AlterNet: U.S.-Sponsored Regime Change in Haiti:

"In a Feb. 12 letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, US Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) wrote: 'Our failure to support the democratic process and help restore order looks like a covert effort to overthrow a government. There is a violent coup d'etat in the making, and it appears that the United States is aiding and abetting the attempt to violently topple the Aristide Government. With all due respect, this looks like 'regime change.' How can we call for democracy in Iraq and not say very clearly that we support democratic elections as the only option in Haiti?'

And US Rep Maxine Waters (D-CA), also in a letter to Powell, said she was 'outraged' at the State Department willingness to sabotage democracy and the rule of law in Haiti. 'It has been clear to me for some time that the state department has been trying to undermine President Aristide... I am convinced that this effort to force President Aristide out of office by any means is a power-grab by the same forces that staged a coup d'etat and forced him out of office in 1991. The opposition that claims to be peaceful is not peaceful and they are responsible for the violence in Gonaives and other parts of Haiti. Should these actions by Andre Apaid and his Committee of 184, thugs and violent protestors receive support or encouragement from the United States, thereby increasing the risk of a coup d'etat, there may well be a bloodbath on the streets of Haiti.' She called the State Department to 'discontinue' its actions in support of 'violent protesters and thugs' in Haiti.

The New York Times reported Feb. 12 that US officials 'hint[ed]' the Bush administration might support replacing Aristide – although he had two years left in office and was elected democratically. "