13715: Blanchet: Fw: Haiti protesters demand Aristide's exit (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Max Blanchet <MaxBlanchet@worldnet.att.net>

 Haiti protesters demand Aristide's exit
As conditions in Haiti decline, discontent increases
BY JANE REGAN

Special to The Miami Herald - 18 November 2002

 CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti -- More than 15,000 people took to the streets Sunday to
protest against the government of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which
has  been under increasing criticism both locally and internationally since
Aristide began his second term 21 months ago.

 The march -- held on the anniversary of the Battle of Vertieres, the last
major battle in the Haitian slave revolution against the French -- was the
biggest demonstration against Aristide and his Lavalas party the country has
ever seen and comes on the tails of two student marches that drew thousands
last week. It was also the biggest popular demonstration in Haiti since
 Aristide's first campaign for the presidency 12 years ago in 1990.

 ACTIVITIES

 The demonstration was part of a ''Unity Weekend'' launched by a Cap-Haitien
organization and a radio station, which included a public conference with
leaders of many opposition parties and also a former Haitian army colonel
whose recent reappearance on the political scene has been attracting
 attention. The demonstration was largely peaceful, and no major violence
was  reported.

 ''This is a major victory. One thing is clear now: Aristide has to leave
power,'' said one of the organizers, Frandley Denis Julien, 27, of the
Citizen's Initiative.

 Thousands from all classes but especially those living in the seaside slums
of this northern coastal city poured out of alleys and came down off their
stoops -- some in their Sunday best -- to join the procession of people
carrying Haitian flags and homemade posters demanding ''Judge Aristide!''
and
 "Down with Lavalas repression!''

 ''How could I not be here, when Aristide is ruining the country?'' asked
Antoine Michel Petit-Frere, 54, in front of his house.

 Chanting slogans such as ''Aristide, we are exhausted!'' and ''We were not
paid to march; we believe in our cause!'' the crowd grew from a group of
political party leaders wearing black shirts to mark their mourning for the
country. The crowds marched two miles to the Vertieres monument, where the
 politicians held a rally.

 ''At the feet of our ancestors, we pledge to combat all forms of
 dictatorship!'' shouted Evans Paul, a former Aristide ally and mayor of
Port-au-Prince during Aristide's first term. ``We pledge not to accept any
government that does not respect human rights!''

 COLONEL RESURFACES

 One of the march's major draws was a former Haitian army colonel, Himmler
Rebu, who led a brief coup attempt against a provisional military government
in 1989 and who since then has kept a low profile.

 In recent months, Rebu, a physical education instructor and author of two
books on Haiti's army disbanded by Aristide after the 1991-1994 coup against
him, has begun to criticize the government.

 Speaking at the feet of bronze statues of Haiti's independence heroes, Rebu
told the audience: ''We are here to say that the heroic people of the North
are not afraid of this regime's repression!'' He also called for the nation
to "rise up.''

 In an interview with The Herald, Rebu said that he decided to reenter
public  life because he could not stay on the sidelines as the country fell
apart. In  an open letter to Aristide last month, Rebu asked the president
to resign.

 ''I had said I would wait until I was 55, but the country's downward spiral
made me move the date up,'' said Rebu, 51.

 When asked if he planned to do more than speak at marches and rallies, Rebu
said: "I will not impose any limits on myself as far as my duty to my
country. If I need to be a city counselor to participate, I'll do it. If
conditions arise where I have to be a candidate for a more important
position, I can do it, and I will do it.''


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