Mixed message from U.S. cited in Haiti's chaos

[struggle4progress]

By Walt Bogdanich
and Jenny Nordberg
Published: Sunday, January 29, 2006

... Seven months later, an accused death squad leader helped armed rebels topple the president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Haiti, never a model of stability, soon dissolved into a state so lawless it stunned even those who had pushed for the removal of Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest who rose to power as the champion and hero of Haiti's poor.

Today, the capital, Port-au-Prince, is virtually paralyzed by kidnappings, spreading panic among rich and poor alike. Corrupt police officers in uniform have assassinated people on the streets in the light of day. The chaos is so extreme, and the interim government so dysfunctional, that voting to elect a new one already has been delayed four times. The latest date is Feb. 7 ...

But the administration's actions in Haiti did not always match its words. Interviews and a review of government documents show that a democracy-building group close to the White House, and financed by U.S. taxpayers, undercut the official U.S. policy and the ambassador assigned to carry it out ...

Curran accused the democracy-building group, the International Republican Institute, of trying to undermine the reconciliation process after disputed 2000 Senate elections threw Haiti into a violent political crisis. The group's leader in Haiti, Stanley Lucas, an avowed Aristide opponent from the Haitian elite, counseled the opposition to stand firm, and not work with Aristide, as a way to cripple his government and drive him from power, said Curran, whose account is supported in crucial parts by other diplomats and opposition figures. Many of these people spoke publicly about the events for the first time ...

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2006/01/29/a1.haiti.0129.p1.php?section=nation_world