News shocker: US supports coup attempt while mouthing democracy
The US lawyer representing the government of Haiti charged today that the US government is directly involved in a military coup attempt against the country’s democratically elected President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Ira Kurzban, the Miami-based attorney who has served as General Counsel to the Haitian government since 1991, said that the paramilitaries fighting to overthrow Aristide are being backed by Washington.
“I believe that this is a group that is armed by, trained by, and employed by the intelligence services of the United States,” Kurzban told the national radio and TV program Democracy Now!. “This is clearly a military operation, and it’s a military coup.”
Meanwhile, it’s do-or-die time in that nation’s capitol.
Killing and looting broke out today in Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, as supporters of President Jean- Bertrand Aristide prepared for a possible assault by rebels who want to oust him, Agence France-Presse reported.
A few years back, Aristide disbanded the army, a move he probably now regrets.