2004 HAITIAN COUP D'éTAT

The '2004 Haiti coup d'État' was a regime overthrow that happened as the result of conflicts fought for several weeks in Haiti during February 2004. It resulted in the premature end of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's second term, and the installment of an interim government led by Prime Minister Gérard Latortue and President Boniface Alexandre.

Contents

Controversy over Aristide's election in 2000

Rebellion and aftermath

CARICOM

Controversy regarding US involvement

See also

Footnotes

References

External links

Controversy over Aristide's election in 2000

The opposition in Haiti accused the government party of widescale election fraud in the 2000 elections.[1] as did the United States.[2]
U.S. Congressman Conyers wrote:
:"Unfortunately, there were irregularities that occurred in the election and there is a post-election problem of the vote count that is threatening to undo the democratic work of the citizens of Haïti. Without doubt there were irregularities that occurred in the election which have been conceded by the CEP."^[1]
The National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) says that there were delays in the distribution of voter identification cards.^[2]
Aristide's supporters claim that an opposition boycott of the election was used as a ploy in order to discredit it and that they did not have anywhere near majority support.^[3]
European nations suspended government-to-government assistance to Haiti. Haiti had received no help from the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank for years. The US Congress banned any U.S. assistance from being channeled through the Haitian government, codifying an existing situation.[3]

Rebellion and aftermath

On February 5, 2004, a rebel group calling itself the National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Haiti seized control of Haiti's fourth-largest city, Gonaïves, marking the beginning of a major revolt against Aristide. By February 22, the rebels had captured Haiti's second-largest city, Cap-Haïtien. As the end of February approached, rebels continued to advance to within miles of the capital, Port-au-Prince.
The US lawyer representing Aristide claimed that the rebellion was supported by the United States and included former death squad members.[4]
After a 3-week rebellion in 2004 Aristide left Haiti as the rebels approached the capital.[5]
Supreme Court Chief Justice Boniface Alexandre succeeded Aristide as interim president and petitioned the United Nations Security Council for the intervention of an international peacekeeping force; the Security Council met within the day to authorize such a mission. As a vanguard of the official UN force, a force of about 1,000 United States Marines arrived in Haïti within the day, and Canadian and French troops arrived the next morning; the United Nations indicated it would send a team to assess the situation within days.
On June 1, 2004, the peacekeeping mission was passed to MINUSTAH and comprise a 7000 strength force lead by Brazil and back up by Argentina, Chile, Jordan, Morocco, Nepal, Peru, Philippines, Sri Lanka and Uruguay ^(source)
As of April 2004, Brazilian forces lead the United Nations peacekeeping troops in Haiti composed of United States, France, Canada and Chile deployments. These peacekeeping troops are part of the ongoing MINUSTAH operation. On October 15, 2005 Brazil called for more troops to be sent due to the worsening situation in the country.^[4]
In the Haitian general election, 2006, René Préval was elected president.

CARICOM

CARICOM governments denounced the "removal" of Aristide from government. They also questioned the legality of the new government. The Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, said that the episode set "a dangerous precedent for democratically elected governments anywhere and everywhere, as it promotes the removal of duly elected persons from office by the power of rebel forces."^[5]
As reported by the BBC, on March 3 2004, CARICOM called for an independent inquiry into the departure of former Haïtian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and says it will not send peacekeepers at this time. Patterson said there had been no indication during discussions with the US and France that the plan which CARICOM had put forward prior to Aristide's departure was not acceptable. "In respect of our partners we can only say this, at no time in our discussions did they convey to us that the plan was unacceptable so long as president Aristide remained in office. Nor did they suggest to us anything of a nature pertaining to the conduct of President Aristide in office that would cause us to come to the judgment ourselves that he was unsuited to be the President of Haïti," Mr. Patterson said.^[6] The U.S. and France has been accused of using pressure on CARICOM to not make a formal UN request for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Aristide's removal. [6]
The CARICOM initially refused to recognize the interim government, but in 2006 the newly elected René Préval resumed his country’s membership in the organization.[7]

Controversy regarding US involvement

On March 1, 2004, US Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), along with Aristide family friend Randall Robinson, reported that Aristide had told them (using a smuggled cellular phone), that had he been forced to resign and abducted from the country by the United States. He claimed to be held hostage by an undisclosed armed military guard. Aristide related articles
Aristide later repeated similar claims, as in an interview with Amy Goodman of ''Democracy Now!'' on March 16. He was pressured to resign from office by U.S. soldiers and James B. Foley, U.S. Ambassador to Haïti, on February 29. He was essentially kidnapped by and forced into exile to the Central African Republic. An aircraft provided by the U.S. carried the displaced Aristide and his American wife, Mildred Trouillot Aristide. Goodman asked Aristide if he resigned, and President Aristide replied: "No, I didn't resign. What some people call 'resignation' is a 'new coup d'etat,' or 'modern kidanpping.'"^[7][8]
Many of the supporters of the Fanmi Lavalas party and Aristide, as well as some foreign supporters, denounced the rebellion as a foreign controlled coup d'etat orchestrated by Canada, France and the United States (Goodman, et al, 2004) to remove a publicly elected President.
In a report published on October 28, 2005, ''Granma,'' the official Cuban news service, alleged that United States politician Caleb McCarry engineered Aristide's overthrow. CALEB MCCARRY, Bush’s man for Cuba author of the Haitian disaster
Some have come forward to support his claim saying they witnessed him being escorted out by American soldiers at gunpoint.^[8][9] Aristide Back in Caribbean Heat
Sources close to Aritistide also claims the Bush administration blocked attempts reinforce his bodyguards. The Steele Foundation, the San Francisco-based organization which supplied Aristide's bodyguards, declined to comment.^[10]
According to a ''Washington Times,'' article of April, 2004 Powell rejects Aristide probe
: Mr. Aristide, who accuses the United States and France of conspiring to force him out of power, filed a lawsuit in Paris last week accusing unnamed French officials of "death threats, kidnapping and sequestration" in connection with his flight to Africa.
: The Bush administration insists that Mr. Aristide had personally asked for help and voluntarily boarded a U.S. plane. "He drafted and signed his letter of resignation all by himself and then voluntarily departed with his wife and his own security team," Mr. Powell said.
The US have denided the accusations. "He was not kidnapped," Secretary of State Colin Powell said. "We did not force him onto the airplane. He went on the airplane willingly and that's the truth." The kidnapping claim is "absolutely false," concurred Parfait Mbaye, the communications minister for the Central African Republic, where Aristide's party was taken. The minister told CNN that Aristide had been granted permission to land in the country after Aristide himself -- as well as the U.S. and French governments -- requested it.[9]
According the US, as the rebels approached the capital, James B. Foley, U.S. ambassador to Haiti, got a phone call from a high-level aide to Aristide, asking if the U.S. could protect Aristide and help facilitate his departure if he resigned. The call prompted a series of events that included a middle-of-the-night phone call to President Bush and a scramble to find a plane to carry Aristide into exile. He travelled voluntarily via motorcade to the airport with his own retinue of security guards. Before takeoff, Aristide gave a copy of his resignation letter to Foley's aide."^[7]
The Associated Press reported that the Central African Republic tried to get Aristide to stop repeating his charges to the press. Aristide's claims that he was forced from power in Haiti cause problems with his African host
Aristide has also denied that a letter he left behind constitutes an official resignation. "There is a document that was signed to avoid a bloodbath, but there was no formal resignation," he said. "This political kidnapping was the price to pay to avoid a bloodbath." According to the US embassy translation it reads "Tonight I am resigning in order to avoid a bloodbath. I accept to leave, with the hope that there will be life and not death" A slightly different translation was given by Albert Valdman, a linguistics professor and specialist in Haitian Creole at Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind. "If tonight it is my resignation that will avoid a bloodbath, I accept to leave with the hope that there will be life and not death."^[12]

See also

★ United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti

★ UN assault on Cité Soleil

Footnotes

1. Major Issues — Haiti Congressmen John Conyers, Jr.
2. As Haiti Stumbles Toward Elections, NCHR Urges Extension of Voter Registration Period
3. Background on Haiti: Some Questions and Answers Mary Turck
4. Brazil seeks more Haiti UN troops
5. After Aristide, what?
6. Caricom delivers Haiti verdict
7. Aristide accuses U.S. of forcing his ouster Steve Miller and Joseph Curl
8. Aristide's moment of decision: 'Live or die' Andrew Buncombe
9. Aristide and His Bodyguard Describe the U.S. Role In His Ouster
10. U.S. allegedly blocked extra bodyguards Juan O. Tamayo
11. Aristide accuses U.S. of forcing his ouster Steve Miller and Joseph Curl
12. Aristide denies 'formal resignation,' plans return Nicholas Kralev

References

★ Goodman, A., Chomsky, N., & Farmer, P. (2004). ''Getting Haiti Right This Time: The U.S. and the Coup''. Common Courage Press.

★ HAUTER, François, Haiti's Repressive Regime, Paris: 2003-11-18. Le Figaro.

External links

★ The 2004 removal of Jean-Bertrand Aristide — Timeline of events

★ Extensive coverage of the coup — Provided by ''Democracy Now!''.

★ Archive of broadcasts on the Haiti coup and its aftermath — Provided by ''Flashpoints''.

★ Haiti Watch — Provided by ''ZNet''.

★ PBS NewsHour coverage

★ The Week of War — The final week of Jean Bertrand Aristide

★ [10] — Naomi Klein's article in The Nation

★ A political website dedicated to political activism on Canada's role in Haiti

★ CIIA Development and Inequality Symposium Paper (March 2006) - Paper examing repression in the post-Coup period and link to Canadian policy