25064: Esser: (news) Jean-Bertrand Aristide in an exclusive interview by 'Democracy Now!' (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser <torx@joimail.com>


Democracy Now!
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/10/1319233

May 10, 2005

National Broadcast Exclusive: Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide Speaks From Exile

To listen to segment, download the show or watch the vido, go to:
  http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/10/1319233


In a Democracy Now national broadcast exclusive, we spend the hour
with ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Fourteen months
ago, Aristide was flown to the Central African Republic in what he
called a modern-day kidnapping in the service of a coup d'etat backed
by the United States. Two weeks after his ouster, he defied
Washington and returned to the Caribbean accompanied by a delegation
of U.S. and Jamaican lawmakers. Aristide was eventually granted
asylum in South Africa, where he now lives.

In the first extended interview in this country since his exile, we
speak with President Aristide about the ailing ousted Prime Minister
Yvon Neptune, whether he will return to Haiti, the continuation of
the "black holocaust" and much more. [includes rush transcript]

Haiti's former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune remains near death. He has
been on a hunger strike for over three weeks. He was imprisoned in
June and has yet to see a judge in his case.

Meanwhile, the convictions of 38 Haitian former military leaders
convicted of atrocities in 1994 have been annulled. Among them could
be Louis Jodel Chamblain, the death squad leader who helped lead last
year's coup.

Today, in a Democracy Now national broadcast exclusive, we spend the
hour with ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Fourteen
months ago, Aristide was flown to the Central African Republic in
what he called a modern-day kidnapping in the service of a coup
d'etat backed by the United States.

Aristide was ousted by some of the same forces involved in the coup
against him over a decade earlier. At that time, the leader of the
FRAPH paramilitary death squad was on the payroll of U.S.
intelligence agencies. The number two man - Louis Jodel Chamblain -
was one of the leaders of this current coup.

Two weeks after this latest ouster, President Aristide defied
Washington and returned to the Caribbean accompanied by a delegation
of U.S. and Jamaican lawmakers. Aristide was eventually granted
asylum in South Africa, where he now lives.

I reached him yesterday for the first extended broadcast interview in
this country since moving to South Africa. I began by asking him
about the condition of Yvon Neptune.


• Jean-Bertrand Aristide, speaking from South Africa.


RUSH TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: Aristide was eventually granted asylum in South Africa,
where he now lives. I reached him yesterday for the first extended
national broadcast interview in this country since he moved to South
Africa. I began by asking him about the condition of the ousted Prime
Minister Yvon Neptune.

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: It is very sad what we have as information
about our Prime Minister, Yvon Neptune. He is still in hunger strike.
How long he will be able to survive, we don't know. That's why we
grasp this opportunity to ask everybody who can do something to not
hesitate, because it is a matter of life and death. We need to save
his life.

AMY GOODMAN: Can you tell us what you believe needs to be done?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: I think it's -- mobilization throughout the
world, if I can put it this way, in the sense that we need many, many
voices to equal the voices of Haiti. The people of Haiti want life
and not death. They want peace and not violence. They want democracy
and not repression. So Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and So Ann and
hundreds of others who are in jail, they all need that mobilization.
Whoever can say something, whoever can do something, please do it,
because the Haitian people right now are waiting for your help.

AMY GOODMAN: Last week the head of the U.N. peacekeeping mission
human rights division, Thierry Fagart, said that Neptune's treatment
is illegal. The acting Secretary General of the Organization of
American States said the case has serious moral and political
implications for the Haitian government and for the international
community, and yet the Haitian government has charged Neptune with
masterminding an alleged massacre of opposition members during the
final weeks of your presidency. Can you respond?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: It's clear that it’s illegal what they're
trying to sell. When we hear voices saying, as I just said, that it’s
illegal, when they stand that maybe those who refuse to free him
would start to do something, but we don't see them moving, that's why
I call for a general mobilization, a peaceful mobilization for them
finally to start paying attention to that situation. You arrest
someone, as they did with Minister Pivert, So Ann and so many others
-- there are hundreds who are in jail -- there is no basis, no legal
basis for that. But they just put them in jail because they have
power with them, weapons with them, support of the United States,
France, Canada, some others. And they continue moving their way, the
same way when last year they kidnapped me, it was illegal. The same
way they keep our prime minister in jail, although he is close to
death, it's illegal. But they don't pay attention to that. So I
really think it’s a matter of life and death. We need many voices to
put that truth out and see finally if they can pay attention to that
and save his life.

AMY GOODMAN: The acting Secretary General of the Organization of
American States has proposed the formation of a commission including
a Haitian jurist, an international jurist and an international
forensics expert to break the impasse in Neptune’s case. Would you
support this?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: I do, because we are looking for people
paying attention to the case and bringing the help to save his life.
But how long? How long? That's the question. How long? By the time we
are talking right now, who knows how long he will be alive? So all we
can do, we should do it, not waiting for this initiative, which we
don't reject, but adding what we can bring. I think it’s really
crucial.

AMY GOODMAN: The U.N. investigator, Louis Joinet, told Reuters that
he believed the alleged massacre that Yvon Neptune is charged with
was actually a confrontation between pro- and anti-Aristide forces.
Your response, this alleged massacre in St. Marc?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Well, as I already said, they're just lying,
trying to put the focus on that so-called massacre which we cannot
see anywhere because it doesn't exist. And they continue to keep him
in jail, and now he's close to death, so to understand what is going
on with Yvon Neptune, I think it’s also necessary to put it within
the global context. The global context is clear. The Haitian people
voted for democracy, and then last year they removed the elected
president, illegally done, clearly. They never had the investigation
to prove what they did was legal, because they cannot prove it. It is
illegal. And they continue violating our rules, the international
law, to have the U.N. in Haiti. Even the U.N. in Haiti is somehow
involved in violation of human rights when they support the police
killing people or when they don't protect the life of every single
citizen, although we know clearly what the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights says, but we don't see everybody through the U.N. moving
this way. So hundreds of people are in jail. They already killed more
than 10,000 people. We have so many others in hiding and in exile.
That's why I said putting Yvon Neptune’s situation in the global
context help people understanding that what is going on right now,
this is a matter of using weapons, imposing violence against
democracy, against principle, against law, so we need many people to
put their voices together and have that mobilization, a peaceful one,
to see finally if those who have to do something will do it, for
instance, by releasing our prime minister, So Ann, hundreds of
innocent who are in jail, and so and so.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, you held a rare news conference in
South Africa. What was the message you were putting out to the world?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: The message was very simple and very clear
from my point of view. We said that we need to return to
constitutional order, and for that we have four steps. The first one
is thousands of Lavalas who are in jail and in exile must be free to
return home. Second, the repression that has already killed over
10,000 people must end immediately. Third one, then there must be
national dialogue. And the last one, free, fair and democratic
elections must be organized in an environment where the huge majority
of Haitian people is neither excluded nor repressed, as they have
been up until today. That was the message.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, you also said that political
violence in Haiti is a black holocaust. Are these your words, and who
do you think is perpetrating it?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Yes, as I said, the continued peaceful
demonstrations calling for my return and the restoration of
constitutional order must be heard, and racism should not maintain a
black holocaust in Haiti, where African descendents proclaimed their
independence 200 years ago. It's clear. When we had the
trans-Atlantic trade slaves, it was millions of people we lost. For
some people it’s close to 12 to 13, even 15 million people they
transported from Africa to America, Caribbean, etc. For others, like
[inaudible] it's more than 100 people they transported as slaves, but
in any case, we know more than 13% of those people died in transit.
That means we lost millions of people. If from that day to today we
continue to lose people, clearly it's a black holocaust. Today, those
who kidnapped me and continue to support those criminals while
they're killing innocent people, while they keep Yvon Neptune the way
he is, clearly they maintain the black holocaust. The United States,
France, Canada and so many others should do something to repair, if
they can, what they did. Because what they did is a crime. The same
way slavery is a crime against humanity, the same way what they're
doing against the Haitian people, it’s also a crime. And all of that
we can put it in this process of maintaining a black holocaust in
Haiti.

AMY GOODMAN: Ousted Haitian President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
speaking to us in exile in South Africa. We'll come back, as we
continue the hour with Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: We continue our conversation with exiled Haitian
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, speaking to us from South Africa. I
asked him to talk about what took place in last year’s coup and the
role of the United States.

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: They were the strongest force in the coup. As
today, if they want to reverse this decision, they will. They are the
super power in the world, we know it. On our side, we always said no
to violence, yes to peace; no to violence, yes to democracy. We voted
for democracy. We had a democratic process in place. They stopped
that democratic process using violence. And today it's a failure.
It's a failure because after one year if you spend so much money, if
you arm drug dealers, if you armed criminals, if you arm convicted
people, former soldiers at the border of Santa Domingo and Haiti, and
there those people move towards Haiti, where they created so many
problems, they killed so many people, and up to today they continue
to do their work as if they were not already convicted by the
judicial system, and so and so. Clearly the United States has a major
responsibility in moving from that violence to peace, from that
violence to a democratic process. And I think, as I said, once they
want, they will, because they have the possibility to do it. It’s a
failure, their coup.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, you have referred to your ouster,
February 29, as a modern kidnapping in the service of a U.S.-backed
coup. Can you tell us what happened on that day? Can you tell us if
you still stand by that statement?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: What I said I meant it, because this is the
truth. The details, I already wrote them in a book. The date of the
publication is not something that I can tell you, because it doesn't
depend on me. But the book is already written and when it is
published, people will have the opportunity to see those details in
the books.

AMY GOODMAN: Why a kidnapping, and what was the U.S. role? When we
flew over the Atlantic, when the delegation brought you and Mrs.
Aristide back to the Western Hemisphere to Jamaica, you described the
number two man in the U.S. Embassy coming to your home and then being
hustled onto a plane with U.S. military and security. Can you
elaborate on that?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Yeah, I think as a good journalist, you ask
the same question in a different way. And I apologize for not being
able to give you those details, which are already written in my book.
And as I said people will have the book, so they will have the answer.

AMY GOODMAN: We have reports that have come out that say that the
U.S. government, and the U.S. government has admitted this, giving
weapons to Haiti this past year. Can you talk about the history of
the embargo and your response to this?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Well, it's like if what we read in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It's only words, empty words
for some people. For instance, the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, Article I, says, "Bonke abantu bazalwa bekhululekile
belingana ngesithunzi nangamalungelo," which means everybody, we are
born free, equal, with dignity, in front of law, and so and so. But
for them I don’t think it's the same meaning, because they do what
they want because they are the super power. The same Universal
Declaration of Human Rights clearly says, "Sonke siyalingana phambi
komthetho," we are all equal in front of law. But it seems, no, this
is different for them. When you have weapons, money, when you are
powerful or a super power, you do what you want. You don't care about
law, because violating law, this is for those who don't have money or
weapons. They did exactly what the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights asked to be like -- they violate the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights. That’s the point.

So when they give those weapons to these people, it was to destroy
our democracy. We were building a state of law, and they give weapons
to the folks to prevent Haiti to have a state of law. And it is like
if they were telling us they are superior, and black people are
inferior, so black people cannot have democracy, although they are
preaching democracy or freedom. They were telling that black people
should not have democracy. And when we put that in an historic
perspective, we can clearly understand. In 1804, black people,
African descendants, they fought for freedom, and they became free.
 From that day to today we continue to pay for nothing. We should be
seen as an example, because we fought for freedom and freedom for
every single human being. You are white, you are black, you are rich,
you are poor. We care about you because you are a human being. So
freedom for you, freedom for us, freedom for all of us. But on their
side I don't think they put it this way. You are black, you should
not be seeing, as a reference, your freedom. So for 200 years they
did that, and in 1904 France refused Haiti to celebrate the first 100
years of independence. They did worse. While Haiti was preparing to
celebrate 200 years of independence, it’s a racist issue, very clear.
Very clear.

AMY GOODMAN: During your term as president, there was a full-scale
arms embargo imposed on you by the United States. The Graduate
Institute of International Studies located in Geneva put out a small
arms survey saying that thousands of rifles, a million rounds of
ammunition were sent to the Haitian -- the current Haitian
government. What is your knowledge of John Bolton as Under Secretary
for Arms Control at the Department of State? What is your knowledge
of his involvement with this, the man who is now embattled nominee
for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Well, I'm glad that Congresswoman Maxine
Waters wrote a paper where she asked the Senate to investigate this
issue, while Mr. Bolton had that responsibility, and violating their
own embargo to send more weapons to Haiti to kill more people, it's
clearly the implementation of the opposite of what the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights asks for. So on our side, we did our best
to create a peaceful environment, to protect the rights of every
single citizen while our police didn’t have weapons, in a legal way
to do that. But we managed to save life. On their side, clearly by
sending more weapons to Haiti, it's not only a violation of their own
embargo imposed on Haiti, it is also one way for the de facto
government who already killed more than 10,000 people in one year to
keep killing more. So clearly it's time to see people who believe in
human beings; people who believe in human rights; people who believe
in principle, in justice, to put their voices together and say, “No,
it's enough.” How can we imagine that yesterday and today throughout
the world, millions of people are celebrating the end of the Second
World War which happened 65 years ago? That's great. In Zulu, we
could say, yes, it's great. [inaudible] That means that you will go
far if you move from peace to peace. [inaudible] But on their side I
don't think they see it this way. It's a celebration, okay, but not
because they care about human beings. When you care about human
beings, you do your best to not repress and to not let people to
repress and to not arm people to repress. You respect law. If you
made a mistake, you correct it. They made a mistake one year ago
through the kidnapping. Instead of correcting that mistake, we don't
see them moving towards that correction. Let's wish right now, for
instance, we would have voices to talk -- to address the issue, and
by hearing the voices of the Haitian people, they would do something
to save the life of our prime minister, not because he's our prime
minister, but because he's a human being, illegally arrested, put in
jail and almost passing towards another world.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, the well-known priest in Haiti,
Reverend Gerard Jean-Juste, who was imprisoned himself, though
recently freed, has called for the resignation of top U.S. State
Department officials that he's accused of helping to arm Haiti's
interim government, including the Assistant Secretary of State Roger
Noriega. Do you join him in that call?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: I respect his call. The only elected
President of my country, I couldn't imagine that a foreign president
would impose his position on me to tell me what to do to fire this
one or someone, that's why I prefer to say respecting the United
States and respecting their authorities, I wish their authorities
will start to respect Haiti, the law of Haiti, the people of Haiti,
and also to do something now to save lives, for instance, the life of
our prime minister because they have their own responsibility through
the coup. Without the coup we would not have so many people right now
close to death or in jail or in exile. Because they are concerned,
because they have their own responsibility, maybe now they will
understand it's time to correct the mistake they made.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, the media continues to report that
you quit the presidency, that you left voluntarily. Your response?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: It's false. It's false. It's false, period.
As you can imagine, even the U.S., after the resolution they took
last year to go for that investigation, they never did it. And the
United Nations neither did it, so CARICOM will ask for that, 15
countries are still waiting for that and on our side we know they
cannot justify what they did, because it's totally illegal. Let's
suppose now they want to make a difference. They will if they want. I
really wish that they start realizing: (a) they made a mistake, (b)
it's a failure, (c) too many people were killed, (d) let's sit, not
to say we will not look for a success, everybody will want to have a
success, so they will want to have a success. We can understand that.
We are human beings. The problem is let's correct the mistake. Let's
move from their failure to a collective success by bringing an end to
that tragedy, because the Haitian people are waiting for that. They
move from day to day to the streets in a peaceful way. Although they
accuse them as violent, they are continuing to prove that they're
nonviolent calling for my return, calling for the restoration of
democracy, calling for the de facto regime to free the prisoners like
our prime minister, So Ann and the others. Let's wish finally they
will see the light, because it's time.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, last year the U.S. government,
General Colin Powell, the Secretary of State, said they were looking
into prosecuting you for corruption. Your response?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: They are lying, and it's always their
strategy, trying to lie in order to avoid the real focus. The real
focus is the mistake they made, the violation of our rights, and it's
a matter of moving from their failure to democracy. We refer earlier
to the Second World War, World War Second, we lost about 60 million
people in that world war, the second one, without forgetting what we
lost as people in the First World War. In Haiti where we don't have a
world war, we already lost 10,000 people. So it's not time to lie to
change the focus; it’s time to keep the focus where it is. The focus
must be on human being, on life, on democracy, on freedom, on our 200
years of independence. We have the right to celebrate the freedom. We
have the right to live in peace. We have the right to be as human
being living in a free country. That's the real focus. And overall,
the life of our Prime Minister, Yvon Neptune.

AMY GOODMAN: The U.S. government further criticized you saying that
you were supporting armed gangs, the Chimere, that were attacking
your opponents and the press.

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Well, this is empty accusation, false
accusation. As a matter of fact, let's compare what we had during my
presence at the Haitian palace to what we have since the kidnapping
happened. It’s day and night as a difference. They already killed
more than 10,000 people. Can you imagine Cite Soleil, where people
need food, not violence; where people need work, jobs, not violence?
And we have tanks surrounding Cite Soleil, as if it were a
concentration camp. God, can you imagine what we have in Bel Air? Can
you imagine what we have in so many popular areas, poor areas where
they continue to kill people while people are asking for the respect
of their votes? They voted for democracy, as our forefathers fought
for our independence in 1804. We just need to recognize that they're
human being. Every human being is a human being. Zulu, we said it
earlier, “Sonke siyalingana phambi komthetho,” which is clearly said
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That means that we are
all equal in front of law. So on that basis of being equal as human
being, let's see what can we do instead of accusing people we do not
consider as human being, as they do, while they are human being, they
are human being. We must respect their rights. They are not violent.
They are facing the violence coming from those who kidnapped me, who
used weapons to kill them and to continue and continue to lie in
order to change the focus.

AMY GOODMAN: Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide speaking
to us from exile in South Africa. We'll return with the conclusion of
the interview in a minute.

[break]

AMY GOODMAN: We continue with our national broadcast exclusive
interview with Haitian exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
speaking from South Africa. I asked him about the former director of
Haiti’s National Police, Jean Nesly, pleading guilty this week in a
Miami court to drug money laundering.

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: If we talk about democracy, we talk about
principles, we talk about law. If we talk about building a state of
law, of course we refer to law to principles and a judicial system
must assume the responsibility. I think this issue has to see with
justice. Let's wish justice will be done on that side. In Haiti,
let's wish we will move from their violence imposed on the Haitian
people to democracy, the return of constitutional order where we will
continue to build a state of law.

AMY GOODMAN: President Aristide, do you see parallels between the
coup of February 29 and the coup of 10 or 13 years ago that first
deposed you as President in 1991?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Yes, on one side we see the same hands from
1991 when we had the first coup to the last one, which means 2004. We
see the same hands behind the coup. But, unfortunately, this time we
see the United Nations in Haiti. We didn't have that in 1991. When I
was back in 1994 with the United Nations, of course, together we did
our best to protect human rights. We did our best to improve the
quality of life by providing security to the people. This time the
United Nations are there alone violating their internal rules and
manipulated to face the people instead of protecting the people.
Sometime the United Nations try to do something in protecting the
people by providing some kind of security. But very few times it
happened. Usually they don't accompany the people demonstrating in a
peaceful way. So they left the space open for thugs, drunks, drug
dealers, convicted people, former military to come and kill people,
and it happened very often or too often. I just think that either the
coup of 1991 or the coup of 2001 puts us clearly in an environment
where we don't see law, but we see violence, bloodshed, people
killing people, which is bad. That's not what we need.

What we need is to move from elections to elections, not coup d’etat
to coup d’etat. From 1991 to 2004 we moved again, from coup d’etat to
coup d’etat, which is too much, because 32 coups d’etat in 200 years
of independence is clearly too many. We want to move from elections
to elections. But there is clearly a small minority in Haiti with
their allies in foreign countries. Together, they said no to
elections, because they knew once they respect the will of the people
in a democratic way through free, fair democratic elections, then
they will not be able to continue to live in a country where they
don't pay tax, where they still have the wall of apartheid, where
they continue to consider the coup as if there were not human beings,
and so and so. It's time to return to constitutional order, to
continue to build a state of law in Haiti, where we have to move from
elections to elections. Free, fair democratic elections to free, fair
democratic elections, not from coup d’etat to coup d’etat

AMY GOODMAN: Why do you think that the U.S. wants you out of Haiti?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Well, I think they can answer this question.
I can suspect, but I would wish they answer the question. I give just
one example. For people who know Haiti, they understand what I mean.
For people who don't know Haiti, they may think a bit about that
tragedy. Haiti, where we have actually around eight million people,
is a place where for 1.5 Haitian doctor, for 11,000 Haitians, so 1.5
Haitian doctor for each 11,000 people. When we have that, it's
already serious, because we would need more doctors and not less. We
have an economic embargo imposed upon us. Since my predecessor, I
have refuted that embargo. Despite of this economic embargo we manage
such a way to spend the money of the people in education, in health
care. That's why we had the most beautiful, the largest campus where
we had the medical school in Haiti. We could do that because we care
about human being. Investing in health care, in education, this is
what we wanted. This is what we want for our country. Once the U.S.
arrived with the soldiers in Haiti, after kidnapping me, what they
did? They put their soldiers in this campus, they closed the doors,
and the hundreds of medical students who were there, they could no
longer be at the same place, at the same campus, studying to serve
their people one day as doctors.

So I give that simple example, which is a clear one, to say maybe the
U.S. has a plan and I have another one. My plan is to invest in
health care, in education for my people. Their plan maybe is to
prevent us to have health care, to have more doctors, more schools,
more universities. So I respect their choice, but I cannot embrace
that kind of choice where instead of serving people we pave the way
for death, as is happening for my Prime Minister, as it already
happened for hundreds of others, as it may happen for some others who
are in jail. So it's time to see they made a mistake, they correct
the mistake, and together go ahead. That's what happened with World
War Second. They made mistake, that's why the world lost more than 60
million people. But they stopped to say, no, enough is enough. Let's
move now from violence, from war to peace. And it happened. So if it
could happen for the entire world, why it cannot happen for Haiti?
Maybe is it because in Haiti we have black people and racism prevents
some people to understand that black people are really people? Let's
wish it will happen.

AMY GOODMAN: Have you met with South African President Nelson Mandela?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: I missed the question. Could you repeat, please?

AMY GOODMAN: Have you the met with Nelson Mandela?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Yes, we met.

AMY GOODMAN: And what did you talk about, and what did he say to you?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Well, it's not the first time that we met. We
start meeting before he became President of the country, and we
continue to meet, which means when we met we have private
conversation, so it's not necessary for me to say publicly what we
shared in a private way. In substance I can say he is the same great
human being with his heart open to embrace human being, supporting
human being, as he continues in spite of the distance supporting the
Haitian people.

AMY GOODMAN: Will you return to Haiti?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Yes, I have to. It's a matter of time.

AMY GOODMAN: In the first coup, you returned and continued as
President and served out your term. Do you plan to do the same now?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Yes, at any moment it may happen. Let's
suppose right now those who made the mistake realize that, well, if
we correct the mistake we will not project the image of being weak,
but of being big instead of small, good instead of bad. Let's suppose
they decide today to correct the mistake, what will happen? We will
have a dialogue. We will have a discussion. We will have a compromise
where everybody will not try to blame the others, but where everybody
will find a kind of normal, acceptable solution in order to save
life. And I do believe as long as we are human being, it's still
possible to move from darkness to light. When we move from darkness
to light, that doesn't mean we are less than we were before. That
means that we are more than we were before in terms of growth, human
growth. So all doesn't depend on me, on my side I was always open for
dialogue, respectfully open for dialogue. I am respectfully still
open for dialogue, wishing that once those who are concerned decide,
Haiti will have a better tomorrow, we will have light instead of
darkness, peace instead of violence, future instead of deadlock, how
it is right now.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you plan to run for President again?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: My Constitution prevents me to have a third
mandate and I respect my Constitution.

AMY GOODMAN: But you could come back during this term to serve it
out, as you did after the first coup?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Well, as I just said, if we talk about human
beings, we can wish that they may realize it is better to correct the
mistake they made instead of keeping it as it is because it is a
failure. So I just wish it will happen in the sense that they will
realize that it is time to correct it. And I didn't mention it maybe
too explicitly, but the United Nations, that means also our common
organization, and they're losing so much credibility there, so even
for the United Nations’ credibility it would be a good thing to have
the correction of that failure, because they, too, are losing too
much credibility in that issue.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you having communication with the U.N. Secretary
General Kofi Annan?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Not in a direct way.

AMY GOODMAN: In an indirect way?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Yes.

AMY GOODMAN: And who are you talking to, and what are these
conversations about?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Those conversations are private.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you communicating with the U.S. government?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Not to the President.

AMY GOODMAN: Who then?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: It's a matter of privacy, diplomacy, and I
should not talk like anyone would want me to do in a public way.

AMY GOODMAN: Are you communicating with the Haitian Prime Minister
now, Gerard Latortue?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: I don't know that there is a Haitian prime
minister. I know there is a de facto government with someone they
consider as the Prime Minister, and I am open to talk with whoever
from them wishing to put an end to their failure. So once they decide
it will happen because I was open, I am open and I have the
responsibility to be open on behalf of my people who elected me.
They're dying in the streets, they’re dying at home, innocent people
are dying. So the elected President must be always open, free to talk
to people willing to bring a solution to that failure, which is a
failure of those who led the coup.

AMY GOODMAN: What do you think President Bush should do?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: I think -- I don't have that desire to think
for someone. I think it is better for him, if he wants, to say what
he wants, but not me to guess what he wants and to talk on behalf of
him.

AMY GOODMAN: Do you want the U.S. to stop sending arms to Haiti?

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: Of course. Because it is a matter of
violation of rights and also more weapons which will be used to kill
more people. So I care about life. Of course, I don't wish they will
be sending more weapons to killers to kill more people. I don't wish
that.

AMY GOODMAN: Final comments, President Aristide, for the people who
are watching and listening to this broadcast today, as you speak from
your place of exile in South Africa.

JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE: My last comment can emerge through those
words. Thank you to you, dear Amy Goodman, and to all those who help
you for creating that opportunity for me to answer your questions and
also echo the voices of the Haitian people over all today when we are
so sad while we think about the life of our Prime Minister. Secondly,
I wish all the mothers all the best, because yesterday we celebrated
the Mother's Day. And I know many of those mothers are sad, they are
suffering when they think about So Ann, who is also a mother, and
their sons and daughters, they are sad when they are thinking about
their friends, relatives who are in jail, who are in exile or in
hiding. So I wish them courage, because the more we have courage, the
more we share courage, the more we'll continue to struggle, struggle
for freedom, struggle for democracy, struggle for human rights. This
is what we have to do, and it’s a must. Once we keep the line of
peace, of nonviolence, we will win, because peace must be the way to
go towards the victory. And love from my heart to all our friends,
because we have many friends who love Haiti, who are trying to do
their best to help the people of Haiti. Of course, sharing that love,
this is one way for me to express deep respect to them and also
renewing my commitment to move with all of them in order to build,
slowly but surely, a civilization of love.

AMY GOODMAN: Exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide,
speaking to us from South Africa. His Prime Minister, Yvon Neptune,
remains near death, imprisoned in Haiti.


To purchase an audio or video copy of this entire program, click here
https://store.democracynow.org/?pid=10&show=2005-05-10 or call
1 (800) 881-2359.

source:
Haiti-news mailing list
https://listhost.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/haiti-news