Glover boycotts cruise to Haiti
Lethal Weapon actor Danny Glover has boycotted a cruise to Haiti that he helped to organise, over the ousting of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and the US-backed interim government that replaced him.
The US organisers of the cruise, commemorating Haiti’s 200th anniversary of independence, have cancelled most tours in the country, but Glover, who helped organise the seven-day event, pulled out of the trip altogether.
The cruise, billed as “Cruising Into History”, is due to arrive in Haiti on Wednesday with about 500 Americans on board, but the trip has been confined to an isolated strip of beach after opposition from groups opposed to the interim government.
“Due to the increasingly critical political situation in Haiti, which resulted in a loss of life, oppression and incarceration of thousands of Haitians, I have cancelled my participation,” Glover said before the cruise set sail on Saturday.
Organisers cancelled visits to about 10 sites in Haiti where preparations for festivals and performances began two years ago. Haiti marked its 200th anniversary of independence from France on January 1.
Organiser Ron Daniels, of the non-profit Haiti Support Project, announced the cancellations on Wednesday, saying that otherwise it “could be construed as endorsing or legitimising the US-installed government”.
The passengers now plan to stay on the northern beach of Labadee because doing so “does not require any logistical support, security, assistance or participation from this regime”, Daniels said.
President Aristide left Haiti on February 29 during a bloody three-week rebellion. Aristide has accused the United States of co-operating with the rebels and kidnapping him, an allegation Washington has denied.
The Caribbean Community has called for an investigation, and the Organisation of American States agreed to look into the circumstances of Aristide’s departure. Aristide is in temporary exile in South Africa.
