{"id":6121,"date":"1997-01-23T09:40:55","date_gmt":"1997-01-23T14:40:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?p=6121"},"modified":"2022-06-14T07:46:16","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T11:46:16","slug":"testimony-why-aristide-cant-go-back-yet-to-haiti-by-raymond-alcide-joseph","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?p=6121","title":{"rendered":"TESTIMONY  Why Aristide Can\u2019t Go Back (Yet) To Haiti by Raymond Alcide Joseph"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>T<span style=\"color: #000000;\">ESTIMONY<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><em>Why Aristide Can\u2019t Go Back (Yet) To Haiti<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>New York \u2013 <\/strong>For those who doubt the propensity for violence of Aristide\u2019s supporters and claim that Haiti\u2019s military and the Bazin government are the fount of all human rights abuses. I recount what happened to me on Thursday, January 14 \u2013 right here in New York. And I wonder what would have been my fate where I to be in a Haiti controlled by Aristide, who always hide behind \u2018\u2019the people\u2019\u2019 to excuse such atrocities as executions by \u2018\u2019P\u00e8re Lebrun\u2019\u2019 (the flaming necklace)?<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I arrived late for a press conference called by Arioste Denis, of the United Haitian Association of America (UHA), to discuss the plight of Hatian refugees. He had issued a press release, which appeared in the latest issue of the <em>Haiti-Observateur<\/em> in which he called on \u2018\u2019the incoming and outgoing\u2019\u2019 U.S. administrations to stop discriminating against the Haitian refugees, who \u2018\u2019must be treated as refugees, in compliance with the Refugee Act and Article 33 of the United Nations Protocole.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The subject is of no small interest, and certain press organs, including ABC-TV (local), New York News 1 (cable), Carib News, Radio Tropicale and others showed up. So did we.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As Mr. Denis was closing the press conference, a Haitian woman in her thirties, well-dressed and smartly-coiffed, seized the microphone and began abusing Mr. Denis, whom so called \u2018<em>\u2019u piece of sh&#8230;, and ugly bum<\/em>&#8230; in the service of George Bush.\u2019\u2019 Pulling from her purse an Aristide button, she held it out as a crucifix to ward off evil spirits, as she screamed: \u2018<em>\u2019No Aristide, No Peace&#8230; . Until he goes back to Haiti to restore democracy, we will have the refugees, Thank God for Clinton..<\/em>.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Then, the woman, who refused to give her name, saw me. \u2018<em>\u2019There he is, Raymond Joseph himself, the murderer, the butcher of the Haitian people, the one who\u2019s been writing all the lies in his rag sheet against Aristide&#8230; Our beloved Aristide &#8230; This Raymond Joseph is a piece of sh&#8230; he\u2019s a son on a b&#8230;., he\u2019s a pig, he won\u2019t escape,&#8230; The people will give him what he deserves.\u2019\u2019 <\/em>(For lack of a name let us call her \u2018\u2019Madame Foulmouthed).<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The reporters were caught by surprise. They surrounded me and asked whether I had something to say. <em>\u2018\u2019Of course I have something to say, \u2018\u2019 <\/em>I responded. \u2018<em>\u2019There you have it! There is no better example why Aristide can\u2019t go back to Haiti. <\/em>&#8230;..<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>No ! Not Yet! <\/em><em>You\u2019ve heard this woman\u2019s venom. You\u2019ve seen her demeanor. If she had a weapon and if she could, she certainly would have executed me right here. When you multiply her by one thousand, ten thousand, then you have an Aristide mob and there\u2019s no escaping a lynching. If Aristide were to return to Haiti today with the likes of her, there\u2019s no question that civil war would break out. &#8230;. Aristide can\u2019t return to Haiti, not yet. Not until his followers learn to respect the rights of others,\u2019\u2019<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">(I doubt that the Thursday episode go any coverage, for it was overtaken by a major events. President-elect Clinton announced that for \u2018\u2019the time being.\u2019\u2019 He would follow President Bush\u2019s policy regarding Haitian refugees. The U.S. Coast Guard will stop all refugee vessels leaving Haiti and turn them back. And the U.S. governmemt deployed an armada of Coast Guard and Navy ships with planes ans helicopters outside Haiti\u2019s 12-mile limit to keep the refugees in check)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Half an hour have gone by since the press conference and I had forgotten about the little show of \u2018\u2019Madame Foul-mouthed\u2019\u2019. But when I reached the street (103<sup>rd<\/sup> and Broadway in Manhattan), there she was, reinforced by a small troop, an old lady barely measuring 5 ft, two other middle aged women whose hats came down to their nozes and two college-looking students (one male and one female). \u2018\u2019Madame Foul-mouthed\u2019\u2019 assaulted me with invectives that can\u2019t be printed. People gathered on the street to look at this \u2018\u2019criminal\u2019\u2019. The college-looking female student of the group approached me: \u2018\u2019Mr Joseph,\u2019\u2019 she said, why don\u2019t you leave? Don\u2019t stay there, it\u2019s getting too ugly. \u2018\u2019I responded: \u2018\u2019 <em>No way! I will not run. We\u2019re not in Haiti. I must receive all that she has to dish out to me, including the slaps that she has promised me<\/em>.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">After five minutes, which seemed like an eternity, I decided to go down to the subway, \u2018\u2019 Madame Foul-mouthed\u2019\u2019 and her confederates followed me inside the No 1 traiun of the IRT line. At the top of her lungs, she pointed at me : \u2018<em>\u2019There he is, the assassin of the Haitian people, the mother f&#8230;.., the pig, the tormentor of Aristide; he will get what he deserves<\/em>.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>The young college-student-looking female approached me again and said: \u2018\u2019Get off the train, Mr. Joseph, I don\u2019t want anything bad to happen to you.\u2019\u2019 I responded: \u2018\u2019Don\u2019t worry.\u2019\u2019 I don\u2019t run from danger when I am in the right, and we all have the right to be in this train. We are in America, a free country&#8230;\u2019\u2019<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But this time I was transferring from the No 1 train to the A train at 59<sup>th<\/sup> Street and Broadway. \u2018\u2019Madame Foul-mouthed\u2019\u2019 and her crew followed me into the A train. She started all over with her unprintable invectives. After the train had passed the 14<sup>th<\/sup> Street station, she screamed in Creole: \u2018\u2019we\u2019ve gone too far! We must get off! We must go back!..<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">As they went out, two young Caucasian-college looking young men asked me: \u2018\u2019Sir, what do you do?\u2019\u2019 And I answered: \u2018\u2019I am a writer, a newsman. I happen to have articles that displease them. For this I should be crucified\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">And one said: \u2018\u2019Strange!&#8230;. Those people are very strange! Thank God they\u2019re gone!\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I wonder: \u2018\u2019What should have been my fate if the train was full of Aristide supporters?\u2019\u2019 Or better\u00a0: \u2018\u2019What would have been my fate, were this to happened Haiti after the return of Aristide, the \u2018\u2019glorifier of P\u00e8re Lebrun?\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\">That\u2019s why I say: \u2018<strong>\u2019Aristide can\u2019t go back to Haiti \u2013 Not yet<\/strong>!\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Raymond A<\/span>lcide Joseph<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-6121 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-medium'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?attachment_id=6114#main'><img width=\"219\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojeanchretienrayFront-219x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6114\" srcset=\"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojeanchretienrayFront-219x300.jpg 219w, http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojeanchretienrayFront-748x1024.jpg 748w, http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojeanchretienrayFront-768x1051.jpg 768w, http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojeanchretienrayFront.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6114'>\n\t\t\t\tfront page 20 janvier 1993\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?attachment_id=6116#main'><img width=\"300\" height=\"285\" src=\"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojosephRay2-300x285.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6116\" srcset=\"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojosephRay2-300x285.jpg 300w, http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojosephRay2.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6116'>\n\t\t\t\tRaymond Alcide Joseph\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/?attachment_id=6122#main'><img width=\"223\" height=\"300\" src=\"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojosephRay2a-223x300.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6122\" srcset=\"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojosephRay2a-223x300.jpg 223w, http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojosephRay2a-762x1024.jpg 762w, http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojosephRay2a-768x1032.jpg 768w, http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/hojosephRay2a.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 223px) 100vw, 223px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-6122'>\n\t\t\t\tarticle\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Cet article est publi\u00e9 par l\u2019hebdomadaire Ha\u00efti-Observateur<\/strong>\u00a0\/\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/catalog.loc.gov\/vwebv\/holdingsInfo?searchId=9279&amp;recCount=25&amp;recPointer=1&amp;bibId=11336178\">ISSN: 1043-3783<\/a><strong>, Vol. XXIII No. 1 New York, 20 janvier 1993 P.7<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TESTIMONY Why Aristide Can\u2019t Go Back (Yet) To Haiti New York \u2013 For those who doubt the propensity for violence of Aristide\u2019s supporters and claim that Haiti\u2019s military and the Bazin government are the fount of all human rights abuses. I recount what happened to me on Thursday, January 14 \u2013 right here in New York. And I wonder what would have been my fate where I to be in a Haiti controlled by Aristide, who always hide behind \u2018\u2019the people\u2019\u2019 to excuse such atrocities as executions by \u2018\u2019P\u00e8re Lebrun\u2019\u2019&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":6117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,20,36,45],"tags":[112,216,294,4483,4481,4480,4479,4482],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6121"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6121"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6121\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6123,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6121\/revisions\/6123"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/haiti-observateur.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}