by Jeb Sprague
Throughout
2004 and 2005, Haiti’s unelected de facto
authorities, working alongside foreign officials, integrated at least 400
ex-army paramilitaries into the country’s police force, secret U.S. Embassy
cables reveal.
For
a year and a half following the ouster of Haiti’s elected government on Feb.
29, 2004, UN, OAS, and U.S. officials, in conjunction with post-coup Haitian
authorities, vetted the country’s police force – officer by officer –
integrating paramilitaries with the goal of both strengthening the force and
providing an alternative “career path”
for paramilitaries.
