14166: (Chamberlain) Haiti opposition remembers attack on national palace (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Dec 17 (Reuters) - More than 1,000 opponents of
Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide rallied in the capital on Tuesday
to commemorate the first anniversary of an attack on the National Palace
and violence against opposition parties.
     The demonstrators met at the headquarters of Democratic Convergence, a
coalition of opposition parties that has called for Aristide, a former
Roman Catholic priest now serving his second term as president, to step
down.
     The event marked a year since an assault by gunmen on the National
Palace that Aristide's government called a coup attempt. In the violent
aftermath of the attack, thousands of Aristide supporters armed with
machetes and guns took to the streets and the offices of opposition parties
and several homes of opposition politicians were torched.
     "First, we have to fight to force Aristide to leave office as soon as
possible," said Evans Paul, a former Port-au-Prince mayor who is one of
Aristide's leading critics. "Second, we are committed to establishing a
real democracy in Haiti."
     Police patrolled outside the Convergence headquarters to keep the
peace and insulate demonstrators from some supporters of Aristide's Lavalas
Family party who protested nearby.
     Authorities replaced the Haitian flag outside the National Palace with
a black flag to commemorate the Dec. 17 events and Aristide welcomed some
supporters to the sprawling palace grounds in downtown Port-au-Prince.
     "I have to say to you, 'thank you,' because you support the democratic
process," Aristide told the visitors. "Last year, enemies of democracy
occupied the palace. This year, Haitian people, you are at the National
Palace."
     About 30 armed men identified by the government as former members of
Haiti's disbanded army attacked the National Palace before dawn on Dec. 17,
2001. The assault was quelled in a short time but at least 13 people died
there and in mob violence that erupted in the capital and other cities.
     Opposition parties charged the assault was staged as a pretext for the
government to repress opposition groups, the media and human rights
campaigners.
     The attack revived concerns about Haiti's attempt to establish
democracy following decades of dictatorship and military rule. Aristide
became the first freely elected leader of the poor Caribbean nation and its
8 million people in 1991 but was overthrown by the military a few months
later.
     He was restored to power by a U.S.-led invasion force in 1994 and was
re-elected president in a national vote boycotted by opposition parties in
November 2000.
     Aristide has been under increasing pressure to step down in recent
weeks as the opposition parties and student groups mounted street
demonstrations to protest a faltering economy and government interference
in the education system.