[KFCF Friends] Exclusive Democracy Now reports on Aristides's return to Caribbean

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Exclusive coverage of  Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's return
can be heard on KFCF, 88.1 FM in Fresno today on DEMOCRACY NOW! At 6 AM
and 9 AM!
Amy Goodman is one of two Journalists accompanying Aristide from the
Central African Republic to Jamaica. 

Amy Goodman will be in Fresno on April 14th to talk about her new book
:The Exception to The Rulers." For more info see www.kfcf.org .


*BREAKING NEWS**
DEMOCRACY NOW! GLOBAL BROADCAST EXCLUSIVE
Defying Washington: Haiti's Aristide Heads Back to the Caribbean

BANGUI, Central African Republic (March 15)--Haitian President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide is on his way back to the Caribbean. Democracy
Now! host Amy Goodman is onboard a chartered Gulfstream jet with
Aristide, his Haitian-American wife Mildred, and the delegation of US
and Jamaican officials that is accompanying the Aristides to Jamaica,
which has offered to temporarily host them. Goodman is one of only two
journalists traveling with Aristide. 

In returning to the Caribbean, Aristide is defying the Bush
administration, which has stated clearly it does not want Aristide in
the Western Hemisphere. 

Preceding Aristide's departure, there was a several-hour-long stand-off
in Bangui that raised serious questions about whether the Haitian leader
would be permitted to leave Africa. The events also suggest that the US
or other foreign governments may have attempted to prevent or delay
Aristide from leaving. Aristide, who was democratically elected, has
charged that he was "kidnapped" from Haiti on February 29 in a
US-orchestrated coup. Aristide reiterated these allegations in a series
of interviews with Goodman in Bangui. 

Throughout Sunday, there were a flurry of meetings between Aristide and
the president of the Central African Republic, Gen. Francois Bozize.
Some of the meetings also included Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and
Jamaican parliamentarian Sharon Hay-Webster, who is representing
Jamaica's Prime Minister PJ Patterson, as well as the Caribbean
Community (CARICOM). At one point, Aristide emerged from a meeting with
Gen. Bozize inside the presidential palace. Amy Goodman reported that
when he came out of the meeting, Aristide was "surrounded by military." 

After the initial round of talks with Bozize, Aristide spoke briefly
with Goodman. She reported that "Aristide thinks that President Bozize
must consult with those who called Bozize before Aristide was taken to
the CAR—the US, France and Gabon—to decide whether Bozize should allow
Aristide to leave the country." These were the three countries that
orchestrated Aristide's stay in the CAR. 

It is not yet clear what possible role the US and other foreign
governments played in the stand-off that preceded Aristide's departure
from the CAR. In an interview with Goodman as the stand-off was
underway, Aristide's lawyer Ira Kurzban questioned whether the Haitian
president was being held prisoner because he was not being allowed to
leave when he wanted. 

Ultimately, after numerous meetings, the group was told they would be
allowed to leave the CAR. Moments before they took off, Goodman
conducted a brief, exclusive interview with Aristide. "Because they [the
government of the CAR] were so gracious in welcoming us here, it is
natural that while we are leaving the first thing we say is thank you,"
Aristide told Goodman. 

She then asked Aristide for his thoughts on his impending return to the
Caribbean. "In the Caribbean family, we find the African diaspora too,"
said Aristide. "Now that we are in Africa, moving toward Jamaica, we are
moving from one big family to the same family somehow. ThatÂ’s why we
will continue to do our best to promote peace, friendship for all of us
as members of the same family, as brothers and sisters." 

Mildred Aristide told Goodman she is very much looking forward to
reuniting with her two small daughters. 

The delegation that traveled to the CAR to escort Aristide back to the
Caribbean was led by Rep. Waters. "It has been been quite an
experience," Waters told Goodman just before they boarded the plane in
Bangui. "It has been a long day... We are very pleased to be getting on
the airplane and he will be in Jamaica by tomorrow." 

Sharon Hay-Webster, the emissary of Jamaica and CARICOM, told Goodman,
"I can say that on behalf of the team, all of us who were here to
represent President Aristide and CARICOM, all of his family within the
diaspora of the US and the Caribbean, we are happy to meet with our
family members here in Africa and to have a positive decision to be
taken - that is for him to be returned to his family within CARICOM...
and for him to be reunited with his children and all the family to plan
together as to how they will proceed from here." 

TransAfrica founder Randall Robinson, who is a close friend of the
Aristides, is also a member of the delegation. "I am very pleased that
President and Mrs. Aristide will be reunited with the children tomorrow
in Jamaica," Robinson told Democracy Now!. "It is refreshing. I am
extremely relieved. They have been out here for so long. To see them
joining us, going home is a great joy and a great relief." 

Before the Aristides departed Bangui, President Bozize presented them
with two gifts--one a picture made of hundreds of butterfly wings, the
other a piece of art made from rare wood from the CAR. 

US OPPOSES ARISTIDE'S RETURN TO WEST. HEMISPHERE 

Throughout Sunday, Goodman reported on the stand-off in the CAR over the
fate of Aristide and his wife Mildred. She indicated that there was some
question among the visiting delegation on what role Washington was
playing in the situation. What is clear is that US officials have
declared very publicly that they do not want Aristide to return to the
Western Hemisphere. 

"We think it's a bad idea," national security adviser Condoleezza Rice
told NBC's "Meet the Press." "We believe that President Aristide, in a
sense, forfeited his ability to lead his people, because he did not
govern democratically." 

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on CNN's "Late Edition," said: "The
hope is that he will not come back into the hemisphere and complicate
[the] situation." 

In Haiti, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, General Richard
Myers, said, "As far as AristideÂ’s return to the region is concerned,
if that increases the violence here, then that would be extremely
unhelpful." 

The US has also criticized Jamaica for offering to host Aristide.
"Jamaican authorities are certainly taking on a risk and a
responsibility," said James Foley, the US Ambassador to Haiti. "His
coming within 150 miles from Haiti is promoting violence." 

Jamaican Prime Minister Patterson, speaking as current chairman of the
15-nation CARICOM, has called for an international investigation into
the circumstances of Aristide's removal from Haiti February 29. The
53-nation African Union echoed that call last week. 

Earlier, Goodman reported that, as the stand-off ensued, the
delegation's pilots were on-board the plane for a number of hours,
awaiting word on whether the group would be allowed to leave. "That
answer has come and it appears to be yes," said Goodman, just moments
after the final round of talks between Aristide, Bozize and the
US/Jamaican delegation ended. 

Moments before the Aristides and the delegation left for the airport,
the Director General of State Protocol of the Central African Republic,
Stanislas Moussa-Kembe, told Goodman, who at the time was inside the
Presidential Palace in Bangui, that the Aristides would be allowed to
leave the Central African Republic immediately. He told Goodman, "You're
headed to the airport." 

Goodman was reporting from inside the Presidential Palace late into
Sunday night. She is now with Aristide and the delegation that came from
the US to escort him to Jamaica. They are expected to arrive in the
Caribbean nation midday Monday. 

NOTE: Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman has been in the Central African
Republic with a delegation led by US and Jamaican lawmakers, where she
has been reporting on the return of Aristide to the Caribbean. They are
currently on a plane en route to Jamaica. The delegation includes Rep.
Maxine Waters, TransAfrica founder and close friend of the Aristides,
Randall Robinson, Sharon Hay-Webster, an emissary of the Jamaican prime
minister, as well as Aristide's Miami-based lawyer, Ira Kurzban.
Washington Post reporter Peter Eisner is also with the group. 

This is a Democracy Now! global broadcast exclusive. Check the Democracy
Now! website regularly for the latest news on this historic trip.