HAITI: Haiti faces civil war as supporters of the former president demand his return, writes Michael McCaughan
Haiti teetered on the brink of civil war yesterday as exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide called for "peaceful resistance" to the "occupation" of his country and thousands of supporters marched through the capital, Port-au-Prince, demanding his return.
In a statement issued from exile in the Central African Republic, Mr Aristide once more insisted that he had been "kidnapped" by US and French officials and declared his intention to retake his post, abandoned last week as advancing rebels closed in on the presidential palace.
"I am the elected president and I remain the elected president," said Mr Aristide. "I am pleading for the restoration of democracy." The deposed leader's comments came after six people were killed and 34 injured when an opposition march on Sunday was attacked by pro-Aristide militia members.
After the march dozens of angry citizens hurled abuse at international troops stationed outside a hospital, criticising them for failing to intervene and halt the bloodshed. US Marines yesterday confirmed that they shot and killed one of the gunmen who fired at the massive opposition demonstration.
Mr Aristide's sudden exit was accompanied by looting and violence over the past week with armed gangs on both sides of the political divide enjoying total freedom to roam the streets of the capital city.
The Haitian national army, a creation of past dictators, was disbanded by Mr Aristide in 1995, while the 5,000-strong police force crumbled in the face of armed opposition.
Thousands of prisoners have been set free across the country, including former military officers serving time for political killings and many others who say they were wrongly jailed by the Aristide government.
President Aristide was elected on a landslide vote in Haiti's first democratic elections in December 1990, defeating Mr Marc Bazin, a former World Bank employee. Mr Aristide, a Catholic priest based in the country's largest shanty-town, promised to raise living standards for the majority poor, most of whom survive on less than $1 per day.
A brutal coup forced him out of office in 1991 but the Clinton administration restored him to office in 1994, with the help of 20,000 US Marines. Mr Aristide served out the final two years of his mandate and was re-elected to office in 2000, sparking a bitter conflict with his political rivals. Mr Aristide has since embarked on a nationwide literacy programme and implemented judicial reforms to bring death squads to justice.
US economic aid was cut off soon after he was elected, forcing him to abandon planned infrastructure projects. Mr Louis-Jodel Chamblain, a former Haitian soldier who headed army death squads in 1987 is back from exile while Mr Guy Philippe, a former police chief accused of killing Aristide supporters, has declared himself head of the security forces and set up home just 100 metres from the presidential palace.
US Marines are leading a UN-approved international peace mission in Haiti, with troops from Chile, Brazil and Argentina expected to follow in the coming months. Mr Hervé Saintilus, president of the Haitian University Federation, yesterday demanded the arrest of Mr Yvon Neptune, Mr Aristide's former prime minister, whom he accused of fomenting Sunday's violence. Mr Neptune supposedly resigned when Mr Aristide left the country but remains in his job, protected by foreign troops.
"With every day that passes the foreign presence is looking more and more like an occupation force," said Mr Saintilus. "We will take to the streets as often as we must until a new prime minister is appointed." The interim administration, reluctantly led by Supreme Court chief Mr Boniface Alexandre, has handed over responsibility for the crisis to a seven member "council of sages" which includes pro and anti-Aristide figures. The council is due to name a new prime minister today but it remains to be seen whether a consensus candidate can be agreed upon.
An estimated 800 people have died during the violent upheaval of the past month, according to the Pan American Health Organisation, or eight times the number of casualties officially recorded. Some 200 people died in the capital while the remainder were killed in rural towns where rebel troops fought government militia and police.
The latest round of violence has strengthened the hand of paramilitary leaders who refused to lay down their weapons until Mr Aristide's militia are also disarmed.