Need further proof that Gerard Latortue is driving Haiti from bad to worse? Consider this:
Haiti's interim prime minister met with former soldiers who helped topple President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, giving them back pay in an effort to placate increasingly restless fighters who still control several provincial towns.
Gerard Latortue distributed checks to about 50 members of Haiti's demobilized army in the central town of Hinche, said Jacques Abraham, an official who coordinates the government's dealings with the ex-soldiers.
[...]
The ex-soldiers claim they are owed the money because Aristide illegally disbanded the army in 1995 after a U.S.-backed intervention restored him to power following the 1991 military coup that first ousted him.
The former soldiers and others who are accused of killings, rapes and torture under the 1991-94 military regime led a three-week rebellion in February that drove Aristide into exile in South Africa. The rebels still control several towns, sometimes driving police from their stations and insisting they are better prepared to provide security.
How are they going to pay for this? Who knows?
Officials have said it could cost the government $29 million to compensate some 6,000 former soldiers, though it has not explained where the funds will come from. The government has also agreed to help the ex-soldiers find jobs, though it has said it has no mandate to reinstate the army.
Well if nothing else, it's a clever scam:
Of the 14,000 people who have claimed to be former soldiers at sign-up centers across the country in recent months, less than half were determined to have been in the army when it was dismantled, said Marc Charles, who conducted the government census.
As much as it pains me to say so, that idea of turning Haiti into a protectorate is sounding more appealing. Latortue is driving the nation de mauvais à plus mauvais.
For those who were willing to use the Haiti situation to bash John Kerry a few months ago, I think that it's clear where the problem lies and it's not with Kerry.
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