The Invasion of Haiti Anthony Fenton interviews Stan Goff

[seemslikeadream]

The Invasion of Haiti
Anthony Fenton interviews Stan Goff

by Stan Goff and Anthony Fenton

Fenton: What kind of background should one be familiar with when undertaking this type of investigation?

Goff: There's been a longstanding relationship between the Dominican military and the old military apparatus that developed after Papa Doc had his rapprochment with the Americans.

A lot of people think that Papa Doc was vaulted into power by the Americans, but actually, the opposite was true. The ideology of Papa Doc was one that grew out of a very xenophobic and nationalistic resistance against the Americans, and they in fact plotted a coup against him early on. There were two factions of the ruling class: one was was very much based on the old share-cropping land system and then there were the up and coming compradore class that were much more international and cosmopolitan in their outlook and they were the ones that were gaining the most from the military occupation - the 19 year military occupation from right after World War I, all the way up until the mid-30s, by the United States.

For 19 years the US Marines basically ran Haiti directly, and Papa Doc was vaulted into power in reaction to that because the Capitalist form of agriculture that was brought into Haiti was a real threat to this land tendency system, this share cropping system. This is really the social base of Papa Doc's movement was this landed class, the big land owners. One of the origins of the tonton macoutes was that this was a militia that he used to protect himself from an army that was still in many ways loyal to this competitor class, the compradors, and were politically unreliable until Papa Doc had time to affect his own transformation in the military.

This military that developed under Papa Doc had a relationship with the Dominican military. In fact , they sort of existed with one another as their raison d'etre. They both collaborated in a lot of ways: they collaborated in criminal enterprises, they collaborated in security issues, they collaborated politically, because both of them were sort of the armed enforcement wing of their respective states, and had a direct interest in stability on both sides of the border, and this relationship has lasted. The Dominicans themselves, the dominant Dominican elites, were not at all happy about Aristide, just as many members of the Dominican military were unhappy about Aristide dissolving the military {Aristide dissolved the military when he came back the first time}.

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=55&ItemID=5557



Bushwhacked In the Caribbean

By Randall Robinson
Wednesday, May 19, 2004; Page A23

In addition, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice has warned Caricom leaders that if one U.S. soldier is killed in Haiti, Caribbean governments will be held responsible because the Aristide family was granted sanctuary in the region. In short, the Bush administration is strong-arming the Caribbean to confer on Haiti's new "government," headed by Gerard Latortue, a legitimacy it has not earned and does not deserve. Indeed, 33 of the 39 members of the Congressional Black Caucus stayed away from a recent Washington meeting arranged by two congressmen for Latortue.

The United States' demand that Caricom abandon its long-held insistence on democratic principles is psychic poison to the region. When Eastern Europe was going through its totalitarian nightmare, when coups and despotic rule were "normal" in Central and South America, and when civil strife and dictatorship wracked much of Africa and Asia, the Caribbean steadfastly upheld its democratic traditions -- and it continues to do so today. This is because of the region's well-educated populace and the caliber of its leaders; no military thugs in business suits here. From Rhodes Scholar-Prime Minister Percival J. Patterson of Jamaica in the north, to professor-lawyer Prime Minister Ralph Gonslaves in the south (St. Vincent-Grenadines), and from the physician Prime Minister Denzil Douglas in tiny St. Kitts-Nevis to the economist Prime Minister Owen Arthur in Barbados, Caribbean heads of government understand the lessons of history. They recognize the supremacy of the ballot. And they know that only democratic values will keep the Caribbean a zone of peace. Reinhold Niebuhr warned that man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but that man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary. Yet the United States has unleashed its venom on Caribbean governments because they have proclaimed Caricom's democratic principles to be inviolable.


The Bush administration, however, has been implacable. Its officials were to have come to the Caribbean in April and May to discuss, among other things, terrorism, but the administration presented Caribbean governments with an ultimatum: no recognition of Latortue, no meetings between the United States and the Caribbean leaders. Caricom reminded U.S. officials that Latortue was not elected by anyone. And so the meetings are off. Why is the unelected Latortue more important to the Bush administration than the Caribbean's 14 democratically elected governments?

Americans must speak out against their government's behavior abroad. And they must recognize that the atrocities inflicted by U.S. soldiers on Iraqi prisoners grow out of a hubris and contempt that far too many U.S. officials display when dealing with much of the rest of the world. If stable Caribbean democracies are being slapped around by America because they uphold democratic values, who is safe in this unipolar world? Certainly not the American people, who are being made targets of global rage because of these tactics.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A38008-2004May18.html


Haitian Police kill peaceful demonstrators

Haitian Police kill peaceful demonstrators
by Anthony Fenton Thursday May 20, 2004 at 12:18 PM
[email protected]

Chile is part of an illegal occupation that has overseen the slaughter of as many as 3000 Haitians since February 29th. Emerging evidence shows that the destabilization and coup d'etat began in 2000, planned and executed by the US, UN, Canada, France, EU, and the Dominican. Empires and vassals. The same forces that helped overthrow Allende have repeated history in Haiti!!!


by the Haiti Information Project

May 18, 2004
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Special Forces units (CIMO) of the Haitian National Police (PNH) killed Lavalas demonstra-tors today in Port-au-Prince as a larger U.S. Marine "peacekeeping" force of about 50 soldiers stood by.

About 6,000 Lavalas demonstrators in one of many separate marches tried to converge near the Champ De Mars for a larger demonstration. The march had been planned for some time and the organizations that planned the march received written approval by the PNH to hold this demonstration on Haitian Flag Day.

It is hard to estimate the actual size of the demonstration but figures of 30,000 to 60,000 different demonstrators in various parts of the city seem credible.

A contingent of about 50 U.S. Marines patroled every hour at the start of one march in Bel-Air trying to intimidate the population there. One of the marines officers in command tried to threaten an American journalist who was filming the action. Whenever, any of the groups of marchers tried to reach Champ de Mars a CIMO unit would "appear out of nowhere" and commence shooting into the crowds of demonstrators.

Reports of similar killing is coming in from different areas of the city. At 10PM in Haiti, there were nine verified dead by the U.S. trained killers. The Marine's seem to be coordinating this carnage, and are standing by with heavy artillery in case the population tries to stop the killers.

Recently the U.S. Marines have been directly involved in the current violent political repression of Lavalas activists. Last week the Marines used explosives to gain access to Annette Auguste's home before they arrested her and her family on the pretense that she was arming Lavalas militants to attack the Marines during Haitian Solidarity Week. No weapons were witnessed or found in possession of any of the protesters today.

Even though the demonstrators were rather angry no rocks were thrown or violence was witnessed to provoke the shooting.

One demonstrator who was shot 30 yards in front of the journalist lay dying of a gunshot wound to the head. The only item in his possession was a Walkman disk player. The CIMO unit that shot the non-violent Lavalasien drove up in a red truck license plate: 1-0060.

Later reports indicate that the U.S. Marines have begun reprisals for the large show of solidarity, once darkness descended on Port-au-Prince

fair use


Haitian leader misses Flag Day celebration

Staff report
Posted May 20 2004

Pompano Beach · The aftermath of violent political protests in Haiti kept Prime Minister Gérard Latortue from keeping an appointment to celebrate Haitian Flag Day at the Worldwide Christian Church Center on Wednesday night.

The church, along with the Louverture Center for Freedom and Development, scheduled a week of special events and services to commemorate Flag Day, which was Tuesday. Latortue was scheduled to pick up the Louverture Haiti Renaissance Award. Gov. Jeb Bush, who could not attend, was given the Star of Freedom Award.


On Tuesday, the Westminster Academy Haiti Missions Team from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church and Jean Colin, executive director of the Haitian Health Foundation of South Florida, were given the Spirit of Excellence Award during a celebration sponsored by Minority Development and Empowerment Inc

more
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/broward/sfl-cflag20xmay20,0,788...


At least 9 demonstrators killed during huge march on Haiti’s Flag Day



This pro-Aristide demonstrator, Titus Simpson, 23, was shot by Haitian Special Forces (CIMO) less than 30 yards in front of an American journalist covering Tuesday’s march celebrating Haiti’s Flag Day. U.S. Marines threatened the journalist with arrest for filming the events, and he was shot at twice. Simpson was unarmed, the only item in his possession a Walkman disk player.

Marchers face down US Marines, shout ‘Liberty or death,’ ‘Bring back Aristide’

by Marguerite Laurent, J.D.

Haitian Lawyers Leadership

This pro-Aristide demonstrator, Titus Simpson, 23, was shot by Haitian Special Forces (CIMO) less than 30 yards in front of an American journalist covering Tuesday’s march celebrating Haiti’s Flag Day. U.S. Marines threatened the journalist with arrest for filming the events, and he was shot at twice. Simpson was unarmed, the only item in his possession a Walkman disk player.
May 18 is Haiti’s Flag Day, and a demonstration was planned and authorized by the police authorities. Copies of the authorization letter, dated May 10, were sent by Fanmi Lavalas to the United Nations, OAS and CARICOM.

Yet today the Haitian police, along with U.S. Marines, shot indiscriminately into the crowd aiming to break up the demonstration.

“They slapped us hard today,” one of the demonstrators stated over the phone from Port-au-Prince. “But we slapped them right back because they thought all their killings of Lavalas and torturing had intimidated us all into hiding in our own country. They did not expect so many of us to take to the street to ask for the return of President Aristide and the disbanding of the army soldiers who are now running the Haitian National Police. That’s why we slapped them back.”

more
http://www.sfbayview.com/051904/haitisflagday051904.shtml


Thousands demonstrate in call for return of Aristide to power

Supporters of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide march during a demonstration celebrating the 201st birthday of the Haitian flag in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Tuesday, May 18, 2004. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040518/API/4051...


Pro-Aristide March Turns Violent in Haiti

By AMY BRACKEN
Associated Press Writer

Supporters of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide march during a demonstration celebrating the 201st birthday of the Haitian flag in Port-au-Prince, Haiti Tuesday, May 18, 2004. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)

Thousands of demonstrators called for the return of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide during a Flag Day rally Tuesday that turned violent, leaving at least one man dead.

Waving flags and carrying umbrellas bearing Aristide's smiling face, the demonstrators marched from the pro-Aristide stronghold of Belair toward the National Palace, just blocks away from a cathedral where interim President Boniface Alexandre was attending a Mass.

As the protesters neared the cathedral, riot police fired tear gas and then warning shots to disperse the crowd, which reacted by pelting government vehicles with rocks.

A 23-year-old demonstrator was shot and killed. It was unclear who fired the fatal shot, and police were not immediately available for comment.

more
http://www.timesdaily.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040518/API/4051...


Thousands demonstrate in call for return of Aristide to power

As the protesters neared the cathedral, riot police fired tear gas and then warning shots to disperse the crowd, which reacted by pelting government vehicles with rocks.

Demonstrator Titus Simpton, 23, was shot and killed. It was unclear who fired the fatal shot, and police were not immediately available for comment.

U.S. Marines helped the police by conducting patrols but did not fire any rounds, according to Colonel David Lapan, a spokesman for the U.S.-led multinational force that will be replaced by a U.N. force. Peacekeepers and international police are scheduled to start arriving on June 1.

Aristide claims that the United States forced him to resign amid a spreading three-week revolt on February 29, a claim the United States denies.

The 15-nation Caribbean Community, which has refused to recognize Haiti's interim government because of the allegations that Aristide has made, has asked the Organization of American States to investigate the circumstances of Aristide's departure.

more
http://www.etaiwannews.com/World/2004/05/20/1085022289.htm


Former Rebels Form New Political Party in Haiti

VOA News
20 May 2004, 14:13 UTC



AP
Guy Philippe
(File photo)
Former Haitian rebels who played a major role in February's ouster of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide say they have formed a new political party.
The former members of the National Resistance Front have created a group called the National Reconstruction Front.

Former rebel leader Guy Philippe is expected to have a lead role in the party, which says it will field candidates in Haiti's general elections next year.

The announcement was made Tuesday in Haiti's fourth-largest city, Gonaives, which the rebels held during the armed revolt that led to Mr. Aristide's departure.

more
http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=824A0A42-8743-4347-B23447C...



Rebel commander Wilfort Ferdinand, also known by the nickname Ti-Wil, greets leader Guy Philippe, right, with an affectionate pat as he arrives with a group of rebel troops in Cap Haitien, Haiti, Saturday. (AP /Pablo Aneli).


Haitian rebels form political party
Rebel leader Guy Philippe, 36, who was sacked by the Aristide government for plotting a coup, Winter Etienne, 40, and Buteur Metayer, 32, will hold respectively the roles of secretary general, general coordinator and president.

Mr Etienne is a supporter of fellow rebel leader and former death squad member Louis-Jodel Chamblain, who was convicted in absentia and sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1993 murder of Mr Aristide's financier Antoine Izmery.

Mr Metary is the leader of the Cannibal Army gang in the northern city of Gonaives and a former Aristide supporter

Tuesday's announcement was made before a crowd of 1,000 in Gonaives, held by the FRN rebels during the armed insurgency against Mr Aristide.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/s1112625.htm



In Haiti's chaos, rape without punishment was norm

"It was worse than I have ever seen," said Yolette Jeanty, director of the women's rights group Kay Fanm. "At least before, there were some ways to get justice."

Rape has always carried a certain level of impunity in Haiti. Even the concept of rape is often limited to young victims.

"The adult women, they don't consider it rape," Jeanty said. "There is this mentality that if you're not a virgin, it's not a rape."

By law, it is considered a crime against honor - a squandering of virginity that can often be settled with a payment to the victim's family.

"Sometimes the judge will even suggest as a reparation that the rapist marry the girl," Jeanty said.

more
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0520HaitiRape20-ON.html



Haiti: Marines arrest woman leader on Mother’s Day

U.S. Marines invaded the home of renowned entertainer and community leader Annette Auguste after midnight May 9, arresting and detaining everyone present including four great-grandchildren, TransAfrica said, citing reports from Haiti.

While the others were later released, Ms. Auguste, known as So Ann, was interrogated throughout the night without counsel or anyone present except herself and the Marines. She was then transferred to the Haitian National Police where she was still detained late last week.

The Marines breached her gate with explosives, shot and killed the household dogs and ransacked the home, searching for non-existent weapons.

TransAfrica said it believes Ms. Auguste was arrested because “she is a prominent leader of Haitians who understand and object that the right-wing elite has returned to Haiti behind the guns of convicted criminals and death squad thugs, with the blessing of their right-wing allies here in the United States.”

more
http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/5264/1/216


Chile Approves Troops For Haiti Peacekeeping

Thursday, May 20, 2004; Page A26

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Chile's Senate agreed Wednesday to send 650 troops to Haiti as part of a U.N. peacekeeping mission that will take over the task of restoring stability from a U.S.-led multinational force on June 1.

Chile, a member of the U.N. Security Council, deployed 130 troops in March after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide fled Haiti under international pressure as an armed rebellion threatened the capital, Port-au-Prince.

That Chilean deployment is due to end in June. The new contingent, approved by a vote of 27 to 0 with 15 abstentions, adds to that military presence and includes 38 members from the national police force.

The Security Council unanimously approved on April 30 the new mission of up to 5,700 U.N. troops and as many as 1,622 police officers.

more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A41466-2004May19.html


Brazil to send 1,200 troops to Haiti

Brazilian soldiers receive training in Brasilia, Brazil, before their Haiti deployment.

BRASILIA, Brazil (Reuters) -- Brazil's Senate agreed late Wednesday to send 1,200 troops to Haiti to lead a U.N peacekeeping mission as Brazil seeks to build a role as a regional crisis mediator.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has championed the interests of the world's poorest nations since taking office, offered Brazil's biggest ever U.N. peacekeeping force to head the mission.

The Senate vote was the last hurdle for deployment. It was approved with 38 votes for and 10 votes against.

Lula, who objected to the U.S.-led war on Iraq last year, conditioned Brazilian leadership of the mission on international support to build a democracy in Haiti after two U.S.

more
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/americas/05/20/brazil.haiti.reut /



Haitian Police kill peaceful demonstrators
by Anthony Fenton Thursday May 20, 2004 at 12:18 PM
[email protected]

Chile is part of an illegal occupation that has overseen the slaughter of as many as 3000 Haitians since February 29th. Emerging evidence shows that the destabilization and coup d'etat began in 2000, planned and executed by the US, UN, Canada, France, EU, and the Dominican. Empires and vassals. The same forces that helped overthrow Allende have repeated history in Haiti!!!

by the Haiti Information Project

May 18, 2004
Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Special Forces units (CIMO) of the Haitian National Police (PNH) killed Lavalas demonstra-tors today in Port-au-Prince as a larger U.S. Marine "peacekeeping" force of about 50 soldiers stood by.

About 6,000 Lavalas demonstrators in one of many separate marches tried to converge near the Champ De Mars for a larger demonstration. The march had been planned for some time and the organizations that planned the march received written approval by the PNH to hold this demonstration on Haitian Flag Day.

It is hard to estimate the actual size of the demonstration but figures of 30,000 to 60,000 different demonstrators in various parts of the city seem credible.

A contingent of about 50 U.S. Marines patroled every hour at the start of one march in Bel-Air trying to intimidate the population there. One of the marines officers in command tried to threaten an American journalist who was filming the action. Whenever, any of the groups of marchers tried to reach Champ de Mars a CIMO unit would "appear out of nowhere" and commence shooting into the crowds of demonstrators.

Reports of similar killing is coming in from different areas of the city. At 10PM in Haiti, there were nine verified dead by the U.S. trained killers. The Marine's seem to be coordinating this carnage, and are standing by with heavy artillery in case the population tries to stop the killers.

Recently the U.S. Marines have been directly involved in the current violent political repression of Lavalas activists. Last week the Marines used explosives to gain access to Annette Auguste's home before they arrested her and her family on the pretense that she was arming Lavalas militants to attack the Marines during Haitian Solidarity Week. No weapons were witnessed or found in possession of any of the protesters today.

Even though the demonstrators were rather angry no rocks were thrown or violence was witnessed to provoke the shooting.

One demonstrator who was shot 30 yards in front of the journalist lay dying of a gunshot wound to the head. The only item in his possession was a Walkman disk player. The CIMO unit that shot the non-violent Lavalasien drove up in a red truck license plate: 1-0060.

Later reports indicate that the U.S. Marines have begun reprisals for the large show of solidarity, once darkness descended on Port-au-Prince

More details on this tragic event later.
http://chile.indymedia.org/news/2004/05/18974.php
fair use


WATCH THIS VIDEO



EVERY DEATH CREATES NEW ENEMIES
MORE TERRORISTS
MORE DANGER
MORE DEATH
AND REMEMBER...
HE IS JUST GETTING STARTED...
BUSH'S PLAN FOR PEACE
IS THE PEACE OF THE COMMON GRAVE

LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN

http://www.bushflash.com/pax.html



Let America be America Again...by Langston Hughes


Let America be America again.
Let it be the dream it used to be.
Let it be the pioneer on the plain
Seeking a home where he himself is free.

(America never was America to me.)

Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed--
Let it be that great strong land of love
Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme
That any man be crushed by one above.

(It never was America to me.)

O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.

(There's never been equality for me,
Nor freedom in this "homeland of the free.")

Say, who are you that mumbles in the dark?
And who are you that draws your veil across the stars?

I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,
I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars.
I am the red man driven from the land,
I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek--
And finding only the same old stupid plan
Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.

I am the young man, full of strength and hope,
Tangled in that ancient endless chain
Of profit, power, gain, of grab the land!
Of grab the gold! Of grab the ways of satisfying need!
Of work the men! Of take the pay!
Of owning everything for one's own greed!

I am the farmer, bondsman to the soil.
I am the worker sold to the machine.
I am the Negro, servant to you all.
I am the people, humble, hungry, mean--
Hungry yet today despite the dream.
Beaten yet today--O, Pioneers!
I am the man who never got ahead,
The poorest worker bartered through the years.

Yet I'm the one who dreamt our basic dream
In the Old World while still a serf of kings,
Who dreamt a dream so strong, so brave, so true,
That even yet its mighty daring sings
In every brick and stone, in every furrow turned
That's made America the land it has become.
O, I'm the man who sailed those early seas
In search of what I meant to be my home--
For I'm the one who left dark Ireland's shore,
And Poland's plain, and England's grassy lea,
And torn from Black Africa's strand I came
To build a "homeland of the free."

The free?

Who said the free? Not me?
Surely not me? The millions on relief today?
The millions shot down when we strike?
The millions who have nothing for our pay?
For all the dreams we've dreamed
And all the songs we've sung
And all the hopes we've held
And all the flags we've hung,
The millions who have nothing for our pay--
Except the dream that's almost dead today.

O, let America be America again--
The land that never has been yet--
And yet must be--the land where every man is free.
The land that's mine--the poor man's, Indian's, Negro's, ME--
Who made America,
Whose sweat and blood, whose faith and pain,
Whose hand at the foundry, whose plow in the rain,
Must bring back our mighty dream again.

Sure, call me any ugly name you choose--
The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!

O, yes,
I say it plain,
America never was America to me,
And yet I swear this oath--
America will be!

Out of the rack and ruin of our gangster death,
The rape and rot of graft, and stealth, and lies,
We, the people, must redeem
The land, the mines, the plants, the rivers.
The mountains and the endless plain--
All, all the stretch of these great green states--
And make America again!

[JohnOneillsMemory]

1. Americans can't find Haiti on a map, nevermind know of the US coup. n/t

[Karenina]

2. Americans are therefore

COMPLICIT.

[seemslikeadream]

3. Thanks Karenina and John

you don't know what it means to me that someone, just someone wanted to know what was happenin' in Haiti these days.