Fanmi Lavalas is unquestionably the most popular party in the country, yet the “international community,” led by the United States, France and Canada, has done everything possible to undermine Aristide and Lavalas, overthrowing him twice by military coups in 1991 and 2004 and banishing Aristide, who now lives in South Africa with his family, from the Americas.

A United Nations army, led by Brazil, still occupies Haiti six years after the coup. Their unstated mission, under the name of “peacekeeping,” is to suppress the popular movement and prevent the return to power of Aristide’s Lavalas Party. One must understand a Wyclef Jean candidacy, first of all, in this context.

Every election since a 67 percent majority first brought Aristide to power in 1990 has demonstrated the enormous popularity of the Lavalas movement. When Lavalas could run, they won overwhelmingly. In 2006, when security conditions did not permit them to run candidates, they voted and demonstrated to make sure Rene Preval, a former Lavalas president, was re-elected.

Preval, however, turned against those who voted for him. He scheduled elections for 12 Senate seats in 2009 and supported the Electoral Council’s rejection of all Lavalas candidates. Lavalas called for a boycott, and as few as 3 percent of Haitians voted, with fewer than 1 percent voting in the runoff, once again demonstrating the people’s love and respect for President Aristide.

Fanmi Lavalas has already been banned from the next round of elections, so enter Wyclef Jean. Jean comes from a prominent Haitian family that has virulently opposed Lavalas since the 1990 elections. His uncle is Raymond Joseph – also a rumored presidential candidate – who became Haitian ambassador to the United States under the coup government and remains so today. Kevin Pina writes in “It’s not all about that! Wyclef Jean is fronting in Haiti,” Joseph is “the co-publisher of Haiti Observateur, a right-wing rag that has been an apologist for the killers in the Haitian military going back as far as the brutal coup against Aristide in 1991.
“On Oct. 26 [2004] Haitian police entered the pro-Aristide slum of Fort Nationale and summarily executed 13 young men. Wyclef Jean said nothing. On Oct. 28 the Haitian police executed five young men, babies really, in the pro-Aristide slum of Bel Air. Wyclef said nothing. If Wyclef really wants to be part of Haiti’s political dialogue, he would acknowledge these facts. Unfortunately, Wyclef is fronting.”

As if to prove it, the Miami Herald reported on Feb. 28, 2010, “Secret polling by foreign powers in search of a new face to lead Haiti’s reconstruction …” might favor Jean’s candidacy, as someone with sufficient name recognition who could draw enough votes to overcome another Lavalas electoral boycott.

Wyclef Jean supported the 2004 coup. When gun-running former army and death squad members trained by the CIA were overrunning Haiti’s north on Feb. 25, 2004, MTV’s Gideon Yago wrote, “Wyclef Jean voiced his support for Haitian rebels on Wednesday, calling on embattled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to step down and telling his fans in Haiti to ‘keep their head up’ as the country braces itself for possible civil war.”

During the Obama inaugural celebration, Jean famously and perversely serenaded Colin Powell, the Bush administration secretary of state during the U.S. destabilization campaign and eventual coup against Aristide, with Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”

Jean also produced the movie, “The Ghosts of Cite Soleil,” an anti-Aristide and Lavalas hit piece, which tells us that President Aristide left voluntarily, without mention of his kidnapping by the U.S. military, and presents the main coup leaders in a favorable light. It features interviews with sweatshop owners Andy Apaid and Charles Henry Baker without telling us they hate Aristide because he raised the minimum wage and sought to give all Haitians a seat at the table by democratizing Haiti’s economy, a program opposed by the rich in Haiti.

It uncritically interviews coup leader Louis Jodel Chamblain, without telling us he worked with the Duvalier dictatorship’s brutal militia, the Tonton Macoutes, in the 1980s; that following the coup against Aristide in 1991, he was the “operations guy” for the FRAPH paramilitary death squad, accused of murdering uncounted numbers of Aristide supporters and introducing gang rape into Haiti as a military weapon.

It uncritically interviews coup leader Guy Phillipe, without telling us he’s a former Haitian police chief who was trained by U.S. Special Forces in Ecuador in the early 1990s or that the U.S. embassy admitted that Phillipe was involved in the transhipment of narcotics, one of the key sources of funds for paramilitary attacks on the poor in Haiti.

Wyclef runs the Yele Haiti Foundation, which the Washington Post reported on Jan. 16, 2010, is under fiscal scrutiny because “(i)t seems clear that a significant amount of the monies that this charity raises go for costs other than providing benefits to Haitians in need … In 2006, Yele Haiti had about $1 million in revenue, according to tax documents. More than a third of the money went to payments to related parties, said lawyer James Joseph … (T)he charity recorded a payment of $250,000 to Telemax, a TV station and production company in Haiti in which Jean and Jerry Duplessis, both members of Yele Haiti’s board of directors, had a controlling interest. The charity paid about $31,000 in rent to Platinum Sound, a Manhattan recording studio owned by Jean and Duplessis. And it spent an additional $100,000 for Jean’s performance at a benefit concert in Monaco.” A foundation spokesperson “said the group hopes to spend a higher percentage of its budget on services as it gains experience.”

PLEASE SPREAD THE NEWS: “WYCLEF JEAN IS NOT A FRIEND OF THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT OF HAITI.” The floating of his candidacy is just one more effort by the international forces, desperate to put a smiley face on a murderous military occupation, to undermine the will of the Haitian majority by making Wyclef Jean the Ronald Reagan of Haiti.

Let us be clear. Jean and his uncle, the Haitian ambassador to the U.S., are both cozy with the self-appointed czar of Haiti, Bill Clinton, whose plans for the Caribbean nation are to make it a neo-colony for a reconstructed tourist industry and a pool of cheap labor for U.S. factories. Wyclef Jean is the perfect front man. The Haitian elite and its U.S./U.N. sponsors are counting on his appeal to the youth to derail the people’s movement for democracy and their call for the return of President Aristide. Most Haitians will not be hoodwinked by the likes of Wyclef Jean.

Charlie Hinton is a member of the Haiti Action Committee and works at Inkworks Press, a worker owned and managed printing company in Berkeley. He may be reached at ch_lifewish@yahoo.com.

Published opinions are not the view of the staff, volunteers or supporters of The Hartford Guardian.

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Go figure. The richest dead celebrity might just be a young lass who grew up in the ghetto of Kingston, Jamaica. Check out this article from Fortune magazine.

TORONTO   – Is reggae superstar Bob Marley bigger than Jesus? That’s debatable, but the music legend who died 28 years ago is about to challenge Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson for the title of richest dead celebrity.

Toronto-based private-equity firm Hilco Consumer Capital has struck a management deal with the Marley estate, which is expected to generate worldwide annual sales in excess of $1 billion by 2012. That seems like a huge number, but by some estimates the Marley name, sound, and image already generate as much as $600 million in pirated merchandise.

“Marley is a strong global brand,” says Mickey Goodman, a professional marketer and professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business. “He enjoys a high level of awareness, and people feel positive about his music.”

Major licensing agreements for the Marley brand are about to be launched in two key areas: consumer electronics — including headphones, docking stations, and speakers — and health care, which will likely feature skin-care products and herbal supplements. Also in the works, according to Hilco, are deals for a Marley-branded calming beverage, a video game similar to Guitar Hero featuring Marley’s songs, and a chain of restaurants celebrating the music superstar.

Could this be commercial overkill for the Rastafarian whose spiritual songs about social injustice, hope, and redemption have become anthems for billions of fans, from Marrakech to Tokyo, and will it alienate them?

This is not just about money,” says Jamie Salter, Hilco’s chief executive. “We have to believe in the people and products we partner with.” Salter adds that the Marley estate will have final say on all business ventures, and that charities will figure into the overall mix of Marley branding.

Licensing of dead celebrities is an industry that has exploded in the last decade, thanks in large part to the proliferation of websites and blogs devoted to their memory. Typically, an estate receives 10% to 15% of gross proceeds from a licensing deal, which in this case will be divided between Hilco and the Marley family.

The artist who created such reggae hits as “One Love,” “No Woman, No Cry,” and “I Shot the Sheriff” fathered a total of 13 children, some out of wedlock, and it’s not clear how many are included in the estate. Salter declined to explain how proceeds will be divided between his management company — which also has an equity stake in a number of high-profile brands, including Polaroid, Sharper Image, and fashion label Halston — and the Marleys.

However, at a conservative 10%, licensing fees from $1 billion in annual sales should pull in about $100 million for Hilco and the Marleys. That tops the latest figures reported for Presley ($55 million), John Lennon ($15 million), and Jimi Hendrix ($8 million).

Michael Jackson — who is worth more dead than alive <http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/23/news/companies/michael_jackson_money_assets.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2009102314>  with an estimated $90 million in earnings in the last 12 months — appears to be Marley’s nearest rival for the richest-dead-celebrity crown. However, much of Jackson’s reversal of fortune is due to a sharp spike in the sales of his albums and merchandise in the weeks following his death, as well as the one-time success of “This Is It,” a film documenting rehearsals for shows he never performed at London’s O2 arena.

But the danger of operating the Marley marketing machine in overdrive is that it could irreparably harm the natural mystic’s image. Some brand experts now view Elvis as more of a caricature than icon as a result of overexposure.

For Sanjay Sood, director of the Entertainment & Media Management Institute at UCLA, there’s one question to ask: If Marley were alive today, would he want his name associated with a particular product? “A lot of artists would say ‘no,’” says Sood. “Otherwise, they would have done it when they were alive.”

Presley’s estate, which is managed by New York-based CKX, launched a line of clothing that turned out to be a bust. (CKX also controls the Muhammad Ali brand and has an equity stake in the company that produces the “American Idol” television show.)

More recently, Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono has licensed her husband’s song “Real Love” to be used by JC Penny (JCP <http://money.cnn.com/quote/quote.html?symb=JCP&source=story_quote_link> , Fortune 500 <http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune500/2009/snapshots/2284.html?source=story_f500_link> ) in television ads, and she’s given Ben & Jerry’s ice cream permission to release a Lennon-inspired flavor called “Imagine Whirled Peace.”

Salter of Hilco says the Marley brand has a long way to go before reaching saturation, noting he also considered doing business with the Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe, and Jimi Hendrix estates, but settled on the Rastafarian from Trench Town, Jamaica, because that’s where he says he saw the biggest potential.

There has never been a better time, it seems, to be a dead celebrity — or perhaps, more precisely, the heir to a dead celebrity’s name.  <http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/20/news/companies/bob_marley.fortune/index.htm?cnn=yes>  Picture (Device Independent Bitmap)

The naturally talented musician, singer, songwriter, and entertainer released his album Awake May 26 and is playing select dates on the Blazed & Confused tour with Snoop Dogg, Slightly Stoopid, and brother Stephen.
In October, he comes to Hartford. And his brother, Stephen Marley, will join him Oct. 16 at the West Indian Social Club.

The May 2009 release of Awake comes on the heels of an emotionally charged year. Awake is a call for everyone – youths and elders – to awaken to life’s joy and rewards and to live positive.

The roots-reggae sound that Julian has distinctly made his own is supported by the street-energy infusion of hip-hop, bubbling dancehall, and a smooth combination of R&B and reggae.

The first single from Awake is “Boom Draw,” an easy roots-dancehall tune that will surely have fans moving to its rock solid rhythm. More great tracks on Awake include “Little to Late” with Stephen Marley on guest vocals, “Violence in the Street” with Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, and “Oh Girl” featuring American rapper Mr. Cheeks.

Awake is produced by Julian Marley, along with Stephen and Damian Marley.