More on MINUSTAH

[bcholmes]

Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), said Brazil was unintentionally playing into the hands of the U.S. government, which he said was the "main force" behind the toppling of Aristide.

"(Brazil) didn't realise that what the United States was doing in Haiti was exactly what they did in Venezuela in 2002. They just organised a coup against a democratically elected government," Weisbrot told IPS.

Carreiro questioned why MINUSTAH stayed in Haiti after fulfiling its goal of guaranteeing a minimum level of security for the transition to a new government. In fact, two elections have been held since the peacekeeping mission began, in 2005 and 2011.

"If MINUSTAH's objective was to guarantee the conditions for elections to be held, and disarm the gangs, why is it still operating today? The local population is understandably seeing the mission more and more like an international occupation force," he said.

The analyst believes MINUSTAH's biggest mistake was "its starting point," given that Aristide "never said he had resigned."

— "Brazil Plans to Wind Down Peacekeeping Force in Haiti", emphasis added

At this point it's clear that Brazil's not even tackling removing its own troops. It's put forth the idea of a troop reduction to pre-earthquake levels. But beyond that, it's talking about one day, maybe, planning for a withdrawal.

I wonder if I should take odds on how many major incidents MINUSTAH will get into in 2012?