20913: (Craig) NYT Op-Ed: Haiti's Shame Is America's (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>


Haitis Shame Is Americas
March 29, 2004

To the Editor:

Re "A Shameful Show in Haiti" (editorial, March 24):

I. too, was dismayed that Haiti's appointed prime minister,
G?rard Latortue, stood on a stage in Gona?ves and embraced
Guy Philippe and some of the other armed thugs who were
instrumental in removing Haiti's elected president,
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

But I lay most of the blame for Mr. Latortue's behavior at
the feet of the Bush administration. It supplied the
helicopters that transported Mr. Latortue to Gona?ves.

More important, the Bush administration induced President
Aristide's departure from Haiti. It rejected the peaceful
negotiations proposed by the Caribbean community (Caricom),
then exploited the threat posed to Mr. Aristide and his
family by the armed gangs that were advancing on the
capital.

Because the United States has legitimized these thugs,
Prime Minister Latortue feels that he must deal with them.

CHARLES B. RANGEL
Member of Congress, 15th Dist., N.Y.
Washington, March 25, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/29/opinion/L29HAIT.html?ex=1081541293&ei=1&en=804ebacaf326ce83
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company