“Two-Faced Democracy in Haiti” by Kevin Pina

Hot off the press, Kevin Pina’s latest article on Haiti.   Here’s a short excerpt which is followed by a link to the full article.

 Two-Faced Democracy in Haiti

“The Haiti Information Project recently published a short article reporting that the Provisional Election Council (CEP) had allowed the Fanmi Lavalas party to register to run in elections scheduled for early 2010. According to reliable sources an original document requested by the CEP and signed by Aristide was delivered to the offices of the council shortly after 1:00 pm on November 23. There was no indication on the part of the CEP or the Fanmi Lavalas party that anything was amiss in the process and it appeared a fait accompli.

Three days later the CEP would publish the names of those political parties allowed to participate in the elections and the Fanmi Lavalas party did not appear on the list. The CEP now clings to the same flimsy excuses it used to exclude Lavalas in the Senatorial race. The party did not meet all the legal requirements to register followed by incoherent legal opinions masking their true political intent. We humbly apologize for the mistaken assumption in our reporting that the CEP was telling the truth and willing to play by the rules of the democratic game in Haiti. Apparently they have no shame.”

For full article, click here.

 

Machetera on a Roll: Yoani Sanchez – The Annoying, but Well-Paid Cuban Blogger

Below are links to two excellent posts by Machetera about Yoani Sanchez.  The first post will give you a feel for who she is, what she does and the role she plays as the Cuban blogger who knocks Cuba.  The second article is about Yoani and her nefarious supporters, the master manipulators of all these Latin American,  John Negroponte and Carlos Alberto Montaner.

Yoani Sanchez a Few Cards Short of a Full Deck

The Company She Keeps

HONDURAS: Arias and Insulza Send in “The Cleaner”

NOTE:  This article originally appeared on the HONDURAS OYE! blog, but the editor function on the blog is not working (perhaps, gov’t. gremlins are?) preventing me from doing hotlinks and other really important editing tasks.  Here, the article with hotlinks.

In the 1990 film, “La Femme Nikita,” a young heroin addict kills a cop, is jailed for his murder, and subsequently is placed by French government intelligence services in the underground to conduct assassinations for them. When one of her assassinations goes awry, “Victor, the Cleaner,” is sent in to dispose of both the bodies and the evidence.

Unfortunately, this is the image that came to my mind when I first heard last week that a man by the name of John Biehl said that he was hopeful about an agreement between Honduran President Zelaya and the golpistas.  A few days later, I learned that Biehl, actually his name is John Biehl del Rio, is an advisor to OAS Secretary-General, Jose Miguel Insulza.  Then, just a few days ago, Arias declared support for the November 29 election.  And today, Biehl del Rio announces that a meeting between the golpistas and Zelaya will take place next week. Is this guy a fortune teller, a magician?  No wonder, out of the ill-fated attempt by OAS officials to enter Honduras a week ago, Biehl was the only one allowed in. I don’t know about you, but when the history is written, I would prefer to be one of the guys turned away by the golpistas at the airport.  I decided it was time to find out more.

His Wikipedia biography shows a varied diplomatic career.  Biehl del Rio is a Chilean of Danish heritage. In the 1980’s,  Biehl was an employee of the United Nations Development Program where he served as a development advisor in Honduras, Panama, Mexico, Costa Rica, Peru and Colombia. He also worked for Oscar Arias in Costa Rica as a policy maker and speech writer and was known as Arias’ “closest confidant” and “alter ego.” In addition, it was Biehl del Rio who led the successful campaign for Arias’ Nobel Peace Prize. In the late 1990’s , he served as Chilean ambassador to the US.  Next stop for Biehl was the International Crisis Group, as the Director of Colombia and the Andean Region, beginning in 2001.

When Biehl del Rio came to his most recent job in the political affairs department at the OAS, his first assignment was to oversee the OAS mission to monitor the Nicaraguan elections.  Back during the Reagan administration, Oscar Arias started bucking the US’ use of Contras in Nicaragua and ordered Contras arrested if found in Costs Rica.  Biehl del Rio was with the UN at the time and lobbied folks in Washington against Reagan’s use of the Contras in the war in Nicaragua.  In retaliation, the Reagan administration condemned Arias and tried to have Biehl del Rio fired from the UN.  Over time, as Arias began conducting peace negotiations concerning the war in Nicaragua, it was obvious that the Reagan administration had gotten to him because his actions became increasingly duplicitous.  With his suggestion of a unity government between the Sandinistas and the US bought and paid for Contras, it was obvious that Arias was working for the US government.  When he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his Nicaraguan peace plan, it was a deep affront to the Sandinistas.  Ever since that time, Arias has been in the US’ pocket and one cannot doubt that his alter ego, Biehl del Rio, has been as well.

In the Nicaragua negotiations, Arias dealt with the Sandinistas and the Contras as nearly equal entities, thus legitimizing the Contra war.  And while the Clinton State Department would deny it,  the US and its envoy, Arias, have been doing the same thing concerning Honduras.  From the very beginning, Arias’ mediations put the Michelettis at the same table as the Zelayas.  This is not mediating, this is fixing the deal.

Now that a November election looks to be a firm part of the plan and the will of the Honduras people has been grossly disrespected by Hillary Clinton, Oscar Arias and, I’ll have to throw in Insulza also because only he could have made the OAS walk the fine line between  Zelaya and the golpistas, it’s time to clean up the mess for international consumption. Issues of law will be erased, Zelaya will make compromises he never intended, and Hondurans determined to boycott the elections will be recast as unpatriotic elements in the country who don’t want peace.

Haitians boycotted their latest election this last April because it excluded all candidates from running who were associated with Lavalas, the largest and most popular party in Haiti. Yet, incredibly, the election went on and the 5% voter turnout result was certified. The US Ambassador to Haiti, Janet Sanderson, followed up with a public statement a day after the election suggesting that the Haitian government arrest all 42 leaders of the boycott.

Honduras, as it has in other instances since the June 28 coup, continues in a path similar to Haiti which also suffered a  US-sponsored coup in 2004.   But, how do you take the rags of a travesty and make it look like a whole piece of cloth? I guess,”John Biehl del Rio, the Cleaner,” will show us how it’s done.

Comandante of the Cuban Revolution, Juan Almeida Bosque, dies

acnnews 5

Revolution Commander Juan Almeida Bosque Passes Away on Friday

 HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 12 (acn) With profound mourning, the leadership of
the Cuban Government and Communist Party informed the Cuban people that
Commander of the Revolution and Vice President of the Council of State
Juan Almeida Bosque passed away at age 82 in Havana at 11:30pm on
September 11, as a result of heart and respiratory failure.

The announcement was made via an official communiqué issued by the
Political Bureau of the Cuban Communist Party’s Central Committee.
Almeida was a construction worker from a humble Havana neighbourhood
when he decided to join the fight against Dictator Fulgencio Batista,
who took power after the 1952 coup d'état.

A year later, he actively participated in the assault on the Moncada
military barracks in Santiago de Cuba, and was among those sent to jail.
Ever since, he has always been on the front line along with the leader
of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro. 

Almeida quickly rose to become an important military figure among the
revolutionary fighters. He was named chief of one of the three squadrons
that were part of the Granma Yacht expedition from Mexico to Cuba, and
was later appointed Commander of the Third Guerrilla Front.

 After the Triumph of the Cuban Revolution on January 1, 1959, he
continued to be a revolutionary leader, undertaking important government
and political posts.  

In addition to his political ideologies, Almeida was also known and
beloved for his human and artistic sensitivity. He wrote more than 300
songs and a dozen of books on Cuban history. 

More recently, Almeida was named president of the Association of
Combatants of the Revolution. He concentrated his last energies on
making this organization a solid and effective bastion of the country.

Because of his many and important merits, he received several
decorations, and both national and international awards, including the
title of Hero of the Republic of Cuba and the Order of Maximo Gomez. 

In accordance with his will, the mortal remains of Juan Almeida Bosque
will not be exposed. He will be buried with military honors at the
Mausoleum of the Mario Muñoz Monroy Third Eastern Front of which he was
a founder and sole leader. The Mausoleum, where the remains of the rest
of the combatants of the Front are kept, is located in Santiago de Cuba. 

Cubannews/ycr/mk/aga

acnnews 6

Official mourning in Cuba over Death of Commander Juan Almeida

HAVANA, Cuba, Sept 12 (acn) The Council of State of the Republic of Cuba
has declared Sunday, September 13, a day of national mourning for the
passing away of Revolution Commander Juan Almeida. On this day, the
Cuban
people will pay tribute to the beloved Sierra Maestra combatant.
The official mourning will take place between 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
at which time all flags in public buildings and military facilities will
remain at half-mast.

cubanews/trm/trm/aga

Cuban News Agency
www.cubanews.ain.cu
ainnews@ain.cu

MACHETERA: “A State Department at the Service of Petty Interests: The Ongoing Torture of Adriana Perez and her Husband, Gerardo Hernandez”

This is truly an amazing article about two amazing people enduring years of US injustice and cruelty.

A State Department at the Service of Petty Interests: The Ongoing Torture of Adriana Pérez and her Husband, Gerardo Hernández
August 20, 2009 ·

A State Department at the Service of Petty Interests:
Visa Denial as a Form of Torture

By Machetera

When the U.S. Government announced that it would deny Adriana Pérez a visa for the tenth time in eleven years in order to come from Cuba to the United States and visit her husband, Gerardo Hernández, incarcerated at the federal prison in Victorville, California, it carefully chose the date to break the news.  The denial was announced on July 15, the couple’s 21st wedding anniversary.  When the Supreme Court announced that it would refuse to hear the case of the Cuban Five, of whom Hernández is one, and the one facing the largest sentence, it chose the date with equal care: June 4, Hernández’s birthday.  The timing of both events was as certainly deliberate as it was petty – a stamp of the U.S. State Department, where cruelty and pettiness abound.

Pérez has not seen her husband for almost twelve years, starting since almost a year before a SWAT team tore down the door to his tiny apartment in Miami in September of 1998 and arrested him, answering his question about why he was being arrested with a snarling “You know why.”  So much for due process.  It would be only the first violation of its kind in a never-ending chain.

Pérez did receive a visa to come to the United States once during the eleven years she applied for one; from the Bush administration, in 2002.  It was the Bush administration’s idea of a joke.  Pérez arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston to an FBI welcoming committee, who fingerprinted her and interrogated her for eleven hours, deprived her of the right to consult with an attorney or her consulate, and then revoked the visa and sent her packing directly back to Cuba without being able to communicate with her husband.
Go to full article at Machetera’s site.  Also, at Machetera, you can find terrific articles such as a recent one about Otto Reich and Honduras plus many articles, originally in Spanish, which Machetera has translated into English.

CUBA: Seven Minute Video of Fidel with Venezuelan Law Students

In addition, there are photos at the Cubadebate site of Fidel meeting with the students

New Kevin Pina Video “Haiti: We Will Bend But We Will Not Break”

HIP – A new educational video released today by journalist and filmmaker Kevin Pina entitled Haiti: We will bend but we will not break highlights the resistance before the coup of Feb. 29, 2004. In this 20-minute video we see the roots of Haiti’s movement representing the majority of the poor struggle to contain the juggernaut of the coup fomented and supported by the Bush adminstration, the OAS an the international community.

Part 2 is scheduled to be released shortly. Pina stated, “I wanted to give those interested in Haiti a chance to digest the complex information in the first part before releasing the second. This is a history and footage that is largely unseen and a story mostly censored by the corporate media. I hope it will resonate given the current situation in the country.”

The Haiti Information Project (HIP) is a non-profit alternative news service providing coverage and analysis of breaking developments in Haiti.

Winner of the CENSORED 2008 REAL NEWS AWARD for Outstanding Investigative Journalism

For further information about the Haiti Information Project (HIP) visit: http://www.teledyol.net/HIP/about.html
Contact: HIP@teledyol.net

If you wish to be removed from this list please contact us at the above email address.

HURRICANE BILL WILL THREATEN HAITI THIS WEEK

“Hurricane Bill will threaten Haiti this week”

In addition to important weather news, this article includes this bewildering item:

“UN Envoy Bill Clinton has made numerous pronouncements about the effectiveness of economic aid and hurricane “relief,” but the effectiveness of the 9,000 UN occupation forces — MINUSTAH — in assisting the People of Haiti will hurricane preparedness ahead of the storms has been negligible, at best. Any aid funds are funneled through the questionable agenda of USAID to ineffective NGOs instead of directly to the Government of Haiti which has the responsibility of proactive civil defense.

This paternalistic approach is particularly painful this week where a Swiss court has decided that the stolen funds — 7 million Swiss francs — seized from Haiti’s former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier will be awarded to NGOs and “aid” organizations instead of to the Government of Haiti.”

WTF???

GET YOUR HAITI ON: Read, Learn and Take Action

Here is a list of some of the latest articles concerning the situation in Haiti.  These all appear on the site of “Haiti Action.”  The author of the articles is Kevin Pina who is founder of the Haiti Information Project, a  journalist and documentary filmmaker and Special Correspondent for the Flashpoints program on KPFA Radio in Berkeley, CA.  Kevin worked as a journalist in Haiti for several years and was there during the 2004 coup.  Kevin’s work won him a “Project Censored” award.

If you read these, you will have a much clearer understanding of how imperialism slithers throughout Haiti.  And if you are interested in Honduras, you will find many lessons here about Haiti that apply to Honduras as well.

ARTICLES

“Thank you Bill Clinton” – one more assassination by UN troops in Haiti – June 20, 2009
http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HA/6_20_9/6_20_9.html

Boycott Shuts Down Haiti Elections

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/6_25_9/6_25_9.html

Video footage shows UN shooting at crowd in Haiti – June 26, 2009

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/6_26_9/6_26_9.html

Lavalas Closed the Door Again, Elections a Disaster for Lespwa government

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/6_25_9/6_25_9.html

U.N. denials in Haiti – June 30, 2009

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/6_30_9/6_30_9.html

Clinton’s Silence Challenged in Haiti

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/7_7_9/7_7_9.html

Haiti: The People Do Not Buy Liberty and Democracy at the Market

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/HIP/8_7_9/8_7_9.html

Hurricane Ana Could Arrive Next Week (But Hurricane Bill Arrived Months Ago)

http://www.haitiaction.net/News/storm/2009/ANA/8_11_9.html

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, COMANDANTE FIDEL!

FIDEL CASTRO WILL TURN 83 YEARS OLD ON THURSDAY, AUGUST 13