Haiti
Molly Ivins, as usual, hits the target dead-on.
Anyone see any reason to think Haiti will be better off without Jean-Bertrand Aristide? Just another little gift from the Bush foreign policy team, straight out of the whacko-right playbook.
Jesse Helms always did think Aristide was another Fidel, not being able to distinguish between a Catholic and a communist. We know the main armed opposition group is a bunch of thugs and that they have been joined by old Duvalierists, including members of the Tonton Macoutes, the infamous torturers.
The Bush administration wanted this to happen — it held up $500 million worth of humanitarian aid from the United States, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and International Monetary Fund. Without U.S. or multilateral help, the country spiraled downward.
So here we are, reduced to hoping for the best again.
Meanwhile, thousands of Aristide supporters pour into streets. “Crowds call U.S. President a ‘terrorist”
And some union-busting under cover of rebellion.
On Monday this week, 34 textile workers in northeast Haiti, members of a union, were fired. The next day, as fellow workers moved to take action in their defense, armed “rebel” forces arrived at the factory — invited there by management. Some workers were handcuffed. Others were beaten up. The remaining workers were terrorized into returning to work.