Dealing misery and death from the back of the tiger in Haiti (new photos)

Shown in the photograph (right) are members of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Lavalas family, slain by U.S.-backed police. On February 29, 2004, U.S. Marines kidnapped democratically-elected President Aristide and backed the coup that overthrew his government. In the first two months, those who brought the coup killed over 1,000political adversaries and dissidents and the killing has gone on since, unabated. But this is nothing new to Haitians. Haitian soil has been bathed in blood as the result of foreign intervention and occupation for hundreds of years. The bleeding is a testament to their refusal to be enslaved.

The Political Prisoners

According to the attached Fault Lines report, there are over 1,000 political prisoners in Haiti. Among them, members of President Aristide's administration continue to languish in prison in Port-au-Prince. After the 2004 coup, a friend of mine went with a delegation of 12 to Haiti where they visited Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, of President Aristide's administration in prison. He described Neptune and other respected Haitian leaders suffering in the filthy prison, forced to eat swill passed to them through prison bars. Neptune himself is currently in need of blood and other medical tests and lacks any confidence in authorities to ensure his safety in the prison.

The only conceivable "strategic interest" the U.S. government could possibly have in Haiti lies in the fear of the captor. The Haitian Revolution was the first and only time that an enslaved people rose up, broke their chains, and established a new state. Haiti inspired enslaved African Americans in the United States and continues to be perceived as a threat to those who have institutionalized racism in the U.S.. Haiti represents the power of people to bring down unjust economies and racist governments.

Haiti's history - distant and recent - sends perpetual waves of fear into the heart of North American society. The same fear was exposed during the Civil Right's Movement in the early '60s. The white corporate media has attempted to co-opt the civil right's movement in the United States with sentimental acknowledgements to people like Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King - now that they are gone and no longer pose a threat to the white establishment. But just as they fear Haitian leaders today, they also fear black leaders rising up again in the United States. African American leaders like King, Malcolm X and others were so hated and feared by the white establishment, the government had to resort to it's last refuge: decapitation.

Lest anyone reply that my use of the term "decapitation" are loose words from an old hippie, I must claim my authority for such a statement. I personally knew James Earl Ray and spent many hours with him while working in the Tennessee State Prison in Nashville. I spoke with him for hours "on the rock" in A-Block and transported him during the wee hours of the morning to and from his hearing for a new trial in Memphis. I also transported him to his last home at the Brushy Mountain Prison in East Tennessee. I knew the man and I know that it would have been impossible for this simple and ignorant product of white poverty to pull off the complexities of the Martin Luther King assassination. No, the white establishment may have glossed over their racism with slick news media and Hollywood movies, but the fear and hatred for African Americans remain among the power elite in the U.S. just as they are exhibited today in Haiti. The foreward to the book, Haiti: The Slave Revolution states:

The people of Haiti are resolute

Despite the enormous power differential, the noble people of Haiti continue their struggle against the U.S. occupation and oppression of their country today. At this time in history, only the Palestinians can be compared to these people who perservere in their fight against a mighty oppressor from the dust of abject poverty - and with so little help from outside their country.

The U.S.-Backed Regime

The United States government continues to occupy Haiti, imprisoning, torturing and killing their people through their puppet regime, currently led by "Interim Prime Minister", Gerard Latortue. Below, Condoleezza Rice is shown meeting at the Presidential Palacein Port-au-Prince with Latortue on September 27, "to show support" for U.S.-controlled presidential elections set for November 20.

Latortue was appointed to his current position while living in the United States. His administration has been denied recognition by a number of foreign governments, particularly in the Caribbean and the African Union. International human rights groups have been steadfast in their opposition to his regime. The people of Haiti and President Aristide's political party, Fanmi Lavalas, in some cases from their prison cells, continue to fight back. This entire sherade is being masked by what the corporate media is calling "the United Nations Stabilization Mission" - fabricated to ensure continued U.S. occupation and control. In Lavalas Crackdown Continues, U.S. Journalist Arrested (below), an Indymedia- Fault Lines writer describes the September 9 arrest of a U.S. filmmaker and Haitian journalist by Latortue's police.

When the people of Haiti finally throw off their chains for the last time all enslaved people will see that sovereignty and independence are possible.

It is difficult to dismount the tiger.

Find ways you can help support the people of Haiti through local and national protests against those who occupy their country and imprison their leaders.

Lavalas Crackdown Continues, U.S. Journalist Arrested

(Republished on Indymedia from Fault Lines)

On Friday, September 9, US filmmaker Kevin Pina and Haitian journalist Jean Restil Jean-Baptiste were arrested by Haitian National Police (HNP). At the time, they were attempting to observe a police search of the residence of Father Gerard Jean-Juste, an Amnesty International-designated prisoner of conscience. Activists hope their arrest will attract more attention to the dire situation of political prisoners in Haiti.

Pina and Ristil were being held in a small cell with 6 other men. In the brief time I was allowed to speak to him, Pina explained that he and Ristil were covering the search of Jean-Juste's property because of concern that weapons might be planted if no reporters were present.

Both Pina and Ristil have previously faced harassment at the hands of Haitian police.

After international pressure made the unlawful incarceration high-profile, the two men were released on Monday, September 12 with no charges.

Unfortunately, there are still more than 1,000 other political prisoners behind bars that have been incarcerated since the February 29, 2004 U.S.-backed coup which ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his government.

Their imprisonment has been facilitated by a demonization of ousted President Aristide's Lavalas Party waged by Haiti�s elite-owned right-wing media.

Lavalas has maintained consistent demands regarding Haitian elections that the U.S., Canada and France have arranged for November and December. The party continues to argue that elections cannot be free and fair unless extra-judicial executions, rapes, and other repression of Lavalas supporters ends, political prisoners are freed, and President Aristide and other exiles are allowed to return to Haiti to help restore constitutional democracy.

Many poor Haitians were hoping Jean-Juste would be named as a presidential candidate, but electoral authorities blocked attempts to register the priest.

Mario Joseph, Jean-Juste's Port-au-Prince based lawyer, told me, "The Father has the trust and love of the people for all he has done for them, which is why the government wants to stop him and he is in jail. The U.S. embassy and UN don't want to use him as a peacemaker, because that would make him politically stronger and a threat to elite interests."

Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, another high profile prisoner the coup regime is refusing to release despite sustained international pressure, is confined in a separate wing of the facility Jean-Juste has been moved to. Jean-Juste has not been allowed to visit Neptune, but briefly saw him and said his health was "bad". Jean-Juste himself is in need of blood and other tests, which he has not yet received. When I asked how if he felt confident of his security in the current facility, he answered "no".

The priest expressed appreciation for international solidarity, and asked that it be continued as much as possible. To disheartened fellow Haitians, he said, "Don't cry too much, there's work to do. Let's do it."