=?x-unknown?q?19917=3A__Esser=3A_Thousands_of_Aristide_Suppor?==?x-unknown?q?ters_Denounce_=5BISO-8859-1=5D_Haiti_'Occupation'?==?x-unknown?q?=A0=28fwd=29?=

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

Reuters

Aristide Supporters Denounce Haiti 'Occupation' 
Friday, March 05, 2004 7:40 p.m. ET

By Ibon Villelabeitia and Jim Loney

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - Thousands of furious supporters of
exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide poured out of Haiti's slums
and into the streets on Friday, marching on the U.S. Embassy to
denounce the "occupation" of their homeland and demand Aristide's
return.

The formation of a new government moved ahead with the appointment of
a council of seven "wise men" charged with picking a prime minister,
while the estimate of the death toll after a month-long revolt soared
to well over 200.

A crowd estimated at more than 10,000 materialized suddenly in
Port-au-Prince, seething at Aristide's flight to Africa five days
ago, hurling slurs at U.S. Marines and calling President Bush a
"terrorist."

Hundreds held up their hands, with fingers extended, shouting
"Aristide five years," the rallying cry of those who wanted him to
finish his term. Heavily armed U.S. troops watched from the embassy
rooftop as the crowd marched past.

"Bush terrorist! Bush terrorist!," they chanted, waving Haitian flags
or T-shirts bearing photos of Aristide.

Supporters of Aristide, a former Roman Catholic priest whose fiery
oratory from the pulpit helped galvanize a popular revolt that
dislodged the Duvalier family dictatorship in the 1980s, had been
relatively quiet this week, stunned by his departure.

They had stayed largely in Cite Soleil, La Saline and other teeming
Port-au-Prince slums as the armed rebels who helped push their hero
from office roamed the streets, hunting for Aristide's armed
"chimere" supporters.

Amid reports of reprisal killings, the Pan American Health
Organization said the morgue at the main hospital in Port-au-Prince
had accumulated nearly 200 bodies since the outbreak of the revolt on
Feb. 5.

But that was just in the capital, and the death toll nationwide would
be far higher than estimates of around 100 generally accepted to date.

As the armed rebels withdrew from the capital after a pledge from
their leader, former police chief Guy Philippe, to lay down their
guns, Aristide partisans vowed to demonstrate daily for his return.

'FOREIGN OCCUPATION'

They blamed a wealthy elite, Bush and French President Jacques Chirac
for what they called the "foreign occupation."

"The bourgeoisie joined with the international community to occupy
Haiti and get rid of President Aristide," a demonstrator screamed.
"The bourgeoisie never did anything for us, the masses. Now they took
away our president."

Five days after Aristide was ousted by the bloody rebellion and
foreign pressure, a seven-member "Council of Wise Men" was named to
start building a new government. At least four of the seven are
aligned with Aristide's political opposition.

Haitian and foreign officials have been struggling to install interim
president Boniface Alexandre, who according to the constitution must
be ratified by the legislature. No one could say when a formal
ceremony would be held at the palace.

Haiti's legislature has been largely defunct since early January.

U.S., French, Chilean and Canadian troops in Haiti numbered 2,000,
according to commanders of the U.N.-approved force. Days of looting
and shooting followed Aristide's flight to exile in the Central
African Republic on Sunday.

U.S. special forces reconnaissance teams moved into Cap-Haitien and
Gonaives, cities taken by the rebels.

Washington plans to pay the salaries of up to 500 Haitian Coast Guard
officers for up to three months as part of efforts to prevent a flood
of refugees and drugs during the U.S. presidential campaign,
government sources said.

U.S. taxpayers will also pay to refurbish Haitian Coast Guard
facilities damaged by mobs.

"The idea is to keep them (the Haitian Coast Guard) functioning.
Nobody there is paying the salaries and we don't want them to desert
their posts," one source said.

U.S. Gen. James Hill, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, visited
Haiti and told reporters the impoverished Caribbean country does not
need to revive its army.

Philippe has called for the re-establishment of the military, which
had an abysmal human rights record as it propped up Haiti's dictators.

"What we need to do today is to re-establish a professional, working
and effective police force," Hill said. (Additional reporting by
Joseph Guyler Delva)

Copyright © 2003 Reuters Limited.
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