|
 Seven years after he was kidnapped
and exiled to Africa after the Feb.
29, 2004 coup doeétat, former president
Jean Bertrand Aristide fi nally has a
passport that will allow him to return
to his country from South Africa. So where are we now? On Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011,
the South African Foreign Minister,
Maite Nkoana-Mashabane confi rmed
that Aristide has requested to leave
South Africa. “We are consulting with
all interested parties to facilitate his
return back home at the appropriate
time,” she said. The U.S. government, however,
has made clear its opposition to Aristide’s
return before March 20, when
two neo-Duvalierist presidential candidates
illegally “selected” by Washington
via the Organization of American
States (OAS) are scheduled to go to a
second round. If Aristide returns before
then, “it would prove to be an unfortunate
distraction,” said State Department
spokesman Philip Crowley. “The
people of Haiti should be evaluating
the two candidates that will participate
in the runoff, and I think that
should be their focus... If he [Aristide]
returns sooner, it might disturb... the
calm that is needed for an effective
election process to conclude.” Meanwhile, Haiti’s Prime Minister,
Jean Max Bellerive, says that
his government has done its part for
Aristide to return. “President Aristide
is currently in possession of his
diplomatic passport, he can go home
whenever he wants,” Bellerive said at
a meeting of the Interim Haiti Recovery
Commission (IHRC) at the Hotel
Karibe Convention Center on Feb. 15. On Friday, Feb. 18, Haiti’s Foreign
Minister, Marie Michelle Rey said
that she has had “no contact” with
her South African counterpart regarding
Aristide’s return. In response, on Saturday, Feb. 19, Aristide’s lawyer, Ira Kurzban
wrote Rey asking her to “initiate the
appropriate dialogue with the government
of the Republic of South Africa
to insure President Aristide’s immediate
return to Haiti.” “I am inquiring as to what steps
you have taken with your counterparts
in South Africa to resolve President
Aristide’s return to Haiti,” Kurzban
wrote in his letter. “As you are
well aware, President Aristide is not
simply another citizen returning to
his country. You are well aware of the
circumstances in which he was forced
to leave Haiti notwithstanding his
position as the democratically elected
President at the time. His forced trip
to the Central African Republic and
his current stay in South Africa are
well documented.” Kurzban added: “I know that
certain countries have voiced concern
about the President’s immediate
return,” referring diplomatically
to the U.S. “We know, however, those
concerns are without foundation and
that the President’s return would be
a joyous occasion for the vast majority
of Haitians,” he concluded. “Many
Haitian citizens have already gone to
the airport in anticipation of his return.” In the meantime, all sorts of
rumors are circulating in Haiti and its
diaspora. Some say they expect Aristide’s
return before Mar. 20. Others
say the US wants Aristide back to settle
a score with him. To date, the U.S.
Ambassador to Haiti, Kenneth Merten,
has made no statement. Likewise, former
U.S. president Bill Clinton would
not comment on Aristide’s return, saying
simply: “These are issues whose
solutions must come from the Haitian
government and it is for the political
parties to give their impressions.” Another rumor says that Aristide
would be indicted by the U.S. Justice
Department for corruption involving a
Haitian telephone company and that
Jean René Duperval, a former Teleco
executive, is ready to testify against
Aristide to save his own skin. But in a Feb. 19 letter, Duperval
denied this rumor. “On Tuesday, Feb.
8, 2011, in an outrageous statement
broadcast on Radio Métropole, and
then picked up and commented on by
other media, Ms. Lucy Komisar, an investigative
journalist, falsely claimed
that I was cooperating with the government
of the United States against
the former president Jean Bertrand
Aristide,” he wrote. “I formally deny
these accusations as false and say to
the Haitian nation that I am not cooperating
and did not make any deal
with anyone. I take this opportunity
to reiterate my fi rm determination
to defend myself against the charges
brought against me.” Lucy Komisar has been an employee
of the Boulos family-supported
Washington-based Haiti Democracy
Project (HDP), a right-wing pro-coup
political action committee. She has
been caught fabricating stories about
Aristide before (see Haïti Liberté,
“IDT, Aristide, and the Haiti Democracy
Project” by Kim Ives, Vol. 2, No.
1, 07/23/2008). On Friday, Feb. 18, the Lavalas
Family’s Permanent Mobilization Commission
called for a demonstration in
Port-au-Prince. Thousands of people
massed in front of the ruins of the St.
Jean Bosco church, where Father Jean
Bertrand Aristide used to preach the
theology of liberation. Demonstrators,
accompanied by several street bands,
carried placards, banners, and pictures
of Aristide as they marched several
blocks to rally on the Champ de Mars,
in front of the ruins of the National
Palace. Along the route, they called
for Aristide’s return with slogans like
“Titid, we’re waiting for you” or “Titid
= peace” or “Titid = life.” Demonstrators also denounced
the discredited elections from which
the Lavalas Family (FL) was excluded,
saying “there was no fi rst round,
so there can be no second round.”
At the end of the demonstration,
the coordinator of the FL’s executive
committee, Dr. Maryse Narcisse, called
for the annulment of the “mascarade”
and fl awed Nov. 28, 2010 elections
and the FL’s inclusion in the electoral
process. Narcisse also denounced the
arrogance and interference of the U.S.
and OAS in the internal political affairs
of Haiti, especially in the electoral process.
Clearly, the mobilization will
continue until Aristide’s return and the
annulment of the mascarade Nov. 28
elections. The demonstration ended
without incident, despite the limited
presence of the Haitian National Police. |
