Tens of thousands of Haitians took to the streets on May 18 to call for the return of democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and for an end to the country’s foreign military occupation.

Haitian police units backed up by U.S. Marines fired in the air and into crowds, killing at least one demonstrator. Saintus “Titus” Simpson, 23, of Delmas 33 was shot in the head, spilling his brain, as demonstrators approached the central Champ de Mars square.

Marguerite Laurent of the Haitian Lawyers Leadership cited sources saying that at least four people died. “One Haitian woman seized the fourth body that fell next to her and refused to give it to the Marines,” Laurent reported. “She removed all her clothes to show she had no weapons while Marines surrounded her at gunpoint. She cursed in Kreyol, calling on the revolutionary ancestors and shouting “Liberte ou lamo!” (Liberty or death!) She picked up the body herself and put it on her bare back, daring the Marines to kill her also while she carried it away.”

Radio Ginen reported that it had unconfirmed reports of at least nine people killed. Radio Solidarité reported that people were wounded in La Saline.

The march began in front of the Perpetual Church in Belair around 9:45 a.m.. It traveled only a few blocks to Rue Montalais, when, at about 10:20 a.m., the police’s Company for Intervention to Maintain Order (CIMO) fired tear-gas and shots in the air to disperse the crowd.

But within an hour, demonstrators had regrouped in Belair, Solino, Fort National and Lalue and restarted their march toward the National Palace. But when they arrived in the vicinity of the Cathedral, the police began firing wildly into crowds. By 12:40 p.m., the march was over, never having reached its destination, Constitution Square on the Champs de Mars.

U.S. and Haitian de facto authorities did their best to discourage the giant turn-out. Police spokesman Jean Yonel Trecil claimed that the demonstration was illegal because the police had received no notice of the demonstration 48 hours beforehand. He was apparently unaware that Police Capt. James Altidor had signed a May 12 receipt for a letter from popular organizations informing the police of the May 18 march.

The night before the march, U.S. helicopters flew and hovered low all over the city, Washington’s now common form of psychological warfare in Haiti. Armored vehicles and ambulances were massed around the Palace on the morning of the march.

There were many arrests during the day. A Haïti Progrès journalist observed the CIMO arrest three unarmed young men who had done nothing illegal. They were driven away in a pick-up.

On the 201st anniversary of the Haitian flag, the central theme of the demonstration was “After 200 years, the struggle continues to hoist the flag of dignity and democracy.” Demonstrators also denounced the deteriorating living conditions in Haiti since Aristide’s Feb. 29 departure and the violence of government, “rebel” and occupation forces.

Meanwhile, in Gonaïves on May 18, Butteur Métayer and Guy Philippe, two mercurial leaders of the “rebellion” against Aristide, denounced the presence of French troops in Haiti, according to Agence France Presse. “The French whites are humiliating us,” Métayer said. “They search our homes and our cars.”

“Two hundred years after independence, we are under occupation,” Philippe echoed.

The two “rebels” made the remarks at a ceremony to form their new political party, the National Reconstruction Front.

Other forces which invited and facilitated Aristide’s overthrow and Haiti’s occupation have also been striking an “anti-occupation” stance as popular rage grows. About 100 students of the GNB (Grenn nan Bounda), junior partners of the Haitian bourgeoisie’s Group of 184 alliance, also marched in Port-au-Prince to call for foreign troops to pull out. But, the Haitian people distrust such new-found nationalism as phony, just like that of Métayer and Philippe.

Elmont, NY:
Haitian-American Students Punished for Flag Day Pride

Haitian-American students in Elmont, NY say they were not allowed to wear the Haitian flag in their highschool on May 18, Haiti’s Flag Day.

School authorities stopped Haitian-American students as they entered Elmont Memorial High School and confiscated the Haitian flags that many carried or wrapped around their head or neck. Students who wore clothing emblazoned with the Haitian bicolor were forced to either change their clothes or wear a jacket to cover the flag. Those who did not or could not comply were placed in a room under “In School Suspension” or ISS. Despite the testimony of many students about the flag interdiction, the school’s principal and superintendent deny that flags were systematically seized.

“As I came into school, I had my Haitian flag in my pants’ pocket and an assistant principal grabbed it from me,” said Britney Vincent, 13, a 7th grader. “He said that no one was going to be wearing the flag that day. He was taking it from everybody who had one. He gave no reason.”

Elmont, which lies in Long Island’s Nassau County just east of the border with Queens, has a large Haitian population. The majority of the school’s 2000 students are of Haitian ancestry.

About a dozen students who could not remove the flag from their clothing were herded into the ISS room. One of them was 13-year-old Tasha Joseph, another 7th grader, who wore a dress which said “Haiti” on top and had a flag on the bottom.

“It was a beautiful outfit,” said Paula Joseph, Tasha’s mother. Paula was leaving for work when an assistant principal called her to request that she bring her daughter replacement clothes.

In a school bathroom, Paula watched as Tasha changed outfits. “Other students came in and asked us ‘Why do they treat the Haitians like this?;” Paula said. “I felt terrible.”

Afterwards, Paula asked the assistant principal why he was carrying out this policy. “He didn’t answer me,” she said. “I left because I felt so humiliated and I didn’t want him to see me cry.” Paula was late for work.

Patricia Louis, 12, briefly resisted when her 7th grade teacher demanded that she hand over the flag that he saw in her pocket. “At first I said no, but then he just took it,” she said. As punishment, she was sent to ISS from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.

“I hid my flag under my shirt so they wouldn’t take it,” said Edwin Pierre-Louis, 15, another 7th grader. “But I was mad that they treated us like that on our national day.”