[Bloquez l'empire!] Elite Pressure UN in Haiti

[aaron at resist.ca]

Elite Pressure UN in Haiti
Four more killed in Cite Soleil

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/1_18_6/1_18_6.html

An HIP Special Report
by Leslie Bagg and Aaron Lakoff

HIP - Haiti . Pressure from the elite sector of Haitian society has been 
mounting against the U.N. Mission in Haiti during the past several weeks. As 
the on again, off again elections approach the renewed deadline of Feb. 7, the 
United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) in Haiti has been led to 
believe in and listen to Haiti's most reactionary voices. The U.N. is being 
pressured to crack down hard on poor neighborhoods that remain loyal to ousted 
president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and who have recently staged large rallies in 
support of Rene Garcia Preval. MINUSTAH attacks on Cite Soleil have been 
frequent and deadly. Lobbying in the form of outright disinformation and lies 
by the likes of sweatshop owner Andy Apaid, presidential candidate Charles 
Henry Baker and the president of Haiti's Chamber of Commerce Dr. Reginald 
Boulos, have had dire consequences for MINUSTAH. General Urano Bacellar, the 
Brazilian head of MINUSTAH, apparently took his own life on January 7th after a 
tense meeting with Boulos and Apaid. Bacellar reportedly disagreed with plans 
to invade Cite Soleil upon viewing footage of the collateral damage and deaths 
following a previous raid into Cite Soleil on July 6, 2005.

Andy Apaid leads the Group 184 representing a U.S. foreign policy vision that 
dropped the zero from Haiti's year of independence, 1804, to create a civil 
society organization named Group 184 that was heavily funded by the United 
States, France and Canada. The Group 184 helped to build opposition to 
Aristide's government and Apaid was among the first to refer to paramilitary 
forces that invaded Haiti from the Dominican Republic as freedom fighters as 
they killed police officers and Lavalas officials in their bid to oust 
Aristide. Late in 2003, Apaid led demonstrations by the so-called student 
movement and right-wing sectors of Haitian society to oust democratically 
elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The right-wing presidential candidates supported by the group 184 were anything 
but happy when they held a demonstration January 16th in front of the UN 
headquarters in Port-au-Prince. Their stated aim was to force the UN to 
guarantee security in the country, put an end to the recent wave of kidnappings 
for ransom, and root out 'terrorists' and chimeres in poor areas of the 
capital. Supporters of Aristide regard these very terms as code words; the 
electoral campaigners of his successor Rene Preval see the language as a 
virtual invitation to renewed attacks upon the community. The demonstration by 
Haiti's reactionary elite came exactly one week after the Haitian Chamber of 
Commerce and the Group 184 called for a nationwide strike for Jan. 9 with the 
same intended goal. The Jan.16 rally in front of the headquarters of the U.N. 
was pure theater. Andy Apaid and presidential candidate Charles Henry Baker 
addressed a crowd of approximately 300 people from atop a truck with a powerful 
sound system. Lively music played before and after speeches. The stage was set 
as people below danced through the crowd and held up signs saying "Down with 
MINUSTAH, Long Live the PNH (Haitian Police), Long Live Haiti", and chanted, 
"Stop-Stop Kidnappings, Stop-Stop Bandits!"

Jackson Desrivieres, a former member of the so-called student movement that 
helped to oust Aristide, was escorted away from the demonstration by Haitian 
police after challenging the organizers: "You guys are with the former 
military! I can't be with you any more! The people of Cite Soleil can't eat, 
the people of Bel Air can't eat! You guys are paying people to be here, 
meanwhile people can't eat. They don't have money to send their kids to school. 
Life has gotten worse since you did that thing [took power]"

Apaid, who was the MC of the demonstration, introduced the speakers, many of 
them competing for President, by stating that unity amongst Haiti's political 
class was needed in order to solve the country's problems. This 'united 
political class' includes many of the country's wealthiest, and leaves out 
Lavalas, the most popular political party in Haiti.

However, shortly after Apaid began his speech, an armed UN jeep approached the 
demo and began slowly driving through the crowd on its way to the UN 
headquarters. This immediately distracted all the attention away from Apaid, as 
the angry crowd began to throw garbage and water bottles, and bang on the sides 
of the jeep. Apaid pleaded with the crowd to keep calm and let the jeep 
through. Had the same incident happened at a demonstration in Cite Soleil (and 
indeed it has), the UN troops would have opened fire in a second, killing 
indiscriminately. These demonstrators were much more fortunate, having the big 
guns behind them, and all the protection of Haiti's elite.

The rhetoric that numerous speakers were putting forth about this being a 
peaceful demonstration is in fact completely false. This demonstration was 
meant to be anything but peaceful. The Group 184 had achieved what they're so 
good at - cloaking their actions in a veneer of credibility and appeal to 
liberal concerns of 'peace' and 'democracy', while at the same time putting 
pressure on MINUSTAH to up the ante and open fire on the poor.

While the Group 184 is calling on intensified security to solve the problem of 
'lawlessness' in Haiti, the end result of their pressure can only be described 
as collective punishment for the country's poor. This logic exists in many 
occupied zones throughout the world. One need not even condemn a whole 
population as being 'insurgents', 'terrorists', or in Haiti's case, 'chimeres' 
or 'bandits,' but conveniently find a few amongst the many, and that's 
justification enough for a slaughter. Referring to Cite Soleil, Baker said, 
"Basically, Haitian people see these zones as being protected by the UN, and 
terrorists can exit these areas, commit crimes, and go back in. The UN can't 
even go into these zones without their tanks."

Baker continued, "We have to understand that Cite Soleil has 300 000 residents, 
and maybe 200 terrorists. These terrorists are terrorizing the other 300 
000.... We are asking that Cite Soleil residents be given the right to 
circulate freely, without being attacked by 'chimeres' or terrorists."

Baker's perceived benevolence to Cite Soleil is, in reality, paper-thin. 
Jean-Joseph Joel, a resident Cite Soleil had a completely different account of 
MINUSTAH's actions: "...people who live in Cite Soleil can't go out into the 
street to go about any activities. We can not circulate, we can not work."

The Group 184 demonstration seemed to have achieved the desired results. A 
report came in later in the day from Cite Soleil residents that MINUSTAH forces 
there had killed another 4 people only hours after the demonstration.

The Group 184 demonstration came days after a demonstration held in Cite Soleil 
against MINUSTAH repression, human rights abuses and killings of civilians. In 
a country where people on both sides of the political spectrum have serious 
grievances with MINUSTAH , it is worth asking whose interests are really being 
served by the UN presence here.

As things stand now, support for popular candidate Rene Preval among the poor 
majority of Haitians is enough to guarantee his victory. The Group 184's cries 
for security in Haiti are no more than a softened way of saying that anyone 
even remotely associated with Lavalas will not be allowed to win the 
presidential elections, and if they try, their supporters will pay with their 
lives.

[Leslie Bagg and Aaron Lakoff are two activists and independent journalists 
from Montreal.  They will be in Haiti for the month of January, filing reports 
focused on the role of Canada in the country. They can be reached at 
montrealtohaiti at resist.ca]