19981: (Craig) NYT: Thousands March in Haiti for New Leaders and Army (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>


Thousands March in Haiti for New Leaders and Army
March 7, 2004
By TIM WEINER

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, March 7 - Thousands of Haitians,
including the rebel leader Guy Philippe, marched through
the capital alongside a convoy of heavily armed United
States Marines today calling forcefully but peacefully for
a new government and a new army in Haiti.

The march to the presidential palace started when a convoy
of United States Marines and French soldiers, about 50 in
all, joined by a platoon of Haitian police, rolled up to
St. Peter's Church during the Mass in a wealthy suburb of
Port-au-Prince.

Several hundred Haitian demonstrators immediately started
marching alongside the rolling convoy of foreign soldiers,
making them part of the march.

The river of people grew to many thousands as it reached
Toussaint L'Ouverture Boulevard. The demonstration surged
around the Marine convoy, carrying soldiers armed with
.50-caliber machine guns and assault rifles.

Forces from the Haitian coast guard and a
special-operations team of Haitian police joined the march
as well. At the boulevard Mr. Philippe, one of the main
armed rebel leaders who led the uprising against President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February, appeared in the crowd
directly alongside the marines.

The realization that Mr. Philippe was beside them caused
apparent unease among the marines, whose ranking officer
appeared to be a lieutenant.

"You see any weapons?" a marine asked a reporter. There
were none in view among the rebel leader's contingent and
his followers.

By 11 a.m. the United States and French forces were almost
swallowed up by the growing crowd marching to the
presidential palace.

They chanted Guy Philippe's name and sang songs praising
him. Mr. Philippe has called for the restoration of the
notorious Haitian army, and United States officials say
there is no evidence he has disarmed his followers. Signs
in the crowd pointed directly at the United States and its
politics. The United States restored President Aristide to
power in 1994 after the army overthrew him in 1991. Some of
the signs read "Arrest Aristide!" Others said "Down with
Bill Clinton!" and "Down with Jesse Jackson!"

The march was peaceful for its first two hours as the crowd
approached the presidential palace. There was some drinking
and celebration but no violence.

Some in the crowd sang in Creole, which has French, African
and English roots, "Aristide, we're sorry for you, you'll
only see us on video."

Others chanted "Bring back the army!" and "Fix the police!"
Followers of President Aristide planned a
counterdemonstration elsewhere in the capital. The
anti-Aristide crowd made up a song about them as it marched
and jogged toward the presidential palace. It went
something like this: "They're here, they're weird, look out
for them."

The demonstrators were calling this morning for a new
government, freed both from the influence of Mr. Aristide's
party, Lavalas, and from the United States and its forces.

"We don't want Lavalas!" the crowd sang. "We don't want
occupation."

Mr. Aristide was carried into exile exactly one week ago in
an American plane that took him to the remote Central
African Republic, where he remains in exile today. Armed
supporters of Mr. Aristide, as well as unarmed political
supporters of the exiled president, remain a strong force
here in the capital.

The armed factions supporting and opposing Mr. Aristide
have each called on one another to lay down their arms, and
each has said they will not do so until their enemies go
first.

The four-star general who commands American forces in the
region, Gen. James T. Hill, said Friday that an important
mission for the hundreds of American, French, Canadian and
Chilean forces that have arrived here in the capital is to
maintain security and create a sense of stability after the
monthlong armed uprising.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/07/international/africa/07CND-HAIT.html?ex=1079684672&ei=1&en=0672822808fad48b
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company