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Caribbean Nations Call For UN Investigation on Ouster of
Aristide In Haiti
How to Overthrow A Government Pt. 1: The 1953 U.S. Coup in
Iran
How to Overthrow A Government Pt. 2: The 2002 Attempted Coup
in Venezuela
Nuyorican Poet Pedro Pietri 1944-2004
New Paltz, NY Mayor Arrested For Solemnizing Same Sex Marriages
Caribbean Nations Call For UN Investigation on Ouster
of Aristide In Haiti
South Africa has also expressed concerns. The country’s
foreign affairs minister said if the U.S. did kidnap Aristide
it will “have serious consequences and ramifications
for the respect of the rule of law and democracy the world
over.”
Just days before Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide
was removed as Haiti’s leader and forced out of the
country, he had signed what was being billed as a US-backed
peace plan between his government and the opposition. The
proposal was initially put forth by the 15-nation Caribbean
Community, CARICOM. Even though the plan was widely viewed
as favorable to his opponents, Aristide signed the agreement
that would have greatly reduced his powers and given the post
of Prime Minister to a figure acceptable to the opposition.
The groups and organizations opposed to Aristide delayed
responding to the proposal, as the paramilitary forces led
by Guy Philippe, Jodel Chamblain and Jean Tatoune continued
to grab more territory in Haiti. Ultimately, the opposition
rejected the plan, saying they would only accept Aristide’s
removal from power.
This week, the CARICOM nations called for a United Nations
investigation into the circumstances of Aristide’s departure
from office and from Haiti. They were joined yesterday by
South Africa. In a statement, the South African Foreign Affairs
Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma expressed concern at allegations
Aristide was forced to leave the country. The foreign minister
said if it is true, it will “have serious consequences
and ramifications for the respect of the rule of law and democracy
the world over.”
To get a perspective on how the removal from Aristide is
playing in the region around Haiti, we go to Kingston, Jamaica.
- John Maxwell, a veteran Jamaican journalist. He has covered
Caribbean affairs for more than 40 years. He is currently
a columnist for The Jamaica Observer. He joins us on the
phone from Kingston.
How to Overthrow A Government Pt. 1: The 1953 U.S.
Coup in Iran
New York Times reporter Steven Kinzer discusses how the
U.S. overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran.
Kinzer says “I think it was the success of the Iran
coup and the Guatamalan one the folllowed that sent the US
off on this direction of covert action and regime change.”
The apparent coup d'etat in Haiti last weekend and the mysterious
circumstances surrounding the removal of President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide from the country evoke images of what can only be
described as US-orchestrated coups past. Today we are going
to look at two of these. The 1953 coup against the democratically-elected
Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mossadegh and the April 2002
coup of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela.
- Steven Kinzer, New York Times reporter and author of
the book "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and
the Roots of Middle East Terror."
How to Overthrow A Government Pt. 2: The 2002 Attempted
Coup in Venezuela
In April 2002, a team of Irish filmmakers were in Caracas,
Venezuela working on a documentary about president Hugo Chavez.
They got more than they expected: they captured on film an
attempted coup of the Venezuelan government and highlighted
the role of the media in the coup. We play an excerpt from
"The Revolution Will Not Be Televised."
In Venezuela the media is owned by the same business forces
that briefly ousted Chavez in April, and many believe it played
an instrumental role in the coup. The television stations
broadcast regular anti-Chavez propaganda in the days leading
up to the coup, encouraging Venezuelans to head into the streets
to protest. But they never once reported the massive pro-Chavez
demonstrations that sprang up throughout the country. The
day Chavez was restored to power, not a single paper printed
news of his return.
And it has long been argued that the U.S. backed the coup.
The State Department issued a press statement commending the
coup within hours of Chavez's ouster. The National Endowment
for Democracy sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-Chavez
groups. And The New York Times printed an editorial endorsing
the coup shortly thereafter. The editorial rejoiced: "Venezuelan
democracy is no longer threatened by a would-be dictator...[because]
the military intervened and handed power to a respected business
leader."
- Excerpt: “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised”,
produced by Kim Bartley and Donnacha O'Brien.
Nuyorican Poet Pedro Pietri 1944-2004
Pedro Pietri died on Wednesday at the age of 59. We hear
him reading his work in 1968 and Democracy Now co-host Juan
Gonzalez reads Pietri’s epic poem “Puerto Rican
Obituary.”
The famed Nuyorican poet Pedro Pietri died Wednesday at the
age of 59. He was born in Ponce Puerto Rico and his family
moved to Harlem in the 1940s. He would go to become of the
city’s best known poets capturing what it was like for
Puerto Ricans to live in New York. In the 1970s he helped
start the legendary Nuyorican Poets Café on the Lower
East Side.
He published more than 20 books of poetry and plays. His
best known work was the epic poem "Puerto Rican Obituary.”
We’ll hear an excerpt from the documentary (Third World
Newsreel) to hear Pietri read an excerpt from his poem And
Democracy Now! Juan Gonzalez reflects on the legacy of Pedro
Pietri and reads "Puerto Rican Obituary" in its
entirety.
- Pedro Pietri, reading an excerpt of his poem "Puerto
Rican Obituary" from the Third World Newsreel documentary
"El Pueblo Se Levanta."
- Juan Gonzalez, reading Pedro Pietri's poem "Puerto
Rican Obituary"
New Paltz, NY Mayor Arrested For Solemnizing Same
Sex Marriages
Mayor Jason West talks about why he feels it is his constitutional
duty to continue solemnizing same sex marriages even though
he was arrested Wednesday for breaking the state’s marriage
law.
In New York City, dozens of same sex couples gathered outside
City Hall yesterday demanding marriage rights.
They were turned away.
Meanwhile north of the city in the town of New Paltz, the
village is continuing to solemnize same sex marriages even
though the mayor has been charged with 19 counts of breaking
the stateÂ’s marriage law.
- Jason West, mayor of New Paltz, NY
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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