Your March 3 editorial dramatically misrepresented Aristide’s status as a democratic head of state. Aristide is actually the first head of Haiti not to rule by violence; his 1995 disbanding of the military set Haitians free, for the first time, from fear of state repression. The 2000 elections in Haiti were far more legitimate than those in Florida. Seven Lavalas Senate candidates won a plurality, rather than a majority, as required, but were still seated; shortly thereafter, they agreed to a runoff. Lavalas won an overwhelming victory because it’s the only party with popular support; for the same reason, Aristide was virtually unopposed. You have also ignored U.S. funding of the “opposition” through the International Republican Institute, the credible claims that the thugs who have taken over are U.S.-armed, and the fact that Otto Reich and Roger Noriega, who brought us the Venezuela coup attempt, are now involved in Haiti.
Sincerely,
Rahul Mahajan
empirenotes.org |
