19095: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Opponents of Aristide keep the pressure on (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Tue, Feb. 24, 2004


Opponents of Aristide keep the pressure on

BY MARIKA LYNCH, PETER ANDREW BOSCH AND MARTIN MERZER

mmerzer@herald.com


PORT-AU-PRINCE -- Fifty U.S. Marines swept into Haiti's jittery capital
Monday to shield the U.S. Embassy as rebels who already drove government
forces from half the country exacted revenge on supporters of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

With the insurgents threatening to attack Port-au-Prince within a week and
vowing to control the entire country within two weeks, scores of Aristide
partisans stood guard at flaming barriers on the northern edge of the
capital.

The city remained outwardly calm, but some Cabinet ministers -- fearing the
worst -- began seeking safe haven in the homes of friends. France advised
its citizens to leave.

The 19-day rebellion already has left more than 70 people dead and dozens
wounded. Nevertheless, U.S. officials said they did not see signs of
widespread boat-building or similar activities by potential refugees.

An exodus of Haitians trying to reach Florida ''would be a disaster for our
state and could mean that many people would lose their lives at sea,'' Gov.
Jeb Bush said during a visit to Washington, D.C. He said federal agencies
were prepared to handle a worsening crisis in Haiti.

And the crisis was worsening.

Looting raged in the northern city of Cap Haitien, captured by the rebels
Sunday. At least one Aristide supporter was seized and beaten by insurgents,
and at least four houses of Aristide supporters were torched.

NEW GUNFIRE

Gunfire flared anew on the outskirts of the city Monday night amid rebel
reports that pro-Aristide forces attempted a counterattack, which the rebels
said was repelled. Rebel officers said they had no word on dead or wounded.

On the political front, Aristide's opponents deferred until today their
decision on a power-sharing plan previously accepted by Aristide.

The proposal, backed by the United States, France, the Organization of
American States and the Caribbean Community, would require Aristide to
accept a new prime minister but would allow him to remain in power.

His opponents seemed on the brink of rejecting the deal Monday, holding firm
to their main demand: Aristide must leave now. Under pressure from U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell and others, however, they delayed a decision
until today.

OPPOSITION INSISTENT

''One man cannot keep hostage a nation,'' said Andy Apaid, a spokesman for
political opponents gathered under the Democratic Platform banner. Aristide
``must resign. We're not negotiating with him.''

The development came despite a last-minute bid to break the deadlock: a
promise that the U.S. and other backers of the plan would support ''further
political changes'' if Aristide violated the agreement -- a thinly veiled
threat to abandon Aristide if he does not carry out promised reforms.

Opposition leaders say Aristide has promised to make similar changes in
recent years but never followed through. Critics also assert that Aristide
is at the root of violence, saying he armed his civilian supporters to keep
a hold on power.

And so, Aristide still faced a tightening vise, squeezed by armed opponents
on one side and political opponents on the other.

Those two enemy camps have in common their hatred of Aristide but otherwise
are not closely aligned -- suggesting that even if the political opposition
accepts a settlement, the rebels who drove police from virtually all of
northern and central Haiti since Feb. 5 could fight on.

Meanwhile, the country edged closer to chaos.

In Cap Haitien, insurgents and their supporters searched for alleged
supporters of Aristide, taking away one suspected Aristide supporter who
later turned up at a hospital to have several cuts stitched up.

''We're going to clean the city of all chimeres, '' rebel Dieusauver
Magustin, 26, told The Associated Press in Cap Haitien, using the Creole
word for a mythical monster to describe militant government supporters.

Looters followed the rebels, ransacking newly abandoned homes.

Also looted was a U.N. World Food Program warehouse that stored hundreds of
tons of lentils.

Supplies of food and fuel to northern Haiti have been largely cut off by the
fighting, and many Cap Haitien residents grew increasingly desperate,
fighting over sacks of rice and other commodities.

Later in the day, rebel commanders largely succeeded in suppressing the
looting.

Along the perimeter of Port-au-Prince, young men with guns and in some cases
only rocks guarded barricades constructed with concrete blocks, tires and
the burned shells of cars. Some barricades opened during the day to allow
passage, but most closed when darkness fell.

At Toussaint Louverture International Airport, just outside the capital,
U.S. Marines in combat gear hustled off the U.S. Air Force plane that
carried them to Haiti.

SECURITY MEASURES

The State Department said the Marines, members of a Fleet Antiterrorism
Security Team from Norfolk, Va., would augment guards at the American
Embassy, the ambassador's home and other U.S. buildings in Port-au-Prince.

''We're trying to make sure that we are prepared to provide security for
U.S. facilities there,'' said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher,
who called the situation in Haiti ''fluid'' and ``evolving.''

He said U.S. Ambassador James B. Foley had requested the so-called FAST
team.

The team, part of a special antiterror unit created in 1987, includes 50
Marines, a canine unit with one dog and two handlers, and two
counterintelligence officers.

Herald staff writers Trenton Daniel and Nancy San Martin in Port-au-Prince,
Jacqueline Charles and Carol Rosenberg in Miami and Frank Davies in
Washington contributed to this report.

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