Multiple sources that just spoke with Haitian President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide told Democracy Now! that Aristide says he was "kidnapped" and
taken by force to the Central African Republic. Congressmember Maxine
Waters said she received a call from Aristide at 9am EST. "He's
surrounded by military. It's like he is in jail, he said. He says he
was kidnapped," said Waters. She said he had been threatened by what
he called US diplomats. According to Waters, the diplomats reportedly
told the Haitian president that if he did not leave Haiti,
paramilitary leader Guy Philippe would storm the palace and Aristide
would be killed. According to Waters, Aristide was told by the US that
they were withdrawing Aristide's US security.
TransAfrica founder and close Aristide family friend Randall Robinson
also received a call from the Haitian president early this morning and
confirmed Waters account. Robinson said that Aristide "emphatically"
denied that he had resigned. "He did not resign," he said. "He was
abducted by the United States in the commission of a coup." Robinson
says he spoke to Aristide on a cell phone that was smuggled to the
Haitian president.
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