19952: Bellegarde-Smith: AP 3/5/04: Aristide supporters march through Haiti (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: P D Bellegarde-Smith <pbs@csd.uwm.edu>


Aristide supporters march through Haiti


By MARK STEVENSON and PAISLEY DODDS, Associated Press Writers

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Thousands of supporters of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide marched through the streets Friday, shouting
their anger at his ouster. A seven-member council was chosen to find a
new prime minister for a transitional government.

"Long live Aristide!" and "Down with George Bush!" the protesters yelled
as U.S. Marines watched impassively from inside the gated National Palace.

It was the biggest demonstration since Aristide fled the country Feb.
28, when rebels prepared for a final push on the capital and the United
States and France urged him to step down.

U.S. Marines arrived the day Aristide left, followed by French and
Chilean troops, forming the vanguard of a U.N.-sponsored peacekeeping
force expected to number about 5,000. Canada said it is sending 450
soldiers within days.

The Marines so far have met no resistance, though there has been none of
the jubilation that accompanied their last intervention in Haiti -- in
1994, when 20,000 troops ousted a brutal military dictatorship, halted
an exodus of boat people to Florida and restored Aristide to power.

"If it comes to that, we will confront the U.S. Marines," said
demonstrator Pierre Paul, 35. "We will do the same thing that they are
doing in Iraq (news
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?p=%22Iraq%22&c=&n=20&yn=c&c=news&cs=nw>
- web sites
<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/DailyNews/manual/*http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?cs=nw&p=Iraq>)."


A spokesman said U.S. troops had expanded their presence in Haiti beyond
the capital and into rebel strongholds. Special teams from the U.S.
Southern Command in Florida arrived at rebel bases of Cap-Haitien, on
Haiti's north coast; the western city of Gonaives; and possibly other
locations across the country, said Army Maj. Richard Crusan, spokesman
for the interim international force.

The teams are in addition to the 1,100 Marines in Port-au-Prince, Crusan
said.

Witnesses in Cap-Haitien said police were disarming rebels who took that
city on Feb. 22.

Radio Metropole said there has been some resistance to disarming,
particularly in Gonaives, but no fighting was reported.

Such resistance is expected to be strongest in Gonaives, where a rebel
movement on Feb. 5 sparked the uprising that led to Aristide's flight.
Aristide claims he was abducted at gunpoint by U.S. Marines, charges the
Bush administration strongly denies.

Crusan said U.S. forces had not been involved in any shooting anywhere
in the country.

Paul Arcelin, an adviser to rebel leader Guy Philippe, told The
Associated Press on Friday the rebels would keep their weapons as long
as Aristide militants were armed because "tomorrow they'll come here and
kill us."

Asked where the rebel guns were, he said: "We hide them."

Philippe, apparently under pressure from Washington, has promised that
his fighters would disarm. But no plan have been announced for the
rebels to hand in their weapons, which Philippe said were at their bases
around the country.

On the political front, the seven-member Council of Sages is expected to
name a new prime minister within days, the Organization of American
States said. The council was chosen by members of Aristide's Lavalas
Family party, the broad-based opposition Democratic Platform coalition,
and the international community, said OAS spokesman Edward Alexander.

Opposition leaders have been pressing for the replacement of Yvon
Neptune, Aristide's premier.

One possible choice is Lt. Gen. Herard Abraham, who succeeded Gen.
Prosper Avril when he was ousted in a palace coup in 1990. Abraham
immediately surrendered power to Haiti's Supreme Court justice --
probably the only Haitian army officer ever to voluntarily hand power to
a civilian. That allowed the transition that led to Haiti's first free
elections in December 1990, which Aristide won in a landslide.

A semblance of normality returned Friday to Port-au-Prince's La Saline
neighborhood, a seaside slum and Aristide stronghold, after the Marines'
first tentative patrols there.

"Today is the first time we have opened since the crisis began," auto
repair shop manager Loubens Seintil said.

Opposition leaders also met Friday with Philippe, who has said he wants
to reinstall Haiti's disgraced army. The army has fomented 32 coups in
Haiti's 200 years of independence and its murderous instincts and
corruption are largely blamed for making the Caribbean country one of
the most miserable in the world. Aristide disbanded the army in 1995.

Aristide lost popularity in recent years as he failed to improve life
for Haiti's poor while his aides lived lavish lifestyles that some
allege were fueled by drug trafficking. As opposition grew, Aristide
used police and militant loyalists to attack his opponents.

Aristide denies those charges and said the violence came from the
opposition.

Opposition leader Evans Paul told France's LCI television that they
hoped soon to bring charges against Aristide, who remains in secluded
asylum in the Central African Republic. Officials there said they still
were hunting for a third country to give him permanent asylum, but also
were willing to offer it.