Spheres of Influence
Unlike the last Haitian conflict, George II won’t send troops to assist the democratically elected President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in quelling the civil disorder that now threatens his government, at least not until the rebels have been subdued by Aristide’s police or they are successful and have overthrown him. Once a political solution has been achieved, then the U.S. may send the Marines. We’ve been here before, and for the same Haitian President, but like the 1994 election, the results in 2000 are contested, this time, it appears, popularly and against Aristide, and four years is a long time to wait for the situation to be resolved. I suppose the U.S. has been busy elsewhere since the last election, and our troops are spread a bit thinly these days. Still, it’s rather ungracious of us to simply say “Don’t even think about coming here” to the inoffensive people stuck in the middle. American policy toward legitimate refugees from even its immediate neighbors has been harsh and doesn’t look to open up any time soon.