Loathsome Update

It must feel like old times again for U.S. ambassador to the U.N. John Negroponte. Threats and arm-twisting in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq must have been fun and all, but the Western Hemisphere has always been #27's natural element. As U.S. ambassador to Honduras in the 80s, Negroponte helped cover up U.S. assistance to death squads that crushed popular opposition to Contra bases in that country. Lately he's been representing America's Haitian policy at Turtle Bay, making the forced exit of popularly elected president Aristide sound like a new dawn for Haitian democracy.

"It's a new page in the political life of Haiti," Negroponte said last week. "The international community has an opportunity to assist the country?in getting back on the path toward the establishment of a stable and democratic society."

Expect Negroponte to read from the same cynical script if and when Venezuela's Hugo Chavez gets knocked in the coming months.

New York Press' 2004 "50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers" issue hits streets March 30.