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From: Haiti Action Committee <haitiaction@yahoo.com><br>
Subject: Fwd: The Chronicle, the BBC, and media distortions<br>
Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2004 16:50:43 -0800 (PST)<br><br>
On Monday 1/19, the San Francisco Chronicle carried a page 3
above-the-fold article about Haiti with a color photo, claiming Haitian
gunmen had killed a marcher at a protest calling for the resignation of
the democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Following is the report of the Haiti-based Agence Haitienne de Presse -
AHP (Haitian Press Agency)
<a href="http://www.ahphaiti.org/" eudora="autourl">www.ahphaiti.org</a>,
with a COMPLETELY REVERSED SCENARIO of what happened, REPORTS FROM HAITI
CLAIM NO ONE DIED IN THE DEMONSTRATION, AND THE CHRONICLE ARTICLE IS A
LIE.<br><br>
This article is one more example of the international media campaign to
discredit the Aristide government and Haiti's democracy. The BBC
carried a story this weekend saying that Aristide is "ruling by
decree" as if he is some kind of dicatator, without providing any
context that explained he is ruling by decree, because the
Washington-backed opposition has prevented elections from taking place by
withholding their participation in the elections council, despite stated
promises. The reason they want to prevent elections from taking place is
because THEY KNOW THEY WILL LOSE, hence an increase in violence and calls
for "resignation," instead of a call for constitutionally
mandated elections.<br><br>
As we read these headlines and listen to the lies on the radio (yes,
sometimes even on dear old KPFA) the Haiti Action Committee encourages
you to keep in mind the sequence of events leading up to the imposition
of the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile in 1973. After failing to prevent
Allende from taking power, the United States launched a campaign of
destabilization and the withholding of loans and financial aid, except to
the military, as has happened in Haiti since the 2000 elections (only no
military exists in Haiti.). Our government also paid anti-government
labor unions to go on strike. A recent letter to the Miami Herald said,
"As long as every political party leader is also the chief executive
of a non-governmental organization receiving hefty foreign donations, and
as long as playing victim of the current government can facilitate a U.S.
visa, faking political persecution will remain an
incentive."<br><br>
The parallels with Haiti are clear, and we are at a particularly
dangerous time, because like in Chile, the United States have turned to
supporting a violent opposition to get rid of Aristide. In 1994 after
they restored Aristide to power, the U.S. occupation troops refused to
disarm the death squads, it is no surprise that at this time, the
situation is becoming more violent.<br><br>
<br>
Haiti Action Committee<br><br>
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>
<br>
AHP News - January 18, 2004 - English translation (Unofficial)<br><br>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Supporters of the Group of 184 hold a new and violent demonstration in
which they attack the government television station and a public
market<br>
------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br>
Port-au-Prince, January 18, 2004 (AHP) - Demonstrators from the group of
184 opposition political coalition violently attacked a government
television station this Sunday.<br><br>
They launched volleys of stones at the offices of the station, smashing a
number of the building's windows, accusing the State-owned television
station of broadcasting reports critical of their group directed by André
Apaid Junior.<br><br>
The opposition demonstrators also attacked small shopkeepers at a public
market located a few yards from the television station. They threw
merchandise onto the ground and damaged the stalls of the vendors,
beating some of them in the process.<br><br>
Some witnesses present said that the attack was aimed at intimidating the
small shopkeepers at the public markets who have not been following the
call to strike issued by the opposition.<br><br>
The violence against the station and the market vendors was committed in
the presence of several officials of the Group of 184, which enjoys the
support of organizations, students, professors, a media organization
named ANMH, and other sectors.<br><br>
The opposition officials sought to justify the violence by claiming that
some shots were fired in their direction, however no demonstrators were
reported to have been injured.<br><br>
After the violence had been committed, officials of the Group of 184 told
their activists to go home. Television cameras were at the scene to cover
the event.<br><br>
At the same time, the instigators of the demonstration, including Charles
Henry Baker and former Senator Paul Denis denied any connection with the
violence which they attributed to Lavalas "chimè" (poor people
from the shantytowns).<br><br>
In reality, some police officers present at the scene felt compelled to
fire their guns into the air to disperse the perpetrators of the
vandalism.<br><br>
The supporters of the Group of 184 have decided to begin their
demonstrations outside churches ever since the most recent statement by
Bishop Dumas at the Saint-Pierre Church in Petion-ville on January 12th
in which he called on the group of 184 to continue its campaign,
believing that the latest proposal by the Haitian Conference of Bishops
was out of date.<br><br>
Opposition officials and demonstrators hassled reporters from Radio
Solidariité, accusing them of not participating in the group of 184's
movement to oust President Aristide.<br><br>
The opposition demonstrations have been accompanied by serious violence
since the January 1st, 2004 bicentennial celebrations commemorating
Haiti's independence, an event that drew hundreds of thousands of people
including international figures, government delegations and foreign
diplomats inside and outside the National Palace.<br><br>
On that day, the supporters of the Group of 184 destroyed government and
private vehicles by setting fire to them and throwing rocks, erecting
barricades composed of flaming tires, and destroying the goods of market
vendors in the Christ Roy district.<br><br>
At the same time, a disinformation campaign was launched by the
opposition including assertions that President Aristide had not been able
to travel to Gonaïves, the City of Independence, and that armed
individuals had opened fire on South African President Thabo Mbeki in
Gonaïves, although he was not even there.<br><br>
This past Friday, opposition supporters including students made off with
a coffin which they exploited the entire day following a funeral for
Maxime Déselmour, who was killed on January 7th, and whom they presented
as a student at the Faculty of Social Sciences.<br><br>
Their objective, according to some of the demonstrators, was to make
their way inside the National Palace with the coffin. Other demonstrators
said they only wanted to pass by the seat of the presidency. But the
police prevented them from breaching the special security zone around the
palace.<br><br>
It was necessary for the national and international Red Cross to
intervene to persuade them to turn over the coffin from the funeral for
Maxime Déselmour to his parents who said they were very much upset at the
behavior of the students in particular.<br><br>
Several sectors of society accused the opposition demonstrators of
wishing to continue their demonstration until they could provoke a
confrontation.<br><br>
Several diplomatic missions including that of the United States and the
Special Mission of the OAS in Haiti recently praised the good security
measures employed by the government in connection with the demonstrations
by the opposition.<br><br>
However, at the same time, supporters of the governing party have been
killed, notably in Miragoâne, and property belonging to several
supporters or presumed supporters of Lavalas, including two radio
stations, was destroyed in Saint Marc by opposition
demonstrators.<br><br>
In Port-au-Prince, one television and eight radio stations of varying
tendencies were sabotaged in the capital on Wednesday under circumstances
that that remain unclear. The police have opened an investigation into
the incident.<br><br>
Diplomatic missions reportedly expressed concern at the violent tendency
to demonstrations by the opposition. In Monterrey, last Wednesday, senior
American officials including President George W. Bush and Secretary of
State Colin Powell said that in their view, the Haitian crisis must be
resolved through dialogue. They rejected any use of violence.<br><br>
<br>
AHP January 18, 2004 2:10 PM<br><br>
<br><br>
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