27438: Durban (news): NY Times - No Help to Democracy in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Lance Durban <lpdurban@yahoo.com>

U.S. officials from that era (2001-03) other than former Ambassador
Curran have not said much publicly to support or refute the Times front
page story of last Sunday, but for those interested, here is today's
related editorial from the NY Times...
L. Durban

February 3, 2006
No Help to Democracy in Haiti
Haiti was a deeply troubled democracy when the Bush administration took
office. Now it is an even more deeply troubled nondemocracy. One thing
contributed to Haiti's present plight, our colleagues Walt Bogdanich
and Jenny Nordberg reported Sunday, was a "democracy building" program
financed by the United States government and run by the International
Republican Institute.

The I.R.I., whose chairman is Senator John McCain and whose president
is a former Bush administration official, is one of four institutes
(the others are affiliated with the Democrats, the United States
Chamber of Commerce and the A.F.L.-C.I.O.) set up during the 1980's to
channel taxpayer dollars toward strengthening democracy in other
countries. Congress intended this financing system to move American
support for democracy in other countries out of the shrouded world of
covert intelligence and into the daylight of political training
institutes.

But according to the Times report, which the I.R.I. disputes, much of
the Republican Institute's activities in Haiti from 2001 to 2003 were
carried out in a shadowy world of secret meetings and efforts to
isolate and destabilize the democratically elected government.
Diplomats, including the American ambassador to Haiti in those years,
said that the I.R.I. program worked at cross purposes with the State
Department's policy of promoting compromise between President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his many powerful opponents. It also
undercut mediation efforts that appeared within reach of success.

With all hopes of compromise thwarted, a rebel army led by notorious
criminals and cashiered police officers crossed into Haiti from the
Dominican Republic and drove President Aristide from office. He fled on
a United States-supplied plane after Washington made it clear to him
that it would not protect his life if he remained or defend the
democratically elected government.

That was almost two years ago, and Haiti is worse off today. Murder
rules the slums of Port-au-Prince, and a United Nations peacekeeping
force struggles even to protect itself. Dates for new elections have
been repeatedly postponed. The latest date is now set for next week. We
hope this begins to undo some of the damage done by the kind of I.R.I.
democracy building described in The Times.