Cuban Doctors Lower Cholera Lethality Rate in Haiti

Havana, Cuba, Mar 30.- Cuban doctors working in Haiti have been able to bring cholera lethality down to 0.37 with no deaths from the disease reported in more than two months.

As a result of preventive measures adopted by the Cuban Medical Brigade, who have assisted more than 76,600 people suffering from cholera in the neighboring country so far, the number of cases has been gradually reduced, Granma newspaper reported, noting that on March 26, only 40 new cases were reported,said Granma.  

According to Gonzalo Estevez, the second in charge of the brigade, said Cuban specialists are leading control actions even in the farthest communities of the country, where they test the water for cholera and talk to locals on how to prevent the disease.

Estevez Torres told Granma said in the event of new outbreaks of cholera the brigade implements local measures to prevent the transmission of the disease.  

The Cuban doctors are distributed in 156 health centers across the nation, 67 of which are part of a joint program with Venezuela.

The work of the Cuban medical brigade in Haiti has been commended by local authorities and leaders of other nations, as well as by international organizations.

In a report by Prensa Latina dated March 18, Haiti’s ex-President Jean Bertrand Aristide was quoted as saying in Spanish: “Who knows how many people could have died without their [Cuban doctor’s] help!” “May their light reach others!” Bertrand Aristide made the statement upon returning to Haiti from after been on exile in South Africa for several years.(ACN)

Surging crowd welcomes 'little priest's' return home

Jean-Bertrand Aristide spent nearly seven years in exile.

Photographed by:
KENA BETANCUR REUTERS, The Gazette
Former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned home to Haiti on Friday after nearly seven years in exile in South Africa, promising to serve his country "with love" but making no direct reference to a crucial presidential election just 48 hours away.Aristide landed about 9 a.m. in a private jet, accompanied by his family and an entourage that included actor Danny Glover and other international supporters.
Minutes later, Aristide delivered a speech - at times in French, Spanish and English - in which he criticized the exclusion of his Fanmi Lavalas political party from the election.
"Today, the Haitian people mark the end of exile and coup d'état," he said. "We must move peacefully from social exclusion to social inclusion."
Pandemonium ensued as soon as Aristide's caravan tried to leave the airport. Haitian riot police waved back the surging crowd to clear a pathway. Thousands of Haitians, many of them young men, beat drums and marched through the streets, chanting his name and shouting that he had returned. The crowd appeared to be following Aristide toward his villa.
Aristide's arrival just before Sunday's vote could be a factor in a political contest already roiled by fraud, violence and disorder. Though he will not be on the ballot, some here believe he could sway the contest by showing support for one of the candidates - each of whom has opposed him in the past.
It was Aristide's third dramatic return to Haiti in the past two decades, during which "the little priest" has been a dominant presence in the country's affairs - whether from office or exile.
The former shantytown preacher won a landslide victory to become Haiti's first democratically elected leader in 1991, only to be deposed in a coup seven months later. He was restored in 1994 with help from President Bill Clinton and thousands of U.S. Marines.
Aristide lost a re-election bid in 1996 to former ally René Préval, Haiti's current president, then returned to office from 2001 to 2004, until he was ousted in a rebellion led by former elements of the Haitian army, which Aristide had disbanded. Under pressure from the United States, he fled into exile in Africa, later claiming he was "kidnapped" by American officials.
Both candidates have said Aristide has a right to return to Haiti. But supporters of former first lady Mirlande Manigat seem to be courting Aristide, hanging banners likening his return to the homecoming of "father."
Her opponent, Michel Martelly, a popular singer, could be hurt more by Aristide's arrival, because his popularity has surged lately among Haiti's poorest, whom he has courted with a slick, energetic campaign.
By NICK MIROFF, The Gazette

video of Jean Bertrand Aristide's returning speech in Haiti

Aristide arrived in Haiti

Aristide arrives in Haiti, ending seven years of exile

Agence France-Presse

Posted at 03/18/2011 10:16 PM | Updated as of 03/18/2011 10:37 Pm

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (UPDATE) - Former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived back in Haiti on Friday, ending seven years in exile in South Africa and raising fears his return could disrupt crucial weekend elections.
A private plane carrying Aristide, Haiti's first democratically-elected leader, landed at 9:05 am (1405 GMT) in the capital Port-au-Prince, according to an AFP journalist at the airport.
The return of Aristide, still hugely popular in Haiti's swollen slums, comes ahead of a presidential run-off vote on Sunday that could offer some stability to a country reeling from a devastating 2010 earthquake and political turmoil.
The shantytown priest rose to power opposing the Duvalier clan's dictatorial rule and became Haiti's first democratically-elected president in 1991.
After directly challenging the entrenched ruling class, he was ousted by a military coup seven months later but reinstalled in 1994 with the help of 20,000 US Marines ordered in by US president Bill Clinton.
Aristide won a second term in 2001 only to lose favor with the international community as his reforms stalled. He was forced out again by the 2004 rebellion, which is widely thought to have had tacit US approval.
US officials have warned that the three-time leader's return could add to the uncertainty gripping the Western Hemisphere's poorest country, and US President Barack Obama said the timing may be "destabilizing."

Aristide just landed in Haiti

Aristide Just Landed In Haiti!

Friday March 18, 2011 09:21 AM ET

Former Haitian president Jean Bertrand aristide just landed in Haiti... ARISTIDE IS BACK IN HAITI... Follow this article for all the updates at the airport...

Here are the updates as it happens...

Keep Refreshing this page for more updates!

9:21am - President Aristide Came out of the airplane... A blue/white jet...

9:25am - Lots of commotion at the airport as President Aristide makes his way to the Diplomatic room

9:26 am - Aristide enters the 'Salon Diplomatic' at the airport

9:28am - The media is mobilized and awaits first words from President Aristide...

Haiti braces for deposed president Aristide’s return as election nears

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — Exiled Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide will arrive here Friday from South Africa, according to his attorney, returning less than 48 hours before a runoff vote in a presidential election that has already been marred by fraud and chaos.It was unclear what impact the deposed president’s return would have on Sunday’s vote, seen as a critical step toward jump-starting the country’s rebuilding process after the January 2010 earthquake that killed 200,000 people. But U.S. officials have been so worried about Aristide’s disruptive potential that President Obama spoke with South African President Jacob Zuma this week to express his concerns, according to the White House.Aristide boarded a plane in Johannesburg with his wife, Mildred, the Associated Press reported, and the American actor and political activist Danny Glover. “The great day has arrived!” he said in Zulu, a language he studied in South Africa, the AP reported.
Haiti’s attempt to elect a successor to outgoing President Rene Preval, a former Aristide ally, has been a process as shaky as this city’s cracked buildings. The first round of voting in November was plagued by cheating and widespread voter disenfranchisement, leading to a political crisis that international observers had to sort out through delicate negotiations.
That fragility has foreign observers and many Haitians wary of Aristide’s return so close to Election Day. The priest-turned-politician was the country’s first democratically elected leader in 1991 and remains a revered figure among Haiti’s poorest.
Aristide’s critics, though, say he became increasingly corrupt and despotic before a 2004 rebellion that ended when U.S. officials flew him to exile — an event he later denounced as “a kidnapping.”
Aristide has said he will stay out of politics and wants to return to teaching. But few believe him — not his supporters and certainly not his adversaries.
Aristide’s arrival is expected to stir the country far more than that of former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier, who returned to Haiti in January after 30 years of exile in France. Duvalier now faces charges of corruption and embezzlement, but his presence here has mostly been met with a shrug by Haitians, many of whom are too young to remember his rule.
Both of Haiti’s presidential runoff candidates are former Aristide opponents, but if Aristide signals support for one of them, he could tilt the contest. The vote Sunday sets popular singer Michel “Sweet Micky” Martelly, 50, against Mirlande Manigat, 70, a university professor and former first lady.
At a raucous campaign rally Wednesday night in front of a gas station in this city’s Petionville neighborhood, Martelly said in an interview that Aristide had a right to return home, but that he thought the former president was “trying to create a distraction” for his own political benefit.
“He’s just coming back to create instability,” Martelly said.

By Nick Miroff, Thursday, March 17, 9:34 PM

Aristide is on his way back to Haiti

        By DONNA BRYSON and MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press       
    –
    6 mins ago
JOHANNESBURG – Declaring the "great day has arrived," Jean-Bertrand Aristide said farewell to South Africa Thursday, then boarded a plane for Haiti, where he can expect both adoring crowds and probing questions about his intentions.
U.S. President Barack Obama had tried to keep the hugely popular but controversial figure away from his country until it holds a presidential election this weekend, a vote many fear will be destabilized by the presence of the former Haitian president.
Aristide's lawyer Ira Kurzban has said Aristide will be back in Haiti by noon on Friday.
  Aristide addressed about 50 reporters in several languages from South Africa and elsewhere on the continent at a small airport in northern Johannesburg that often handles charter flights. South African foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane accompanied him, his wife Mildred and two daughters to the airport to see them off. Michaela, 12, and Christine, 14, have spent half their lives and their most formative years in exile.
"The great day has arrived! The day to say goodbye before returning home," he said in Zulu, a language he studied in South Africa. "We are delighted to return home after seven years. In Haiti also they are very happy .... Their dream will be fulfilled. Together, we will continue to share this endless love."
Thousands are expected to welcome him home. As word spread in Haiti of his imminent return, several dozen people adorned the courtyard of his foundation with small Haitian flags and photos of him. One woman showed up with a bouquet of flowers that she wanted to present to him, while another knelt on the concrete in prayer. A third elderly woman simply wept.
Aristide took no questions before heading to his chartered plane.
"We can't hold him hostage if he wants to go," South African Cabinet Minister Collins Chabane was quoted as saying earlier Thursday, noting Haiti's government had delivered Aristide's diplomatic passport last month.
Aristide, a former slum priest, was twice elected president of Haiti and remains wildly popular among the Caribbean nation's majority poor.
Aristide never completed either of his terms. He was ousted the first time in a coup and restored to power in a U.S. military intervention in 1994. After completing his term he was re-elected years later, only to flee a rebellion in 2004 aboard a U.S. plane. Aristide claimed he was kidnapped.
Aristide has been reclusive in exile, doing university research and polishing his academic credentials with a doctorate awarded by the University of South Africa for a comparative study on Zulu and Haitian Creole. He relaxed by playing table tennis.
Obama was concerned enough about Aristide's possibly destabilizing influence to call South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday and discuss the matter, U.S. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor told The Associated Press. A Zuma spokesman had no comment, saying he was unaware of the call.
"The United States, along with others in the international community, has deep concerns that President Aristide's return to Haiti in the closing days of the election could be destabilizing," Vietor said. "President Obama reiterated ... his belief that the Haitian people deserve the chance to choose their government through peaceful, free, and fair elections March 20."
At the airport Thursday, South Africa's foreign minister said Zuma had wished Aristide "bon voyage and safe landing in his country of birth."
Aides say Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president, fears the winner of Sunday's vote might block his return. In the past, both candidates had opposed Aristide. Now, both Michel Martelly and Mirlande Manigat stress his right to return as a Haitian citizen under the constitution. Both candidates would want to attract votes from followers of the Lavalas Family party of which Aristide still is president.
Haiti's electoral council barred Lavalas from the presidential election for technical reasons that supporters said were bogus. Its members are boycotting Sunday's runoff. The initial Nov. 28 vote was so troubled by fraud, disorganization, instances of violence and voter intimidation that 12 of the 19 candidates including the front-runners initially called for it to be tossed out.
Actor Danny Glover, the chair of TransAfrica social justice forum, came to South Africa to accompany Aristide home. Glover asked why former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier could return to Haiti unhindered and not Aristide.
"People of good conscience cannot be idle while a former dictator is able to return unhindered while a democratic leader who peacefully handed over power to another elected president is restricted from returning to his country by external forces," Glover wrote on the TransAfrica Forum website.

Bill Quigley, legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights at Loyola New Orleans Law School said that "the United States trying to control when any Haitian citizen — especially a former President — can enter Haiti is outrageous." Quigley is among more than more than 100 lawyers from the United States, Europe and Canada who wrote a letter of criticism to the U.S. State Department.

South African officials had been showing increasingly impatience with the U.S.

Chabane told a news conference Thursday that South Africa cannot be held responsible for whether Aristide stays or goes, according to the South African Press Association.

"What I should stress is that we are not sending former President Aristide to Haiti. He was given the passport by the government of Haiti and we can't hold him hostage if he wants to go," Chabane was quoted as saying.

Aristide emerged as a leading voice for Haiti's poor in a popular revolt that forced an end to the Duvalier family's 29-year dictatorship. He has said he will not be involved in politics in Haiti and wants to lead his foundation's efforts to improve education in the impoverished Caribbean nation devastated by last year's catastrophic earthquake.

In the Haitian capital's Bel-Air neighborhood Thursday, there was a celebratory air as word spread Aristide was coming.

"We are going to party," said 36-year-old mechanic Assey Woy, passing the afternoon on street corner with friends. "It will be like New Year's Day."

Not far away, in front of the crumbled National Palace, a man who is supporting Martelly in Sunday's election told Associated Press Television that he had mixed feelings about the arrival.

"Yes, I support Aristide. I love Aristide," said the man who gave only his first name, Carlos. "But I don't want him to come back right now because it can be trouble for the election."

___

Associated Press writers Ben Fox in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Jenny Gross and Ed Brown in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

Danny Glover arrives in South Africa to escort Aristide home to Haiti

 —JOHANNESBURG Actor Danny Glover arrived in South Africa on Thursday to escort former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide home, the politician's lawyer said.

Miami lawyer Ira Kurzban flew to Johannesburg Wednesday to accompany Aristide back to Haiti amid unexplained delays attributed to U.S. opposition.

The star of the "Lethal Weapon" action movies arrived Thursday morning, Kurzban said.

The United States has called for Aristide to put off his departure until Sunday's disputed presidential run-off in his homeland, saying his return would distract voters.

Aristide, who emerged as a leading voice for Haiti's poor in a popular revolt that forced an end to the Duvalier family's 29-year dictatorship, remains Haiti's most popular politician though he has been in exile seven years.

He has said he will not be involved in politics in Haiti and wants to lead his foundation's efforts to improve education in the impoverished Caribbean nation devastated by last year's catastrophic earthquake. Aides say he fears the winner of the presidential elections might reverse the long-awaited decision to allow his return. Both are right-wing candidates long opposed to Aristide.

Glover, who is board chair for the human rights and social advocacy organization TransAfrica Forum, is among several U.S. celebrities who have been pushing for Aristide's speedy return, including politicians Jesse Jackson, U.S. envoy to Haiti Paul Farmer and entertainer Harry Belafonte.

"I am going to South Africa to show our solidarity with the people of Haiti by standing at the side of the leader they elected twice with overwhelming support," Glover wrote on the TransAfrica Forum website.

"People of good conscience cannot be idle while a former dictator (Duvalier) is able to return unhindered while a democratic leader who peacefully handed over power to another elected president is restricted from returning to his country by external forces," Glover said.

Kurzban blamed Aristide's delayed trip on arranging an aircraft. Air charter companies in South Africa said a private jet would cost more than half a million dollars.

South African officials said they are consulting with "interested parties" on the logistics of moving Aristide, his wife and two daughters.

Glover and nine others recently wrote to South African President Jacob Zuma urging him to "assist the Aristides in making their transition as soon as possible" since "all the last remaining obstacles to the Aristides' return have been removed."

By Ed Brown (CP)

Copyright © 2011 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Why does US fear Aristide' s return in Haiti ?

   SUCCESSIVE administrations in Washington have demonstrated an obsession with the presence in Haiti of Jean Bertrand Aristide — whether or not he is functioning as president of that Caribbean nation that languishes in a state of permanent crisis.

Latest example is the unsolicited advice publicly given by the Hillary Clinton-led US State Department that the former popular Roman Catholic priest of the poor, turned politician, should not return to his homeland before this coming Sunday's scheduled second round presidential run-off.

This is quite baffling. What gives the government of President Barack Obama the right — legal or moral — to publicly and presumably privately as well, request him to delay his planned imminent return to his homeland from exile in South Africa?      

Twice elected to the presidency and twice ousted from power in mid-term, with the US Central Intelligence Agency as an accomplice with corrupt Haitian political and military leaders, Aristide was restored to power in 1994, with the use of military force by President Bill Clinton, who has continued to distinguish himself as a stout "friend'' of the people of Haiti.

By 2004, amid orchestrated domestic political turmoil, the Washington administration of President George W Bush was to play a leading role, along with France, in ousting President Aristide from power, against the protestations from the governments of the Caribbean community of which Haiti is a member state.

Aristide was flown into exile on a US military aircraft and following a brief period of political asylum in Jamaica, South Africa became the place of choice for his almost seven years in exile.

When the unprecedented earthquake-triggered devastation of Haiti occurred in January last year, Aristide was lamenting his absence from Haiti and has shown an interest to be back among "my fellow Haitians".

Following the surprise return to the country of ex-dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, Aristide applied for a new Haitian passport and signalled plans to return soon. However, once the passport was delivered he started to experience unexplained complications in official arrangements, including security, to return home.

He felt obliged that he had no interest in becoming involved in the  ongoing political squabbles over the controversial outcome of last November's parliamentary elections which led to violent demonstrations and a necessary second round presidential run-off in the face of documented examples of electoral rigging

Early last month, then US State Department spokesman, Philip Crowley, was to go public with a claim that Aristide's return to Haiti before the second round presidential run-off "would be an unfortunate distraction and the two participating candidates (Mirlande Manigat and Michel Martelly) should be the focus at this time…"

That contention provoked an immediate protest demonstration from Haitians, including militant activists of Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas  party, who cried "no Aristide, no second round (election)…"

As if bent on pursuing a course of action to deter Aristide — a former legitimate Haitian president forced out of office by the US and allies like France — from returning home before this Sunday's run-off presidential pol — a new State Department spokesman, Mark Toner, has emerged to sound a warning with an even more disturbing overtone.

For Toner, Aristide's return before Sunday's decisive vote, "can only be seen as a conscious choice to impact Haiti's elections", and that Washington was also seeking the cooperation of the South African government to persuade the former president from returning before the March 20 poll.

Why this fear of Aristide's presence at this time?

For seven years Aristide has been in exile. During that period no credible information was provided by either governments in Port-au-Prince or administrations in Washington (Republican or Democrat), that he has a political agenda to disturb the peace (sic) in Haiti, affect the conduct of the presidential run-off and create more problems for that poor nation of endless miseries.

The governments of Caricom should speak, unequivocally, in one voice, on the fundamental right of the former president of Haiti to return to his homeland, whenever he so determines, and that this should not be left to the whims and fancies of a foreign government, in this case one, ironically, headed by President Barack Obama.

It is quite understandable for the Joint Organisation of American States (OAS) and Caricom Mission  in Haiti to have made their public appeal on Monday for a peaceful atmosphere to prevail for Sunday's final presidential run-off, and to have again denounced the political violence that had marred the first-round campaign of last November's parliamentary and presidential poll.

Nevertheless, it is quite strange that Caricom has refrained from commenting on the repeated public calls for Aristide to stay away from Haiti until after Sunday's second round run-off between the 70-year-old former first lady Manigat and 50-year-old pop singer Martelly.

For that matter, why the silence of outgoing Haitian President Rene Preval himself?

Having agreed to Aristide being given the new passport he required, and the former dictator Jean Claude Duvalier, is in Haiti and soon to face court trials for crimes committed, why not a statement of clarification on Aristide's right to return to his homeland, whenever he chooses?

By
Rickey Singh
Story Created:
           Mar 16, 2011 at 12:42 AM ECT 
Story Updated:
Mar 16, 2011 at 12:42 AM ECT

S.Africa 'cannot stop Aristide's return to Haiti'

PRETORIA (AFP) – South Africa cannot prevent Haiti's exiled ex-president Jean-Bertrand Aristide from returning home before this weekend's presidential run-off on the island, an official said Tuesday.

"It is not our responsibility to say if Jean-Bertrand Aristide should or should not leave South Africa before the election," deputy foreign minister Marius Fransman said.

The United States on Monday urged South Africa to encourage Aristide to stay put, fearing that his return would cause political turmoil as the country prepares for Sunday's vote.

"The US needs to engage the Haitian government. If his (Aristide's) passport has been issued, we cannot decide when he should leave South Africa," Fransman told reporters.

Haiti cleared the way for Aristide's return by issuing him with a new passport in February.

"It is essential that the Haitian government should be leading the process and we will facilitate whatever decision they take," he added.

An Aristide aide in Haiti said last week the return of the ousted leader, who has been living in South Africa since 2004, was "imminent".

Aristide and his wife Mildred work at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, where he received a PhD in African languages in 2007.

Aristide served three presidential terms and was ousted from office twice, eventually fleeing a 2004 popular uprising aboard a US plane.

He remains a popular figure in certain quarters in Haiti, especially in the capital's teeming slums, and in the tent cities that have sprung up since the January 2010 earthquake where many decry the slow pace of progress.

Haiti: Candidates dismiss fears over Aristide

Wednesday, 16 March 2011
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Haiti's two presidential candidates have dismissed concerns that the apparently imminent return of the exiled former president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, would disrupt the election, despite a warning from the US State Department that he could be a destabilising presence.
Michel Martelly, a pop singer known as "Sweet Micky", told reporters that he did not think Mr Aristide would influence the vote, although he would prefer that the former president wait "two or three days" and postpone his arrival until after the election.
"He is welcome to come back like Jean-Claude Duvalier did," said Mr Martelly, referring to the former dictator who made a surprise reappearance in Haiti in January. "I hope his return doesn't create instability for the elections."
Mirlande Manigat, a university administrator and former first lady, expressed no misgivings about the return of Mr Aristide, who has repeatedly said during his exile in South Africa that he wants to return home as a private citizen and work as an educator. Ms Manigat seemed even to encourage him.
"President Aristide is welcome to come back and help me with education," she said.
Both candidates have been Aristide opponents in the past. Now, both stress his right to return as a Haitian citizen under the constitution.

Aristide is coming back , before the election , when ?

MIAMI, March 13 (UPI) -- Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is returning to Haiti, his American lawyer says.
Miami attorney Ira Kurzban told CNN Saturday, "He is headed back to Haiti. We don't know when yet, but it will be before the elections.
"He has no interest in meddling or being involved in the election. He has no interest in being involved in politics," Kurzban added.
The presidential runoff is scheduled for March 20.
Aristide, the Caribbean country's first democratically elected president in 190 years, was overthrown in 2004 and has been living in exile in South Africa.
Haiti gave him a new passport in February, but Kurzban said he fears not being able to go home after the election if a new administration revokes his visa.
"He wants to go home. He's been in exile for seven years," the lawyer said. "He wants to get his medical school up and operating given the conditions in Haiti. That's his interest."
Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest, has charged the United States and other powers were behind his downfall. He repeated his longstanding wish to return after former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier unexpectedly showed up in Haiti in January.
                                       From UPI.COM

The United States campaign to keep Mr Aristide in South Africa.

If diplomacy is a form of lying, then the United States’ efforts to delay indefinitely the return to Haiti of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is a triumph of the most foul diplomacy. Aristide has a passport, but no permission to land in Haiti and, it appears, no permission to take off from South Africa, where he has lived in exile since his overthrow in a U.S.-backed coup in 2004. The outgoing government of Aristide’s onetime ally, President Rene Préval, provided the passport.
 A ‘distraction’
But the U.S. – which really runs the country in a troika with France and Canada – is unalterably opposed to an Aristide comeback. After last year’s devastating earthquake, the Americans said Aristide would be a distraction from the job of national reconstruction. Very little in the way of reconstruction has gotten done since then, but the Americans now claim that Aristide would distract from the runoff elections scheduled for March 20.
Three out of four Haitians were already distracted from taking part in the first round of elections in November, without Aristide’s presence. That was undoubtedly because Aristide’s party, Fanmi Lavalas, by far the most popular political grouping in the country, was prohibited from participating – also at the insistence of the Americans and the tiny Haitian elite with which they are allied.
Brazil silent
Brazil acts as rent-a-cop for the United Nations mission in Haiti, MINUSTAH, but WikiLeaks documents show the United States has pressured Brazil to use its influence with South Africa to keep Aristide’s feet planted firmly on African soil.
Brazil dearly wants to get a seat on the United Nations Security Council, and feels it cannot afford to make the Yankees angry.
South Africa claims it’s under no pressure from anybody, but then claims it has an obligation to consult "all the role-players to work out the ideal conditions for him to go back." Clearly, those "role-players" are the Americans and their French and Canadian co-conspirators.
Aristide’s lawyer says he will not attempt to leave South Africa without permission. Of course, if South Africa gave its blessing to an Aristide flight to Haiti, the U.S. would be forced to abandon the charade and give Aristide a yes or a no, in its own voice – which would expose Washington as the occupying power in Haiti. Gone would be all pretensions that the Americans favor Haitian democracy.
In hopes of putting the U.S. on the spot, a group of social activists, including Rev. Jesse Jackson, Danny Glover, Randall Robinson, Dick Gregory, and 11 others sent a letter to South African President Jacob Zuma.
No obstacles
The letter expressed hope that President Zuma "can assist the Aristides in making their transition as soon as possible." It said, "All the last remaining obstacles to the Aristides’ return have been removed," and expectations have been raised among Haitians that Aristide will soon arrive. But even Aristide’s lawyer, Ira Kurzban – who was wildly optimistic only a few weeks ago – seems resigned that Aristide won’t be going home any time soon.
So all the Haitian people have to look forward to is this month’s elections that they didn’t want anyway, for candidates that were essentially forced on them by the United States – an exercise that nobody but Americans believes has anything to do with democracy.
Glen Ford is executive editor of BlackAgendaReport.com. E-mail him at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com .