So what really prompted Jean-Bertrand Aristide to leave Haiti? According to this N.Y. Times story, once the Bush administration saw that Aristide might allow refugees free access to the seas, it applied pressure which lead him to “resign.” But this report suggests he was taken out by force:
HAITIAN leader Jean Bertrand Aristide was taken away from his home by US soldiers, it was claimed today.
A man who said he was a caretaker for the now exiled president told France’s RTL radio station the troops forced Aristide out.
“The American army came to take him away at two in the morning,” the man said.
“The Americans forced him out with weapons.
“It was American soldiers. They came with a helicopter and they took the security guards.
The BBC adds that Aristide “resisted even while going up the stairs to the aircraft.”
In a story which may or may not be related, Venezuelan President Hugo Ch�vez, who claims he has also been threatened by covert U.S. interference, called Bush an “asshole.” A commenter at Daily Kos suggests there may be some linkage here, but so far there’s not not much reporting which substantiates that.