Haiti. Aristide to return to Haiti before election

... Jean-Bertrand Aristide will return to Port-au-Prince before the second round of presidential elections on March 20, his lawyer said Tuesday ... http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Haiti+Aristide+return+Haiti+before+election/4291535/story.html

'Beautiful party' awaits Aristide
Former president plans to return before Haiti's second-round election
By CLARENS RENOIS, AFP February 16, 2011
... As masonry workers repaired cracks in the walls of Aristide's once splendid villa, some residents dusted off their portraits of the diminutive, bespectacled former leader. Door-to-door canvassing has been organized to recruit the biggest possible turnout whenever Aristide finally makes his return to Toussaint L'Ouverture airport. Ancyto Felix, another tireless Aristide partisan, said there were plans to hold a massive rally in the Haitian capital on Friday ... http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Beautiful+party+awaits+Aristide/4291369/story.html

Appreciate your information which will remind us to keep an eye on Haiti even more, now.

A great deal depends on how he is treated by the U.S., after he is restored to his homeland. Sure hope they have better sense than to try to make his life a living hell again, or worse.

Thanks for the heads-up! Rec.

The wikileaks with regards to Brazil are telling, and pretty much lay the case for Brazil having no good will toward him.

The U.S. allowing "Baby Doc" into the country (without proper papers, through the U.S. military controlled airport) does not bode well. I think they got wind of Preval's rebellion (probably closely monitored by the CIA), as to issuing Aristide his passport, and arranged "Baby Doc"'s return TO cause trouble.

France (where "Baby Doc" was living in exile), the U.S. and Canada are up to no good in Haiti. They formed their own election monitoring group, using the 'OAS' name, and fiddled their "recount" of the first round election to bump out Preval's candidate, probably as vengeance for his plan to bring Aristide back, and likely to favor Manigat (Sorbonne educated, platform of "capitalism with a friendly face"). I couldn't believe that the OAS let them get away with that. The real OAS elections experts will never live it down.

But the even worse scandal is that the U.S. banned Aristide's party--the majority party in Haiti--from the ballot. Thus, SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT of HaitIans DIDN'T VOTE. Manigat's support is one of three portions of only 25% of the vote!

They really, really, REALLY don't want to have an independent, social justice minded government with huge popular support in Haiti. And one reason is that U.S., French and Canadian corporations are salivating to split up that $9 billion in earthquake aid to Haiti that Bill Clinton is holding, and that the U.S. was holding over Preval's head to force his obedience. He finally got insulted--and issued Aristide a passport.

Aristide is going to have to be one helluva good diplomat and leader to negotiate this goddamn minefield that the U.S. has laid for him in Haiti. But he does come back with a whole lot of experience of U.S. treachery under his belt, a long time to think about it, and a completely changed political landscape in Latin America, from when the Bush Junta ousted him in 2004--with leftist governments elected in Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Guatemala and El Salvador. Most of this has occurred since he left. He has a lot more potential allies than he did then. And they most definitely will not want to see Haiti turned into Honduras (U.S. installation of a rightwing/corporate government). I'm surprised that they didn't object to the U.S.-France-Canada election thing but they may be just biding their time and letting U.S. malfeasance spin itself out. One million people still living under tarps! Cholera breaking out. It is disgraceful.

Aristide is going to need regional support to get this whole fraudulent election thrown out, and the election entirely re-done--as CEPR has recommended. I hope he gets it. And I think he will.