**BREAKING NEWS**--THE RETURN OF ARISTIDE: Democracy Now!'s Exclusive

[eablair3]

One more try.

Audio interviews by Amy Goodman before getting on the plane Sat night can be heard at the link below. The transcript is up at the link, too. The flight left at 9 pm Saturday night from a private airfield in Miami. Goodman said the plane is making stops in St. Thomas and Senegal before reaching CAR to retrieve Aristide and his wife, Mildred.

Goodman interviewed Maxine Waters, Sharon Hay-Webster, the rep of Jamaican Prime Minister PJ PAtterson, and Randall Robinson.

Not a lot said, but the reports should be interesting once they get Aristide out of CAR.

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/13/1835255
_______________

**BREAKING NEWS**
THE RETURN OF ARISTIDE: Democracy Now!'s Exclusive Reports on the Haitian President's Return to the Caribbean

Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman is currently on board a plane en route to the Central African Republic. She is accompanying a delegation that will escort President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to Jamaica, which has offered to host him. The delegation includes Rep. Maxine Waters, Randall Robinson, an emmisary of the Jamaican prime minister as well as Aristide's lawyer, Ira Kurzban.

On Saturday night shortly before 9 p.m. a U.S. and Jamaican delegation left Miami headed to the Central African Republic to return President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife Mildred back to the Caribbean.

Aboard the plane were U.S. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, and attorney Ira Kurzban and Jamaican parliamentarian Sharon Hay-Webster will be representing the Government of Jamaica and Caricom. Accompanying the delegation are journalists Amy Goodman of Democracy Now! and Peter Eisner of the Washington Post. The delegation is expected to arrive in the Central African Republic on Sunday, March 14, and is expected to arrive in Jamaica, along with the Aristides, on Monday March 15, 2004. Democracy Now! will be providing reports throughout the weekend.


http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/13/1835255

[Tinoire]

1. Thanks. Listening to it now!

You're a real gem!

[NJCher]

2. caught me by surprise!

I had no idea anything like this was in the works. Are there any other threads about this having been planned?


Cher

[Tinoire]

4. It's been planned for about 2 days now

(and yes, there are threads in LBN about this). The US and their 'new' government in Haiti have been pressuring Jamaica not to receive Aristide. They're really upset about his return so close to Haiti. I'm obviously thrilled :)

[AP]

19. I know people hate Blair here, but, psst, Jamaica does what the UK says.

I think it's VERY interesting that Aristide is flying to Jamaica.

[Chicago Democrat]

22. Britain supports Aristide, doesn't it?

Not a peep from London about anything bad about Aristide. Maybe lapdog Blair is trying to distance itself from little Napoleon Bush?

[AP]

23. If you wanted to make an argument that the UK has been taking

subtle steps to reign in virulent neoliberalism, it wouldn't be hard.

- Aristide is going to Jamaica

- Notwithstanding all the other shit the UK has given Zimbabwe, they did give them a great deal of food aid last summer. If they really wanted to get Mugabe out, they could have done the evil think and let people starve and then blamed in on land reform (rather than drought).

- The british aren't raising hell over Zimbabwe suggesting that might charge that former SAS with a capital offense.

- They aren't using Iraq as a free-for-all for British business (and, in fact, Bush's best friends in the UK, Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy, haven't even been allowed into Iraq.

I know there is other evidence to the contrary, but just imagine what it'd be like if the Tories were in control.

[eablair3]

5. yeah, they're not reporting this on CNN or Faux

the mass media is not really tlaking about this yet.

there have been newspaper reports in the last day or two about Aristide going to Jamaica -- this is the first saying the times and with a reporter actually on the plane that is going to get him. Should be some direct, first-hand reporting coming up on Dem Now, soon.

Look back over the last day or two in here -- there were several reports in the corporate media papers about how the U.S. and the "Haiti government" and "Haitian Prime Minister" or "Premier" LaTortue were strenuously objecting to this and giving all sorts of warnings to Jamaica. LaTortue said that he was even going to travel to Jamaica to meet with Patterson, the PM there. I guess Jamaica gave their answer -- the plane is on its way to retrieve Aristide, and LaTorture hasn't been to Jamaica.

[Renew Deal]

9. I was wondering when they would get him out of CAR

I haven't followed this closely in a few days but I wondered. I figuered that they couldn't keep him there forever if he was truly "free."

[Florida_Geek]

11. IF they are able to fly

him out. Will CAR allow him to leave.

[Renew Deal]

12. He's not supposed to be a captive.

You would think they would let him. I thought they wanted him out. I wonder what his american "handlers" will do.

[eablair3]

14. at the link above from Dem Now - they have no choice

I don't think CAR, France or the U.S. can do anything to keep him there, or else it will further expose what they did.

Goodman asked Maxine Waters about this. Waters said she had confirmed and reconfirmed with both the French and the U.S. that Aristide is not being held there, so that he is free to leave.

Here's the part from Waters:

REP. MAXINE WATERS: I have been involved with making sure that President Aristide and his wife Mildred are safe and secure and that they could reasonably plan their future. He was dropped into the Central African Republic without anybody talking to him from our government or the French government telling him what he could expect or where he would be taken or whether or not he could leave. And so my involvement has been to help clarify that and I am very pleased that it is clarified and that Jamaica has responded to his request to come to Jamaica where he will be temporarily until he settles permanently some place else.

...

AMY GOODMAN: And have you Congressmember Waters been under any pressure for this trip? It certainly runs counter to U.S. government policy. What level of government are you speaking to right now?

REP. MAXINE WATERS: Well, there has been a lot of difficulty just working out the details of the trip. I have not been impeded in any way by my own government or the French government and I talk with them directly because I wanted a clarification, I wanted to know whether or not they were holding President Aristide against his will. They have assured me that they are not and I have talked to them and I have no problems at this point with either government.

_________

but, she hasn't talked to CAR, I guess. All reports regarding CAR have stated that CAR does whatever the U.S. and France want done. So, if CAR refuses to let him leave, then I'd be shocked. The U.S. and France have to let him go, or the lawless actions of France and U.S will become apparent. They've stated their story, and now they have to stick to it.

[Rex]

3. A big thank you to Congresswoman Maxine Waters

I love the fact that she still calls him President Aristide! Defiance to the BFEE...gotta love it! Wouldn't THAT have been a dream ticket? Wellstone & Waters.

[lebkuchen]

8. I agree. Congressman Waters is TOPS

She has kept the pressure on *.

[Dirty Hippie]

6. Tinoire

I assume you are Haitian? Do you have any contacts in Haiti? If so would you care to share any infomation about how they are doing?

[Tinoire]

28. They are scared %&(less

My great-aunt told my mom there is incessant gun-fire all night and that many of the slums, where Aristide's supporters live, are burning. The rebels are totally out of control and even those who were greedy enough to have sympathies with group 184 are regretting their support.

Nobody dares leave their property and for staples all are totally reliant on the poor, brave marketwomen who have the courage to trek back and forth from the city to the hills.

It is absolute madness and the foreign forces are only protecting the foreign businesses, embassies, and homes of the ultra-rich. The "rebels" control everything else and they let it be know that they have the support of the US embassy.

The poor, who were given rights under Aristide, are understandably resisting being "put back in their place" and, in many places, are being put in cargo containers and burned alive as a warning to the others who would dare resist.

Basically, everyone, regardless of which side they're on is scared out of their minds.

[Florida_Geek]

7. A Washington Post Reporter

This gets more interesting all the time.

[xchrom]

10. oh yeah!

that is excellent news.
may powell have to eat his words in public!

[eablair3]

13. Jamaica doesn't expect a visit from LaTortue (Jamaica Observer)

Aristide arrives Monday

Sunday, March 14, 2004

Overthrown Haitian president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife Mildred, arrive in Jamaica tomorrow from the Central African Republic where the couple has been in exile since Aristide's ostensible resignation a fortnight ago during what he insists was a coup d'etat orchestrated by the United States, Jamaican and foreign sources said last night.

At the same time, an expected weekend visit by interim Haitian prime minister, Gerard Latortue, appeared to be off last night and Government officials could not say whether it would be rescheduled.
"He did not come today (Saturday) and it does not seem that he will come tomorrow (Sunday)," said a Government official. "I can't say whether he will come or when."

Another Government official said Latortue has "plenty of sorting out to do" in Haiti before he can "sensibly engage Prime Minister (P J) Patterson" on the basis on which he would like to see the Caribbean Community (Caricom) treat with his administration.

Patterson is chairman of the 15-member Caricom - which has criticised the way Aristide was removed from office - but had agreed to meet Latortue in Kingston ahead of a Caricom summit in St Kitts later this month, at which Haiti will be high on the agenda.

snip

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/html/20040314T000000-0500_57059_OBS_ARISTIDE_ARRIVES_MONDAY.asp

[mediaman007]

15. Hope that they're not FLYING from CAR to Jamaica...

opponents of this administration always have difficulty with air transportation.

[teryang]

16. I hope all arrive safely

This is an incredible story.

[WatchWhatISay]

17. I am such a fan of Amy Goodman

Every time I hear DUers complain about the "news" on CNN and MSNBC and Fox, I wonder, why do they go there so much? Democracy Now is my primary news source every weekday morning. There ARE real news source out there, and this is an excellent one.

[tlcandie]

20. Agree also, LINK TV's Mosaic is awesome as well!!

I never watch main stream anymore unless my husband has it on and I hear something that catches my attention and want to hear the spin on it!

DISH TV rocks!!

[lostnfound]

29. I'm a fan too. She is "her brother's keeper".

It is so reassuring and inspiring to hear her. Even though it's usually bad news she's delivering, it makes such a difference to hear it from a person who really cares and who is so reliable.

I respect her so much, and her less-famous coworkers.

[eablair3]

18. Debunking the Media's Lies about President Aristide

ran across this new and interesting piece. It's kind of long, but worth the time to read it.
__________________


http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar04/Felux0314.htm

Debunking the Media's Lies about President Aristide
by Justin Felux
www.dissidentvoice.org
March 14, 2004

Speaking from his de facto prison in the Central African Republic where he is being kept under lock and key by the French, Jean-Bertrand Aristide recently made a statement to the world in which he said, "I declare in overthrowing me they have uprooted the trunk of the tree of peace, but it will grow back because the roots are L'Ouverturian," referring to Toussaint L'Ouverture, the military genius who led his fellow slaves in the only successful slave rebellion in world history. L'Ouverture was captured by the French and taken to a jail cell in the Jura Mountains of France. Aristide, the first democratically elected leader in Haitian history, has maintained that he was forced out of his country by the United States and a group of terrorists working on behalf of Haiti's wealthy elite.

If you believe the stories of the corporate media and the Bush administration, you would think Aristide is getting what he deserves. He is a "corrupt dictator" who abuses human rights. He is a "psychopath" who advocated "necklacing" his opponents. He didn't do anything to bring Haiti out of poverty; in fact, he made Haiti more poor than ever. All of these statements are distortions or outright lies. Aristide's true crime was the same crime committed by L'Ouverture 200 years ago: he stood up to the powers that be. He empowered the Haitian people and belied the racist caricature of Haiti as a land of savage, voodoo-practicing black people who aren't fit to govern themselves; the view expressed by William Jennings Bryan when he said "Think of it, niggers speaking French," or by Pat Buchanan when he disgracefully referred to Haitian refugees as "the Zulus off Miami Beach." Aristide showed those who painted the Haitian people as ungovernable savages needed to take a look in the mirror before they presumed to control the affairs of Haiti, and for that, he had to be deposed.

The New York Times Glorifies Killers

Meanwhile, the U.S. media has waged a vicious propaganda campaign against the embattled former priest in an attempt to justify his forced removal. The coverage of the events in Haiti has been nothing short of disgraceful. For example, the New York Times printed a story today titled "Thousands March in Haiti for New Leaders and Army." The story devotes 760 words to describing the rally held by supporters of the death squads that recently overran the Haitian countryside: "Some of the signs read 'Arrest Aristide!' Others said 'Down with Bill Clinton!' and 'Down with Jesse Jackson!' ... Others chanted 'Bring back the army!'" For those who don't know, the Haitian Army was created by the U.S. during the first half of the 20th century. It was used as an instrument of terror against Haiti's poor by the wealthy ruling class until Aristide bravely disbanded it in 1995.

In the story, Guy Philippe is portrayed as a character whose goodness ranks somewhere between that of Mother Theresa and Jesus. This is the same Guy Philippe who led incursions into Haiti from across the border which killed dozens of Lavalas supporters and police officers. He is also suspected of cocaine trafficking. Contrast the Times' coverage of the anti-Aristide demonstration with their coverage of a recent pro-Aristide demonstration. According to Reuters, the pro-Aristide rally had anywhere from 8,000 to over 10,000 participants: "Thousands of outraged supporters of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide poured out of Haiti's slums and into the streets on Friday, marching on the U.S. Embassy to denounce the "occupation" of their homeland and demand Aristide's return."

snip

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Mar04/Felux0314.htm

[lazarus]

21. see the GD discussion thread about that article

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1229869

:hi:

[nolabels]

24. corporate media can't handle the truth

:D

[MidwestMomma]

25. This is such good news

Now I'll be on pins and needles waiting to hear of their safe arrival in Jamaica. Thanks for keeping us posted.

In your face Bush...how you like them apples?

[Judi Lynn]

26. Here's the AP story, carried in the Miami Herald

Posted on Sat, Mar. 13, 2004

Delegation departs from Miami to retrieve Aristide

JOHN PAIN
Associated Press


MIAMI - A delegation of American and Jamaican officials departed Saturday to bring ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from his exile in Africa to be reunited with his family in Jamaica.

The five-member delegation boarded a 13-seat charter Gulfstream jet in Miami and expected to arrive in Central African Republic on Sunday afternoon after several refueling stops.

Delegation members, including U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said bringing Aristide to Jamaica was not an attempt for the former leader to regain power in Haiti. She called their mission "humanitarian."

The plane was expected to arrive in Jamaica on Monday morning.
Sharon Hay-Webster, a representative of the Caribbean Community, said Aristide would spend up to 10 weeks in Jamaica. She said Aristide won't be performing any political activities there.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/8180590.htm

Safe trip to ALL involved. This is a wonderful idea, if they survive it.
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/state/8180590.htm

[JohnOneillsMemory]

27. Allowing the illusion of freedom to take heat off the US gov't, methinks.

The newscycle focus on the topic has passed and this is a way to displace any residual coverage of the kidnapping and the coup by putting the prisoner on a longer chain and calling it freedom.

It seems to me that, Aristide having been effectively neutralized and chaos restored so that the US influence in the region against Chavez can continue, allowing the still impotent Aristide to travel merely takes some of the media pressure and outrage off the already embattled Bush* maladministration. Throwing the puppy press a bone.

The release of a few Britons from Gitmo Bay is for the same reason, releasing a little outrage pressure and calling it justice.

I listen to Democracy Now everyday and it is a lifeline to reality, harsh as it is. Amy Goodman is an American hero, or shero if you prefer.