19581: Esser: Haiti Destabilization by the Book (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Progressive
http://www.progressive.org

Web Exclusives
Editor Matthew Rothschild comments on the news of the day.

March 1, 2004
Haiti Destabilization by the Book


George W. Bush just got another scalp, this time that of
Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the democratically elected leader of Haiti
whom Bush helped topple over the weekend.

Aristide was no angel, but this has all the earmarks of a successful
U.S. destabilization campaign.

First, the Bush Administration strangled Haiti's economy by blocking
U.S. foreign aid and pressuring other countries and the World Bank
not to give aid. For this poorest country in the hemisphere, such an
aid embargo proved devastating.

Second, it is likely that rightwing members of the Administration,
perhaps along with CIA officers, gave support to the rebels.

Richard Holbrooke, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., told ABC that
some of the rebels have had ties with U.S. intelligence agencies.

According to The New York Times, several of the rebels had been part
of the Haitian death squad FRAPH, which was funded by the CIA in the
early 1990s.

The Council on Hemispheric Affairs alleged that White House adviser
Otto Reich and Robert Noriega, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of
American States, and other Bush hardliners had been promoting regime
change in Haiti for some time.

"Ambassador Noriega is working closely with the opposition in Haiti,"
the Congressional Black Caucus wrote in a letter last week to Colin
Powell. Noriega was heading the State Department's negotiations
there. Ambassador Noriega, "Senator Jesse Helms's former chief of
staff, has a long history of being aligned with the anti-Aristide
business owners in Haiti and undermining the democratically elected
governments of Haiti," the letter said.

Aristide's general counsel accused Washington of direct involvement
with the rebels. "This is a group that is armed by, trained by, and
employed by the intelligence services of the United States," Ira
Kurzban told Amy Goodman and Jeremy Scahill of "Democracy Now!"

As the rebels gained ground, the Administration played a little game.
Colin Powell said a group of thugs couldn't be allowed to take down a
democratic government.

But then the Bush Administration refused to intervene to keep
Aristide in power and ultimately forced Aristide to step down.

This barely provides plausible deniability to the Bush
Administration. As Charles Rangel told ABC News, "We are just as much
a part of this coup d'état as the rebels, looters, or anyone else."

Congress needs to investigate this latest example of Bush's policy of
overthrowing governments before he moves on to Venezuela next.

-- Matthew Rothschild
.