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March 1, 2004 - In the wee hours of March 1, US Marines landed in Haiti hours after

President Jean-Bertrand Aristide reportedly succumbed to demands from an

armed opposition movement that he step down and go into exile--although

persistent rumors on the ground maintain he was actually arrested by US

forces. As rebel troops entered the capital Port-au-Prince, the UN

Security

Council approved a resolution authorizing a multinational force to restore

order, and French troops are also on the way.



The rebel army, hobbled together from anti-government gangs and militias

and led by former army officers, has achieved its aim of Aristide's

ouster. It seems the cost will be the loss of Haiti's sovereignty to foreign

occupation troops--yet again..



Cycles of Destabilization



This overthrow had been in the making since December 1990, when Haiti's

first free election was held. The winning candidate, with two-thirds

majority, was the populist priest Aristide, backed by a vigorous

grassroots movement known as Lavalas. But seven months later, Aristide's government

was overthrown in a military coup. No government on earth recognized the

military junta, but as Noam Chomsky noted: "Washington maintained close

intelligence and military ties with the new rulers while undermining the

embargo called by the Organization of American States, even authorizing

illegal shipments of oil to the regime and its wealthy supporters."

more..

whitehouse denies he was kidnapped..but from what i just heard his lawyer say in an interview..it sounded like he was..