As I write, rebels are marching toward Port au Prince to remove Jean Bertrand Aretide from power in Haiti. The rebels have rejected all peace proposals that do not include the removal of Arestide from power. What should the world do to assist the small Igbo nation of haiti that has done so much for the liberation of the Black man?
Posts: 127 | Registered: Mar 2001
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I think the best thing that the world can do for Haiti is to let Aristide hang. He does not deserve to be in office especially after rigging the 2000 election in Haiti. But the world, really the United States, should focus on assisting Haiti establish the institutions and economic reforms that will democracy succeed there. This means that Washington must move away from policies that support particular leaders in Haiti (and also elsewhere) to one that focuses on democracy.
Yes, it is true that a majority of Haitians are of Igbo descent but I think it is debatable whether a people can keep their culture and their uniqueness after they have lost their language. Language, is to me, how the present generation makes sense to the next. If that is no longer possible then the future generation may very well be raised by Martians.
___________________ Acting Major Benbella Posts: 27 | From: Madison, Wisconsin | Registered: Oct 2003
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What a model. Isn't this country the poorest in the western hemisphere, despite its proximity to the USA and other western markets?. If it is truly populated by Igbos, every Biafran paper Tiger need to cover their face in shame. Guess it is in the genes: overpopulated households, poverty of ideas, acute poverty in the midst of wealth,inability to engage in fair competition; Na so-so mouth wey dem pack full like BEREC batteries. Shio!
___________________ This war of attrition on the Igbo must end now! Posts: 441 | From: california, US | Registered: Jan 2003
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Quote: ---------------------- "Guess it is in the genes: overpopulated households, poverty of ideas, acute poverty in the midst of wealth,inability to engage in fair competition;...---addy ------------------------
Addy: You said the above FROM YOUR MOUTH (hand). But to contradict yourself you had the following 'advice' for the Igbos:
Quote: ------------------------ To speak vilely about other tribes is not the best way to win Ndiigbo friends. ------------------------
If you as a Yoruba has the right as YOU DID above to speak vilely of the Igbos (be it those in the diaspora), then why should it be a crime when Igbos do same of your Yoruba tribe (I prefer to call it Nations)? Sit up boy! It takes two to tango.
All, Its sad that the U.S. that was quick to rush to far away Iraq to according to them "give Iraqis freedom" cannot do same to its mostly black-populated neigbour at its door-step. As one watch this tiny country descend into chaos and nothing is being done by the Bushes to save her, it is becoming clear to every dick and harry that if Haiti had OIL like Iraq or Kuwait, we would have seen the Dragon in the Whitehouse threatening to take "the dictator" out of office and "put him on the run". Unfortunately for the Haitians, they have to do the dirty work of deposing the dictator by themselves. While the so-called defender of freedom (the United States) and her follow-follow allies (the Unted Kindom, etc) sit at the fence and watching as the helpless Nwa Aros are doing. To crown it all, even the few Haitians who tried their best to seek for the "freedom" the Americans talk about were repatriated like sheeps. You bet that if those Haitians where of Caucasian race they would not only be allowed safe passage into the US but they will AUTHOMATICALLY qualify for asylum status!
As I have often argued and it is obvious now, America, like most of the west only talk of "freedom", "human rights", democracy", etc, etc ONLY when it fits their whims and caprices. So anyone that believes the Bushes when next they mouth those romantic words does so at their peril.
I hope my fellow Igbos who seem to bank on the Americans and the so-called christian west for support when it arises (when there's need to do battle with those that equally abuse power in Nigeria) see the handwriting on the wall through the lense of what is happening in Haiti and draw their strategies without the west in consideration.
Posts: 997 | From: Germany | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
So Arisitide has quit, he did not resort to mass murder of his citizens to retain power but did the honorable thing.He spared his fellow citizens further agony and took a decision unheard of in the likes of Addy's BiafraNigeria. Poor Haiti might be, but a nation it truly is and now we know why that nation is not at the bottom of the list whenever Transparency International publishes it's annual list of corrupt nations.
Compare this decision of the president of the poorest nation in the western hemisphere to willingly leave power with that of the Yoruba warlords in Aso Rock to remain in power at all cost. Who should really be hiding their heads in shames, the "shons of the shoil" whose fabled economic mis-management has left BiafraNigeria an impoversihed nation after $270 billion dollars of Biafran oil or citizens of Haiti who remain with honour even in poverty ?
Posts: 1532 | From: USA | Registered: Mar 2001
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quote:Aristide Flees Haiti; Judge Claims Power 16 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!
By PAISLEY DODDS and IAN JAMES, Associated Press Writers
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Haiti's beleaguered President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned and flew into exile Sunday. Gunfire rang out through the capital, and the United States said an international peacekeepers — including Americans — would be deployed soon.
AP Photo
Reuters
The head of Haiti's supreme court said he was taking charge. U.N. diplomats said key Security Council members would begin to talk Sunday about a resolution to authorize an international force.
Prime Minister Yvon Neptune said at a press conference that Aristide resigned to "prevent bloodshed."
At the same news conference, U.S. Ambassador James Foley insisted the United States had not asked Aristide to resign.
"President (Jean-Bertrand) Aristide made a decision for the good of the Haitian people," Foley said. "International military forces including U.S. forces will be rapidly arriving in Haiti to begin to restore a sense of security."
A jet carrying the ex-leader landed on the island of Antigua for refueling and was headed to South Africa, local radio stations reported. But the government in Johannesburg said there had been no recent contact with Aristide nor an offer of asylum.
Three hours after Aristide's departure, Supreme Court Justice Boniface Alexandre declared he was taking over as called for by the constitution. He urged calm after more than three weeks of violence.
"The task will not be an easy one," Alexandre, who is in his 60s, said at a news conference. "Haiti is in crisis. ... It needs all its sons and daughters. No one should take justice into their own hands."
Despite Alexandre's declaration that he was in charge, the Haitian constitution calls for parliament to approve him as leader and the legislature has not met since early this year when lawmakers' terms expired.
The rebels launched the rebellion on Feb. 5 from Gonaives, 70 miles northwest of Port-au-Prince. More than 100 people were killed.
Rebel commander Winter Etienne said, "We're going to put our weapons down when we've got a new government."
As he spoke, rebels rode through Cap-Haitien in trucks, waving at hundreds of people who took to the streets in celebration, dancing and singing.
But Etienne indicated it might not be over: "We will go to Gonaives, and then we will pass to St. Marc," he told The Associated Press.
St. Marc is a government held town north of Port-au-Prince where Aristide militants have been terrorizing opponents, torching homes and executing alleged rebel sympathizers.
The crisis has been brewing since Aristide's party swept flawed legislative elections in 2000 and international donors froze millions of dollars in aid.
Opponents also accused him of breaking promises to help the poor, allowing corruption fueled by drug-trafficking and masterminding attacks on opponents by armed gangs — charges the president denied.
It was the second time the 50-year-old former slum priest fled his country. Aristide was ousted in a 1991 coup, within months of becoming president for the first time. He was restored to power three years later by U.S. troops.
President Bill Clinton (news - web sites) sent 20,000 troops to restore Aristide but insisted he respect a constitutional term limit and step down in 1995.
Aristide handpicked his successor, Rene Preval, but was considered the power behind the scenes until he won a second term in 2000, in presidential elections marred by a low turnout and an opposition boycott.
France, Haiti's former colonizer, and the United States had suggested he step down for the good of his Caribbean nation of 8 million people.
It was not clear where Aristide's wife, Mildred Trouillot Aristide, was. The couple had sent their two daughters to Trouillot's mother in New York City last week.
The man rigged elections. He deserves to be chased out of power. The same should happen to Obasanjo in BiafraNigeria.
___________________ Too Cold To Hold Posts: 20 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2003
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Why do you refer to Haiti as "Igbo nation" and what has Haiti done for the liberation of the black man?
Thanks for your answer.
AfroEuro:
Do some research and get back to me. -------------
Meanwhile, Aristide has been granted asylum in the Central African Republic. Aristide knows that it would have been futile to appeal to that Igbo hater in Aso Rock.
Posts: 127 | Registered: Mar 2001
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posted
It looks like Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was kidnapped by U.S. forces eager for him to resign and then spirited into exile. Randall Robinson, the African-American activist, said Aristide told him on the phone Monday that he had been kidnapped at gunpoint by US forces and ousted in a U.S. coup. Aristide said he was being held prisoner at the Renaissance Palace in Bangui, Central African Republic. Aristide on Monday morning, called Rep. Charles Range and told him that the international community had let him down — "that he was kidnapped, that he resigned under pressure, that he was taken to a Central African country." Aristide’s wife, Mildred, a US born Haitian-American talked on the phone with Rep. Maxine Waters and informed her that Aristide was "forced to leave his home."
quote:Waters said an U.S. Embassy official told Aristide that he "had to go now — that if he didn't go he would be killed and a lot of Haitians would be killed." CNN
Powell flatly denies it all. He said that, "He was not kidnapped. We did not force him on the airplane. He went on the plane willingly." My brother, when I heard about Aristide’s exile to African, I knew that the whole story was to come later. This is election period and Bush will not let that little man from a little country put sand for him garri.
posted
By ELIOTT C. McLAUGHLIN, Associated Press Writer
ATLANTA, Ga. - Jean-Bertrand Aristide claims he was forced to leave Haiti by U.S. military forces, according to a telephone interview with the exiled Haitian president Monday Aristide was put in contact with The Associated Press by the Rev. Jesse Jackson (news - web sites) following a news conference, where the civil rights leader called on Congress to investigate Aristide's ouster.
When asked if he left Haiti on his own, Aristide quickly answered: "No. I was forced to leave. "Agents were telling me that if I don't leave they would start shooting and killing in a matter of time," Aristide said during the brief phone interview that was interrupted at times by static.
When asked who the agents were, he responded: "White American, white military. "They came at night ... There were too many, I couldn't count them," he added. Jackson said Congress should investigate whether United States, specifically the CIA (news - web sites), had a role in the rebellion that led to Aristide's exile.
Jackson encouraged reporters to question where the rebels in Haiti got their guns and uniforms. "Why would we immediately support an armed overthrow and not support a constitutionally elected government?" Jackson said.
Aristide, who fled Haiti under pressure from the rebels, his political opponents, the United States and France, arrived Monday in the Central African Republic, according to the country's state radio. He has claimed that he was abducted from Haiti by U.S. troops who accompanied him on a flight to the Central African Republic.
The White House, Pentagon (news - web sites) and State Department have denied allegations that Aristide was kidnapped by U.S. forces eager for him to resign.
quote:The Bush Administration's efforts in the overthrow of a democratically-elected government must be investigated," said Lee. "All of the evidence brought forward thus far suggests that the Administration has, in essence, carried out a form of 'regime change,' a different variation than it took in Iraq, but still regime change. The American people and the international community deserve to know the truth, and this bill will offer the opportunity to investigate the long-term origins of the overthrow of the Haitian government and the impact of our failure to protect democracy."
___________________ Awo's political idea was based on the assumption that any town beyond Owo was Igbo or Hausa. Awo was not socialised; he was not a good mixer because he did not have the opportunity, which the secondary school offered. ~TOS Benson, Baba Oba of Lagos Posts: 2644 | From: United Kingdom | Registered: Apr 2001
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