U.S. Congresswoman from California Maxine Waters is reporting at this hour that Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide told her in a telephone call that he was "kidnapped by U.S. diplomats" under threat of death rather than having resigned and willingly removed from Haiti, as widely reported in major American media. Waters, interviewed on "Democracy Now!" by Amy Goodman, calls the action a "U.S.-backed coup d'etat."

[Further posts on this developing story are available below.]