14642: (Chamberlan) Haiti-Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

   By MICHELLE FAUL

   PORT-AU-PRINCE, Jan 29 (AP) -- Faced with hostility at home and abroad,
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide defended his record Wednesday, saying he
has saved his nation from chaos despite mounting strikes and demands that
he resign.
   Aristide, who in 1991 became Haiti's first democratically elected
president, admitted he may have lost support since his re-election more
than two years ago, as he has faced a vocal opposition and an electoral
dispute that has frozen hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.
   But in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, the diminutive
and bespectacled former Roman Catholic priest said he remains the first
choice of the impoverished masses who, inspired by his fiery preaching for
freedom and democracy, rose up to oust Haiti's military dictatorship.
   "Yes, we may have less (support) than we had in 1990 ... but I think the
huge majority of the Haitian people continue to support me," Aristide said.
"And if you compare what I have and what the one who comes behind me can
get -- there you will see a huge margin of difference."
   Haiti has been in crisis since flawed 2000 legislative elections swept
by Aristide's Lavalas Family party. International donors froze $500 million
in aid because of irregularities in the vote.
   Opponents, who say Aristide has grown more dictatorial, have launched a
campaign of protests demanding he resign. Street gangs claiming links to
Aristide's party have attacked demonstrators, journalists and opposition
politicians. At least four people have been killed since mid-November and
more than 350 people have been injured -- the vast majority opposition
supporters.
   Aristide has promised new legislative elections this year, but the
opposition has refused to agree to the vote without security guarantees.
Aristide said he hopes to persuade the opposition to participate.
   During the 100-minute interview, Aristide blamed Haiti's many ills on a
global economic and political system that "smacks of racism" -- going back
to France's fight to prevent its colony from rising up against slavery.
Following their revolt, Haitians founded the world's first black republic
in 1804.
   Aristide called the freeze in foreign aid a form of economic "apartheid"
to keep blacks down.
   "If some people don't want Haiti to promote economic growth, it's always
to point a finger at Haiti to say, 'Hey, don't do that, you see they were
the first black independent country in the world but they are so poor today
-- you better stay where you are instead of fighting for freedom.' That's
their goal."
   Aristide insists he is committed to democracy and says he need not step
down until his term expires in 2006.
   Aristide is no stranger to the violence that has marred the history of
this Caribbean nation, which has seen brutal dictatorships and 32 coups
d'etat. In 1988, thugs paid by the ruling military attacked his slum church
as he conducted a service, hacking and shooting to death more than a dozen
people.
   Eight months after he became president in 1991, he was ousted in a coup
in which hundreds of his supporters were slain. Thousands more were killed
before President Clinton in 1994 sent 20,000 U.S. troops to restore
Aristide and halt an influx of tens of thousands of Haitian boat people to
Florida.
   But the democracy his return also was to restore -- along with a better
life for the poorest people in the hemisphere -- has proved elusive. Every
election has been flawed by irregularities.
   Aristide was prohibited by term limits from serving a second successive
term, and his protege Rene Preval was elected president in December 1995.
Aristide returned to power in a November 2000 election that was boycotted
by the opposition, angry over the controversial legislative vote several
months earlier.
   After Aristide was restored to power by the 1994 U.S. invasion, he
disbanded the army. But the civilian police force he put in place also is
accused of brutalizing people, summary executions, drug-running and
gangsterism.
   The president said Wednesday that while some of those involved in
attacks on the opposition in recent months were his supporters, others were
claiming false links to dirty the Lavalas party name.
   Aristide said Haiti's reputation for violence was unfounded -- pointing
to higher crime rates in Jamaica and Mexico. Asked about police brutality,
he pointed to abuses by New York City police officers, including the
assault on Haitian Abner Louima, who was sodomized with a broomstick by
police in 1997.
   Among his biggest accomplishments, Aristide said he counted keeping
Haiti "from collapsing into a chaotic situation" and "in a peaceful
environment ... despite not having yet many roads, many schools or
hospitals."
   Anti-government strikes have been increasing, with many criticizing a
lack of economic progress. On Wednesday, government school teachers began a
three-day strike demanding higher pay -- though radio stations said most
teachers went to work nonetheless, apparently fearful of a government
threat to penalize strikers.
   Other recent protests centered on the government's sudden decision to
halt fuel subsidies. Increased kerosene prices mean even less light for the
majority of Haiti's 8.2 million people, who live in villages and slums
deprived of electricity, piped water and telephone service. Port-au-Prince,
the capital, has been suffering blackouts of up to 20 hours each day in
recent weeks.
   Aristide acknowledged he has not delivered on promises to raise Haitians
"from misery to dignified poverty" but said his countrymen and women
looking to mark 200 years of independence next year can be proud of their
place in world history.
   "Yes, the misery will exist but it will not prevent us from knowing who
we are."