From http://chilesur.indymedia.org/es/2004/12/1068.shtml
Haiti Bleeds
The Smell emanating from Mercosur in Haiti
Agência Brasil writes, “A joint communiqué from the Mercosur summit, which took place on Friday in Ouro Preto, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil, declared that the economic block remains committed to achieving stability in Haiti where political unrest has raged since February when the president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, stepped down.”
It defies the imagination that Mercosur continues to parrot the US State Department line that Aristide “stepped down.” Their subservience to Washington is clear as they completely dismiss the positions of the Republic of South Africa, Venezuela, the 50 nations of the African Union, and the 15 nations of the Caribbean Community who refuse to recognize the current brutal regime in Haiti.
The roles of Brazil, Argentina and Chile, in providing legitimacy to what was a coup against a democratically elected government, is particularly ironic given the history of their own countries. Humberto Castelo Branco, and Jorge Rafael Videla must be applauding from their graves as Augusto Pinochet wraps himself in the contradiction like a warm blanket.
The simple truth is that Mercosur is complicit in “assisting” the US-installed regime in Haiti in covering the facts of the recent coup through the violent elimination of the majority political party, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s Lavalas party. Thousands have been murdered since February 29th and thousands more languish and rot away as political prisoners in jails throughout the country. Meanwhile, Mercosur members cynically fall over themselves to curry favor with Washington under the auspices of a UN “peacekeeping” force.
The Haitian people deserve better and the citizens of the Mercosur nations deserve better. In the end, history will never forget the terrible smell of Washington’s ass emanating from Mercosur’s noses.
Kevin Pina
Independent Journalist
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Just today, Kevin was arrested by the PNH. http://www.newsocialist.org/index.php?id=464
