15014: Hermantin-Miami-Herald-A hidden view of Haiti's trouble (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Miami- Herald

Posted on Tue, Mar. 04, 2003

A hidden view of Haiti's trouble
Jim DeFede/Commentary

Michele Montas wrapped up her visit to Miami on Saturday, but she didn't
return to Haiti. Instead she went into hiding.

How long she will remain outside her beloved Haiti no one knows, least of
all Montas. It may just be for a few weeks. Or it may be longer. But right
now Haiti is far too dangerous a place for the widow of Jean Dominique, the
Haitian journalist who was killed in 2000.

On Christmas Day, there was an assassination attempt against Montas, in
which her bodyguard was killed. Montas, a journalist, has been unrelenting
in demanding justice for her husband's murder. Because of her efforts, the
judge assigned to investigate Dominique's murder has prepared a report
naming those responsible.

All that is left is for the report to be released. But once again, no one
knows when that will be. In the meantime, the pressure inside Haiti builds.
The attempt to murder Montas on Christmas Day was seen by many as an effort
to block the report from ever being released. If Montas were dead, the
theory holds, then the driving force behind releasing the report would be
gone.

Before coming to Miami to receive a free speech award from People for the
American Way, Montas closed the radio station she and her husband owned
because of increased threats against her reporters. Radio Haiti Inter was
one of the few sources for unbiased news in Haiti.

There are a lot of people in the United States who would like to use Montas'
plight to attack Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Indeed, it now
seems almost certain that the men responsible for Dominique's murder -- and,
presumably, the assassination attempt on Montas -- will have links to
Aristide's political party.

Montas, however, was very careful not to attack Aristide. Instead, she
portrays Aristide as being a president who has lost control of those around
him. It would be a mistake, she said during the Miami Film Festival, where a
Jonathan Demme documentary about her husband was shown, to equate Aristide
with the dictators of Haiti's past. Aristide, after all, was elected. And
the political violence today, while still obscene, is less pervasive when
compared to the thousands who were murdered under the regimes of ''Papa''
and ''Baby Doc'' Duvalier.

''Before we always knew who was shooting at us,'' she told me. ``It was the
army, it was the dictatorship. Today, if I want to be honest, I have to say,
I don't know who is responsible.''

Is it someone who is connected to Aristide's Lavalas Family political party?
Or is it someone who claims to be aligned, but who really isn't?

Certainly Aristide needs to do more. First and foremost, he must clean up
Haiti's corrupt police department. You cannot have democracy in a country
where there is no rule of law or body to enforce it. ''Right now the Haitian
police force is very fragile,'' Montas said.

Between 1995 and 1998, the United States provided money and technical
support to help the Haitian police force. During that time, Montas said, the
department was a sign of hope for Haitians. But when the U.S. abruptly, and
unwisely, pulled out in 1998, the department eroded quickly.

For the past five years, the United States has blocked all aid to the
Haitian government -- including much needed support for its police -- and
has forced other countries and financial organizations to do the same.

The American government decided this was necessary because of a handful of
contested election results in Haiti. Of course, when there were no elections
in Haiti and the country had a U.S.-friendly dictatorship, the money flowed
freely.

''I do not believe the embargo against Haiti is a valid answer to the
country's problems,'' Montas said.

And for those in Miami who think this issue doesn't affect them, consider
this: The best way to keep Haitians from fleeing to Florida is to make
conditions better for them in Haiti. ''When Haiti sneezes,'' the Haitian
proverb goes, ``it is the United States that catches the cold.''







_________________________________________________________________
Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8.
http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail