[News] U.S. Delegation meets with Aristide

[News at freedomarchives.org]

U.S. DELEGATION MEETS WITH PRESIDENT ARISTIDE

ARISTIDE REVEALS DETAILS OF COUP

Press release for email distribution
For Immediate Release
March 8, 2004

Contact:
Sarah Sloan or Brian Becker
202-544-3389, 212-633-6646

A delegation from the United States met twice today with overthrown
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Bangui, Central African
Republic. Following the first meeting, President Aristide held a news
conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and then conducted a
30-minute phone interview in English with Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now.

The delegation includes Kim Ives from Haiti Progres and the Haiti Support
Network, and Johnnie Stevens and Sara Flounders from the International
Action Center. Ives, Flounders and Stevens are representing former U.S.
Attorney General Ramsey Clark. Also on the delegation are Brian Concannon,
acting in the capacity of President Aristide's lawyer; and Katherine Kean,
a friend of President Aristide.

Aristide's press conference today and his meeting with the U.S. delegation
constituted a remarkable turnabout from the day before when the delegation
was barred by the Central African Republic government from meeting with
Aristide. Following the refusal to give the delegation access to meet with
the ousted Haitian president, a press release entitled "Aristide Under
Lock & Key" circulated around the world. Thousands of individual activists
and organizations submitted the press release and statement to local media
throughout the United States in a high-visibility emergency mobilization
to tell the truth.  The Central African Republic officials have made it
clear that their country is under severe pressure from the United States
and France.

The Curtain of Silence that has surrounded President Aristide since the
February 28/29 coup has now been significantly opened as a consequence of
this political intervention. The world, and especially the Haitian people,
has been anxious to hear from President Aristide.  It is precisely for
this reason that the U.S. State Department and the French Foreign Ministry
have applied so much pressure to the Central African Republic to prevent
him from having access to the media, and to his attorneys, friends and
supporters.

The delegation arranged for President Aristide to be interviewed by
Pacifica Radio's Democracy Now. Amy Goodman of Democracy Now introduced
today's interview with these words:

"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 U.S.
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 activists from the Haiti Support Network and
the International Action Center, representatives of former U.S. 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."

In his press conference and in the direct meetings with the delegation,
"President Aristide was very forceful about the fact that he was
kidnapped, and that his government is being replaced by a U.S.-sponsored
government of occupation," said Sara Flounders of the International Action
Center. President Aristide also said that "only his return to Haiti can
bring peace, and he stated that the people who carried out this campaign
against his government are internationally recognized criminals.

"President Aristide said that he had been lied to by the U.S. ambassador,
who assured him that he was being taken to a press conference to talk with
international and Haitian media. He was instead forced onto a plane and
taken out of the country in a U.S. coup d'etat," according to Flounders.
"President Aristide also pointed out the irony that Haiti, which only has
1.5 doctors for every 11,000 people, now has seen the closing of its
primary medical school and that school is now being used to house U.S.
Marines and other foreign soldiers."

President Aristide expanded on this point both in the press conference and
in his interview on Democracy Now!:  "In my country, after 200 years of
independence - we are the first Black independent country in the world -
but we still have only 1.5 Haitian doctors for every 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 of human rights, no
violations for the rights of those who voted for an elected President, and
this is what it means. ... How can you imagine that you come to me, you
want to be in peace, and you close my university and you send out 247
students of medicine in the country where you don't have hospitals and you
don't have enough doctors. God, this is an occupation. When you protect
killers, when you protect drug dealers like Guy Philippe, like Chamblain,
when you protect the citizens of the United States in violating the law of
the United States, Mr. Andy Apaid is a citizen of the United States,
violating the Neutral Act, the way with this act will destroying our
Democracy, and once we do that, then this is an occupation." (quotation
from Democracy Now!)

Kim Ives, who is with the Haiti Support Network and is a journalist with
the newspaper Haiti Progres, is a member of the delegation and had an
opportunity to speak to President Aristide in Creole during the meeting
following today's press conference. Ives states that Aristide's account of
the events of February 28-29 stand in sharp contrast to the account given
by Colin Powell and other U.S. officials to the Washington Post on March
3. The U.S.  "story" was that Aristide was ready to leave the country and
that they simply facilitated his departure at his request. Colin Powell
and other U.S. officials later said that Aristide's assertion that he had
been the victim of a U.S. coup were "absurd" and "not true."

Ives stated, "The Washington Post and other U.S. media coverage gives the
impression that the sequence of events leading to Aristide's departure at
6 am on February 29 began around 4 or 5 am when Aristide allegedly called
U.S.  officials and asked for their assistance in leaving the country.
President Aristide told me that in fact 'armed Americans and diplomats'
came to his residence the day before - that is, on the evening of February
28. Aristide reported that U.S. officials told the 19 security guards that
have functioned as a presidential security detail that they should abandon
their posts. These 19 security guards were on assignment from the Steele
Foundation and are mostly former members of the U.S. Special Forces. They
were told by U.S. officials that they 'wouldn't be protected, the gig was
up.' [expression might have been "jig was up"--Joe] President Aristide
asserts that these Steele Foundation security
guards basically obeyed the orders from their former employers (the
Pentagon). They were flown by helicopter on Saturday night away from the
preidential palace, leaving Aristide with no armed protection."

A recent Miami Herald article on the subject reported that another 25
reinforcement security guards from the Steele Foundation, who were
supposed to arrive Saturday, February 28, received a call Friday night
telling them that the U.S. would block their deployment.

Mr. Ives also stated that "President Aristide was told by U.S. Ambassador
James Foley that the U.S. officials and armed forces would take him to a
press conference with the international and Haitian press, where President
Aristide could make his case. President Aristide agreed to go on the
condition that he could speak to the media, and also that his home would
be protected from any attack or looting. The fact is, the press conference
never took place and his home was looted almost immediately after he left.

"President Aristide was instead driven to a plane. Upon arriving at
approximately 5 am on February 29, he found his 19 security guards already
there. They were all flown - including the one-year-old child of one of
the guards - to the Central African Republic. After spending 20 hours on a
plane flying to a destination unknown to them, the security guards were
then flown back to the United States.  The trip prevented them from
revealing the details of the coup until after Aristide was out of Haiti
and in the Central African Republic.

"In the course of the discussions with President Aristide, it became clear
that the timing of the coup coincided with several international
developments that could have shifted the relationship of forces in the
Haitian government's favor. While the U.S. government escalated pressure
on Aristide to resign in that last week, the government of South Africa
had sent a planeload of weapons that was set to arrive on Sunday, February
29. Venezuela was in discussions about sending troops to support Aristide.
There was also gathering international support and solidarity for the
maintenance of constitutional democracy in Haiti. African American leaders
were receiving increasing media attention as they denounced the efforts
towards a coup. Two prominent U.S. delegations, one led by members of the
Congressional Black Caucus and another led by former U.S. Attorney General
Ramsey Clark, were set to arrive within days. We can see that there were
various converging influences of aid about to come. This accounts in large
part for the timing of the coup, it explains why the U.S. had to rush in
and remove Aristide," concluded Ives.

Johnnie Stevens of the International Action Center stated, "Today, as a
consequence of strong international pressure, the people of Haiti and the
rest of the world have had a chance to hear President Aristide refute the
lies and slanders of the U.S. government and its henchmen from the former
Haitian military who are behind the coup. We believe that the U.S has
tried to muzzle or silence President Aristide, not simply to stop one man
from speaking out. The goal is to discourage the people of Haiti from
continuing the growing struggle demanding President Aristide's return. It
is really an effort to muzzle, silence and pacify the people in order to
impose U.S. regime change."

Stevens continued, "The people of Haiti have been a source of inspiration
for two centuries. Their struggle for freedom, independence and
sovereignty is part and parcel of the struggle of oppressed people
everywhere. We must continue to do everything in our power to stand up
against the racist designs of the Bush administration."

In his interview with Democracy Now!, President Aristide was asked if he
planned to return to Haiti. His response:  "If I can go [to Haiti] today,
I would go today. If it's tomorrow, tomorrow. Whenever time comes, I will
say yes, because my people, they elected me."

To schedule an interview with a member of the delegation
or to get more information, contact Sarah Sloan or Brian
Becker at 202-544-3389 or 212-633-6646.


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