Reply #13: The congressional black caucus wanted Aristide returned to

[magbana]

Haiti so he could finish his term in office. If he wasn't there to finish his term, the next election would not take place, just a continuing military dictatorship.

Even though it was the US who pulled a coup on Aristide in Sept. 1991 (US Marines were in the Haitian police barracks as the coup was unfolding), the US was desperate to get him back in 1994. Why? All hell was breaking loose in Haiti. In addition, to international human rights orgs. beginning to blow open the atrocities committed by the Haitian army in the slaughter of well over 5,000 Aristide followers,a little drug war in Colombia was stirring up trouble in Haiti which was often used as a drug transhipment point. As the Medellin cartel was disappearing and the Cali cartel began to rise, the violence rose to insane heights in Haiti. Even if Aristide had not been a factor, the US would have had to go in anyway to "manage" the out of control Haitian army and its sloppy management of the drug transhipments. The guy that the US installed as head of the government, Raoul Cedras,had gotten careless and very greedy. The US was worried about "loose lips" and could not afford to have its part in the drug running revealed.

As for the US Marines in 2004, yes, a small contingent was guarding the US Embassy. but a far larger force was already on the ground, along with a large contingent of French, Canadian, and Chilean soldiers. As the next prez was being sworn in within hours of Aristide's forced departure, these soldiers were out in full force WITH TANKS.

Aristide knew what was up: the US-trained "rebels," headed up by Guy Philippe, were nowhere near Port-au-Prince and only numbered around 200; the US was quite capable of a coup, after all the US had been destabilizing Haiti for the previous 4 years; and the people of Haiti would cream the "rebels" if they set a toe in P-au-P. When Colin Powell called former congressman Ron Dellums to be his errand boy and communicate to Aristide that "Guy Philippe is coming to kill you and we will not protect you," Aristide knew this was bluster.

But, he could not fight the Special Forces who surrounded his house and the Deputy Ambassador Luis Moreno who told him he had to leave. BTW, Moreno was in telephone contact with Philippe on the final day, telling him not to bother coming any closer to P-au-P, because "we," (meaning the US) had it "covered from here."

Now, the million dollar question: why didn't the US allow Philippe to send a few of his men into P-au=P so that a few news cameras could "prove" that this was a "popular" rebellion? Philippe could have been in range of P-au-P within two or three days. No, the coup had to take place on February 29 BECAUSE the South Africans had sent a shipload of arms to Aristide and the ship was due to arrive on March 1. For thirteen years, the US maintained an arms embargo on the Haitian gov't. and at the time of the coup, the Haitian police were woefully unequipped. Of course, the US lifted the arms embargo for the illegal government it installed after Aristide -- it came in handy in the slaughter of over 10,000 Haitians.