Aristide’s message to New Orleans

On Sept. 3, just after Katrina’s floods and hurricane winds had devastated the Gulf region, Haiti President Jean-Bertrand Aristide sent a message of condolence to the people of New Orleans. From Pretoria, South Africa, where he has been exiled following a U.S.-engineered coup and kidnapping, President Aristide addressed the people of the United States:

“The grieving faces that we see so resemble the grieving faces of Haitians who have faced similar waters that swept away lives and engulfed tiny boats overloaded with people fleeing the political repression following the coup d’état/kidnapping of Feb. 29, 2004.” He ended his message with “We reiterate our expression of sympathy in this time of pain.”

On Sept. 30 demonstrations will be held in solidarity with the Haitian people in over 30 cities and 14 countries demanding an end to the war against the people of Haiti and the restoration of the democratically elected government of President Aristide. Other issues to be raised include an independent inquiry into the 2004 coup and the kidnapping of President Aristide; the complicity of the U.S., France and Canada; ending the brutal U.S./UN occupation and freeing Father Jean-Juste and the more than 1,000 political prisoners in Haiti jails.

—Milt Neidenberg