US says ousted president should have no place in Haiti's future

At the same time, John F Maisto, the Bush administration's Ambassador to the Organisation of American States (OAS) and co-ordinator for the Summit the Americas, urged support for Haiti's interim government, headed by Gerard Latortue, and the transition to democracy.

"We do not believe that Aristide is part of the solution," Maisto told journalists in Kingston yesterday.

Aristide, he said, was for many years, part of Haiti's problem.
Aristide, Haiti's first democratically-elected leader, was forced to leave the country in February of this year in the midst of rebellion by former members of the disbanded Haitian military who had ousted the president a dozen years earlier.

Aristide has insisted that he was kidnapped and bundled out of the country by the Americans, who have denied the claim.
The Americans say Aristide resigned on his own and the US only provided transportation out of the country.

Aristide's ouster has been a source of disagreement between the US and Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries which asked for an international investigation into the circumstances of his departure and have refused to allow the Latortue government to take Haiti's seat in the councils of Caricom.

But despite the criticisms of regional leaders of Latortue's coziness with the coup leaders, many with dubious human rights records, Maisto reiterated America's embrace of the interim regime and its efforts to move Haiti towards election next year.
"All democratic institutions should participate in this process, including Lavalas," said Maisto.

Lavalas was among the groups with which Secretary of State Colin Powell met during his recent visit to Haiti, Maisto told journalists. A "democratic Lavalas", he said, would have to be part of Haiti's solution, he said, drawing a distinction between democratic elements in the party and Haiti.

"There are still elements in Haiti who really don't want to see a democratic solution," Maisto said. "We are of the view. that the Haitian people deserve an opportunity to get on with their lives peacefully."

He argued that the international community had failed Haiti in the 1990s after US troops had restored Aristide to power after his first overthrow.

The United States had poured $3 billion into Haiti with little to show for it because no one was really paying attention, the diplomat argued.

"We all did badly in Haiti," he said. "None of us was effective."

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