Check out this press release from Latortue, Haiti’s new democratically-paramilitary-coup-installed leader who is presiding over a major massacre and occupation right now. It comes from his meeting with Powell and is published (where else?) on the State Department’s website.
“The third thing we discussed is the democratic process and how it is going on in Haiti today. I was happy that last night, I was the first to sign, with the political parties, the civil society groups, a convention, an agreement, in how this process should go on, go forward.”
“Secretary Powell is the first person to whom I explained this, because we just signed this last night. And I spoke to him, too, right after Easter, we will be setting up the Provisional Electoral Council, right after Easter. One of the things we assured the Secretary of State is that whether you were a former official, a minister, a secretary, in the present government, you will not be allowed to participate in the political process coming up.”
That’s why, I suppose, people like Oriel Jean, who worked for Aristide, is now sitting in a cell in Miami (thank the Canadian authorities for that one, as for many illegal actions and atrocities in this coup). Jean is being investigated for ‘drug charges’. But, of course, if you want to know how the drug trade really works, you should check out Al McCoy’s ‘Politics of Heroin’, Cockburn & St. Clari’s ‘Whiteout’, or, on Haiti, this piece from Paul DeRienzo.
