15203: (Chamberlain) Catholic Church echoes pope's plea for change in Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

By MICHAEL NORTON

PORT-AU-PRINCE, March 9 - Twenty years on, Pope John Paul II's dramatic
call for change in Haiti still reverberates.
        Then, it tolled the knell for Haiti's 29-year Duvalier family
dictatorship.
        Today, the Catholic Church's plea for change suggests that Haiti's
first freely elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, resign.
        On Sunday, more than 1,000 sang "We're working to save the country,
Hallelujah!" at a Mass in Port-au-Prince cathedral to commemorate the papal
visit. The church also opened a new parish outside south-coast Jacmel town.

        With tens of thousands of people watching on March 9, 1983, John
Paul stepped off the plane, bowed to kiss Haitian soil, and his skull cap
fell off.
        '"The government is going to fall,' the people said, interpreting
it as a sign," recalled Lilas Desquiron, now minister of culture.
        Then, in heavily accented Creole, the pope uttered the
unforgettable words: "Fok sa chanje!"
        For many, "Things have got to change!" meant the end of the
Duvalier dynasty.
        For Bernadette Jean-Pierre, 62, who said she was at the airport
that day, "the pope brought deliverance with him." "Today, we are in need
of a second deliverance."
        People began fighting back and eventually, with the backing of the
United States and the Vatican (news - web sites), the Haitian army ousted
Jean-Claude Duvalier. He fled to exile in France Feb. 7, 1986.
        "We left the cycle of dictatorship to attempt the difficult road of
democracy. Things changed irreversibly," said Desquiron.
        Government opponents disagree.
        "The Pandora's box was opened. The people clamored for economic and
civil liberty. Our rulers have tried to force them back into the box ever
since," said Haiti's foremost novelist, Gary Victor.
        In January, he endorsed a declaration from 184 civil groups
demanding an end to "the climate of terror" allegedly fostered by Aristide.

        The European Union said Friday it is alarmed at "reports of
increases in threats and intimidating behavior" toward journalists, human
rights and opposition militants, and civil society and trade union leaders.

        When the pope visited, Aristide was a firebrand slum priest who
inspired the poor to stand up against state-sponsored terrorism. His
superiors accused him of preaching violent class struggle, and he was
expelled from the Salesian Fathers in 1988.
        In December 1990, Aristide was elected in a landslide.
        Days before his ouster by the army, in September 1991, Aristide
addressed the U.N. General Assembly.
        "He tried to ridicule the pope and the church," suggesting their
alleged hostility was "racist," said Monsignor Guire Poulard, vice
president of the Haitian Catholic Bishops' Conference.
        In October 1994, U.S. troops restored Aristide. In 1996,
constitutionally barred from serving consecutive terms, Aristide
hand-picked Rene Preval, who warmed the bench for him until he was
re-elected in 2000.
        Still, little was done to relieve the deep poverty suffered by
three out of five Haitians, who number 8.2 million, while a new elite
surrounding Aristide lives high off the hog and is accused of corruption.
        Economic hardships were compounded by a political morass over
contested 2000 legislative elections swept by Aristide's party.
        Aristide's pledge to hold new elections this year seems unlikely
since the opposition — which accuses him of trying to establish one-man,
one-party rule — refuses to participate.
        The international community is withholding millions in aid as a
result.
        Since November, dozens of demonstrations have demanded Aristide
resign. Clashes with police and Aristide partisans have left at least four
dead and 350 injured.
        "The hideous specter of fratricidal civil war is on the horizon,"
the Bishops' Conference warned Nov. 29.
        Pointing to the ominous parallel with 1986, the bishops suggested
Aristide "renounce power voluntarily for the greater good of the nation."
        They expressed disapproval of the growing cult of Aristide's
personality and urged his supporters "to fix their gaze not on a man but on
the nation."
        Poulard was outspoken: "Aristide and his ruling circle are riding
high, but the people are sinking in misery. If the pope came to Haiti
today, his message would still be 'Things have got to change!'"
        Today, it's the protesters who echo John Paul's warning that the
government "always pay attention to the cry of the poor and not disappoint
their hopes."