As the CBC turns up the heat on the [Bush] administration, rebel leader Guy Philippe, who said his troops are ready to attack the Haitian capital, decided to "give a chance to peace" that is, to see if [Jean-Bertrand Aristide] will resign. "Given the fact that Haiti is so close to us, they have been treated very shabbily by our government and we have not exercised the kind of moral authority that we talk about and attempt to exercise even in other places when it comes to Haiti. That is unfortunate...," [Danny K. Davis] stated. "The current unrest may result in an exodus of refugees fleeing to our shores, thus placing the lives of many Haitians in danger. The political violence in Haiti is intolerable, and the U.S. cannot afford to allow a country in our own hemisphere to spiral further downward into a state of turmoil," said [Bobby L. Rush].
Seven members of the Congressional Black Caucus, along with a prominent Central American political leader, have nominated Haitian Pres Jean-Bertrand Aristide for the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize.
Congressional Black Caucus members, black leaders and ousted Haitian Pres Aristide praised the Clinton administration for allowing Haitian refugees to be processed with a hearing on US ships and third country refugee centers.
The 39-member Congressional Black Caucus is on record as supporting Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the deposed Hatian president, but is split on whether the US should use force to reinstall him.
-, [Joseph Lowery] indicated that he was decline the government's invitation because "more conventional means of protesting U.S. policy toward Haitians have failed miserably since the U.S. still greets the Haitians with clenched fists rather than open arms." "These people are imprisoned on military bases, politically quarantined and denied rights afforded other refugees," said Lowery, who went on to urge President-elect Bill Clinton to act "swiftly" to right the wrong and send emissaries to Haiti immediately to negotiate the return of the country's first freely-elected president, Jean Bertrand Aristide, as well as to set the stage for new elections.
Briefly, Haiti and the Dominican Republic occupy the same island in the West Indies, Haiti occupying the western part and the Dominican Republic the eastern part. ... after my year in the Dominican Republic I decided to go to Haiti as a tourist before returning to the U.S. I remember reporting to the embassy in Port-au-Prince to be briefed and to let them know where I was staying and where I would be going. I remember that the Caucasian male embassy employee who interviewed me was both curious and very amused that I was in Haiti to visit. I remember that he told me emphatically, "the only thing you have in common with these people is color." He proceeded to rattle off negative things about the Haitian people. I was shocked at his boldness but I kept my cool. An example of this is the fact that President Thomas Jefferson allegedly launched an economic embargo against Haiti when Haiti became independent, causing the U.S. and Europe to refuse to acknowledge its independence for decades. At the present time it is alleged that Haiti is the most depressed nation in the Western Hemisphere.
