World View: What a shame the Irish film-makers who documented the ousting of President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela in 2002 were not in Haiti last week to record the events that forced another elected democrat from office, writes Michael McCaughan.
The fall of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide appeared inevitable as armed rebels prepared to march on the capital, Port-au-Prince. Aristide, once the great hope of the Haitian poor, was unable to balance the demands for radical social reform with the pressure of a wealthy elite unwilling to surrender its privileges.
However, it is still not clear what happened in the hours preceding his departure. At a press conference earlier this week, US Secretary of State Colin Powell insisted that Aristide left of his own free will: "He was not kidnapped. We did not force him on the airplane. He went onto the airplane willingly and that's the truth."
News agencies reported that Aristide would land in nearby Panama rather than the distant Central Africa Republic, giving him greater influence over unfolding events. Aristide's formal resignation gave US officials a chance to exercise decisive control over the transition, with US marines in place before his plane journey had even ended.
In Venezuela it had been the murder of a dozen people during an opposition march in April 2002 which encouraged dissident troops to kidnap Chavez and announce his resignation. The Bush administration immediately ratified this version of events: "There was a peaceful demonstration, people exercised their right to protest, Chavez supporters fired on the people and that quickly led to the situation in which Chavez resigned," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer. And Fleischer's words would have been written into the history books had it not been for the popular mobilisation which permitted the return of Chavez.
In Haiti last weekend Aristide left the country after a four-year presidency marked by parliamentary wrangling, state repression and international indifference. US aid was cut off and Aristide was unable to begin the type of infrastructure projects required to kickstart the moribund economy. When US troops arrived at his residence on Sunday morning, they advised him to choose immediate exile or probable execution by advancing rebels.
Aristide dissolved the Haitian army in 1995 and relied on a handful of private bodyguards for his security. According to the Steele Corporation, the US security firm protecting Aristide, (quoted in the Miami Herald), government officials ordered the company to refuse his request for increased protection.
This wasn't the first time Aristide has been forced out of office.
In September 1991, months after his 1990 landslide election victory, French diplomats bundled Aristide onto a plane as a brutal coup ended the country's first experience of democratic rule. The former US attorney general, Ramsey Clarke, who led a commission of inquiry into that coup, declared: "Haiti is a prison in which its people are terrorised." Three years later President Bill Clinton facilitated his return, accompanied by 20,000 US marines, once Aristide agreed to rule on a more moderate political platform.
The Haitian terror was co-ordinated by Guy Philippe, a former police chief indicted for death squad killings. Philippe returned from Miami last month and declared himself chief of police and head of the (as yet non-existent) armed forces.
In Venezuela, Hugo Chavez took up cudgels on behalf of Aristide and demanded an emergency meeting of the Organisation of American States (OAS), citing the "democratic charter" which obliges member- states to come to the aid of democratically elected colleagues facing a heave from within.
Latin America's media gave prominence to Aristide's claim to have been a victim of a US coup and thousands of people marched in 30 cities across the region this week, condemning another suspected episode of Yankee imperialism. Brazilian and Argentinian media gave prominence to Aristide's claims, in sharp contrast to European and US media, which focused on US denials.
However, Brazil's President, Luis Inacio "Lula" da Silva, and Argentinian President Nestor Kirchner, silent on Aristide's claims, have agreed to send troops and economic aid within 90 days.
Over the past 12 months, Argentinian and Brazilian troops have engaged in joint military manoeuvres as regional leaders discuss a common defence policy to counterbalance US power in the region. Argentina's parliament refused permission for US troops to carry out annual manoeuvres in the country.
The US Democratic Party presidential contender, John Kerry, has voiced support for a congressional inquiry into the circumstances behind the removal of Aristide, while Clarke described the events as "the clearest demonstration of US regime change, and by armed aggression, that you'll find".
Percival Patterson, president of the Caribbean Community of States, revealed that he spoke to Aristide shortly before he left the country. "There was nothing to indicate that Aristide was planning to resign or that he had abandoned his decision to complete his period in office."
In Venezuela this week election authorities verified 1.8 million signatures to force a recall referendum against Hugo Chavez, well short of the required 2.4 million. A further 800,000 signatures are in legal limbo, as the alleged signatories did not personally sign up. They now have five days in which to do so.
Venezuela's hardline opposition cried foul and called on the army to launch a civic-military coup, but Chavez warned critics that he was no Aristide and that Venezuela was no Haiti: "In Venezuela we have enough mountains, enough people and enough balls to defend the country."
The US marine occupation of Haiti (1915-34) put an end to fledgling democratic institutions established under French rule. In 1917 the nation's parliament was dissolved after legislators refused to ratify a US-approved constitution that would have allowed foreigners to buy land in Haiti.
The constitution was subsequently approved by 99.98 per cent of voters in a US-controlled election, with a turnout of 5 per cent.
The fate of Haiti, once a prosperous and proud nation, is now again in the hands of foreign troops, a fragile interim administration, and a former death squad leader.
To anyone familiar with Haiti's history, it looks just like old times.