Ray of Hope Dims in Haiti : The OAS brokers a deal that could bring Aristide back to power

Since a military junta ousted the democratically elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president of Haiti in September, the island nation seems to have been in a vale of tears. Thousands of Haitian refugees have tried to pour into the United States in desperate attempts to escape life-threatening violence and numbing poverty.

Now there is hope, however fragile, that Aristide might be returned to his rightful post in a deal brokered by the Organization of American States.

The secretary general of the OAS spoke with optimism Wednesday about an agreement that could bring Aristide back to power.

The agreement hinges on whether Rene Theodore, an Aristide critic and a moderate politician who more than 20 years ago founded the Haitian Unified Communist Party, becomes prime minister. Theodore’s appointment would lead to the formation of a new government that would be considered legitimate by both the OAS and the United States, if he were confirmed by the Haitian Congress.

That’s a big if. Thursday it was reported that several Haitian legislators said Theodore already had been rejected by the military, which, as the force that deposed Aristide, obviously holds significant power. But the military and Haitian legislators must remember the price of intransigence. The economic embargo on Haiti, a direct reaction to the ouster of Aristide, has proved a punishing rebuke to a nation that already is the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.

In the meantime, the U.S. ambassador to Haiti has presented a plan to feed the needy in three Haitian cities beginning next week by expanding an existing U.S. food program. The food aid to benefit those Haitians who otherwise might have become refugees is a welcome sign of U.S. compassion for a people too often forgotten.