PRESIDENT ARISTIDE SAYS ’I WAS KIDNAPPED’ ’TELL THE WORLD IT IS A COUP’

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS:
PRESIDENT ARISTIDE SAYS ’I WAS KIDNAPPED’
’TELL THE WORLD IT IS A COUP’

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Multiple sources that just spoke with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told Democracy Now! that Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He’s surrounded by military. It’s like he is in jail, he said. He says he was kidnapped," said Waters. She said he had been threatened by what he called US diplomats. According to Waters, the diplomats reportedly told the Haitian president that if he did not leave Haiti, paramilitary leader Guy Philippe would storm the palace and Aristide would be killed. According to Waters, Aristide was told by the US that they were withdrawing Aristide’s US security.

TransAfrica founder and close Aristide family friend Randall Robinson also received a call from the Haitian president early this morning and confirmed Waters account. Robinson said that Aristide "emphatically" denied that he had resigned. "He did not resign," he said. "He was abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the Haitian president.

Democracy Thwarted: Aristide Victim of US Engineered Coup De’tat

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/01/1521216

Monday, March 1st, 2004
Rep Maxine Waters: Aristide Says ’I Was Kidnapped’

Congressmember Maxine Waters said she received a call
from Aristide at 9am EST. "He’s surrounded by military.
It’s like he is in jail, he said. He says he was
kidnapped," said Waters. Click on this link to read a
full transcript of the Democracy Now! interview with
Rep. Maxine Waters.

RUSH TRANSCRIPT

AMY GOODMAN: This is Democracy Now! I’m Amy Goodman.
Congressmember Waters, can you tell us about the
conversation you just had with Haitian President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide?

MAXINE WATERS: I most certainly can and he’s anxious
for me to get the message out so people will
understand. He is in the Central Republic of Africa at
a place called the Palace of the Renaissance, and he’s
not sure if that’s a house or a hotel or what it is and
he is surrounded by military. It’s like in jail, he
said. He said that he was kidnapped; he said that he
was forced to leave Haiti. He said that the American
embassy sent the diplomats; he referred to them as, to
his home where they was lead by Mr. Moreno. And I
believe that Mr. Moreno is a deputy chief of staff at
the embassy in Haiti and other diplomats, and they
ordered him to leave. They said you must go NOW. He
said that they said that Guy Phillipe and U.S. Marines
were coming to Port Au Prince; he will be killed, many
Haitians will be killed, that they would not stop until
they did what they wanted to do. He was there with his
wife Mildred and his brother-in-law and two of his
security people, and somebody from the Steel
Foundation, and they’re all, there’s five of them that
are there. They took them where— they did stop in
Antigua then they stopped at a military base, then they
were in the air for hours and then they arrived at this
place and they were met by five ministers of
government. It’s a Francophone country, they speak
French. And they were then taken to this place called
the Palace of the Renaissance where they are being held
and they are surrounded by military people. They are
not free to do whatever they want to do. Then the phone
clicked off after we had talked for about five—we
talked maybe fifteen minutes and then the phone clicked
off. But he, some of it was muffled in the beginning,
at times it was clear. But one thing that was very
clear and he said it over and over again, that he was
kidnapped, that the coup was completed by the Americans
that they forced him out. They had also disabled his
American security force that he had around him for
months now; they did not allow them to extend their
numbers. To begin with they wanted them to bring in
more people to provide security they prevented them
from doing that and then they finally forced them out
of the country. So that’s where his is and I said to
him that I would do everything I could to get the word
out. …that I heard it directly from him I heard it
directly from his wife that they were kidnapped, they
were forced to leave, they did not want to leave, their
lives were threatened and the lives of many Haitians
were threatened. And I said that we would be in touch
with the State Department, with the President today and
if at all possible we would try to get to him. We don’t
know whether or not he is going to be moved. We will
try and find that information out today.

AMY GOODMAN: Did President Aristide say whether or not
he resigned?

MAXINE WATERS: He did not resign. He said he was forced
out, that the coup was completed.

AMY GOODMAN: So again to summarize, Congressmember
Maxine Waters, you have just gotten off the phone with
President Jean Bertrand Aristide, who said he believes
he is in the Central African Republic.

MAXINE WATERS: That’s right, with French speaking
officers, he’s surrounded by them and he’s in this
place called the Palace of the Renaissance and he was
forced to go there. They took him there.

AMY GOODMAN: What are you going to do right now?

MAXINE WATERS: I’m going to get to the State Dept to
find out what do they plan on doing with him. Do they
plan on leaving him there or are they planning on
taking him to another country? We are going to tell
them we would like to see him. We are prepared to go
where he is NOW and that we are demanding that we are
able to see him and go where he is. And to negotiate
what will be done with him.

AMY GOODMAN: Did he describe how he was taken out? We
had heard reports in Haiti that he was taken out in
handcuffs. Did he…

MAXINE WATERS: No he did not say he was taken out in
handcuffs. He simply said that they came led by Mr.
Moreno followed by the marines and they said simply
"you have to go!" You have no choice, you must go and
if you don’t you will be killed and many Haitians will
be killed. We are planning with Mr. De filliped to come
into Puerto Rico. He will not be alone he will come
with American military and you will not survive, you
will be killed. You’ve got to go now!

AMY GOODMAN: How did President Aristide sound? What was
the quality of his voice?

MAXINE WATERS: The quality of his voice was anxious,
angry, disturbed, wanting people to know the truth.

AMY GOODMAN: Did he say why he had not made any calls
since early on Sunday morning; that people had not been
in touch with him for more than 36 hours. Certainly
this plane was equipped with a telephone?

AMY GOODMAN: What is the next step…what are you going
to do? What do you think the people in this country
should being doing about this situation in Haiti?

AMY GOODMAN: Congressmember Maxine Waters I want to
thank you for being with us again. Congress member
Waters has just spoken with President Aristide who she
says said he was kidnapped and is now with his wife and
surrounded by security in the Central African Republic.
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