[News] Lee Calls to Investigate Bush's Haiti Policy

[News at freedomarchives.org]

NEWS from CONGRESSWOMAN BARBARA LEE
9th District, California

March 3, 2004

Contact:
Stuart Chapman 202-225-2398


Congresswoman Barbara Lee Questions Bush Administration Officials at 
International Relations Subcommittee Hearing

Lee Calls for Independent Commission to Investigate Bush Administration's 
Haiti Policy


Washington, DC - At a heated Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere hearing 
today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) questioned a panel of Bush 
Administration officials about the Administration's role in the coup d'etat 
carried out last week against the democratically-elected Haitian President 
Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A member of the International Relations Committee, 
Lee called for the hearing last week, and with the events over the weekend, 
the hearing took on an immediacy and urgency.

In particular, Lee grilled Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega, who 
is widely considered the mastermind behind the Bush Administration Haiti 
policy. Lee challenged Noriega about the State Department's failure to 
respond to her suggestions in a February 12 letter to Secretary of State 
Colin Powell, which would have staved off a coup.

Lee also asked Noriega why Aristide would willingly leave Haiti on Sunday 
morning without a definite place of asylum provided. During the next day, 
Aristide would be flown around the world until, finally, the Central 
African Republic (CAR) provided temporary asylum. At present, Aristide is 
reportedly under guard in the CAR.

Lee also accused the Bush Administration of supporting and sanctioning the 
overthrow of the Aristide Government by blaming Aristide for the 
opposition's refusal to negotiate. Secretary of State Colin Powell last 
week called the opposition rebels "murderers and thugs," but later 
backpedaled to the point that the Administration issued a statement, last 
Saturday, that said that "the long-simmering crisis is largely of Mr. 
Aristide's making."

Lee summed up her disgust with the Bush Administration's actions by 
accusing Noriega and the Bush Administration of "aiding and abetting" the 
overthrow of the Aristide Government. "Regime change takes a variety of 
forms, and this looks like a blatant form of regime change to me," Lee told 
Noriega.


The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977
www.freedomarchives.org 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20040304/29956b58/attachment.htm>