Haiti: Aristide in Cuba According to Venezuelan Media

_{President Jean Bertrand Aristide and first lady, Mildred Trouillot on a plane from back when he was forced into exile. Photo Source: Elbrollo.com}

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For further information on the Venezuelan reports, on Jan 30, 2011, go to the Ezili/HLLN website.

This false report generated more CLICKS than we've gotten since the announcement of the Haiti earthquake! Folks in Haiti say South Africa probably would fly President Aristide out to Cuba and Venezuela who are friendly to this, but apparently, and we don't know if this is true, the Euro/US and their client states won't allow a plane carrying the greatest symbol of the voice of the majority of Haiti's peoples to re-fuel in their territory or client states' territory. The rumor is that they've asked Brazil, supposedly the closest to Haiti a plane from SA could fly without refueling and Brazil, as head of the UN lucrative poverty-pimping operation in Haiti, is not too welcoming about the idea. That's the Haiti rumor going around for two weeks now.

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Monday, Jan. 31, 2011, 7:38pm

Green Light for the Return of Aristide

Source: Radio Canada

The Haitian government said Monday it would not oppose the return of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

In a statement from the Interior Ministry, the Haitian authorities say they are ready to issue a passport to Aristide who has lived in exile in South Africa since 2004.

"The Government of the Republic gives assurances that as soon as a demand is produced, such a request will be honored promptly," said Interior Minister Paul Antoine Bien-Aime, in this release.

The Minister further stated that an expired passport is not an obstacle to the return of a citizen in his native Haiti. However, if stops are necessary for the traveler of Haiti,* it must take appropriate action.

In mid-January, shortly after former dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier returned to Port-au-Prince, Aristide had expressed his desire to also return home. He said however that authorities had not acted on his passport application.

Counsel for Jean-Bertrand Aristide told the Associated Press that his client was still in South Africa, and had not yet received a passport.
The former president of Haiti was ousted by a coup in 2004.

Press the Haitian Ministry of Interior

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Monday,
Jan. 31, 2011, 1:34 p.m.

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Letter to Haiti government from Ira Kurzban requesting delivery of agreed-to passport for Pres. Aristide and requisite security for immediate return

--- On Mon, 1/31/11, Ira Kurzban wrote:

From: Ira Kurzban
Subject: Return of President Aristide
Date: Monday, January 31, 2011, 1:34 PM

Many of you have contacted me regarding President Aristide’s current status. I spoke with the President today and he authorized me to inform you that he is not in Cuba or Venezuela but remains in South Africa. As he has stated many times, he desires to return to Haiti as quickly as possible. To further his prompt return to Haiti, I have this day, as his counsel, forwarded the following Letter to appropriate officials in the government of Rene Preval, President of the Republic of Haiti... Ira Kurzban

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(See, PDF of Letter from Ira Kurzman to Haitian government, Jan. 31, 2011.)

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Associated Press
Monday,
Jan. 31, 2011, 3:07 p.m.

January 31, 2011

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Haiti Agrees to Issue Passport for Aristide, Lawyer Says

By GINGER THOMPSON | Published: January 31, 2011 | Source: New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Haitian government has agreed to issue a diplomatic passport to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, his lawyer said Monday, potentially dropping a major hurdle that has prevented Mr. Aristide from returning home after seven years in exile.

The lawyer, Ira Kurzban, said he was notified of Haiti’s decision last week. He said he sent a letter to Haitian authorities on Monday requesting that Mr. Aristide’s passport be “issued immediately, and that plans for his return commence immediately.”

A senior Haitian official told Reuters that Haiti’s Council of Ministers, under the direction of President René Préval, agreed to issue Mr. Aristide a passport if he asked for one. That decision was a significant reversal for Mr. Préval, who had refused Mr. Aristide’s request for a passport for years, partly in response to international pressure.

Mr. Aristide, the firebrand slum priest who became this country’s first democratically elected president in 1990, was ousted from power twice. The last time was in 2004, under intense pressure by the United States and the threat of invasion by armed insurgents.

Since then, Mr. Aristide and his supporters have made numerous public appeals asking officials to allow him to return to Haiti. Those appeals intensified two weeks ago when the former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier managed a surprise return home, ending 25 years in exile.

Last week, Mr. Aristide’s supporters took out a full-page ad in The Miami Herald demanding his return. The ad was signed by prominent supporters including Dr. Paul Farmer, the deputy United Nations envoy to Haiti. Since then, rumors have swirled across Haiti that Mr. Aristide had flown to Cuba or Venezuela to plot his own surprise return. Mr. Kurzban said that Mr. Aristide remained in South Africa, where he has lived in exile.

The State Department did not comment Monday on Haiti’s decision.

The United States and several other countries, including France and Canada, which provide millions of dollars in support to Haiti, the Western hemisphere’s poorest country, have expressed concern that Mr. Aristide’s return could destabilize the country as it struggles to resolve a hotly contested presidential election.

Asked why Mr. Aristide wanted to return, Mr. Kurzban said, “He wants to return as a private citizen, to help his country.”