Caribbean: Haitian Murder Mystery

So far the Bush administration has steered clear of the Dominique case--and Haiti. George W. Bush sees the island as a Clinton-era military intervention he would just as soon forget. But refugees and an increase in Haitian drug trafficking mean that Washington will have to pay attention sooner or later. The country has become an important transshipment point for Colombian cocaine (though shipments recently dipped, not as a result of tougher Haitian law enforcement but because traffickers grew weary of highway robbers preying on their goods). Dominique believed that Lavalas (which means "cleansing" in Creole) would survive as a movement only if party leaders honored "justice, transparency and fairness." Getting to the truth about his assassination--with or without U.S. help--won't end Haiti's problems, but it might at least put the country closer to that ideal.

© 2001