February 2001 news briefing & analysis this month

News Briefing & Analysis This Month ... Only our monthly journal brings you hours of fine reporting and research

Compiled and written by Prof. Yves A. Isidor. Other staff members assisted with the following reports. Correspond with the concerned parties via electronic mail: wehaitianspol@aol.com / Last month news.

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A wrongful deportation lawsuit against the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service or INS

So easy it is for the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to deport foreign born criminals residing in the U.S. to their respective countries of origin, as the 1996 immigration law provisions stipulate, that two Bahamian-born citizens, but of Haitian parents, were deported to Haiti late last month after they were convicted of committing crimes in the U.S. But an immigration group in Miami filed suit this week in U.S. court against the INS, claiming that it illegally deported Gertha Claiville, 20, and Kervence Carry, 21, to Haiti, who since have been languishing in Haitian jails. The Miami-based immigration group, which has identified four other similar cases since it began investigating the Clairville and Carry's cases, is seeking to have the INS return them to the U.S. As we reported on January 31st (refer to our Jan. 2001 archive), according to Miami-Dade County Criminal Records, in 1998 Claiville, who speaks only English and with a U.S. accent, was convicted of aggravated battery and sentenced to two years in prison. And, Carry, who speaks no Haitian Creole, but only U.S. English, was convicted of strong-arm robbery and sentenced to 270 days in jail. Unlike in the U.S. and most European nations, according to a 1996 law Haitian refugees may apply for permanent residency in the banana Republic of Bahamas after 10 years of interrupted physical presence there, citizenship 10 years or more afterward.

Because of rampant violent crimes, including politically motivated ones, and a country being rapidly impoverished by radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide interested only in hanging on to power, though illegally, tens of thousand Haitians continue to flee Haiti for the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic in search of a better life. But a plan designed by the Dominican Republic's army to, at least, reduce the float of illegal Haitian immigration to the contiguous country was made public this week by Minister of Defense, Jose Miguel Soto Jiminez. "We will in the next few days install electronic equipments on our side of the of Dominican Republic-Haitian border. In so doing, we will be able to avoid a repeat of unfortunate incidents, such as members of our armed forces opening fire on Haitian trying to illegally enter our territories in the middle of the night," Defense Minister Soto Jiminez told Listin Diaro, a major Dominican Republic daily, this week. "Sure we have established a very strong military presence on the border. Such a presence is justified by our patriotic obligation, our constitutional obligation to defend our territories, to prevent the Haitians from invading us, otherwise there would be no need for us to exist as an army, as our members continue to be paid by the taxpayers of this country. We must defend the citizens of this country," added Defense Minister Jiminez. "I must add," said Defense Minister Soto Jiminez, "our decision to have a heavy military presence on the border does not mean there will be a massacre of Haitians, similar to the 1937 one." During that year, on the order of dictator Raphael Leonidas Trujllo, Dominican Republic's armed forces massacred tens of thousand Haitians. To add insult to injury, the Dominican Republic later paid Haiti less than U.S$30 for each of the Haitians massacred. To explain the threat that Haiti represented for the Dominican Republic, Defense Minister Soto Jiminez said: "In no way that Haiti represents a military threat for the Dominican Republic. However, because of the extreme conditions of poverty in Haiti, the multitude of social problems in Haiti and the ecological problems in that country we have concluded that Haiti represents a 'grave threat' without precedent for us." "On the border we are at war with narcotics trafficking. We are at war with contraband and illegal immigration. Our country does not have the financial resources needed to pay for the cost of new infrastructures, as the populations of our cities and towns increase, resulting from illegal Haitian immigration from Haiti," said Defense Minister Soto Jiminez. Defense Minister Soto Jiminez, is said to be one of the Dominican Republic's top intellectuals and ideologues. He recently wrote a book entitled: Defense, Security and Democracy. In that book, some of the chapters centered on the problem of Haitian illegal immigration to the Dominican Republic. He strongly believed if the float of illegal immigration coming from Haiti to the Dominican Republic were to stop the country' army would not only have to permanently establish a heavy presence on the border that his country shares with Haiti but be heavily armed.

Hundreds of thousand Haitians, many of them dressed as clowns, Zorro and Indians, took to the streets of Haiti Sunday celebrating the first day of Carnival. However, the Carnival celebrations, which will end Tuesday, were marked by violence. More than 100 people were reportedly wounded.

Haiti, also a dangerous country for Russian citizens Barely two weeks since Haiti's radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide promised to build an additional 7,000 hotel rooms over the next five years, though no one knows where he will obtain the capital needed from to pay for the cost of his grandiose project, and for whom he will built them for, more and more countries seem to be urging their citizens to stay away from Haiti. "Because of Haiti's pronounced lack of infrastutures we are not convinced that it is capable of protecting the lives of our citizens. As a result we greatly discourage them all from venturing into Haiti.," said this week a Russian Foreign Ministry communiqué. Haiti now figures among the 29 nations, which Russia considers too dangerous for its citizens to visit. In another development, Friday night, there was theater drama in Haiti's so-called parliament. All but the bogus presidents of both, the upper and the lower houses, approved radical leftist Aristide's choice of Jean-Marie "Ponpon" Cherstal as Prime Minister. The Unanimous vote came just a few hours after radical leftist Aristide met with his Family Lavalas party members, ordering them all to behave ... "No fighting between you! You listen to everything I tell you!. Do you understand? Yes, we do President," responded in unison the so-called senators and deputies as if they were all little kids letting their father know they understood his order not to venture out after 6:00 p.m. Perhaps, since Cherestal was an aid to the late Dr. Roger Lafontant, a secret police chief or Tontons Macoutes, many of his sons and daughters, in a sense of gratitude, will be offered positions in his de facto government.

All but one of the bogus 27 senators and more than 80 percent of the deputies in Haiti's Congress belong to the Lavalas Family party of Haiti's radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide. But the angry exchange of words, including death threats, this week between radical leftist Aristide's Lavalas Family party senators and deputies, who were fraudulently elected last year, again helped tell the shameful story of that party. The Chaos this week came after one of the bogus senators urged his colleague Dany Toussaint, who has long been a suspect in the last year brutal murder of prominent radio journalist Jean Leopold Dominique, to appear before judge Claudy Gassant for questioning. Other colleagues, including a senator who not long ago told the judge he will gun him down if he continues to summon Toussaint to court, however, urged him to ignore Judge Gassant's latest summons, arguing that Toussaint was a Senator of the Republic of Haiti and as such he enjoyed full immunity from prosecution. A judge has no legal rights to summon him to court. Toussaint, also a well known drug baron, who had previously refused to appear in Judge Gassant's courtroom, claiming parliamentary immunity, reportedly has finally made the decision to appear as a defendant in the judge's courtroom Friday. Fearing a breakup of his Lavalas Family party, an emergency meeting, scheduled for today, was convened by radical leftist Aristide. The message those in attendance will hear from king Aristide: "I want you all to behave," said a source we can thrust.

Once again, Haiti proved to be a transshipment point for South American narcotics entering the United States. A Panamanian freighter with more than 100 kilos of cocaine on board was seized late Wednesday afternoon by U.S. Drug Enforcement Agents (DEA) hours after arriving in Miami from the Haitian port of Cape Haitian, in north Haiti. DEA agents estimated the illicit cargo found on board of the freighter to have a street market value of U.S.$1 million. With the exception of the freighter's captain, a U.S. citizen, the other crew members were all foreign citizens, many of them Haitians. The foreigners were all handed over to U.S. immigration authorities by DEA agents, pending their deportation to their respective countries of origin. "Those in custody will be deported to their respective countries of origin, but first questioned," said U.S. immigration officials.

Jean-Marie Cherestal, radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Prime Minister-designate seems to suffer from amnesia.

Cherestal, who completely forgot that the suspension of economic aid for Haiti by the international community is the result of a series of fraudulent elections held last year called Wednesday upon the same community to restore economic assistance to the desperately poor Caribbean nation.

While Cherestal is claiming that the international community is turning its back on Haiti when the country is experiencing pronounced economic difficulties, radical leftist Aristide, however, purchased a few days ago a U.S.$1.2 mansion for his political godson, leftist Rene Preval.

U.S. Coast Guards repatriate 125 migrants to Haiti They were among the millions of Haitians told that life would change for the better for them. In fact, immediately after the Feb.7th farcical ceremony, when radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide claimed to be the president of Haiti. But, 125 Haitians who could no longer endure abject poverty were all returned to Haiti Wednesday by U.S. Coast Guards after their flimsy boat was intercepted in high seas a few days ago. 'There are no jobs in Haiti. We have nothing at all in this country. There is no life at all for us in this country. This is hell, and we will we again try to go to Miami. For sure life will be a lot more better for us there," said an unidentified man who was among those returned to Haiti Wednesday by U.S. Coast Guards. In another development, two radical leftist Aristide's bandits, Rene Civil and Paul Raymond, Wednesday threatened to gun down one of the Haitian Senators who continues to hold illegal office. The death threat came after the said Senator urged his colleague, Dany Toussaint, a prominent narcotics baron, to appear before a judge who wants to question him about the brutal murder of prominent radio journalist, Jean Leopold Dominique, last year.

Dominican Republic deports 145,137 Haitians Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo killed thousands of Haitians in the 1930s. Tens of thousand more have since either been killed or dispossessed. Still, they continue to illegally enter Dominican Republic territories, even after Haiti's radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide promised them gold, in search of a better life. Of the estimated one million Haitians who until recently continued to establish residences in the neighboring country, 145,137 of them have been deported to Haiti by authorities of the contiguous nation over the past few months, says a report made public last week by the Dominican Republic Army. While most of the Haitians deported by Dominican Republic authorities, including an incalculable number of those expelled by other countries, have since been homeless, former Haitian President and leftist, Rene Preval, however, now lives in a U.S.$1.2 million mansion purchased for him a few days ago with Haitian taxpayers' money by radical leftist Aristide. The dirt poor Haitians, who hoped that money collected by the government in the form of taxes from citizens and others would be spent, rather, on public goods and services must once again feel betrayed. So, too, they must feel condemned to die poor, as radical leftist Aristide continues to kidnap and kill political opponents, many of them in broad daylight. Still, radical leftist Aristide and his political godson continue to claim to be disciples of Fidel Castro - another big lie. We may be in total disagreement with Castro's central planning, which is the result of his totalitarian communistic system. But, according to a report published Sunday by the Miami Herald he and his second wife, Della Soto del Valle, and their sons Angel, Antonio, Alexandro, Alexis and Alex, all live a simple life. "Some of his sons don't even have cars, and often have to call the palace for rides around the capital city of Havana," Castro's daughter, Alina Fernandez, now a resident of Spain, has written in books published. Added Fernandez, the offspring of an affair with a Cuban woman named Natalia Revuelta in the early 1950s, "They don't dress any better than other Cubans." When compared to radical leftist Aristide and predecessor's mansions, Castro's private two-house complex in Western Havana, resembles a mud hut. So the same may be said for the nearby private residence of his brother, Raul Castro. According to people who have visited the Cuban dictator-president-for-life's private residence, the only luxury visible there to visitors is a big-screen television set. And while radical leftist Aristide, his political godson Preval, including officials of their totatalirian governments, seem to have a luxurious automobile for a every Italian suit they wear, Cuban government officials, however, have only one car, and with no air conditioner, concluded the report.

The threat made against radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide Monday during a radio interview by de facto Haitian National Provisional Electoral Council President, Ernst Mirville, was so nearly unthinkable in Haiti, the poorest country in the Americas, that many, including democratic opposition leaders, did not expect members of the country's parliament, who were fraudulently elected last year, would even take the chance to rebuke his anticipated order that he be granted immunity from prosecution for life for fear of being burned alive. "The electoral council is an independent body. The president, Aristide, better not touch it. I am warning him. If you touch it a lot of terrible things could happen. There could dangers in touching the electoral council. If you touch the electoral council problems will be every domino will fall from the local posts to the presidency," said Mirville. Mirville's threats came days after radical leftist Aristisde exhibited sign of forming a new electoral council, under pressure from U.S. President George Bush, who in a Feb.13th letter demanded that he respects promises, including co-operating with the U.S. in fighting Haiti's fast growing drug trade and strengthening the police and judicial system, made in a Dec. 27th letter to former U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton. In that same Dec. 27th letter sent to former U.S. President Clinton, radical leftist Aristide said the current electoral council was not a credible institution and he promised to replace it with a new one. Ironically, it was the same electoral council that organized the Nov. 26th presidential election, which fictive results published for afterward gave him nearly 92 percent of the votes cast by less than 5 percent of the Haitian electorate, last year. The idea that the current electoral council is not a credible institution, as radical leftist Aristide told former U.S. President Clinton, also brings to mind the series of largely fraudulent elections held early last year by the council of the same. Bogus results published after those elections gave radical Aristide's Lavalas Family party all but one of the 27-member senate seats, more than 80 percent of the seats in the lower House of Parliament, including more than 80 percent of the mayoral and local government posts.

A U.S$1.2 million mansion for former Haitian President and leftist Preval Haitians now have one more thing to complain about or even taking the streets to protest against, as they continue to endure abject poverty. A U.S.$1.2 mansion was purchased three days ago by radical Aristide leftist for his predecessor and political godson, leftist Rene Preval. If there were one thing calculated to further make the dirt poor Haitians see the sea of wealth in which radical leftist Aristide and cronies lived in, in otherwords adding insult to injury, perhaps, it was the immediate occupancy of the sumptuous residence by leftist Preval after the purchase was finalized.

When you are caught lying you can expect to be ordered to stop doing so. This has just happened, in fact not for the first time, to Haiti's radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In a Feb.13th letter to Haiti's radical leftist Aristide, U.S. President George Bush demanded that he leaves up to the promises made in a December 27th letter to former U.S. President William Jefferson Clinton. In that December letter, though vaguely worded, and which many are still convinced was drafted by Anthony Lake rather, the then-U.S. presidential special envoy, radical leftist Aristide said that he was committed to carry out economic reforms and include opposition members in his government. Radical leftist Aristide continued with his usual lies, promising to co-operate with the U.S. in fighting Haiti's fast-growing drug trade and strengthen the police and judicial system. Included in that December letter were promises to create a credible electoral council. Ten senators, all members of his Lavalas Family party, who were fraudulently elected in a May 21st election, would first give up their senate seats in the Haitian Congress and then submitted themselves to the rigors of a runoff election. If radical leftist Aristide were an honest man his decision to have ten of his senators, though there are no constitutional provisions that allow him to do so, give up their seats in Haiti's Congress would include the office of the presidency. There are reasons for this. First, the May 21st elections the largely contested senators claimed to have won were organized by the same exact electoral council radical leftist Aristide told former U.S. President Clinton was not credible. Second, he was sworn in as President in a Feb. 7th farcical ceremony by the very same Senators after he was elected in a Nov. 26th sham election, also organized by the electoral council he told U.S. President Clinton that was not credible. And so radical leftist Aristide promised former U.S. President Clinton that he would welcome all undocumented Haitians deported to Haiti by his government and that of his successor. But for U.S. House of International Relations Chairman, Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), including Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL), the promises made by radical leftist Aristide to then-U.S President Clinton were all new lies that they issued a Dec. 29th joint press release strongly criticizing him. "The promises being made by Mr. Jean-Bertrand Aristide are important. The proof, however, will be the implementation of those promises. Regrettably, Mr. Aristide's record in this regard has not been encouraging. The conduct of our nation's future policy towards Haiti, including any progress in Haiti, will be decided by President-elect George W. Bush's administration." As anticipated by both U.S.Congressmen, Reps Gilman and Goss, unfortunately radical leftist Aristide continues to prove that he is nothing more than a pathological liar, a man even if he told you that your mother was dying you should not believe it, as his broken promises to former President Clinton suggest. Also, his continuing refusal to negotiate in good faith with the Haitian democratic opposition now confirms what U.S. President Bush has allegedly long thought of him: that is a pathological liar and tyrant. As a result, President Bush has been forced to take things seriously. "I demand that you leave up to the promises made to former U.S. President Clinton in your Dec. 27th letter to him. All dialogues between you and the Haitian democratic opposition must take place under the supervision of the international community and that a solution to Haiti's long political crisis be found," said U.S President Bush in a letter sent to radical leftist Aristide this week. In another development, radical leftist Aristide may continue to claim to be a strong man. He may also continue to assassinate an innumerable number of his Haitian political opponents. However, his worries were in evidence slightly more than two weeks ago. In anticipation of an indictment for drugs trafficking he firmly believes will soon be returned again him in U.S. court he retained U.S. star criminal defense attorney Johnny Cochran. The O.J. Simpson attorney met with him for more than four hours at his mansion before flying back to the U.S, said a source we can thrust.

Another killing in Haiti Shooting political opponents dead has long been one of Haiti's radical leftist Jean-Bertrand Aristide favorite hobbies; and today he added another victim to the long list of his Haitian opponents who are no longer with us. Many of them have been burnt alive in broad daylight. Gerard Cassis, aged 52, a prominent businessman and member of Haiti's small Civil Society, which is still trying to help find a solution to Haiti's long political crisis was shot (four times) dead today by bandits identified by witnesses as members of radical leftist Aristide Lavalas Family party. Witnesses also said the bandits were not only all in the same car but heavily armed.

Posted at 4:45 p.m., Friday, February 16, 2001 Bad news for Haitian narcotics barons and others While the United States city of Miami is known to be a place where millions of citizens from around the world give rendez-vous year around mainly because of its hot weather condition, its river, the Miami River, however, is known for something else. It is the center of drugs, coming from South America, via Haiti. "Every Haitian freighter that enters the Miami River has either been seized or forfeited only to be later sold at auctions as a result of cocaine seizure," said a December Florida grand jury report. Mon Repos, a Haitian freighter, was among those seized in 1998 after Drug Enforcement Authorities found 485 pounds of cocaine on board. It was later sold at auction. Like most of the other 200-300 Haitian freighters that were seized last year by U.S. drug enforcement agents after their cargoes were found to be drugs, the auction of Mon Repos, even after it was renamed Croyance, however, did not stop it from transporting drugs, from Haiti to Miami, months later. It was seized late last year on its first voyage to the U.S. after authorities found 541 pounds of cocaine on board. Prompted by the growing drug smuggling on the Miami River, where freighters often wait weeks until there are sure very few drug agents are not around or looking to unload their illicit cargoes, and its multiplying effect, primarily on Miami, Florida Governor, Jeb Bush, announced today in a 2:30 p.m. news conference a two-year initiate to combat the drug trade on the River. Attending Governor Bush's today news conference at the Jose Marti Park in the Little Havana section of Miami, were: U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis, Acting U.S. Customs Service Commissioner Chuck Winwood, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Tim Moore, U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ros-Lehtinen. Other officials, including state and local, could also be seen at the news conference.