19349: radtimes: U.S. gives green light to Haitis killers (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: radtimes <resist@best.com>

Aristide in the crosshairs

http://www.socialistworker.org/2004-1/488/488_12_Haiti.shtml

U.S. gives green light to Haiti's killers

By Lee Sustar | February 27, 2004 | Page 12

WASHINGTON IS pushing for regime change in Haiti--by another name. While
calling publicly for negotiations, it has given a green light to the
right-wing armed rebellion against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Aristide agreed to the U.S. ultimatum for a deal that will bring the right
back into Haiti's government. But the opposition refused, giving time for
armed thugs to continue their bid to seize power.

Secretary of State Colin Powell couched the U.S. deal as diplomacy. But the
proposal would leave Aristide--elected to a six-year term in 2000--as
president in name only. Under the terms of the U.S. proposal, Aristide's
cabinet and control of the police force would be subject to the approval of
the opposition's Group of 184--an amalgamation of big business chiefs,
hangers-on of the former military regime and a few former leftist groups.

The U.S. deal would allow a three-person committee--one representing
Aristide, another the opposition and a third from an "international
committee"--to select a seven-person commission that would choose a prime
minister and the government. This would open the way for the
U.S.--operating through the Organization of American States and the Caricom
group of Caribbean nations--to effectively choose Haiti's new leaders,
while still paying lip service to the result of Haiti's democratic elections.

Aristide accepted this proposal, including an agreement to disarm his
supporters. But the opposition, sensing a possible victory after rebels
took control of the important city of Cap Haiten, has refused to approve
the agreement until Aristide resigns.

The opposition claims to represent the interests of civil society, accusing
Aristide of behaving like a dictator following disputes over the 2000
parliamentary elections. In fact, even if the disputed Senate seats had
gone to the opposition, Aristide's Lavalas Family party would have retained
control.

But the controversy provided political cover for a U.S. aid boycott and
opposition political activities--not just the protests and bosses' strikes
reported in the U.S. media, but assassinations and military raids by
commandos from the former dictatorship, based in the neighboring Dominican
Republic. These ex-military and death-squad elements were tied to the
former military government that overthrew Aristide's first presidency in a
1991 military coup.

Aristide, who rose as a mass leader of Haiti's poor, was returned to office
by U.S. troops in 1994. He made a deal with Washington to carry out
free-market "reforms" at the expense of social programs--and concluded a
similar agreement with the International Monetary Fund after he was
re-elected in 2000.

This turn to the right undermined his popular base--and Aristide has
increasingly relied on a patronage network for political support. This gave
the opposition the space to posture as defenders of "democracy"--a
necessary maneuver, given the widespread hatred of the now-disbanded
military and the wealthy backers of the 30-year Duvalier dictatorship that
fell in 1988.

Now, however, the killers have come out into the open as leaders of the
rebellion--murders like Guy Philippe, a former Army captain, and
Louis-Jordel Chamblain, a former leader of FRAPH, a death squad responsible
for killing hundreds after the 1991 coup. The disaffection with
Aristide--along with support of one-time left-wing groups like the MPP, or
Popular Peasant Movement--has allowed the rebels to seize power easily in
the north of the country, with no resistance from the poorly armed police.

The U.S., which never trusted Aristide because of his roots in the mass
movement, won't reign in the rebels until they bring the Haitian president
to heel. And Aristide's willingness to bow to Washington's outrageous
demands has further demoralized his supporters.

The stage is set in Haiti for a potentially bloody confrontation in the
capital of Port au Prince. Defeating the right-wing power grab means not
only defeating the rebels, but rebuilding Haiti's left and social movements
to fight for the interests of workers and the poor.

.