt to wear down the population by holding up key economic aid, trying to create disenchantment with the government whose inclination is to try to meet the needs of the people. All those are standard practices. But in more recent cases the U.S. has preferred to intervene through its economic leverage, trying to shape countries' economic policies in ways that the U.S. prefers, but which often has a very negative impact on people on the ground.
(snip)

Nelson-Pallmeyer: The U.S. objective is simply to control the economic decisions of a country. I argue in my writings that the preferred instrument of U.S. foreign policy from about 1945 to 1980 was military dictatorships. I would say that between 1980 and 1990 there were two tracks in U.S. policy. One was actually increasing support for repressive governments in Central America and elsewhere. But at the same time, you had a movement in the direction of utilizing debt as leverage, and, for the International Monetary Fund, structural adjustment programs became more important in the 1980s. Today, the U.S. prefers to exercise its power through economic channels. It wants a favorable investment economy. It wants to make sure that unions aren't strong. It wants to make sure that a country is not diverting its resources to the needs of its people, resources that are necessary for paying debt and doing other things. So what the U.S. wants is control, economic control, and it will use whatever leverage it has. (snip)

http://www.haiti-progres.com/2002/sm020102/ENG01-02.htm

[bemildred]

5. Interesting read, I recommend it too.

Some Venezuela bits:

Venezuela offshore gas drilling planned mid-2024

CUMANA, Venezuela,
Feb 20 (Reuters) -
International oil firms
will start the first
foreign-financed
offshore natural gas
exploration programs in
Venezuela this year as
part of the OPEC
nation's efforts to
diversify its oil-reliant
economy, company
officials said on Friday.

(Forbes, Feb. 20th)

Venezuela donates 1 million US dollars to Haiti

CARACAS, Feb. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The Venezuelan government would donate 1
million US dollars to Haiti to help the Haitian people who are suffering from political
chaos, Foreign Minister Jesus Perez said in a statement Monday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-02/24/content_1328524.htm

Venezuela's Unemployment Drop of 6% in Ten Months,
a Sign of Strong Recovery

http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1200

Venezuela's Economy Grew 9% in Fourth Quarter on Oil (Update2)

Feb. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela's economy grew
for the first time in two years in the fourth quarter,
ending the South American country's worst slump
on record, as the government revived oil output
after a national strike idled the industry.

Gross domestic product, a measure of all goods and
services produced in the country, expanded 9
percent in the October-to-December period from
the same period a year ago, the central bank said.
The oil industry, which accounts for about a third of
Venezuela's GDP, grew 25 percent after the
two-month strike that ended in February 2003 cut
output by as much as 95 percent.

``We were pleasantly surprised to see oil
production revved back up pretty quickly,'' said
Morgan Harding, a sovereign debt analyst at the
Fitch Inc. rating service in New York. ``It's
remarkable.''

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=aqd2nOfnw0sk&refer=latin_america

[bemildred]

6. I did notice a story dumping on Lula yesterday,

because his economy contracted 0.2%, so I expect his
honeymoon in Brazil is over. I was wondering when they
would start to crank up the propaganda organs on him.