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History Repeating: Is A Coup Brewing in Haiti?
Dean Halts Campaign But Remains On Ballot To "Send Progressive
Delegates To The Convention"
History Repeating: Is A Coup Brewing in Haiti?
The situation in the small island nation of Haiti is growing
more severe by the hour. There are now fears that the democratically-elected
government of Jean Bertrand Aristide could be overthrown in
a violent coup d'etat. For weeks, gangs of armed groups have
attacked police stations and other government outposts. More
than 50 people have been killed and the violent insurgency
is daily increasing its weapons supplies. Aristide's official
government forces are ill-equipped to defend against the violence.
Haiti has no army and the national police are estimated at
around 3,000 men. Aristide supporters have clashed regularly
with the insurgents and other opponents of the Haitian president.
In not so subtle statements, US officials have hinted that
they want Aristide gone. But Secretary of State Colin Powell
was forced this week to officially renounce this. But for
anyone follwing Haiti over the years, it comes as no surprise
that Washington may well be involved. What is particularly
troubling to veteran observers in Haitian politics is the
fact that some of the leaders of the armed gangs are men who
were at the forefront of the campaign of terror in the early
1990s in Haiti that ultimately led to the overthrow of Aristide.
In this period, the Haitian Armed Forces and the right-wing
paramilitary death squad FRAPH, which was supported by the
CIA and other US agencies, were the principal organizations
behind the reign of terror against unarmed civilians that
included at least 5,000 murders, 300,000 internal refugees,
40,000 boat people, and countless tortures, rapes, thefts,
and beatings. According to the Haitian newspaper Haiti-Progres,
a man named Louis Jodel Chamblain arrived this week in the
Haitian city of Gonaives-where the armed gangs are largely
based. Chamblain is the former vice-president of the FRAPH
paramilitary death squad.
Chamblain was convicted and sentenced in absentia to hard-labor
for life in trials for the April 23, 1994 Raboteau massacre
and the September 11, 1993 assassination of democracy-activist
Antoine Izméry. Chamblain arrived in Gonaives last
week with about 25 other commandos from the Dominican Republic,
where he has been living since 1994. They were well equipped
with rifles, camouflage uniforms, and all-terrain vehicles.Since
arriving in Haiti, Chamblain led the attack by about 15 opposition
commandos against the Hinche police station on Haiti's Central
Plateau a few days ago on February 16.
Among the victims of FRAPH under Chamblain's leadership was
Haitian Justice Minister Guy Malary. He was ambushed and machine-gunned
to death with his body-guard and a driver on Oct. 14, 1993.
According to an October 28, 1993 CIA Intelligence Memorandum
obtained by the Center for Constitutional Rights "FRAPH
members Jodel Chamblain, Emmanuel Constant, and Gabriel Douzable
met with an unidentified military officer on the morning of
14 October to discuss plans to kill Malary." Emmanuel
"Toto" Constant, the leader of FRAPH, is now living
freely in the US-in fact he is believed to be living here
in Queens, NY.
Meanwhile, according to Haiti-Progres, another Dominican
Republic-based paramilitary arrived in Gonaives last week.
He is Guy Philippe, a former Haitian police chief who fled
Haiti in October 2000 after authorities discovered him plotting
a coup with a clique of other police chiefs who had all been
trained by US Special Forces in Ecuador during the 1991-1994
coup. Since that time, the Haitian government has accused
Philippe of master-minding deadly attacks on the Police Academy
and the National Palace in July and December 2001, as well
as hit-and-run raids against police stations on Haiti's Central
Plateau over the following two years.
One of the main leaders of what is being called the opposition
in Haiti, Andy Apaid, Jr. said recently that "armed resistance
is a legitimate political expression" under a popularly
elected government and that the "rebels" should
remain armed until Aristide resigns. Apaid is not a Haitian
citizen. In fact, he is a US citizen. He was born in New York
in 1952. He never renounced his U.S. citizenship and Haitian
law does not allow dual citizenship. Congresswoman Maxine
Waters, who was on this program earlier this week, blasted
Apaid and his opposition front, saying, "It is my belief
that André Apaid is attempting to instigate a bloodbath
in Haiti and then blame the government for the resulting disaster
in the belief that the United States will aid the so-called
protestors against President Aristide and his government."
- Maude LeBlanc, a reporter for Haiti-Progres.
She joins us on the line from Port au-Prince, Haiti.
- Kevin Pina, an independent journalist and filmmaker who
has spent the past 4 and a half years living and working
in Haiti. He joins us from the Haitian capital Port au-Prince.
- Jean Beliard Lucien, a Haitian journalist who now lives
in New York, where he is the director of Radio
Lakay, a Haitian radio station.
- Brian Concannon, works for the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux,
(International Lawyers Office) in Haiti, where he has spent
the last several years prosecuting crimes committed during
the 1991-1994 coup. Among the cases he has prosecuted are
those stemming from the 1994 Robato massacre by military
and paramilitary forces in a pro-democracy neighborhood.
- Raymond Joseph, editor and publisher of the Haiti Observateur,
a weekly Haitian newspaper published in Brooklyn. He is
also a columnist with the New York Sun and is a former reporter
at the Wall Street Journal. After the fall of the Duvalier
family, Joseph was briefly Haiti's envoy in Washington.
Recent Democracy Now! coverage of Haiti:
Dean Halts Campaign But Remains On Ballot To "Send
Progressive Delegates To The Convention"
Former Vermont governor Howard Dean officially announced
that he would no longer actively campaign for president capping
one of the largest political turnarounds in memory. Just a
month ago going into the Iowa caucus he was the Democratic
frontrunner sitting on a record sized campaign chest and top-name
endorsements. Former Vermont governor Howard Dean officially
announced Wednesday that he would no longer actively campaign
for president.
The announcement capped one of the largest political turnarounds
in memory. Just a month ago going into the Iowa caucus he
was the Democratic frontrunner sitting on a record sized campaign
chest and top-name endorsements.
Speaking in Burlington, Dean announced he would turn his
campaign organization into a grass-roots network to "transform
the Democratic Party and change our country."
The announcement came one day after Dean came in a distant
third in the Wisconsin primary behind Senators John Kerry
and John Edwards. Dean was O for 17, having won none of the
primaries and caucuses held so far with the exception of the
District of Columbia's unofficial primary in January that
awarded no delegates.
While Dean won't actively campaign, he didn't officially
drop out so his name will remain on the ballots in upcoming
primaries and he urged supporters to continue to vote for
him in upcoming races. Dean didn't mention any of the other
remaining candidates by name but he vowed to support the party's
eventual nominee.
Yesterday he took to the stage and addressed a crowd of supporters
in Burlington Vermont. This is an excerpt of what he had to
say.
- Peter Freyne, columnist with Seven
Days, the largest weekly newspaper in Vermont.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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