Black Caucus backs Caricom's call for Haiti probe

Black Caucus backs Caricom's call for Haiti probe

By Curtis Williams in Washington, DC

Saturday, March 6th 2004

The Black Caucus of the United States Congress has come out in support of the call by Caricom that an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the departure of former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide be conducted by the United Nations.

The Caucus has also vowed that the matter will not die quietly.

Dean of the Congress Black Caucus, Charles Rangel, told the Express that his organisation was shocked by what has happened in Haiti, and was demanding not just the UN investigate but that any other body, including the Congress, investigate.

He said: "We have made it known that we are of the view that the United States facilitated a coup d'etat and we want not just the UN to investigate but also the congress."

Rangel said the Black legislators will keep up the pressure on the Bush administration both on Capitol Hill but also through the media.

Caricom leaders who met in an emergency session in Jamaica had said the reports surrounding the departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide from Haiti were at best contradictory and required no less than an investigation under the auspices of the United Nations.

snip

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=16664777

A visiting poster has told DU'ers Charles Rangel doesn't believe Jean-Claude Aristide was actually taken by force away from his home.

This article doesn't bear out the odd belief that the man strolled willingly away (leaving behind the U.S. backed, supported, armed, and in some cases, CIA trained death-squad rebels), getting on a plane with blacked out windows, never to return.

Rangel said there were too many unanswered questions and holes in the US administration's claims not to warrant an investigation.

Meanwhile, there is a planned march on the White House scheduled for today as Americans protest what they see as another coup in Haiti.(snip)