12-20-2001
Letter sent to U.S. Embassy - Haiti December 20, 2001
Embassy of the United States of America Port-au-Prince - Haiti

Attention : Commercial Section

My name is Georges Saati, a United States citizen residing in Miami Florida with business concerns in the Republic of Haiti.

I would like to call your attention to some violent incidents I have been the victim of in the past couple of weeks in Port-au-Prince. Sometime last week, some 50 hooded men wearing black police uniforms arrived at my place of business located at: Rue Courbe #47, in Port-au-Prince. They were accompanied by an ambulance; two pick up trucks from DGI (Tax Office) and a Haitian "Juge de Paix". They threatened my security personnel with heavy weapons and stated that they were sent to close down the business due to non payment of taxes. That statement is a fallacy. According to my knowledge as a businessman, with many years of experience on the field, this manner of proceeding is highly unusual and in no way complies with any laws and regulations in force.

On Tuesday December 18, 2001, the same scenario was repeated at that same address minus the "Juge de Paix" and the tax story. Some 50 hooded men, heavily armed arrived at the aforesaid address, scared away the street vendors, broke down the steel doors and proceeded to loot the place. They made off with merchandise and equipment roughly estimated at US$300,000. The following morning, December 19, 2001, my company sent a welder and some other workers to repair the doors and close down the now empty space. In the presence of onlookers and members of the press, some of these same unidentifiable people refused to allow them to do their job. But that was not to be the end. That same afternoon, a larger number of these men, still heavily armed, still accompanied by an ambulance traveled to SIMI (my company) warehouses located in Buildings 23 and 31 at the SHODECOSA Industrial Park. The only difference is that this time they came with three trucks and stated that they were sent by President Aristide and that this was only the beginning of a large scale "dechoukaj" of businesses who wished to destabilize the Lavalas Government. After instructing my security agents to lie on the floor, they took their weapons and proceeded to break the license plates and windows of some 50 to 70 company trucks and vans. Once this deed was done, they broke into the warehouses and began to load their three trucks with merchandise and a safe which was kept on the premises. Since they could not load every thing on their trucks, they left promising to return for the rest. The company's loss at these locations are estimated at between US$ 2 to 3 million. The reporters who came to investigate the matter were threatened and could only report certain facts. The incident was however accurately reported on some media of the Diaspora.

Today, December 20th, I am in my office in Miami and do not know what harm is being vested on my property in a country where the US deployed thousands of troops only a few years back to "restore democracy". I am at a loss as to what to do now, and know not what today will bring.

I do not know if the US Embassy in Haiti could intervene or at least provide me with some assistance in at least clarifying the matter, but I felt it was important to inform you of the anarchy which is prevalent in Haiti today which is being perpetrated with the help and protection of the police force trained by our country for a very different purpose indeed.

Sincerely yours,
Georges Sami Saati
President/CEO
Supporter of Democracy

               Email: moun@moun.com