On Sunday, March 21, 2004, U.S. Representative Maxine Waters spoke on the Bush administration's coup d'etat against Haiti at an event sponsored by the Organization Us. Over 200 people came, mostly African-American. The event was held at the African American Cultural Center, part of the Organization Us: 2560 W. 54th St., Los Angeles, between Crenshaw and Arlington, a few blocks north of Slauson. Organization Us finished the event by distributing paper and envelopes for people to write to the U.S. government regarding Haiti.

Following writing an editorial in the Los Angeles Sentinel on the Bush coup against Haiti, Organization Us has formed a Coalition in Solidarity with Haiti that is meeting every Saturday at 8:30 A.M. at the AACC. Also involved is the National Alliance for Positive Action, headed by centrist KPFK programmer Earl Ofari Hutchinson; both Organization Us and Hutchinson are forming what they have described as an African American Advisory Board regarding KPFK.

Founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga, currently a professor at CSU Long Beach, Organization Us has been active for nearly four decades, having gone through controversies such as armed conflicts against the Black Panther Party and clashes with feminist groups over the role of women. Organization Us has been promoting African American cultural and political consciousness, creating the Kwanzaa celebration, spreading the learning of Swahili and African traditions, and establishing the International Black Coalition for Peace and Justice in response to Bush's war on Iraq, among other projects. Currently, Organization Us and IBCPJ are working to steer youth away from recruitment by the military.

With a rousing welcome from Dr. Karenga, U.S. Representative Maxine Waters spoke in great detail about the background of the Bush coup against Haiti and President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, as well as her personal involvement in trying to save democracy there.

Some facts that Rep. Waters discussed that had not been revealed before, even on Democracy Now! and the few articles in the progressive press:

1. While President Aristide's characterized his stay in the Central African Republic in very diplomatic terms, Rep. Waters revealed that not only was C.A.R. President Bozize resisted letting him leave, Bozize seized the passports of Rep. Waters and the entire international delegation that came to meet with President Aristide and told them they could not leave either. Only after being threatened with an international outcry over holding Rep. Waters and the delegation as prisoners on the one-year anniversary of Bozize's own coup did he relent and obtained approval from his French and American patrons to allow President Aristide and the delegation to leave freely.

2. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Roger Noriega, not only has close ties to the anti-Castro exile groups who view Aristide as a Castro ally, but when he served as Chief of State to Senator Jesse Helms (yes, THAT Jesse Helms), who personally despised President Aristide and anyone promoting rights for black people, Helms also received very large contributions from one of the largest American industries that had a stake vis a vis Haiti. The heavily-subsidized American rice industry set out to destroy Haiti's rice farmers, who produced at lower cost, by getting Senator Helms to protect American subsidies and keep tariffs high to block access to Haitian farmers, while forcing Haiti to accept surplus American rice dumped at prices below cost, thus driving one of the few locally-owned industries out of business.

3. While Jamaican Prime Minister P.J. Patterson's granting refuge to President Aristide and leadership role in getting the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to oppose Bush's coup against Haiti took great courage, he is coming under enormous pressure from the U.S. government, with strong public criticism from U.S. Sec. of State Colin Powell, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice, Ass. Sec. of State Roger Noriega, Sec. of Def. Donald Rumsfeld, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (military), and U.S. Ambassador to Haiti James Foley. It is crucial that not only President Aristide and the people of Haiti receive support, but also the government of Jamaica and P.J. Patterson; the Bush administration is likely to punish Jamaica's defiance by intervening to support the opposition in the upcoming Jamaican elections later this year.

4. The United Nations, under Secretary General Kofi Annan, has essentially followed the cues of the colonial masters, the U.S. and France, and stayed on the sidelines, refraining from any proactive involvement or criticism regarding the overthrow of a democratically-elected member state by forces funded by these countries.

For more information on the Bush coup against Haiti:

http://www.haitiprogres.com

http://www.democracynow.org/static/haiti.shtml

http://www.haitiaction.net