U.S.'s Noriega Says Aristide Undercut Democracy, Wasted Aid
March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Roger Noriega, the U.S. diplomat overseeing Haiti policy, rejected accusations of a U.S.-backed coup as he told Congress that former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide undermined democracy and squandered economic aid in the Caribbean country.
Aristide went into exile in the Central African Republic Sunday on board a U.S.-furnished jet, accepting an American offer to protect his safety as he left the country. He has since told supporters and journalists by telephone that he was ousted. The U.S. says he brought about his own downfall.
``In the last few weeks, we saw Haitian national policemen without arms,'' Noriega told a combative House International Relations subcommittee hearing in Washington. ``The government was distributing arms to its gangs. Most of the looting and violence to people and property was committed by allies of Aristide.''
Noriega, an assistant secretary of State, said the Aristide government didn't investigate or prosecute any killers of his political opponents, and frittered away more than $850 million in U.S. aid given during his tenure, which began when he was reinstated in 1994 by the U.S. following a 1991 coup.
The denunciation came less than two weeks after the Bush administration pledged to support Aristide against the insurgency. Last week, the U.S., along with Canada, France and the Caribbean Community, were still pushing a plan that included appointing an independent prime minister and allowing Aristide to serve until the end of his term in 2006.
Noriega rebuffed accusations from Representative Charles Rangel, a New York Democrat, that U.S. diplomats had forced Aristide to sign a letter of resignation in what amounted to a coup d'etat. Noriega said the U.S. probably would have helped Aristide leave the country even without such a letter, in order to protect him and his family from rebel attack.
Powell
Rangel was among several lawmakers who said the Bush administration had removed a democratically elected leader. In repeated questioning, the lawmakers often interrupted Noriega before he could finish his answer.
``His letter of resignation was written by him, not dictated by us,'' Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Senate committee today. ``And so this suggestion that somehow the U.S. kidnapped him and spirited him away against his will is simply incorrect.''
The U.S. today insisted that insurgents who helped speed Aristide's resignation cannot play a part in a new government being formed while Prime Minister Yvon Neptune serves as interim head of government.
``Our message to the so-called rebels has been very clear,'' White House spokesman Scott McClellan said. ``The rebels need to put their arms down and return home. There's no place for thugs and criminals and so-called rebels in Haiti's political system.''
Haitian rebel leader Guy Philippe announced in the capital Port-au-Prince that his fighters have disarmed, following a meeting with an unidentified U.S. Marine colonel who emphasized the demand, Agence France-Presse reported.
Forces in Haiti
At least 400 U.S. Marines are now serving alongside Canadian and French soldiers to pacify Haiti and allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. Chile also is set to send forces.
Noriega echoed some allegations of Aristide's opposition, accusing him of fraud and mismanagement in the Western Hemisphere's poorest nation. Haiti's per-capita economic output was $425 in 2002, about a fifth of the output of its neighbor, the Dominican Republic.
``It wasn't a sustainable political solution to merely prop him up,'' Noriega said. He also accused Aristide of turning ``a blind eye to the rampant corruption and drug trafficking of those within his circle of power.'' Republican members of the committee also accused Aristide of those charges.
Democrats blasted the Bush administration's policy, which blocked millions in international loans to Aristide's government because of allegations of electoral misconduct and waste. The U.S. did support the release of $146 million in Inter-American Development Bank loan money to Haiti in July for roads, water and sanitation services, and held out the prospect of more aid.
At least one senator said the Bush policy was one of neglect.
``What kind of a country do we live in today that turns to a nation only 300 or 400 miles off our shore, with people living under desperate conditions -- the highest rate of AIDS in the entire hemisphere -- and we have nothing to say to them, virtually nothing?'' Senator Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, said on the Senate floor today.
To contact the reporter on this story: Todd Zeranski in New York, or tzeranski@bloomberg.net To contact the editor of this story: Edward DeMarco at edemarco1@bloomberg.net.
