Attack on transmission center silences Haitian radios

By Amy Bracken

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Armed men attacked several
independent Haitian radio stations on Tuesday, smashed transmission
systems and forced them off the air, a guard and staff at the stations
said.

Staff at some of the affected stations blamed government supporters
for the attacks, however, there was no definitive information on the
identities of attackers or their motives. In the past supporters of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have threatened independent radio
stations and have harassed and attacked journalists.

Government officials were not immediately available to comment.

UHF and microwave equipment used by seven radio stations, one
television station and the communications system of a bank were
destroyed in the attack at the transmission center at La Boule, in the
mountains above Port-au-Prince.

The guard, Bremar Vil, said that nine armed men drove up in a
four-wheel drive vehicle, tied him up and asked him where they could
find the transmitting machines for one independent radio station,
Radio Caraibes.

Vil said he told them he did not know and the men then smashed all the
equipment with batons.

One radio station and the television station whose equipment was
damaged are government-affiliated but the other radio stations are all
independent. For some of the stations, the equipment at La Boule was
the only way of getting on air.

Lilian Pierre-Paul, director of Radio Kiskaya, said she thought the
government was at fault because of its criticisms of the independent
media. The independent media have actively reported rising protests
against Aristide by opponents who accuse the president of
mismanagement and corruption.

"I was shocked because despite everything we never believed it would
come to this," said Anne Marie Issa, the director general of Signal
FM, one of the radio stations silenced.

Issa said that like other independent radio stations, hers had
received threats. She was skeptical there would an official
investigation into the attack.

Aristide is facing almost daily street protests by the opposition in a
three-year political stalemate sparked by a dispute over the results
of parliamentary elections in 2000.

Mark M. wrote:

Attack on transmission center silences Haitian radios

By Amy Bracken

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Armed men attacked several
independent Haitian radio stations on Tuesday, smashed transmission
systems and forced them off the air, a guard and staff at the stations
said.

Staff at some of the affected stations blamed government supporters
for the attacks, however, there was no definitive information on the
identities of attackers or their motives. In the past supporters of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have threatened independent radio
stations and have harassed and attacked journalists.

Government officials were not immediately available to comment.

UHF and microwave equipment used by seven radio stations, one
television station and the communications system of a bank were
destroyed in the attack at the transmission center at La Boule, in the
mountains above Port-au-Prince.

The guard, Bremar Vil, said that nine armed men drove up in a
four-wheel drive vehicle, tied him up and asked him where they could
find the transmitting machines for one independent radio station,
Radio Caraibes.

Vil said he told them he did not know and the men then smashed all the
equipment with batons.

One radio station and the television station whose equipment was
damaged are government-affiliated but the other radio stations are all
independent. For some of the stations, the equipment at La Boule was
the only way of getting on air.

Lilian Pierre-Paul, director of Radio Kiskaya, said she thought the
government was at fault because of its criticisms of the independent
media. The independent media have actively reported rising protests
against Aristide by opponents who accuse the president of
mismanagement and corruption.

"I was shocked because despite everything we never believed it would
come to this," said Anne Marie Issa, the director general of Signal
FM, one of the radio stations silenced.

Issa said that like other independent radio stations, hers had
received threats. She was skeptical there would an official
investigation into the attack.

Aristide is facing almost daily street protests by the opposition in a
three-year political stalemate sparked by a dispute over the results
of parliamentary elections in 2000.

Haiti is in a real pickle. I heard on Radio Netherlands that there are
no jobs (literally) and no way of peacefully ousting Aristide (unlike in
Venezuela where Hugo Chavez faces a referendum on his presidency-I wish
we had that power in the US). So it looks like Haiti is headed for a
revolution, and that means that US troops will be headed back to there.

"tommyknocker" wrote in message
...


Haiti is in a real pickle. I heard on Radio Netherlands that there are
no jobs (literally) and no way of peacefully ousting Aristide

Isn't Aristide backed by the US? Seems I remember something like that from
back a while..

TK,

The former Catholic Priest Mr. Aristide was part of the
Revolutionary Theology fraction in the Latin American church.

Regardless of Aristide's Politics of Theology: Aristide is a
Self Appointed Elitist; Who KNOWS that He Knows What Is Best for
the People of Haiti; and that the People of Haiti have NO Voice
in His Leadership.

For HE Is The LEADER and they are simple the people.

REMEMBER: Mr. Aristide was placed in Power by President Clinton
when he sent in US Troups to Install Aristide as the LEADER of Haiti.
NEXT: There was an 'election' in Haiti after Mr. Aristide was in control.
NOTE: Former president Jimmy Carter was an Observer and Annoited
the then LEADER Mr. Aristide as the President of Haiti (For Life).


~ RHF
..
..
= = = tommyknocker
= = = wrote in message ...
Mark M. wrote:

Attack on transmission center silences Haitian radios

By Amy Bracken

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Armed men attacked several
independent Haitian radio stations on Tuesday, smashed transmission
systems and forced them off the air, a guard and staff at the stations
said.

Staff at some of the affected stations blamed government supporters
for the attacks, however, there was no definitive information on the
identities of attackers or their motives. In the past supporters of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have threatened independent radio
stations and have harassed and attacked journalists.

Government officials were not immediately available to comment.

UHF and microwave equipment used by seven radio stations, one
television station and the communications system of a bank were
destroyed in the attack at the transmission center at La Boule, in the
mountains above Port-au-Prince.

The guard, Bremar Vil, said that nine armed men drove up in a
four-wheel drive vehicle, tied him up and asked him where they could
find the transmitting machines for one independent radio station,
Radio Caraibes.

Vil said he told them he did not know and the men then smashed all the
equipment with batons.

One radio station and the television station whose equipment was
damaged are government-affiliated but the other radio stations are all
independent. For some of the stations, the equipment at La Boule was
the only way of getting on air.

Lilian Pierre-Paul, director of Radio Kiskaya, said she thought the
government was at fault because of its criticisms of the independent
media. The independent media have actively reported rising protests
against Aristide by opponents who accuse the president of
mismanagement and corruption.

"I was shocked because despite everything we never believed it would
come to this," said Anne Marie Issa, the director general of Signal
FM, one of the radio stations silenced.

Issa said that like other independent radio stations, hers had
received threats. She was skeptical there would an official
investigation into the attack.

Aristide is facing almost daily street protests by the opposition in a
three-year political stalemate sparked by a dispute over the results
of parliamentary elections in 2000.

Haiti is in a real pickle. I heard on Radio Netherlands that there are
no jobs (literally) and no way of peacefully ousting Aristide (unlike in
Venezuela where Hugo Chavez faces a referendum on his presidency-I wish
we had that power in the US). So it looks like Haiti is headed for a
revolution, and that means that US troops will be headed back to there.

TK,

REMEMBER: Mr. Aristide was placed in Power by President Clinton when
he sent in US Troups to 'install' Mr. Aristide as the LEADER of Haiti.

NEXT: There was an 'election' in Haiti after Mr. Aristide was in control.

NOTE: Former president Jimmy Carter was an Observer and Annoited
the then LEADER Mr. Aristide as the President of Haiti (For Life).

BACKGROUND: The former Catholic Priest Mr. Aristide was part of
the Revolutionary Theology fraction in the Latin American church.

FWIW: Regardless of Aristide's Politics of Theology:
Aristide is a Self Appointed Elitist "The LEADER" [ Fuhrer ]
Who KNOWS that "He Knows What Is Best for the People of Haiti"
Translation: That the People of Haiti have NO Voice in His Leadership.

TBL: For HE Is The LEADER and they are simple the people.


~ RHF
..
..
= = = "Brenda Ann"
= = = wrote in message ...
"tommyknocker" wrote in message
...

Haiti is in a real pickle. I heard on Radio Netherlands that there
are no jobs (literally) and no way of peacefully ousting Aristide

Isn't Aristide backed by the US? Seems I remember something like
that from back a while.

..

RHF wrote:

TK,

The former Catholic Priest Mr. Aristide was part of the
Revolutionary Theology fraction in the Latin American church.

Regardless of Aristide's Politics of Theology: Aristide is a
Self Appointed Elitist; Who KNOWS that He Knows What Is Best for
the People of Haiti; and that the People of Haiti have NO Voice
in His Leadership.

For HE Is The LEADER and they are simple the people.

REMEMBER: Mr. Aristide was placed in Power by President Clinton
when he sent in US Troups to Install Aristide as the LEADER of Haiti.
NEXT: There was an 'election' in Haiti after Mr. Aristide was in control.
NOTE: Former president Jimmy Carter was an Observer and Annoited
the then LEADER Mr. Aristide as the President of Haiti (For Life).

~ RHF
.
.
= = = tommyknocker
= = = wrote in message ...
Mark M. wrote:

Attack on transmission center silences Haitian radios

By Amy Bracken

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Armed men attacked several
independent Haitian radio stations on Tuesday, smashed transmission
systems and forced them off the air, a guard and staff at the stations
said.

Staff at some of the affected stations blamed government supporters
for the attacks, however, there was no definitive information on the
identities of attackers or their motives. In the past supporters of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have threatened independent radio
stations and have harassed and attacked journalists.

Government officials were not immediately available to comment.

UHF and microwave equipment used by seven radio stations, one
television station and the communications system of a bank were
destroyed in the attack at the transmission center at La Boule, in the
mountains above Port-au-Prince.

The guard, Bremar Vil, said that nine armed men drove up in a
four-wheel drive vehicle, tied him up and asked him where they could
find the transmitting machines for one independent radio station,
Radio Caraibes.

Vil said he told them he did not know and the men then smashed all the
equipment with batons.

One radio station and the television station whose equipment was
damaged are government-affiliated but the other radio stations are all
independent. For some of the stations, the equipment at La Boule was
the only way of getting on air.

Lilian Pierre-Paul, director of Radio Kiskaya, said she thought the
government was at fault because of its criticisms of the independent
media. The independent media have actively reported rising protests
against Aristide by opponents who accuse the president of
mismanagement and corruption.

"I was shocked because despite everything we never believed it would
come to this," said Anne Marie Issa, the director general of Signal
FM, one of the radio stations silenced.

Issa said that like other independent radio stations, hers had
received threats. She was skeptical there would an official
investigation into the attack.

Aristide is facing almost daily street protests by the opposition in a
three-year political stalemate sparked by a dispute over the results
of parliamentary elections in 2000.

Haiti is in a real pickle. I heard on Radio Netherlands that there are
no jobs (literally) and no way of peacefully ousting Aristide (unlike in
Venezuela where Hugo Chavez faces a referendum on his presidency-I wish
we had that power in the US). So it looks like Haiti is headed for a
revolution, and that means that US troops will be headed back to there.

Was in Haiti in the 1970's, what a place! Soldiers or Ton-Ton Makut on every
corner downtown.

One of the poorest places I'd ever seen. Quite depressing.

I doubt if things have changed much in the ensuing years.

Steve
Holland, MI
Drake R7, R8 and R8B
"I swear by, not at, Drake receivers" ©

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm

RHF wrote:

TK,

The former Catholic Priest Mr. Aristide was part of the
Revolutionary Theology fraction in the Latin American church.

Regardless of Aristide's Politics of Theology: Aristide is a
Self Appointed Elitist; Who KNOWS that He Knows What Is Best for
the People of Haiti; and that the People of Haiti have NO Voice
in His Leadership.

For HE Is The LEADER and they are simple the people.

REMEMBER: Mr. Aristide was placed in Power by President Clinton
when he sent in US Troups to Install Aristide as the LEADER of Haiti.
NEXT: There was an 'election' in Haiti after Mr. Aristide was in control.
NOTE: Former president Jimmy Carter was an Observer and Annoited
the then LEADER Mr. Aristide as the President of Haiti (For Life).

~ RHF
.
.
= = = tommyknocker
= = = wrote in message ...
Mark M. wrote:

Attack on transmission center silences Haitian radios

By Amy Bracken

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Armed men attacked several
independent Haitian radio stations on Tuesday, smashed transmission
systems and forced them off the air, a guard and staff at the stations
said.

Staff at some of the affected stations blamed government supporters
for the attacks, however, there was no definitive information on the
identities of attackers or their motives. In the past supporters of
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide have threatened independent radio
stations and have harassed and attacked journalists.

Government officials were not immediately available to comment.

UHF and microwave equipment used by seven radio stations, one
television station and the communications system of a bank were
destroyed in the attack at the transmission center at La Boule, in the
mountains above Port-au-Prince.

The guard, Bremar Vil, said that nine armed men drove up in a
four-wheel drive vehicle, tied him up and asked him where they could
find the transmitting machines for one independent radio station,
Radio Caraibes.

Vil said he told them he did not know and the men then smashed all the
equipment with batons.

One radio station and the television station whose equipment was
damaged are government-affiliated but the other radio stations are all
independent. For some of the stations, the equipment at La Boule was
the only way of getting on air.

Lilian Pierre-Paul, director of Radio Kiskaya, said she thought the
government was at fault because of its criticisms of the independent
media. The independent media have actively reported rising protests
against Aristide by opponents who accuse the president of
mismanagement and corruption.

"I was shocked because despite everything we never believed it would
come to this," said Anne Marie Issa, the director general of Signal
FM, one of the radio stations silenced.

Issa said that like other independent radio stations, hers had
received threats. She was skeptical there would an official
investigation into the attack.

Aristide is facing almost daily street protests by the opposition in a
three-year political stalemate sparked by a dispute over the results
of parliamentary elections in 2000.

Haiti is in a real pickle. I heard on Radio Netherlands that there are
no jobs (literally) and no way of peacefully ousting Aristide (unlike in
Venezuela where Hugo Chavez faces a referendum on his presidency-I wish
we had that power in the US). So it looks like Haiti is headed for a
revolution, and that means that US troops will be headed back to there.

Was in Haiti in the 1970's, what a place! Soldiers or tontine Makut on every
corner downtown.

One of the poorest places I'd ever seen. Quite depressing.

I doubt if things have changed much in the ensuing years.

Steve
Holland, MI
Drake R7, R8 and R8B
"I swear by, not at, Drake receivers" ©

http://www.iserv.net/~n8kdv/dxpage.htm

"N8KDV" wrote in message
...


Was in Haiti in the 1970's, what a place! Soldiers or tontine Makut on
every
corner downtown.

One of the poorest places I'd ever seen. Quite depressing.

I think Haiti was the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere at one time.

DeWayne

Steve & DeWayne,

Whether it was the 'evil' Papa Doc or Baby Doc Dictators.
(Translation: Capitalist Ring-Wing Dictator-Murderer.)

- = O R = -

The 'good' ex-priest President for Life Mr Aristide.
(Translation: Socialist-Maxist Dictator-Murderer.)

Makes NO Difference to the Haitian People:

* They Still Live in Fear for their Lives and the Wellbeing
of their faimlies and friends.

* They Still are Poor.

* They Still are NOT Free for a Dictatorship.


ssi ~ RHF
..
..
= = = "DeWayne" wrote in message ...
= = = "N8KDV" wrote in message
...


Was in Haiti in the 1970's, what a place! Soldiers or tontine Makut on
every
corner downtown.

One of the poorest places I'd ever seen. Quite depressing.

I think Haiti was the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere at one time.

DeWayne

..

"RHF" wrote in message
om...
Steve & DeWayne,

Whether it was the 'evil' Papa Doc or Baby Doc Dictators.
(Translation: Capitalist Ring-Wing Dictator-Murderer.)

- = O R = -

The 'good' ex-priest President for Life Mr Aristide.
(Translation: Socialist-Maxist Dictator-Murderer.)

Makes NO Difference to the Haitian People:

* They Still Live in Fear for their Lives and the Wellbeing
of their faimlies and friends.

Worse than Cuba?


* They Still are Poor.

* They Still are NOT Free for a Dictatorship.


ssi ~ RHF
.
.
= = = "DeWayne" wrote in message
...
= = = "N8KDV" wrote in message
...


Was in Haiti in the 1970's, what a place! Soldiers or tontine Makut on
every
corner downtown.

One of the poorest places I'd ever seen. Quite depressing.

I think Haiti was the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere at one
time.

DeWayne

.