Washington assailed for withholding support for Aristide

BLACK POLITICIANS Bush administration assailed as
withholding support

By Wayne Washington, Globe Staff, 3/1/2004

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/03/01/
bush_administration_assailed_as_withholding_support?mode=PF

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. (c)
Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.