March 1, 2004 Monday

Don't fall for Washington's spin on Haiti

By JEFFREY SACHS

The crisis in Haiti is another case of brazen US manipulation of a
small, impoverished country with the truth unexplored by journalists. In
the nearly universal media line on the Haitian revolt, President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was portrayed as an undemocratic leader who
betrayed Haiti's democratic hopes and thereby lost the support of his
erstwhile backers. He "stole" elections and intransigently refused to
address opposition concerns. As a result he had to leave office, which
he did at the insistence of the US and France. Unfortunately, this is a
gravely distorted view.

President George Bush's foreign policy team came into office intent on
toppling Mr Aristide, long reviled by powerful US conservatives such as
former senator Jesse Helms who obsessively saw him as another Fidel
Castro in the Caribbean....

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