Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jul 2007
Source: Monterey County Herald (CA)
Contact:  2007 Monterey County Herald
Website: http://www.montereyherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/273
Author: John Yewell
Note: John Yewell is The Herald's night city editor and writes a  
weekly column for the Herald.

REAL REASONS FOR HAITI RAID

There were new suggestions this week that a raid 10 days ago by  
Haiti's police and  the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration may have  
been an attempt to silence one of the leaders of a 2004 coup  that  
toppled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide -  a coup many  
believe was orchestrated by the United  States.

Guy Philippe, the target of the raid, avoided capture and is now in  
hiding. He has since been heard on  Haitian radio claiming his  
attempted arrest was for  political reasons.

Between his alleged drug affiliations and human rights  abuses,  
Philippe has few friends in the government of current Haitian  
President Rene Preval or in the United States. But according to a  
report this week by Kevin Pina, writing for the Haiti Information  
Project, there may be another explanation for the DEA grab.

According to Pina, on May 27, after the arrest of Wilfort Ferdinand,  
another coup participant, Philippe went on Haitian radio and "began  
to name names of  business and political leaders who backed the  
paramilitary insurgency against Aristide's government by providing  
arms, ammunition and logistical support."

"High on (Philippe's) list," Pina continued, "was Andy Apaid, the  
leader of the civil society organization called the Group 184."

Seven weeks after Philippe's radio broadcast, the DEA went after him.

In July 2004, Salon reported that Group 184, along with a group  
called the Democratic Convergence, was supported by the International  
Republican Institute,  dominated by Bush loyalists and funded by the  
National Endowment for Democracy, the U.S. Agency for International  
Development and conservative groups.

Aristide's supporters have long suspected American support in the  
overthrow of his democratically elected  government. Now here is  
Philippe, a man they had  vilified, pointing a finger that leads to  
the U.S. government.

Salon quotes Thayer Scott, then communications director  for the IRI,  
saying that the "IRI played an advisory  role in Group of 184's  
formation." Hardliners in Group  184, Salon reported, "tapped Guy  
Philippe, a  U.S.-trained former Haitian police chief with a dubious   
human rights record," to lead a coup.

The IRI's liaison to the Haitian opposition was Stanley  Lucas, who,  
according to the New York Times, was  accused by U.S. Ambassador Dean  
Curran of undermining  diplomatic efforts in Haiti. The IRI denies this.

"Stanley Lucas was not IRI's 'point man in Haiti,'" said Lisa Gates,  
IRI press secretary, in an e-mail to  The Herald. "In fact, IRI was  
not operating in Haiti during the time in question."

That's not what the Bush administration was saying.  During a Senate  
hearing on March 10, 2004, 10 days  after Aristide's overthrow, Sen.  
Christopher Dodd,  D-Conn., asked Roger Noriega, then assistant  
secretary  of state for the Western Hemisphere, about a USAID  grant  
to the IRI that specifically limited Lucas'  activities.

"The approval of the new grant was conditioned on the  IRI (Haiti)  
director, Stanley Lucas, being barred from  participating in this  
program for a period of time  because the U.S. ambassador in Haiti  
had evidence that  he was undermining U.S. efforts," according to  
Salon.  "Is that not true as well?" Dodd asked Noriega.

"Yes, sir," Noriega said.

"Is Stanley Lucas still involved?" asked Dodd.

"As far as I know, he is still part of the program,"  Noriega replied.

The connection between Lucas and Philippe is less clear. Philippe  
says they are old friends, and the  Times suggests there is  
circumstantial evidence the two  worked together. The IRI says the  
USAID investigated their alleged connection in 2004 and found "no  
evidence."

But USAID, which has international skeletons in its own closet,  
shares political sympathies with the IRI.  Claiming it exonerates the  
IRI is a little like Bush's 2000 election being certified by  
Katherine Harris, who  was Florida's secretary of state at the same  
time as she served as the co-chairwoman of Bush's Florida campaign.

Without question, Philippe and Lucas shared contacts among Aristide's  
opponents, and Andy Apaid may have been the fulcrum. Within 24 hours  
of Apaid rejecting a  political compromise with Aristide, according  
to Salon,  Philippe launched his coup, which ended with the U.S.  
hustling Aristide out of the country against his will.

And if Pina is right, Aristide's opponents, including the IRI, might  
be plenty nervous with a talkative Philippe on the run.
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