[DurryVony]

Why isn't Aristede allowed to even be in the same hemisphere? But Duvalier Jr., gets welcomed home? What is so scary about a Catholic priest?

[katespepach]

He is popular.

[MYMcvBgl]

Priest??

' A few years later, things did change - after weeks of riots over lack of food, Duvalier Jr. flew into exile in France on February 6, 1986.

There the ex-dictator lived the high life for awhile, but then in the course of time he became impoverished. In 1986 his Swiss bank accounts were blocked. His wife left him, and his mother Simone, who had accompanied him in exile, died in 1997.

PROFILE: 'Baby Doc' Duvalier, the riches-to-rags ex-dictator - Monsters and Critics

[jackie Obrian]

He is popular.

He also openly incited and encouraged violence against his political opponents.

[katespepach]

He also openly incited and encouraged violence against his political opponents.

Agreed.

But that wouldn't be a problem for the 'powers that be' if he wasn't so popular.

The point is that he could really stir things up unlike Duvalier.

[Agehoobionibe]

doc jr., according to the latest on CNN, may (very big word), may be charged with a few serious crimes and lose millions of any money found, he was allowed to keep a "few" million in swiss accounts, the U.N. knows this. part of the agreement of being allowed into exile instead of the firing squad, was that he not return and if he did he'd face charges. we'll see if his arrogance kills him or promotes him, but, with all the NGOs in haiti, spending lots of money, private investment, no one in their right mind will put up with his bull$h!ll.........if ronald reagan came back from the grave i bet there would be more butt kickers than kissers.........baby doc is gambling with his life, it's just like the gangbanger who gets out of prison after ten years and thinks he's going back to the old neighborhood and thinks he can pick up where he left off. the new guy on the corner selling crack says "you're Joe Who?" and shoots him in the leg.........

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

Why isn't Aristede allowed to even be in the same hemisphere? But Duvalier Jr., gets welcomed home? What is so scary about a Catholic priest?

What is so scary about Aristide is his rhetoic about himself.. his focus on how the international community drove him from power,,, his tendancy to blame others...his capacity to polarize

and the very real possibility that he would actually win an election there...


Aristide was overthrown twice... reinstalled first by a military intervention led by the US,, under Clinton,, who was great pressure from activists inside the US
Jet - Google Books
Institute for Justice & Democracy in Haiti » Blog Archive » Exclusive Interview with Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide

from a recent interview with him--

Can you give us your thoughts on the recent cholera epidemic?

As for this recent inci*dent of cholera, whether or not it was imported – as the evi*dence strongly sug*gests – it’s crit*i*cal. First, those who orga*nized the coup d’état/kidnapping of 2004, paving the way for the invaders now accused as hav*ing caused the recent out*break of cholera, must also share the blame. Sec*ond, the root causes, and what facil*i*tated the deadly spread of the dis*ease are struc*tural, embed*ded in Haiti’s his*tor*i*cal impov*er*ish*ment, mar*gin*al*iza*tion and eco*nomic exploita*tion. The country’s once thriv*ing rice indus*try – destroyed by the sub*si*dized US rice indus*try in the 1980s – was in the Art*i*bonite, the epi*cen*ter of the cholera out*break. The near destruc*tion of our rice indus*try cou*pled with the sys*tem*atic and cruel elim*i*na*tion of the Hait*ian pigs ren*dered the region and the coun*try poorer. Third, in 2003 our gov*ern*ment had already paid the fees on an approved loan from the Inter*Amer*i*can Devel*op*ment Bank to imple*ment a water san*i*ti*za*tion project in the Art*i*bonite. As you can remem*ber, that loan and four oth*ers were blocked as part of a cal*cu*lated strat*egy by the so-called friends of Haiti to weaken our gov*ern*ment and jus*tify the coup d’état.

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

sorry .. tried to clean up that quote but time had expired

the other big issue on JBA is the increase in the drug trade under his rule

Drug dealer accuses Aristide

Changing Perspectives: Aristide´s gang of drug dealers

[JulieSmithXIV]

Some of my Haitian colleagues and friends are former Aristide associates and supporters. They parted ways ideologically and morally well before 2004, saying he had turned his back on his supposed principles and describing him as messianic, vain and power-hungry.

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

one very poignant description in Deibert's book is of a rally in St Marc when he came to speak... and was surrounded by his 9 big white private American guards from the Steele Corp, and had them unload his large, gilded chair.. his "throne" for the speech!

It always seems that his most vocal supporters come from inside the US left...

(and the IJDH)

when he was in exile in the US for the first time, the US turned over the assests of Haiti then on deposit there.. about $9 million,,, and he used that money to buy his public relations campaign to be reinstated

There was a large scandal about his bribes for the telephone fees.CorpWatch*:*HAITI: Haiti Telecom Kickbacks Tarnish Aristide

remember that he was removed from his religious order for inciting class warfare

[Texdolley]

There's a scene from the Agronomist where they air audio from an interview that J. Dominique had with Aristide.

Asked him POINT BLANK about corruption and government incompetence in his administration.....


Threw Aristide off a bit because JD had been among his biggest supporters, but JD's love for Haiti and his journalistic objectivity superseded any loyalty he had to Aristide, so he ASKED him the hard questions.


I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't seen the documentary.

======================

[DurryVony]

But yet still elected by HIS people. Corruption in the Haitian government? Hm, you say it like it was a new thing or HE brought it to a new level. Physical altercations against political opponents? Still don't see how he invented anything there. I conclude that he isn't admitted back in the hemisphere neither Jamaica nor Venezuela because he a populist and it becomes very hard to exploit a country and its unknown, but predictably plentiful, resources if the leader wants their "fair" share.

But Duvalier, he would do anything to avoid international prosecution which was probably the reason he had to leave France. France being a member of the EU, was probably alerted that they were going to receive an arrest warrant through Interpol from Spain(from the truly Honorable Judge Baltazar Garcon or one of his peers) for crimes against humanity. And Duvalier would have to flee or surrender.

[jackie Obrian]

But yet still elected by HIS people. Corruption in the Haitian government? Hm, you say it like it was a new thing or HE brought it to a new level. Physical altercations against political opponents? Still don't see how he invented anything there. I conclude that he isn't admitted back in the hemisphere neither Jamaica nor Venezuela because he a populist and it becomes very hard to exploit a country and its unknown, but predictably plentiful, resources if the leader wants their "fair" share.

But Duvalier, he would do anything to avoid international prosecution which was probably the reason he had to leave France. France being a member of the EU, was probably alerted that they were going to receive an arrest warrant through Interpol from Spain(from the truly Honorable Judge Baltazar Garcon or one of his peers) for crimes against humanity. And Duvalier would have to flee or surrender.

If the truly Honourable Spanish judge was honourable he would have put out an international arrest warrant for Hugo Chavez. Perhaps as an ex-priest Aristide is held to a higher standard?

[DurryVony]

To the best of your knowledge who has Hugo Chavez killed?

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

(Times, South Africa, 22 Jan 2011)


I want to go home, says Haiti's Aristide


Top-level negotiations involving Cuba and the US under way to send Jean Bertrand
Aristide back home --and save South African taxpayers at least R3-million a
year.

Aristide wrote to his supporters in Haiti expressing his desire to return to the
poverty-stricken Caribbean island. One of the reasons he gave was that he wanted
to avoid the "unbearable pain" he was likely to suffer during a South African
winter due to the six eye operations he had had during his African exile.


The government has been negotiating with Haitian authorities, with the help of
the Cuban government, since last year for Aristide's departure.


But his return has been delayed by US concerns that the former Catholic priest
would destabilise the country.


It is understood that the issue was discussed during President Jacob Zuma's
state visit to Cuba in December.


Officials from the Department of International Relations have had several
meetings with Aristide to discuss his future, most recently on Friday, after he
said he wanted to leave.


The officials are to meet their US counterparts in a bid to convince them that
Aristide is no longer a threat.


Director-General Ayanda Ntsaluba confirmed the talks were continuing, but would
not say which countries were helping SA's bid to return Aristide to Haiti.

Ntsaluba said the former leader, who was ousted from power in a 2004 coup, was
no longer interested in running for office.


"He has assured us that he was not seeking any political office ... not going
there to contest any elections. He was illegally removed from political office
but (he is) not interested in politics any more.


"He wants to play a role in humanitarian aid following the floods and
earthquakes in his country," Ntsaluba said.


"We are talking to different countries and some major powers still have
reservations. We are saying, let bygones be bygones."


Haiti, which is still struggling with the devastation caused by the earthquake
more than a year ago, is embroiled in a fresh political crisis, sparked by the
recent presidential election.


As no candidate received an outright majority, a run-off is expected to be held
next month.


Furthermore, the return of notorious former dictator Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier
has added to the tensions. There are fears that the presence of the two former
rulers would plunge Haiti into renewed violence.


Ntsaluba said the talks also involved discussions of "the logistical issues"
around Aristide's safe return, as his security was still of major concern.


Aristide, who remains popular among Haiti's poor, was ousted amid claims by a
street gang that he had ordered the assassination of its leader, Amiot Metayer,
whose mutilated body was discovered in September 2003.


The former priest fled to Jamaica in February 2004, and three months later was
invited to South Africa by then-president Thabo Mbeki.


Last year the Minister of International Relations, Maite Nkoane-Mashabane,
revealed that Aristide enjoyed similar benefits to those of cabinet ministers
and that his monthly costs included accommodation; security; transport and
salaries for his support staff.


At about R3-million a year, Aristide would have cost South Africa a total of
R18-million.


This week, in a public letter to his supporters, the former Haitian leader
wrote: "The return is indispensable for medical reasons. It is strongly
recommended that I not spend the coming winter in South Africa, because in six
years I have undergone six eye surgeries. The surgeons are excellent, but the
unbearable pain experienced in the winter must be avoided in order to reduce any
risk of further complications and blindness."


But a US spokesman, PJ Crowley, tweeted this week that Haiti would be better off
without Aristide.


"We do not doubt president Aristide's desire to help the people of Haiti. But
today Haiti needs to focus on its future, not its past," Crowley said.

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

just did a conversion of the 18million rand

into US dollars
$
2,531,681.72

the three million rand annual is

US$421946.95

[Plaumpholavup]

Remember that "Titi", was trained by the Salesian Fathers. He is highly versed in philosophy, oratory, and sociology. He could easily do major political damage by enflaming the population. There is plenty of tinder available in Haiti right now, without either of these two guys around.
To me, Jean Claude represents the "idea' of stability, that is only one major enemy--the Duvaliers and their Ton-Ton Macute, versus the fairly total lawlessness that reigns in Haiti today.
Aristide seems to represent that "beatific vision" of an impossibly perfect Haiti that so many there aspire to, without any of the werewithall to achieve it. He spins webs of dreams and ghosts but his followers become killers...

And we wonder why about 99% of all aid work has come to a standstill???

HB

[jackie Obrian]

To the best of your knowledge who has Hugo Chavez killed?

Change that to whom has he persecuted, whom has he had killed and It will be much easier to answer. You think he's one of the good guys, him and his buddy Castro?

[PHOTOSHOPoem]

can we keep this discussion to Haiti, please?

take the Chavez stuff to the off topic thread...

thanks

[xpllmr]

Change that to whom has he persecuted, whom has he had killed and It will be much easier to answer. You think he's one of the good guys, him and his buddy Castro?

Right Bob!

If a the leadership of one of our "Banana Republics" jumps out of pocket we can always demonize him and probably get his own people to carry out the assassination, right?

How dare they defy our corporations!

Diverting funds from our corporations and their local cronies to reduce illiteracy and improve medical treatment in his own country? How dare he!