[Peace-discuss] US Marines, Haitians exchange fire

[Ricky Baldwin]

[Propaganda though this article is, the events are
scary enough.  Hopefully this is not the opening of
more serious US-Haitian fighting, as it seems it
easily could be.  Powder keg, I'd say, is an
understatement.  

Reading this article, though I think we should recall
where these reporters get their information, and note
that the slant.  The authors point out that no one
knows who these shooters were, and yet refer to
"Aristide militants" -- once meaning the gunmen and
once meaning pro-democracy hecklers of US Marines
there.  The blatant revision of history in the last
three paragraphs should tell us something, too.  This
is not the "third" US intervention in Haiti, but at
least the 27th time US forces have been sent to Haiti
-- not counting the decades of US support for military
rulers there.  It is the third US *occupation* of
Haiti -- and the second, in 1994, is seriously
misrepresented in this article.

Note, too, the way Chamblain is described as having
killed "Aristide supporters" -- not as a mass murderer
involved in the pro-US terror that followed Aristide's
first ouster -- as if to lessen the crime, or to imply
that there are two equal factions in Haiti who
periodically kill each other, when nothing could be
further from the truth.  As for the "fim star" scene,
remember the distortion around the pulling down of
Saddam Hussein's statue in Iraq.  

Without condoning the act of shooting at
demonstrators, even pro-fascists, we have to remember
that the Duvalier dictatorships tortured and killed
tens of thousands of people to repress democracy --
not so long ago -- even before Duvalierists overthrew
Aristide and started massacring people again in 1991. 
Pro-democracy activists in Haiti have reason to fear
the return of these murderers. - RB]

Haiti Gunmen Open Fire; 5 Dead
3/7/04

By IAN JAMES and PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press
Writers 

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Gunmen opened fired Sunday on
thousands of unarmed demonstrators calling for the
prosecution of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, killing four
protesters and a foreign journalist in the worst
attack since the Haitian president's fall. 

U.S. Marines returned fire — the first known armed
action by U.S. forces sent to stabilize the country —
but angry survivors accused the Marines and their
French colleagues of not doing enough to prevent the
attack. 

Blood slicked the floors of a private hospital where
victims were rushed. Women screamed and men cried as
the few doctors tried to treat the injured with little
medication. 

A French Air Force helicopter made a dramatic landing
on the road in front of the private Canape Vert
Hospital, and two men descended to wheel a gurney of
emergency medical supplies to the gate. Most of the
victims were in serious condition with wounds from
assault rifles, said surgeon Ronald Georges. 

Several witnesses said they saw Aristide militants
open fire from across the vast Champs de Mars plaza as
thousands gathered in front of the presidential
National Palace. U.S. Marine Maj. Richard Crusan said
it was unclear who the gunmen were. 

He told The Associated Press that three Marines
returned fire from the palace in the direction of the
gunshots. 

Ricardo Ortega, a New York correspondent for the
Spanish television station Antena 3, was shot in the
stomach and died at the hospital. He had taken a leave
of absence but volunteered to cover Haiti, the network
said from Madrid. 

Also killed was Haitian Cesar Milfort, whom relatives
described as an unemployed former university student. 

Among more than 30 injured people was South Florida
Sun-Sentinel photographer Michael Laughlin, 37, who
was shot in the shoulder and face but was in stable
condition at the hospital. 

Some witnesses said gunmen first appeared outside the
old Defense Ministry building on the plaza, then
kneeled on the sidewalk and opened fire. 

Others said gunmen in two all-terrain vehicles started
the shooting, while others said they saw gunmen
shooting down from the roof of a movie theater. 

"The peacekeepers were nowhere near where the shooting
was," said Almil Costel, 31, who was shot twice in the
left shoulder. 

Crusan said the Marines moved vehicles in front of the
National Palace when the shooting started. He said no
Marines were wounded. 

French commander Col. Daniel Leplatois defended the
peacekeepers: "We're not able to secure the lives of
all of the demonstrators." 

After the shooting, a truck with loudspeakers drove
around the palace, blaring music. One man speaking
over its loudspeaker shouted at the U.S. Marines:
"People are dying every day in this country. You have
to do something about it." 

Aristide supporters had planned a joint demonstration
Sunday but said they were offered no protection by the
peacekeepers and were afraid of reprisal attacks from
anti-Aristide activists. Their protest was rescheduled
for Monday, although leaders said they were still
worried about security. 

"The Americans are only here to protect those who
helped oust Aristide," said Ednar Ducoste, 23, an
Aristide supporter. "If we had guns, we would be
fighting against them right now." 

Aristide released a statement Sunday through
government officials in the Central African Republic,
where he is in exile, saying he was "well-looked
after" by his hosts and would personally address
reporters at an unspecified time. Aristide has said
the United States forced him from power, something
U.S. officials deny. 

Peacekeepers have removed barricades in central
neighborhoods but have avoided Aristide strongholds,
like La Saline and Cite Soleil. 

"They come here with their missiles, and they do
nothing for us," said Leo Bertrand, 27. "They
kidnapped our president, and now they're here to hold
us down." 

Earlier, during Sunday's march in Port-au-Prince,
demonstrators tore down a billboard featuring
Aristide's face and the slogan: "Haiti is the mother
of freedom," then carried it to the palace and set it
on fire. Military helicopters circled overhead as
black smoke billowed from the front gate. 

Rebel leader Guy Philippe was hoisted onto supporters'
shoulders as they chanted "Guy Philippe — hero!
Aristide — zero!" 

Philippe, a former Aristide police chief accused of
coup-plotting, reiterated Sunday that he had no
political aspirations. On Wednesday, he said his
fighters would lay down their arms. There were no
weapons in sight Sunday. 

There were also cheers for Louis-Jodel Chamblain, an
ex-soldier convicted in the killings of Aristide
supporters. Like film stars, both Chamblain and
Philippe were surrounded by autograph-seekers. 

Rebels have refused to give up their weapons, despite
Philippe's pledge. Marines have faced hostility — so
far, only shouted insults — from armed Aristide
militants furious over their leader's ouster and what
they call "an occupation army." 

Sunday's anti-Aristide crowd also took up a cry of
"Help, yes. Occupation, no!" 

It swelled quickly to thousands who ran and danced
through the city, chanting, "Try Aristide! Jail
Aristide!" 

Businessman Liastaud Michel, 56, called the event "a
victory march ... to celebrate. We want things to
change." 

A recently appointed seven-member "Council of Sages"
met for a third day Sunday in the capital to choose a
new prime minister. Officials said they hoped to have
a decision by Tuesday. 

One possibility is Lt. Gen. Herard Abraham, probably
the only Haitian army officer to voluntarily surrender
power to a civilian. Abraham succeeded ousted Gen.
Prosper Avril in 1990 and immediately handed power to
Haiti's Supreme Court justice. That allowed the
transition that led to Haiti's first free elections in
December 1990, which Aristide won in a landslide. 

Another choice is Smarck Michel, a businessman who was
Aristide's prime minister in 1994-1995 but resigned
over differences in economic policy. 

The U.S. Marine presence is the third American
military intervention in Haiti, which has suffered
under civilian and military dictators since a slave
rebellion won independence from France in 1804. 

The United States sent troops in 1915 who occupied the
country for 25 years. In 1994, 20,000 troops came to
end a brutal military dictatorship, halt an exodus of
boat people to Florida and restore Aristide, who had
been ousted in 1991. 

Aristide was a wildly popular slum priest when he
became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 1990.
But his popularity diminished after he was re-elected
in 2000. Haitians said he failed to improve their
lives, condoned corruption and used police and armed
supporters to attack his political opponents. 
___ 
Associated Press writer Joseph B. Frazier contributed
to this report from Cap-Haitien. 



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