[News] ARISTIDE SPEAKS TO DEMOCRACY NOW!

[News at freedomarchives.org]

EXCLUSIVE:
ARISTIDE SPEAKS TO DEMOCRACY NOW! IN MOST EXTENSIVE ENGLISH-LANGUAGE 
INTERVIEW SINCE HIS REMOVAL FROM HAITI

Monday, March 8th, 2004
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/08/1529222

At approximately 7:20 am EST, Democracy Now! managed to reach exiled 
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide by cell phone in the Central 
African Republic. His comments represent the most extensive 
English-language interview Aristide has given since he was removed from 
office and his country.

<http://stream.paranode.com/democracynow/aristide.mp3>CLICK HERE TO LISTEN 
TO THE 30 MINUTE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH PRESIDENT ARISTIDE
<http:/article.pl?sid=04/03/08/1529222&tid=25#transcript>CLICK HERE TO READ 
EXCERPT OF TRANSCRIPT

Moments before the Democracy Now! interview, Aristide appeared publicly for 
the first time since he was forced out of Haiti in what he has called a 
US-backed coup. The authorities in the Central African Republic allowed 
Aristide to hold a news conference after a delegation of visiting US 
activists charged that the Haitian president was being held under lock and 
key like a prisoner. The delegation included one of Aristide's lawyers, 
Brian Concannon, as well as journalists and representatives of former US 
Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Shortly after they arrived in Bangui on 
Sunday, the delegation attempted to meet with Aristide at the palace of the 
Renaissance. The CAR government rebuked them.

Shortly after, the country's foreign minister held a press conference in 
Bangui. Armed men threatened journalists in the room, warning them not to 
record the minister's remarks. Mildred Aristide, the Haitian First lady, 
was brought into the room, but was not permitted to speak. The CAR foreign 
minister told the journalists that President Aristide would hold a news 
conference within 72 hours. Hours later, Aristide was allowed to address 
journalists.

In his interview on Democracy Now!, Aristide asserted that he is the 
legitimate president of Haiti and that he wants to return to the country as 
soon as possible. He details his last moments in Haiti, describing what he 
called his "kidnapping" and the coup d'etat against him. He responds to 
Vice President Dick Cheney's comment that Aristide had "worn out his 
welcome" in Haiti.

Excerpt of transcript is available. Full transcript will be posted shortly.

Developing....


----------
EXCERPT OF TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: I am Amy Goodman from the radio/TV program Democracy Now! 
around the United States. We would like to know why you left Haiti.

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: Thank you. First of all, I didn't leave Haiti because I 
wanted to leave Haiti. They forced me to leave Haiti. It was a kidnapping, 
which they call coup d'etat or [inaudible] ...forced resignation for me. It 
wasn't a resignation. It was a kidnapping and under the cover of coup d'etat.

AMY GOODMAN: It was a kidnapping under the cover of coup d'etat?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: Who forced you out of the country?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE:I saw U.S. officials with Ambassador Foley.

Mr. Moreno, [inaudible...] at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti I saw American 
soldiers. I saw former soldiers who are linked to drug dealers like Guy 
Philippe and to killers already convicted, Chamblain. They all did the 
kidnapping using Haitian puppets like Guy Philippe, [inaudible], and 
Chamblain, already convicted, and basically, this night, I didn't see 
Haitians, I saw Americans.

AMY GOODMAN: So, you say that they kidnapped you from the country. 
Secretary of State Powell said that that is ridiculous. Donald Rumsfeld 
said that is nonsense. Your response?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: Well, I understand they try to justify what they cannot 
justify. Their own ambassador, ambassador Foley said we were going to talk 
to the media, to the press, and I can talk to the Haitian people calling 
for peace like I did one night before. And unfortunately, once they put me 
in their car, from my residence, a couple of days later, they put me in 
their planes full with military, because they already had all of the 
control of the Haitian airport in Port-au-Prince. And during the night, 
they surrounded my house, and the National Palace, and we had some of them 
in the streets. I don't know how many are -- were there. So it's clearly 
something they planned and they did. Now, if someone wants to justify what 
I think they cannot justify and that's -- my goal is to tell the truth. 
This is what now I'm telling you -- the truth.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, did you resign the Presidency?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: No, I did not resign. I exchanged words through 
conversations, we exchanged notes. I gave a written note before I went to 
the press at the time. And instead of taking me where they said they were 
taking me in front of the Haitian press, the foreign press, to talk to the 
people, to explain what is going on, to call for peace. They used that note 
as a letter of resignation, and I say, they are lying.

AMY GOODMAN: When you went into the car from your house, did you understand 
you were going to the airport and being flown out?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: Not at all. Because this is not what they told me. This 
was our best way to avoid bloodshed. We talked with them somehow in a nice, 
diplomatic way to avoid bloodshed, we played the best we could in a 
respectful way, in a legal and diplomatic way. Because they that told me 
that they were going to have bloodshed. Thousands of people were going to 
be killed, including myself. As I said, it was not for me, because I never 
cared about me, my life, my security. First of all, I care about the 
security and lives of other people. I was elected to protect the life of 
every single citizen. So, that night I did my best to avoid bloodshed and 
when they took me, putting me in their plane, that was their plan. My 
strategy was then all I could [do] to avoid bloodshed.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you being held in the Central African Republic against 
your will?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: Actually, against my will, exactly. Let me tell you, 
this past twenty hours on the American plane with American soldiers, 
including nineteen American agents who had an agreement with the Haitian 
government to provide security to us. They were also in that plane, maybe, 
to keep the truth in the plane, instead of having one of them telling the 
truth out of the plane. Because one of them had a baby, one year and-a-half 
in the plane - he was an American guy - and they wouldn't give him a chance 
to get out of the plane with the baby. My wife, the first lady, who was 
born in the United States, her father and mother were Haitians, with me. 
She didn't have the right to even move the shade and look out through the 
windows. Which means, they violated their own law. Until twenty minutes 
before I arrived here, I knew where they request going to land, which means 
clearly, clear violation of international law. Unfortunately, they did 
that, but fortunately, I pay tribute to the government of Central Africa 
for the way they welcomed us. It was gracious, human, good, and until now, 
this is the time kind of relationship which we are developing together. I 
thank them for that once again.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you want to happen now?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: I always call for peace. Those who realize their 
kidnapping cannot bring peace to the violence in my country. CARICOM, which 
means all of the heads of the Caribbean countries, call for peace and 
restoration of Constitutional order. In some way we heard the voice of 
Americans - American Senators, American members, U.S. members, members of 
the U.S. parliament. They're all -- they're all U.S. citizens and the 
Haitians are actually calling for peace for the restoration of 
Constitutional order. This is what I also call for. Allow me to give you a 
very simple example. Peace means for us, in this time, education and 
investment in health care. In my country, after 200 years of independence 
-- we are the first black independent country in the world - but we still 
have only one-point-five Haitian doctors for its 11,000 Haitians. We 
created a university, we founded a university with the faculty of medicine 
that has 247 students. Once U.S. soldiers arrived in Haiti after the 
kidnapping, what did they do? They closed the faculty of medicine and they 
are now in the classrooms. This is what they call peace. This is the 
opposite of peace. Peace means investing in human beings, investing in 
health care, respect for human rights, not violations for human rights, no 
violations for the rights of those who voted for an elected President, and 
this is what it means. It means that, for humans in the world, today this 
is their day, [inaudible] men in the world, all together, we can all work 
hard to restore peace and constitutional order to Haiti.

AMY GOODMAN: This is president Jean-Bertrand Aristide speaking from the 
Central African Republic. Did you want to return as President to Haiti now?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: If it's possible now, yes, now. Whenever it's possible, 
I am ready because this is what my people voted for.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you being held -- do you see yourself as being held as a 
prisoner in the Central African Republic?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: Here I say it again, the people and government and the 
President, President Bozize, they are gracious, the way they treat us. I 
just paid public tribute to them, and if you have citizens of Central 
Africa listening to me, allow me to tell them [inaudible], which means 
thank you very much, because their country is a country called zo-quo-zu, 
in the language which means every human being is a human being. All that is 
to say, we I am grateful to them. But when you living in a house or in a 
palace that is their palace, which is a good sign of respect for us, and we 
are living in their conditions, although it's still good because of the way 
they welcome us, we also feel that we should be in Haiti with the Haitian 
people doing our best to keep investing in education, health care, building 
a state of law. Slowly, but surely, building up that state of law.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, at least five people were killed in Haiti 
on Sunday. Opposition leaders say it was pro-Aristide forces that opened 
fire. Also including journalists - a Spanish journalist based in New York 
was shot dead. Another was also shot. Your response?

PRESIDENT ARISTIDE: First of all, I wasn't there, and I don't have many 
pieces of this information to comment, but the respect that I have for the 
truth, I will make some comments but I say it again, I wasn't there. I 
don't have yet any information so, I cannot go too far in my way to analyze 
the situation. I do believe because for the past years, each time drug 
dealers like Guy Philippe, people already convicted like Chamblain kill 
people, we heard exactly what I just heard. They blame the non-violent 
people and they blame the poor. When are poor, they are violated in their 
eyes, like the way they did. When you are already convicted, you are not 
violating human rights. So, I think or I suspect they are lying when they 
talk like that, accusing my followers.

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