19002: San Francisco Chronicle: Thuggery defines law in Port-au-Prince slum (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: thor burnham <thorald_mb@hotmail.com>

Sunday, February 22, 2004
Gangs patrol in Aristides' name, but allegiance is on shaky ground

Port-Au-Prince, Haiti -- Their leaders have ominous names like "One Shot to
the Head" and "Caesarean Section." Each has up to 30 men, many of them
teenagers, patrolling neighborhoods across the city with M-4 carbines and
Beretta 9mm handguns, enforcing their own justice.

They allegedly traffic drugs, extort money from locals and steal cars.
Still, they insist they aren't gangs -- they call themselves "popular
organizations" or OPs, and they provide the muscle for President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide's governing party, Lavalas.

The OPs number in the thousands, although exactly how many is difficult to
determine. Without them, Aristide may not be able to maintain power. With
them, this government may be the biggest mafia in the Caribbean. And while
Aristide agreed on Saturday to permit political changes recommended by a
U.S.- led international delegation, he made no specific deal to disband the
OPs.

"I am the police," said James Petit-Frere, 22, a tall, thin leader of an
area called Soleil 19, which is part of Cite Soleil, a vast slum of 200,000
people near the coast. "Everybody here, if I say do something, they do it
because I'm the president of this neighborhood."

Two weeks ago, an OP in the port city of Gonaives, 70 miles north of Port-
au-Prince, revolted against the government, storming the police station and
forcing government officers to flee. Their action sparked an uprising that
has spread to several cities in the north. Now many are wondering if other
OPs, especially those in government strongholds like Cite Soleil, will
follow.

Petit-Frere's nickname is "Iron Pants." As he talks, he ejects a cartridge
from his Glock 9mm pistol and surveys his territory. One-story houses made
of haphazardly assembled concrete blocks and metal roofs line dirt roads.
There is no central water or sewer service, and only recently did the
government install the electricity that lights homes a few hours a day.

Still, the affection for Aristide is evident. Young women in Aristide T-
shirts delicately balance buckets of laundry and water on their heads. Faded
posters of the president line the walls. Aristide paved a road and built a
park in Petit-Frere's neighborhood. The president also increased the potable
water supply.

"I love Aristide because I see Aristide loves the people," Petit-Frere said.
"Life is OK for people who are not working. He builds housing for the
people."

The government maintains that it does not use civilians for security
operations.

For his part, Aristide has insisted there is no tie between his political
party and the militias. "From my knowledge, I never heard that Lavalas gave
weapons" to the OPs, he told reporters shortly after the uprising began. "I
heard that some people got weapons. Where did they get weapons? We have drug
dealers in Haiti."

Aristide has apparently handed over command of Soleil to the OP. Petit-
Frere metes out justice as he sees fit. He said his men have killed five
people for crimes ranging from theft to rape since he took over Soleil 19
two years ago.

Petit-Frere has been working for Aristide and Lavalas since he was a child,
handing out pamphlets and hawking party T-shirts. With such help, Aristide
rolled into power in 1990.

The Haitian military, however, ousted Aristide seven months later. During
the next three years, Lavalas supporters in Cite Soleil and other poor
neighborhoods across Haiti fended off attacks by the military and its death
squads.

Petit-Frere said that during the military dictatorship his group obtained
handguns and shotguns and created an ad hoc security system. Strategically
placed scouts would warn of approaching death squads by blowing conch
shells; armed men would position themselves for the assault.

The defense system did not always work. Hundreds were killed, including
several people who labored with Petit-Frere in the Lavalas campaign.

The United States sent 23,000 troops to restore Aristide to the presidency
in 1994. Once back in power, he disbanded the military and created a small
police force of about 5,000 officers in its place. Aristide was re- elected
in 2000, but more coup attempts followed.

In response to this continued threat, Lavalas solidified the "popular
organizations." According to many OP defectors, the party armed them with
automatic weapons and pistols and set them loose on the opposition political
parties. The OPs crash opposition marches, brandishing sticks, rocks and
guns; set up barricades of burning tires, and lash out with lurid threats.

"If you don't want Aristide for five years, we will gut you," the OP known
as Caesarean Section has told opponents, referring to Aristide's term of
office.

On Friday, suspected OPs attacked several foreign journalists -- who they
accuse of vilifying Aristide -- with rocks, bottles and machetes. When a
political opponent rises in popularity, Lavalas allegedly pays OP leaders to
assassinate him, according to Organization of American States officials and
human rights groups.

Their actions earned them the nickname chimere, which means fire- breathing
dragon.

"Everyone with guns here is for hire," said Pierre Esperance, the director
of the National Coalition for Haitian Rights, a human rights group with
offices in Port-au-Prince and New York. "Guns are not here to defend
ideology. Guns are here to defend one person."

For their support, Esperance said, the OPs get carte blanche in their
neighborhoods to traffic drugs, steal cars and extort money from their
neighbors.

The government is reportedly scrambling to keep control of the OPs. In the
past week, Esperance said, five wealthy Haitians have been kidnapped for
ransom.

Despite the government's protestations, contact between the Aristide
government and the OPs is well known; their leaders regularly visit the
national palace. Petit-Frere said he has a job protecting the Lavalas mayor
of his borough, and other OP leaders said they have similar jobs with the
government.

Petit-Frere also said he and others work as part of Aristide's security
detail. Their many trips together include one in January to Gonaives to
celebrate the country's bicentennial.

Petit-Frere said that since the revolt began in Gonaives, the leader of the
OP there has called him and tried to persuade him to change sides. He said
opposition politicians in Port-au-Prince have also contacted him.

Some OP leaders in Port-au-Prince have already defected. One leader in Cite
Soleil turned against the president after an attempt on his life that left
five people dead. The leader blames Aristide and remains in hiding in the
slums.

Petit-Frere said other leaders may follow, including himself.

"If you work and you can't get no pay, no money," he said, trailing off.
"Like I see I can't find anybody to help me buy a car and I find another
boss who helps me get the car -- do you think I will still stay with
Lavalas? No way."

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