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<font face="Trebuchet MS" size=4><b>Lavalas Braves Climate of Terror to
March and Demand for Aristide's Return</b></font><font size=3> <br>
<a href="http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/9_11_4.html" eudora="autourl">http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/9_11_4.html</a><br><br>
</font><font face="Trebuchet MS" size=2>September 11th is a date
well-fixed in the consciousness of progressive Haitians. It marks the
anniversary of a brutal massacre in Aristide's former parish of St Jean
Bosco in 1988 as well as the anniversary of the slaying of Lavalas
supporter Antoine Izmery in 1993. To honor the victims and demand the
restoration of democracy to Haiti, thousands of Lavalas activists took
the streets this September 11th and braved the climate of terror that has
gripped the country.<br><br>
As expected, not a single journalist from the corporate media turned up
to cover the event despite the huge turnout. Michael Ottey of the Miami
Herald would have done well to show up and see that his contacts in Haiti
have been feeding him disinformation. On Aug. 29th Ottey wrote in the
Miami Herald, ‚"In Port-au-Prince neighborhoods such as Cité Soleil
and Bel Aire both Aristide strongholds weapons abound. At times
brandishing weapons, Aristide loyalists have recently launched
demonstrations from there, demanding his return.‚" Mr. Ottey would
do well to take note that at the September 11th demonstration demanding
Aristide's return there was not a single weapon present among the
marchers. In fact, during the last five demonstrations HIP has covered
extensively there was never a single weapon ‚"brandished‚".
There was however one violent incident on September 11th when shots rang
out towards the peaceful march from behind the walls of the <b><i>Office
of Assurance National</i></b> on Delmas 17. Units of the Haitian National
Police responded with force and the march was allowed to continue in
peace. Marchers immediately took up the chant, ‚"Down with the
former military. Long Live CIMO!!‚" Mr. Ottey would know this if he
ever took the time to come to Haiti instead of relying upon phone calls
to unrealiable observers.<br><br>
The peaceful march started at St. Jean Bosco church and then moved up
Delmas and crossed over to Avenue John Brown to protest in front of the
United Nations Operations Headquarters. Demonstrators then massed in
front of a heavily armed contigent of Brazilian soldiers protecting the
facility and began chanting, ‚"Lula, return President Aristide
today!!‚". The expression on the faces of the Brazilians showed that
they were totally caught off guard by the demand. Signs proliferating the
demonstration included, ‚"Down with terrorist George Bush‚" and
‚"Long Live Kerry‚" representing the sentiment that Bush was
responsible for kidnapping President Aristide on February 29th of this
year.<br><br>
The march then headed over to Jean Paul 2nd Avenue and stopped in front
of the church yard where Father Jan-Marie Vincent is buried. In front of
the grave they chanted ‚"Justice for Jan-Marie Vincent!!‚" This
was in clear reference to the aquittal of Jackson Joanis for the murder
of Antoine Izmery. Joanis is also accused of murdering Father Vincent.
From there the march headed down to the front of Sacre Coeur church and
the monument honoring Antoine and George Izmery who were both murdered by
opponents to Lavalas. A speech was given by a representative of Lavalas
calling upon the defacto regime of Gerard Latortue to ‚"have the
decency to maintain justice‚" and condemning the U.S.-installed
regime for ‚"freeing murderers and thugs.‚" When the marchers
finally arrived in front of the national palace their access was blocked
by large numbers of heavily armed Brazilian soldiers. Marchers ranckled
at the image of an occupied Haiti where the current government is more
loyal to the dictates of the U.S. and the so-called international
community than it is to the democratic will of its own people.<br><br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=3><b>AHP News - More than
10,000 members of Fanmi Lavalas demonstrate in Port-au-Prince calling for
an end to acts of terror throughout the world and a return to democratic
order<br><br>
</b></font><font face="Times New Roman, Times" size=2>Port-au-Prince,
September 13, 2004 (AHP)- Roughly 10,000 members and supporters of Fanmi
Lavalas demonstrated Saturday in Port-au-Prince in observance of the 16th
anniversary of the St-Jean Bosco massacre, calling for an end to acts of
terror in Haiti and around the world. <br><br>
The Saint-Jean Bosco massacre left dozens dead and injured and was
carried out under the military government of Henry Namphy by thugs
attached to the Port-au-Prince city hall supported by the Haitian armed
forces. <br><br>
The demonstrators, calling for the return of democratic government, which
was interrupted on February 29, 2004, and for an end to political
persecution, marched through several streets in the capital chanting
slogans hostile to the interim government and to the foreign forces in
the country. <br><br>
They condemned the acts of terror committed on this day in history,
September 11th, in Chili, in Haiti and in the United States, and
reaffirmed their determination to fight for a Haiti where justice and
peace rule. <br><br>
The demonstrators renewed their support for President Aristide and called
for his physical return to Haiti. <br><br>
One incident marred this peaceful protest when gunfire erupted from the
building housing ONA, the National Insurance Agency, as the demonstration
passed through Delmas. <br><br>
The demonstrators also denounced a plot they say was hatched at a foreign
embassy to try to discredit Lavalas activists who remain incarcerated.
Under this alleged plot, people would be paid to come forward claiming to
be witnesses to a so-called sacrifice they would say was carried out in
the presence of President Aristide. <br><br>
According to demonstrators Claudy Sidney and Jean Marie Samedy, this plot
aims at justifying the detention of Lavalas activist Annette Auguste in
order that she remain in prison as long as possible.</font> <br><br>
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