good news?

maybe bearing in mind the news literacy angle of this service i should have said it’s a ‘positive development’
over and above that isn’t being allowed to return to his country good news? from what i’ve heard he was democratically elected and is still popular

Let me clarify my position here, Jonathan. I don’t think Aristide’s return would be a good thing for Haiti, basically because I remember his tenure as president of that country, having observed various interviews which caused me to conclude that he was a sanctimonious demagogue incapable of dealing with that country’s problems, enormous as they were, even at that time. There is good reason to be suspicious when a democratic leader has been deposed but I don’t think he was an Allende(Chile) or a Maurice Bishop(Grenada)who was forced out because he thwarted powerful U.S. interests. I realize this is the position of most conservatives, but the Right isn’t always wrong.

Thanks for the clarification here. This is something I guess I should look into further. I admit to operating on a core assumption that power forces out the will of the people in most instances, from Chile to Honduras. If he wasn’t able to deliver then he wouldn’t be the only one and legislative processes were in place to support and eventually replace him. I’ll swot up further on this now, and agree with one reviewer that background on his departure would have been useful.

Following a bit of research I stand by my suggestion this is a positive development, and feel an analysis of US and French involvement and motives to be key.
Aristide’s presidency appears to have been shackled by the US from the outset, from support for the opposition in the 1990 election, to supporting early coup attempts, the paramilitary group FRAPH and the successful coup in 1992. This then continued after his return in 1994 through the Inter-American Development Bank’s undermining of Haiti’s debt position.
His ousting in 2004 appears to have been the culmination of civil unrest throughout the country, funded in part by the US International Republican Institute and with support for unpopular Duvalier generals like Prosper Avril.
Motivation for this stance likely stems from his non-business centric position and his requests for reperations from France. I admit to not being sure why Clinton helped reinstate him in 1994, but note his term was not extended beyond 1996 to account for the time he was deprived off.
Regarding the policy of liberation theology, as an aethist I am a keen advocate of the seperation of church and state. Having said that, Haitians appear to have more need than most for an ideology other than that of capitalism and enrichment, as this doesn’t seem to have done them many favours to date.
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v26/n08/paul-farmer/who-removed-aristide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Bertrand_Aristide
http://www.haiti-info.com/spip.php?page=imprimer&id_article=764

Fine, there’s plenty of information to support your position, and I don’t dismiss the probability that you’re right(he was pushed). My own opinion stems from the interviews where he revealed an erratic, paranoid personality bordering on messianic egomania. His paranoia may have been justified, but I think Haiti needs a much stabler leader with an administrative background.

Many thanks for this perspective. It’s always easy to sink into an established position and this sort of jolt of alterative views is always appreciated. I’ll keep an eye out for interviews of this sort and try to work out whether power has had it’s unfortunate corrupting influence.