19664: Esser: A frightening precedent (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Jamaica Gleaner
http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com

Commentary
March 3, 2004

A frightening precedent

NOTHING SHORT of a full and transparent investigation into the
circumstances surrounding the departure of former Haitian President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide from office Sunday morning will be enough to
discredit allegations that Mr. Aristide was the victim of a
U.S.-inspired and executed coup d'etat. The implications of the
allegations must be frightening to every self-respecting and
law-abiding citizen of this region.

The exiled Haitian leader asserts that he was forced out by American
military forces against his will. The U.S. has denied this. The Prime
Minister of Jamaica and Chairman of CARICOM, P.J. Patterson, has
quite rightly reserved judgment until he has further and better
particulars. But Mr. Patterson did question whether the reported
resignation of Mr. Aristide 'was truly voluntary.' He went on to put
in stark terms the implications of the removal of Mr. Aristide from
office.

The senior CARICOM Prime Minister said the circumstances set "a
dangerous precedent for democratically-elected governments anywhere
and everywhere." We agree with him.

Mr. Aristide was the democratically-elected President of Haiti.
Despite persistent claims by his opponents that the 2000 elections,
which saw him return to power, were flawed, none were able to argue
convincingly that his was not the will of the Haitian people.
However, there is enough to indict Mr. Aristide as an incompetent
President whose absolutist style did nothing to build badly needed
social capital in his impoverished country. He failed to use the fund
of goodwill he had built up as a caring and passionate priest to
build alliances across the social, economic and political divides in
Haiti. His arming of thugs to intimidate his political opponents was
no different from the Duvaliers' Ton Ton Macoutes whom he railed
against.

But that thuggery and use of violence as the primary tool of
political organisation has been the tragic trajectory of Haitian
politics. Aristide was supposed to have been the symbolic break.
Haiti needed to have made a peaceful and democratic transition from
the failed Aristide era so as to begin the slow and painful
establishment of democratic roots.

Sadly, the United States, France and Canada have sent the wrong
signals to the rebels, who are no less guilty of thuggery, that once
again the gun dictates who sits in Haiti's Presidential Palace.

For the rest of CARICOM, fears that this Bush administration is a
bully that has demonstrated a frightening level of ruthlessness to
wage war to impose its narrow ideological will are not entirely
without foundation. The deception that weapons of mass destruction
were in the wrong hands in Iraq as the basis for going to war last
year and the declaration that if you are not with us, then you are
against us, trigger real fears about the current occupants of the
White House.

We must remind President Bush that the USA is the greatest nation on
earth today because of the ideals that embody the American spirit
democracy, the rule of law, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. Not
its superior military machine.

CARICOM leaders met in Kingston yesterday. We await their position on
the Aristide ousting today.
.