Restore Aristide Presidency
Statement of the Committees of Correspondence for
Democracy and Socialism
March 1, 2004
The pretense of the Bush Administration's
expressed
concern for "democracy" and the "rule of law" was
laid
bare Sunday with the forcible overthrow of the
government of Haitian President Jean Bertrand
Aristide.
Rhetoric will not cover up the reality that the
people
now running the White House, the Pentagon and the
State
Department have arrogated to themselves the right
and
authority to determine which governments are
illegitimate and can be considered targets for
military
"regime change." The President's claim to have
acted in
the best interest of "the Haitian people" rings as
hollow as his constant invocation of "the Iraqi
people"
to justify the invasion and occupation of another
Third
World country halfway around the globe.
It is of crucial importance that it be established
whether or not, as has been charged, U.S. Marines
kidnapped Aristide and his family. To have done so
is a
violation of both international law and the laws
of our
own country. However, the fact that the Haitian
leader
was officially presented with the stark
alternative of
leaving his post or subjecting himself and his
family
to death at the hands of the murderous thugs now
terrorizing that country is politically and
morally
repugnant and unworthy of our government.
The hand of the U.S. in the overthrow of Haiti's
duly
elected president began long before he was
spirited in
secret and in silence out of the country. The
political
and terrorist cabal that overthrew Aristide knew
from
the beginning they could count on Washington to
back
their actions. It has been the policy of the Bush
Administration to overthrow Aristide for a long
time
and the plot has unfolded on schedule with all the
political and military assistance needed to get
the job
done.
Invoking the name of "the international community"
now
to justify its dastardly deed is not something the
administration should be allowed to get away with.
Neither the United Nations nor the Organization of
American States should allow themselves to be
further
tarnished by complicity in the invasion and
occupation
of Haiti. The Committees of Correspondence calls
upon
progressive and peace loving people to unite in
demanding the immediate restoration of the
Aristide
presidency in Haiti and international guarantees
of its
safety. We further call for a public Congressional
investigation of the actions of the Bush
administration
in Haiti and for the resignation of those
officials
responsible for this tragic development.
The overthrow of the Haitian government serves to
underscore the urgent need for regime change in
Washington. We clearly have a "failed leader" who
has
not lived up to his people's expectations and has
caused pain and suffering to those he was chosen
(in
something less than a democratic procedure) to
represent. Very soon we will have an opportunity
to
change that - at the ballot box as opposed to a
terrorist coup.
Committees of Correspondence 545 - 8th Avenue -
14th
Floor NE New York, NY 10018 Website:
http://www.cc-ds.org