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Kerry Wins 9 of 10 in Super Tuesday, Edwards To Drop Out
Exclusive: Haitian Consul General Says Aristide Still President
Will the UN and OAS Recognize Aristide or Coup Leaders?
The Haitian Army Returns: Who Is Guy Philippe?
Fmr. U.S. Special Forces Officer Describes Arresting Current
Coup Leader in 1994
Kerry Wins 9 of 10 in Super Tuesday, Edwards To Drop
Out
Sen. John Kerry locked up the Democratic presidential nomination
winning nine of ten states on Super Tuesday. His top opponent
Sen. John Edwards is scheduled to announce he is dropping
out of the race. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean denied
Kerry a sweep winning his home state two weeks after dropping
out.
Sen. John Kerry locked up the Democratic presidential nomination
last night winning nine of ten states on Super Tuesday including
New York and California. His top opponent Sen. John Edwards
is scheduled to announce today that he is dropping out of
the race after failing to win any of the 10 states up for
grabs. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean denied Kerry a
sweep winning his home state two weeks after dropping out
of the race.
The Rev. Al Sharpton won just 8% of the vote in his home
state of New York, trailing far behind Kerry's 60. Sharpton
did not get a majority of the vote from African Americans
or Hispanics winning 40% and 10% respectively.
Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich won 9% of the vote in his
home state of Ohio to Kerry's 52%.
Sen. Edwards is scheduled to end his candidacy today in his
home state of North Carolina. The Washington Post reports
Edwards was under pressure from within the party to quit to
allow Kerry to focus his energies and resources on President
Bush as well as preserve his own prospects of becoming the
party's vice presidential nominee.
After a congratulatory call to Kerry, Edwards spoke to his
supporters in Atlanta.
- Sen. John Edwards, speaking in Atlanta, GA on March 2,
2004.
Frontrunner John Kerry rolled up huge Super Tuesday triumphs
in California, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Connecticut, Rhode
Island, Minnesota and his home state of Massachusetts, as
well as a razor-thin 5-point win over Edwards in Georgia.
President Bush last night called Kerry to congratulate him
on his victories.
Tuesday was the biggest single day of the nominating season,
with 10 states and over 1,100 delegates at stake. Looking
at the exit polls, the New York Times says Kerry did well
among "virtually every category of Democratic voter coast
to coast." The Washington Post emphasizes that voters
again saw "electability" as a key Kerry asset.
Kerry spoke to supporters at the Old Post Office Pavilion
in Washington DC, strategically close to the White House.
- Sen. John Kerry, speaking in Washington DC on March 2,
2004.
Kerry has won 27 of 30 primaries and caucuses this year.
Among those eliminated along the way are Sen. Bob Graham of
Florida, former Illinois Sen. Carol Moseley Braun, Sen. Joe
Lieberman of Connecticut, retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark and
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.
Exclusive: Haitian Consul General Says Aristide Still
President
In a Democracy Now! exclusive, Consul General of the Haitian
government in New York Harry Fouche recognizes the Aristide
government as legitimate saying Jean Bertrand Aristide is
still president of Haiti and Yvon Neptune is still his prime
minister.
- Harry Fouche, Consul General of the Haitian government
in New York.
Excert
of transcript:
Amy Goodman: Harry Fouche, as the Consul General of the Haitian
government in New York, do you still recognize the authority
of President Jean Bertrand Aristide?
Harry Fouche: Well, let me put it you to this way - Yvon
Neptune is still the prime minister. Yvon Neptune was chosen
by President Aristide.
Amy Goodman: Does that mean that Jean Bertrand Aristide is
the President?
Harry Fouche: Yes, for practical purposes.
...
Amy Goodman: Let me end with Harry Fouche, the Consul General
of Haiti in New York. Are you afraid for your country?
Harry Fouche: Well certainly. Everything that you have heard
described, you know, brings fear to us, and also brings terror
to the country, so we are hoping common sense and a sense
of justice and a sense of fairness will prevail, so actions
will be taken quickly to remove these sinister characters
from positions of - that they are occupying now, where they
are terrorizing the country.
Will the UN and OAS Recognize Aristide or Coup Leaders?
We speak with the Center for Constitutional Rights' Michael
Ratner about who the United Nations and Organization should
recognize as the legitimate government of Haiti under international
law and we take a look at the English translation of Aristide's
resignation letter which he says is altered to omit a key
phrase. At the United Nations here in New York, Haitians and
Haitian-Americans protested what they call the overthrow of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
As the Haitians demonstrated at the UN, as well as in San
Francisco, Vice president Dick Cheney was giving a rare round
of interviews to FOX News and CNN. He told both networks that
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide had "worn out his welcome"
as Haiti's president.
The removal of Aristide from Haiti has put the country's
international diplomats into a difficult situation. Aristide
claims he did not resign and says that the handwritten message
in creole that the US says was his letter of resignation was
mistranslated in English. The US says Aristide is gone and
that the Haitian Supreme Court justice, Boniface Alexandre,
is the interim president. So who speaks for Haiti internationally
and at the United Nations?
- Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional
Rights.
The Haitian Army Returns: Who Is Guy Philippe?
The feared Haitian army, disbanded by Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
is making a comeback. We take an in-depth look at the paramilitary
leader who now claims to be in control of the Haitian police
and military: Guy Philippe, a former Haitian police chief
who was trained by US Special Forces in Ecuador in the early
1990s. For many Haitians, it is like a real life nightmare
is once again becoming a reality. The feared Haitian army,
disbanded by Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is making a comeback.
And what is particularly disturbing to veteran Haiti observers
and human rights organizations is the man who now claims to
be in control of the Haitian police and military.
He says the man he most admires is former Chilean dictator
Gen. Augusto Pinochet. He praises the former dictator as the
man who "made Chile what it is.'" Next to Pinochet,
his second greatest hero is Ronald Reagan. The man is paramilitary
leader Guy Philippe, a former Haitian police chief who was
trained by US Special Forces in Ecuador in the early 1990s.
The Haitian government and the private US security firm hired
in 1998 by Haiti to protect the president accuse Philippe
of master-minding a deadly attack on the Police Academy in
July 2001 and of an attempted coup in December 2001. When
he is discussed in the corporate media, he is almost always
referred to simply as a rebel leader, a former police chief.
But human rights groups paint a different picture.
Human Rights Watch reported Friday that during Philippe's
term as police chief of the Port-au-Prince suburb of Delmas
from 1997 to 1999, international monitors "learned that
dozens of suspected gang members were summarily executed,
mainly by police under the command of Inspector Berthony Bazile,
Philippe's deputy."
Yesterday, Philippe and his paramilitaries retook control
of the former Haitian Army headquarters across from the National
palace. Philippe declared to the international press that
he himself is now in control of 90% of Haiti's armed forces.
In an address on Haitian Radio, Philippe declared, "The
country is in my hands." He summoned 20 police commanders
to meet with him yesterday and warned that if they failed
to appear he would arrest them.
Also yesterday, Philippe announced he would arrest Haitian
Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, who is a top official of Aristide's
Lavalas party. Democracy Now! heard from sources in Haiti
that Neptune's home was burned and looted and that he was
being pursued by armed gangs. People close to Neptune told
us he fears for his life. Local radio reported that Neptune
was evacuated from his office by helicopter as Guy Philippe
led a mob in a march to the office. Meanwhile, there are reports
of regular execution-style killings on the Haitian seaside.
- Brian Concannon, works for the Bureau des Avocats Internacionaux,
(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 Raboteau massacre in a pro-democracy
neighborhood in Gonaives.
Fmr. U.S. Special Forces Officer Describes Arresting
Current Coup Leader in 1994
Stan Goff, who spent 26 years in the U.S. Armed Forces in
elite Ranger, Airborne and Special Forces counterterrorist
units describes arresting coup leader Jean Tatoune in the
first coup in 1994. FRAPH veteran Tatoune was convicted of
gross violations of human rights and murder in the massacre
in the pro-democracy region of Raboteau.
- Stan Goff, author of "Hideous Dream: A Soldier's
Memoir of the US Invasion of Haiti." He joined the
Armed Forces in 1970 and retired in 1996 from the US Army,
from 3rd Special Forces. He was deployed to Haiti in 1994.
He recently travelled to Haiti and returned last week. His
latest book is "Full Spectrum Disorder: The Military
in the New American Century." He is speaking to us
from Raleigh, NC.
Excerpt
of transcript:
Amy Goodman: Stan Goff, when you arrested Jean Tatun, the
circumstances and your assessment of him?
Stan Goff: Yeah. Well, the book I wrote about it. It goes
into a lot of detail about it. He and one other FRAPH member
along with four members of the five had back --
Amy Goodman: The five being the Haitian army?
Stan Goff: Yeah, I'm sorry - I mean there were tens of thousands
of people in the streets as I arrived there, and this was
about three-quarters of a mile from the [inaudible] that was
recently burned down. They backed this crowd into what was
basically a huge cul-de-sac and when we encountered them it
looked to me like they were about to begin firing in the crowd.
So, it was myself and three other team members ordered them
to put their weapons on the ground. Tatoune actually hesitated
and I came very near shooting him and I'm sort of regretting
that I didn't. We arrested them, but the minute they laid
their weapons on the ground, the police also carried these
iron and wood batons that they frequently cracked people over
the head with. One of the crowd members waded in and snatched
up a baton and hit Jean Tatoune and his - I forget the other
fellow's name, the other Fraphist - hit both of them over
the head and opened their heads up pretty good and we ended
up in this peculiar situation where suddenly to put them under
arrest we had to protect them from some pretty surly crowds.
And it's my own medics that sewed Tatoune up before we put
him in the cell. It was an exciting day overall. We had heard
a lot from just walking around. I had a fluent French speaker
on my team. A native. We spent several days walking around
just talking to people. The other guy that was heavily involved
in the Raboteau massacre was the commander, a guy named Costra.
He was to the best of my knowledge put in jail by and by,
but everybody in town - [Interrupted]
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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