14755: Hermantin: Sun-Sentinel-Aristide: `Hang in there' (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

February 8, 2003


Aristide: `Hang in there'
By Michael Norton
The Associated Press


PORT-AU-PRINCE· Haitians marked the anniversary of Jean-Claude Duvalier's
toppled dictatorship on Friday, searching for a way out of their latest
political and economic crisis.

Some say the country is better off than in the days of brutal dictatorship
under Duvalier, nicknamed "Baby Doc." Others point bitterly to Haiti's
mounting problems.

"At least under Duvalier, we could make ends meet and send our kids to
school," said Rosegard Lundi, 51, a former Duvalier henchman and now a
struggling electrician. "I'd campaign for him if he returns."

The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere faces increasing challenges as
President Jean-Bertrand Aristide struggles to win back support from the poor
and lift his ailing country out of the political and economic morass that
has dogged it since his Lavalas Family party swept flawed legislative
elections in 2000.

International donors froze $500 million in aid because of irregularities in
the vote, leaving people poorer than ever.

Aristide promised Friday to push a bill through parliament that would raise
the minimum wage from less than $1 a day to about $1.60. But that has little
resonance in a country where two-thirds of the work force is unemployed or
fighting to survive with just two or three days' work a week.

"Hang in there," was the weak message Aristide offered his people Friday, on
a visit to a duty-free industrial zone where factory workers make garments,
plastic tubs and electronic items.

Haitians have lost faith in Aristide, the former slum priest whose fiery
rhetoric fueled the uprising that toppled Duvalier in 1986.

Duvalier had been named president for life at age 18 following the death in
1971 of his father, Francois, known as "Papa Doc." Tens of thousands were
killed during the 29-year Duvalier dynasty and hundreds of millions of
dollars stolen.

Accused of human rights violations and of stealing at least $120 million
from the national treasury, Duvalier fled to France in 1986.

"Aristide's betrayal of hope cannot make us forget Duvalier's atrocities,"
said opposition activist Frandley Denis Julien.

Aristide says he wants to break with Haiti's violent past.

In an interview last week, he blamed the country's chronic woes 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.

For two years, the Organization of American States has endeavored
unsuccessfully to mend Haiti's tattered democracy and get Aristide's party
and an incoherent opposition coalition to agree on new elections.

"The window for democratic elections in 2003 ... has narrowed drastically,"
OAS Secretary-General Cesar Gaviria warned last month.

On Thursday, he told a conference on migration that Haiti is in crisis and
its people are using migration as "an escape valve from the country's
problems."

To many, today's atmosphere is reminiscent of the one that preceded
Duvalier's ouster. Since mid-November, dozens of anti-government
demonstrations have called for Aristide's resignation. At least four people
have been killed and more than 350 injured in clashes.

In December, Duvalier said he wanted to return to Haiti.

"There is chaos in Haiti. There are no available means to govern the
country," he said from his Paris home.

As the situation deteriorates, Duvalier's supporters dare to dream.

"I think Jean-Claude ought to be allowed to return," said street vendor
Solienne Louis-Jean, 61. "We should give him a chance."

Others say the answer is elsewhere.

"I was full of hope when Jean-Claude fell and full of hope when Aristide
came to power," said Ely Merisier, a 38-year-old wedding photographer. "Now
neither Aristide, nor the opposition, nor the international community can
save us -- only God."


Copyright © 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel


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