Excerpts:
| For Cédras and François, the situation was a public relations disaster, but they had planned ahead. The day before the coup, they brought in Lynn Garrison to, in Garrison's words, "lend a hand."
A former Canadian air force officer with shadowy ties to the CIA, Garrison became one of the primary sources for the coup leaders' smear campaign against Aristide. His first task, following Aristide's expulsion from the county, was to go through the exiled president's personal possessions, including diaries, paintings and medicines, seeking evidence to back up the junta's claim that Aristide was unfit to govern. |
He found a doodle of an eight-headed monster (a common voodoo symbol) in Aristide's diaries and several paintings in his art collection by an auto tire retailer who...
| ...airs television ads in which he pops his head through a tire. His name has become synonymous with a form of killing and torture (known in South Africa as "necklacing") in which a gasoline-soaked tire is placed over the victim's shoulders and ignited. Although art depicting this practice is common in Haiti, Garrison saw the paintings on the walls of Aristide's home as illustrations of a demagogue's enthusiasm for mob violence.
...The CIA's assessment of Aristide also received extensive media attention when Jesse Helms organized a classified briefing with Brian Latelle, the CIA's intelligence officer for Latin America, on October 20, 1993. The briefing was promptly leaked to the Washington Post, which reported on October 22, "Sources familiar with the assessment said it describes Aristide's 1980 visit to a psychiatric hospital in Canada." Latelle claimed that Aristide has psychological disorders and has used 13 kinds of medication. To back up this story, Latelle presented a document, later proven to be a forgery, which purported to be a letter signed by a fictitious Canadian doctor named Harve Martin. Helms followed up by delivering a tirade against Aristide on the floor of the Senate, labeling him a "psychopath" and claiming that Aristide had urged his followers to practice "necklacing." As evidence, Helms cited a speech shortly before the coup in which Aristide told a crowd, "Your tool in in your hands. Your instrument is in your hands. Your Constitution is in your hands." The word "tool," Helms explained, actually meant "burning tire." Helms cited reports from several human rights organizations to back up his claim that Aristide instigated human rights violations. The speech prompted angry reactions from the human rights groups themselves. In fact, their reports had credited Haiti with significant human rights progress under Aristide. "It is ludicrous to compare that progress with the systematic mass murder committed since by the army," said Kenneth Roth, Executive Director of Human Rights Watch in New York. Ironically, the most effective PR work against Aristide may have come from his "friends in high places." Throughout the crisis, the US has sponsored negotiations that have undercut Aristide's position, forcing him to make repeated concessions to the junta. When Aristide has failed to comply, US officials have attacked his "intransigence," portraying his obstinacy as the prima obstacle to peace. The Clinton administration's statements of support for Aristide have in fact been little more than PR aimed at covering up the US refusal to take action that could threaten the military's hold on power. |
And today we are in replay mode.
I started a thread on the POAC/White Rose Society forum about Aristide's ouster, and it has taken wings. There are great comments and findings which are linked in the numerous posts. This group of POAC members is always on top of things. Very worth your time reading if you are interested in this topic.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
Probably no one monitoring this site now, however, it should be noted that Herve Martin was a very well-known Haitian doctor who was also on the American embassy's list of approved surgeons.
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