Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie

As the on again, off again elections approach the renewed deadline of Feb. 7, the United Nations Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH) in Haiti has been led to believe in and listen to Haiti's most reactionary voices. The U.N. is being pressured to crack down hard on poor neighborhoods that remain loyal to ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and who have recently staged large rallies in support of Rene Garcia Preval. MINUSTAH attacks on Cite Soleil have been frequent and deadly. Lobbying in the form of outright disinformation and lies by the likes of sweatshop owner Andy Apaid, presidential candidate Charles Henry Baker and the president of Haiti's Chamber of Commerce Dr. Reginald Boulos, have had dire consequences for MINUSTAH. General Urano Bacellar, the Brazilian head of MINUSTAH, apparently took his own life on January 7th after a tense meeting with Boulos and Apaid. Bacellar reportedly disagreed with plans to invade Cite Soleil upon viewing footage of the collateral damage and deaths following a previous raid into Cite Soleil on July 6, 2005.

Andy Apaid leads the Group 184 representing a U.S. foreign policy vision that dropped the zero from Haiti's year of independence, 1804, to create a civil society organization named Group 184 that was heavily funded by the United States, France and Canada. The Group 184 helped to build opposition to Aristide's government and Apaid was among the first to refer to paramilitary forces that invaded Haiti from the Dominican Republic as freedom fighters as they killed police officers and Lavalas officials in their bid to oust Aristide. Late in 2003, Apaid led demonstrations by the so-called student movement and right-wing sectors of Haitian society to oust democratically elected president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Haiti's Elites Pressure the UN, Leslie Bagg & Aaron Lakoff, 18 janvier 2006