Haiti: Aristide admits the love affair is over

international | miscellaneous | news report

Thursday March 09, 2006 14:01

by anony

"If they had wanted my return, they would have chosen Marc Bazin.

NOTE FROM AN EDITOR - It has come to attention of lists that the quotes in this article are in dispute - please read the comments for peer review of this working the way it is supposed to
In his first public statements since Haiti's Feb. 7 elections, former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide has said he respects the Haitian people and the way that they voted.

"The Haitian people voted for Préval. If they had wanted my return to Haiti, they would have chosen Marc Bazin," said Aristide.

Marc Bazin was the presidential candidate of Aristide's Lavalas Family Party and a former cabinet minister in the Aristide government of 2001-4. During campaigning for the elections, Bazin spoke out in favour of Aristide's return to Haiti from exile in South Africa.

René Préval, on the other hand, merely repeated that the "Constitution stipulates that no Haitian needs a visa to leave Haiti or return."

Préval won 993,000 votes - 51% of the vote, while Bazin came in far behind in 12th position with 13,000 votes - just 0.7% of the total.

Jean-Bertrand Aristide told the BCB, "It was a love story. They loved me and I loved them. But when you are in love, you can also fall out of love. People are not dumb. Years have passed, and the people's love for me has waned. It's simple."

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Comments (6 of 6)

incredible

by HIP - HIP

Wed Mar 22, 2006 00:01

hip at teledyol dot net

Thanks for the compliment but the documentary footage doesn't lie. The most popular chant during the week was, "Preval prezidan, pou Aristide tourne!" We didn't make it up, you just choose to ignore it because it doesn't jibe with what you've bought about Aristide. We find that more incredible than not.

Nowhere does your diatribe address the fact that, again, this is disinformation and Aristide NEVER made those statements. As for the cheap shot, HIP is independent and has never received funding from Aristide. The comment is more a reflection of deparation with trying to keep this lie alive than a real concern with the truth. With this quality of dialogue we usually assume it will only escalate so this will most likely be our final contribution to this subject.

As for Bazin, no he didn't represent Lavalas and was part of a project led by Voltaire and others to create confusion before the vote. However, the Bazin candidacy unintentionally helped Preval as it made it more difficult to attack him by associating him with Lavalas and Aristide. Bazin's running as Lavalas and openly calling for Aristide's return made Preval actually seem more moderate and buffered him against the nascient attacks by the GNB intelligensia as evidenced by the rantings of Raoul Peck.

Now, as to who really is/was the Lespwa movement....just look at who ran and represented the campaign. If you know what's really been going in Haiti you will know who they are and the fact that they are the same leadership of the Lavalas movement in the popular neighborhoods. You would have had to have been in Haiti to understand how and why their position on the elections changed so quickly, exactly what factors were involved. But If you can't name these players and don't know who the leadership was/is, then you are a little out of your league in this dialogue. We suggest you wait and read a few of our upcoming articles, with photos, to find out.

We welcome respectful criticism or anyone with honest queries. Please feel free to write us directly for further clarification.

Best regards,

HIP Editorial Staff

aristide est le passe

by James .P - non

Tue Mar 14, 2006 22:40

pijy82 at yahoo dot fr

lalue,184...haiti-port-au-prince

509 2459722

jean bertrand aristide est le passe.........
il n'a plus de discours pour le peuple haitien..

So, was Bazin the Lavalas Family candidate?

by an

Mon Mar 13, 2006 11:57

So, was Bazin the Lavalas Family candidate or not? Or, to put it another way, why did Preval create a new vehicle to contest the election and not stand for the Lavalas Family party?

You guys at the Haiti 'Information' Project are unbelievable. Just like your master, Aristide, you denounced the elections, but then when the Haitian people ignored your instructions not to vote, you claim that a vote for Preval was a vote for Aristide - how twisted can you get?

Love affair with disinformation is NOT over

by Haiti Information Project - HIP

Sun Mar 12, 2006 17:11

This is a disinformation piece that manufactures quotes purportedly made by Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He never made these statements attributed to him and quite the contrary, said that the Haitian people had elected Preval to pave the way for his return to Haiti. One of the most popular chants during the massive demonstrations to denounce the electoral fraud against Preval was, "Preval presidan, pou Aristide tourne!" , translated: "Preval is president for Aristide to return."

shane has given a good link.

by iosaf

Sat Mar 11, 2006 10:46

here are a few more :-
http://www.haitisupport.gn.apc.org/
http://www.haitiaction.net/
http://www.haitiprogres.com/

by the way as with many places allegations are made of "i-n-f-i-l-t-r-a-t-i-o-n" willy nilly, and the previous two organisations consistently accuse each other of being in the service of foreign powers.
That might be because Haiti is so terribly "fkd". It so "fkd" that even its military command structure feels the pressure, and the brazilian general Urano Bacellar, (head of the United Nations peacekeeping force) was found dead in his swimming pool this January 7th. There is no jury in Haiti, but if there had been it would still be out on whether it was stress related suicide or something more untoward. In fact Haiti is so terribly "fkd" that there are no insititutions of state worth talking about out side of foreign soldiers. No schools, no job, no hospitals, no roads, and as far as I can see the sodliers mostly stop the desperate trying to get out, either over the border to Dominican Republic or further afield by boat. ITs not only Haiti that is "fkd" all Haitians are "fkd" too.

the elections did not go without death. supporters on both sides being killed. Haiti is so terribly "fkd". There is a very wide range of states contributing army and police, and the accusations of torture and human rights abuses made against this UN umbrella are actually higher in Haiti than in Iraq.

Aristide is in political exile in South Africa since May 31 2004, there was a brief period between his ousting and that exile when it seemed he had simply disappeared, and some thought him dead. http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=14...70381
Before the elections he attempted to make statements to the press, and was told diplomatically by the South Africans not to bother. They put it this way :- "you are a guest of the nation & state and if you check your documentations and the small print attached to same, you will note please we can house arrest you if you get uppity".

Here's what I wrote and culled from newswires in 2004 & 2005. I stopped covering the story, because noting the last line of the "beginner's guide" The price of raw cocaine base is unalterable
I soon realised that this is one place, i can't offer useful comment or analysis on.
Haiti "a beginners guide" started Feb 9th 2004 when the trouble started, its a link file to differing coverage, as the "ousting" or "coup" began, very very professionally.
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=63354
Aristide's statement on going into exile March 6th 2004 in which he played for the last time with skill the "Toussaint L'Ouverture" card.
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=63727
Haiti (revision and introduction to intermediate guide module 2005)
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=69911

Hmmm

by shane ocurry - wsm - personal capacity

Fri Mar 10, 2006 14:51

The piece makes it look as though Bazin had the endorsement of Fanmi Lavalas activists, when in fact all he was doing was using the party name. By all accounts Bazin was long seen as a maverick and a no-hoper. His apparent retrospective endoresement by Aristide, if what you write is true, may be a sign of how out of touch the exiled leader has become.

I don't know anything about Aristide's current circumstances, but Preval is seen as the 'progressive' candidate, drawing on the support of the poor, and behind whom the Fanmi Lavalas party machine and activists threw their weight. You just have to look at how Haiti's elite and international capital did their darndest to scupper the election result. See link for details

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Haiti: Aristide admits the love affair is over

Comments (6 of 6)