BLACK POLITICIANS
Bush administration assailed as withholding support
By Wayne Washington, Globe Staff, 3/1/2004
WASHINGTON -- Many black political leaders blamed President Bush yesterday for failing to focus enough on the humanitarian problems boiling in Haiti, and said the administration's unwillingness to support the government of its now-exiled president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, set a dangerous precedent.
"Democracy has a black eye in Haiti this morning," said Representative Elijah E. Cummings, the Maryland Democrat who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. "By the inaction of the United States government and our allies over the last several years, the democratically elected president of Haiti has been undermined and forced to leave his country. With the sudden departure of President Aristide, the Congressional Black Caucus is very concerned that violence does not overtake the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince."
Aristide's regime fell amid complaints by opponents of corruption and ineffectiveness in dealing with the crushing poverty in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. But as rebel forces closed in on Port-au-Prince last week, black political leaders in the United States complained that the Bush administration -- unwilling to take the lead in a messy situation in a presidential election year -- was once again standing on the sidelines while a black nation descended into chaos.
"The problem for Haiti is that it's not oil-rich," said Representative Kendrick B. Meek, the Florida Democrat whose Miami district is home to the largest Haitian immigrant community in the United States. "It's a people of African descent. And they're not campaign contributors. I hate to say that, but I believe if the people's circumstances were different, I think they'd see a very different reaction from this administration."
Administration officials have rejected charges that the White House cares little about the suffering of poor, black nations.
"It's ridiculous," said National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack, who also denied claims that the administration was slow to react to unfolding events in Haiti.
The frustration of black political officials in the United States, however, is clear. Representative Charles B. Rangel, Democrat of New York, said the United States permitted Aristide's government to collapse by insisting on a political settlement before sending in troops to stabilize the situation.
"I don't know what's going on, but we are just as much a part of this coup d'etat as the rebels, as the looters or anyone else," Rangel said on ABC's "This Week." "All we had to do was to send 200, 300 troops over there and tell those people to put down the arms."
Bill Fletcher Jr., head of the TransAfrica Forum, a policy group focusing on African and Caribbean issues, was particularly critical of Secretary of State Colin L. Powell's role in pursuing the Bush administration's policy on Haiti. Fletcher said black officials should not have expected Powell to urge the administration to move more forcefully in Haiti simply because he is black.
"We have to stop believing," Fletcher said. "We have to stop thinking that Colin Powell wants to do the right thing. If the brother wanted to do the right thing, he would have resigned."
Randall Robinson, former head of TransAfrica, was even more critical of Powell, calling him "the most powerful and damaging black to rise to influence in the world in my lifetime."
The State Department declined to respond to those remarks.
Black political leaders have also called on the administration to end the deportation of Haitians who were ordered back to their country before the violence there began.
Asked on Friday why those deportations have not been halted in the face of the current situation, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said: "Well, the president expects our policies to be enforced and enforced consistently."
Black political officials unhappy with the administration's response in Haiti see parallels to Liberia, where Bush was slow to heed the pleas of citizens there to help them remove their president, Charles Taylor, and end bloodshed in a country with historic ties to the United States.
Administration officials have argued that they are helping Haiti by working with France and other countries in the region to find a diplomatic solution. Bush yesterday ordered a Marine contingent to stabilize the country.
Aristide was democratically elected but forced into exile in 1991 after only seven months in office. In 1994, backed by the threat of US military intervention, Aristide returned to power and was reelected in 2000. His term, which he has vowed to complete, expires in 2006.
Aristide's critics, who now include many who were once supporters, say corruption and drug trafficking have flourished under his reign. Armed gangs and rebels insisted that he leave.
Equally troubling, Meek said, is the fact that many Haitians are not being given an opportunity to demonstrate that they are political, not economic, refugees -- a status that would allow them to get asylum in the United States.
Administration officials have viewed those fleeing the country as economic refugees looking to escape the country's crushing poverty. But Meek said the risk of being wrong could leave blood on American hands.
"We don't want to find out that we're wrong and have Haitians who were on Coast Guard cutters end up face down in the streets of Port-au-Prince," he said.
© Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
boston.com |
