21131: Simidor: Re: Heartache in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Daniel Simidor <karioka9@mail.arczip.com>


 The segment in Kate Cheney’s article in the April 6th Mother Jones,
 www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2004/04/04_504.html, about “the rebels
 tormenting remaining Aristide supporters and former cabinet members,” is
 misleading at best.  I’ve heard of some revenge killings, and I imagine
 former Lavalas militias might have something to worry about just now.
 But the Lavalas cabinet members who didn’t LEAVE AHEAD of Aristide have
 not been bothered, not even by their conscience, it seems, and there has
 not been any widespread persecution against ordinary Lavalas supporters.
 Why paint a situation bleaker than it already is?  The quoted Reuters
 story, about a Lavalas member chased into a Leogane police station, made
 no mention of why that particular fellow was so notorious in the town.  I
 think most people would want to know why him?

 Ms. Cheney is hopelessly one-sided.  Given the gigantic corruption of the
 Lavalas regime, especially toward the end, the prevention against key
 officials of the regime from leaving the country is a very small step
 toward justice.  The only “ironic twist” is that most people would rather
 see them in jail.  Most disturbing of all in Ms. Cheney’s narrative is
 the careful avoidance of the corruption and the crimes of the Aristide
 regime, such as the recent La Scierie massacre in St. Marc, as if such
 things didn’t matter.

Daniel Simidor
Brooklyn, NY
email: karioka9@arczip.com