tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6753543731616944285.post2495432153026411090..comments2021-10-03T13:08:27.239-04:00Comments on Quem Ad Finem: Stretching the Rubber BandUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6753543731616944285.post-56204524426593804992020-04-10T16:42:15.985-04:002020-04-10T16:42:15.985-04:00Thanks, Harold! Just when I thought I knew the who...Thanks, Harold! Just when I thought I knew the whole story....this jogged my memory greatly.<br />O'Brien, who raged against giving the Haitians any kind of a "settlement" fearing we'd all be sued, came through in the end. He always was a bit of a pragmatist, fortunately.<br />Other tidbits: <br />The guy who swung the punches, and who brought the lawsuit was <b>Tezan Dorval.</b><br />The old Macoute he was about to kill with a mallet was <b>Gerard Toussaint.</b> (I think.)<br />At the airport they had listed Larry as Larry Pako, rather than Larry Rako. He sweated, but they let him through.<br />A book I read later said:<br />"If two foreigners get into a dispute, stay out of it.<br /> If a foreigner and a Haitian get into a dispute, side with the Haitian.<br /> If two Haitians get into a dispute, side with the one who is higher up in government."<br />All's well that ends well, I guess.<br />JMJohn Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11142133280409880007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6753543731616944285.post-63305779129267459202020-04-10T13:04:19.107-04:002020-04-10T13:04:19.107-04:00My name is Harold Steed and I too was a witness to...My name is Harold Steed and I too was a witness to the assault, and just a bystander. I had been working on the Sugar Mill project for some time when the incident occurred. I too was named in the law suite. Little did I know that my name was also on the prosecution list at the airport. <br /><br />Jim O'Brien, bless his heart, paid an amount that I don't recall to clear me. I was working on the project for a paltry sum because my real goal at that time was just to see some of the world.<br /><br />Several months later I decided to leave Haiti. The project had been downsized -- I believe because the World Bank funding had dried up. I chose to fly to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and had my airline ticket and was all ready to go.<br /><br />The day I was to leave, I arrived at the airport not expecting anything untoward of course. When I prepared to board, the Tonton Macout security dude found my name in the "prosecution list" and denied me boarding. What could I do at that point? You can't argue with a guy holding an Uzi machine gun. I remember thinking "how in the heck am I going to get out of this country?"<br /><br />It was explained to me that I had to visit the Police station to get my name removed from "the list". This I did the next morning, but the Police explained to me that I had to speak to a Judge. So I wandered over to the court house, which like everything in Haiti manages to run in some disorganized manner despite mass confusion.<br /><br />Somehow I talked my way into an audience with a Judge who insisted that I explain my situation to him in the local language which in my case was a combination of the Haitian creole and my terrible High School French.<br /><br />After explaining my role in the event and conveying that there had been a payment made, the Judge called a local lawyer. How he knew which one, I never understood, but the elite community in Port-Au-Prince is a tight nit group. The lawyer indicated that monies had exchanged hands and that the law suit had been dismissed (thanks again Jim O'Brien). Next the Judge called the airport and had my name removed from "the list". Just like that!<br /><br />What I found amazing was that I managed to get this all done in a single day. That evening I was on my way to the D.R. Phew!Haroldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05023976307930296682noreply@blogger.com