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Rumble in Haiti :

Aristide's legacy lives on

Globescan by M.P. Muttiah


Jean Betrand Aristide

UN Peace-keepers had turned their guns last Sunday on soldiers from the disbanded Haitian army in a ten minute battle that left two peace-keepers and two Haitian fighters dead.

The offensive in Haiti began when UN peace-keeping forces(MINUSTAH) raided a police station occupied by armed force soldiers in Petit Goave, setting of a gun battle that killed one Sri Lankan peace-keeper and two former soldiers.

The Sri Lankan was the first fatality suffered by the 7,480 member peace-keeping force since it arrived in June last year. On the same day one Nepalese peace-keeper was killed during an exchange of fire in the town of Hinche. Then on Monday, about 300 Brazilian and Nepalese peace-keepers raided the town of Terre-Rouge, where former soldiers had occupied a police station. The UN forces succeeded in retaking the area without casualties.

Lt. General Augusto Helleno Ribeiro, the Brazilian Commander of the UN peace-keepers in Haiti said that he would prefer to have a peaceful dialogue, but if it failed, he would not hesitate to act. The UN Security Council urged Haiti's transitional government to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The clashes were the first major confrontation between the UN Force and former members of Haiti's disbanded army, that helped oust former President Jean Betrand Aristide in a 1991 coup and again in an armed rebellion in February 2004. The US led Multi-National Force was deployed in Haiti, after Aristide was forced into exile last year and was replaced by UN Stabilisation Force in June last year.

In spite of their presence, armed rebels and former soldiers still control much of the countryside. Armed soldiers who led the uprising against Aristide have refused to hand over their guns. Recently, nearly 500 prisoners, escaped during an armed commando attack on the national penitentiary in Haiti's capital.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said that Haiti's security situation remained precarious, and the possibility of outbreak of violence cannot be ruled out. In a report to the Security Council, he said the MINUSTAH's determination to take action against gang members and former soldiers has increased the risk of retaliation against MINUSTAH and UN personnel.

The peace-keepers had been criticised for being too passive toward armed groups, including ex-soldiers and street gangs. These groups are blamed for more than 400 killings since September last year.

Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere, was ruled by Duvalier family dictatorship for a quarter of a century. The Duvaliers and their military dealt ruthlessly with any opposition. Baby Doc Duvalier, 'president for life' at the age of 19, fled the country in 1986. A first attempt was made towards democratic election.

However, Aristide's rising from a priest to presidential candidate took place against a background of death squads and threatened military coups. Aristide won the presidency in November 16, 1990 elections by winning 67 per cent of the vote in a field of 12 candidates. But Aristide's rule was not smooth sailing.

The United States could not prevent Aristide's landslide victory, who was nemesis of the dictatorial regime and the army. It considered him, according to New York Times, 'as a cross between Ayatollah and Fidel', and less Christian than a communist".

But there were plans to undermine him. As former US ambassadors and the Bush Administration recently claimed, hundreds of millions of dollars flowed into Haiti not to the elected government, but to the anti-Aristide opposition.

The United States cut off aid to the military. According to declassified documents, the CIA and other US groups helped to create a para-military group called FRAPH, that rose to prominence after a military coup that ousted Aristide in September 1991.

Thousands of civilians were killed and hundreds of thousands fled overseas. For the next three years Haiti was run by military-civilian just as the Duvaliers. In July 1994, the UN Security Council authorised the deployment of Multi-National Forces to facilitate the prompt restoration of Aristide's regime and in October that year, during Clinton Administration Aristide was restored during the latter part of his term of office.

Aristide was re-elected President in November 2000, with more than 90 per cent of the votes. His Lavalas Party had won 16 of the 17 Senate seats. People approved Aristide's courageous dissolution in 1995, of the armed forces that had long terrorised Haiti and had overthrown his first administration.

The United States and France said the presidential elections was flawed.The opposition backed by the United States as well as the Organisation of American States contested the results and accused the government of manipulation.

However, a report by the International Coalition of Independent Observers concluded that elections were fair and peaceful. In the wake of Lavalas victories, President Bill Clinton invoked economic embargo against Haiti. Another most important reason for the instigation was that Aristide never supported the foreign commercial interests.

He refused to acquiesce in the indiscriminate privatisation of state resources. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) mediated in January 2004, submitted a Prior Action Plan worked out by the Group of Six, comprising Bahamas for CARICOM, Canada, the European Union, France, OAS and the US. Though Aristide agreed to the plan, the US backed opposition went against it.

Aristide was again forced from office in February 2004, by those who have nothing common except their opposition to his progressive policies.

He was elected by the people who shared his determination in the face of crippling US opposition to improve the conditions of the most poorly paid workers in the western hemisphere. Aristide had always criticised Haiti's former colonial ruler, France for its poverty. He argued that France which plundered Haiti should return 21 billion dollars.

The US backed transitional government of Prime Minister Gerard Lataortue was installed on March 17, 2004 and according to the Consensus on Political Transition Pact signed by the Prime Minister, MINUSTAH was established in June 2004 replacing the Multi-National Force.

The UN peace keepers will have to face hard times in Haiti before December elections. The aim of the US is that violence could prevent another Aristide coming to power.

Slave General Toussaint l'Ouvrture said, "In overthrowing me, you have cut down San Domingo only the trunk of the tree of black liberty, but it would spring up again by the roots for they are numerous and deep." The recent exprience of other Latin American countries proved this to be true.


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