More on Haiti
President Bush Rebuffs Aristide, Warns Haitians --
CNN writes:
bq. President Bush on Wednesday rebuffed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's appeal for immediate security assistance to head off a rebel advance and warned Haitians not to flee to the United States.
bq. Aristide, trying to fend off a bloody revolt against his presidency by insurgents, had appealed for international help for his outgunned police. But Bush was insistent that peacekeepers only be sent once a political settlement to the crisis was reached.
bq. The United States has been criticized for doing too little to staunch the chaos in the poorest nation in the Americas. U.S. officials have emphasized negotiation and said security forces should be sent only after violence abates. Critics fear waiting for a peace deal will allow more chaos.
And more:
bq. "What the United States does not want to do is to simply prop up the status quo in an anti-democratic government led by Mr. Aristide...What the United States wants to see in Haiti is all of the political parties continuing in a profound and serious dialogue," said Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican.
bq. Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley said the countries involved in trying to arrange a deal were saying behind the scenes that "we will not send people to that nation if it is under the intention of propping up Aristide's government."
This is very much the way to handle this. I feel bad for all the civilians caught up in the chaos but Aristide mis-managed the nation, living off USA Foreign Aid and growing fat while his nation suffered. If he is starting to feel the pinch of payback time, let him broker a new position for himself or get the hell out of the way and let someone else have a try at running the nation. The potential for a rich nation is there - agriculture and tourism fuel the Dominican Republic next door. Time to go...
Posted by DaveH at February 25, 2004 4:25 PM