20317: (Hermantin) Miami-Herald-Gunmen setting the rules in Gonaives (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Mar. 13, 2004

CRISIS IN HAITI | LIFE AFTER ARISTIDE


Gunmen setting the rules in Gonaives

The gunmen who control Haiti's fourth largest city say they don't want
peacekeepers there. Some residents say they do, to shield them from gunmen.

BY SUSANNAH A. NESMITH

snesmith@herald.com


GONAIVES, Haiti - The rough band of slum thugs, convicted killers, deportees
from the United States and self-proclaimed freedom fighters who run this
city don't want American troops here.

Their reason: The U.S. Marines deployed in the Haitian capital as part of a
multinational peacekeeping force did not stop the killing of seven people
during a rally last weekend to celebrate the ouster of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

But Gonaives residents who celebrated Aristide's fall with parties in the
streets are now increasingly wary of living under the control of the
so-called Resistance Force.

''These guys in the Resistance Force, a lot of them are into drugs and
killing, not all, but a lot of them,'' said a Roman Catholic nun whose
convent was robbed five times by rebels. ``The money that sponsored them is
not coming in anymore, so now they're stealing. And they accept anyone who
wants to join.''

The nun was nervous talking to strangers, even inside the gated compound
where the local bishop lived until he fled to the capital, Port-au-Prince.
She wouldn't give her name and said she couldn't speak about politics or
anything having to do with the U.S. forces who have pledged to stabilize the
entire country.

''I've been so frustrated and stressed about what is happening,'' she said.
'We stopped sleeping here and they beat the people here, asking, `Where are
the nuns?' The old man who works at the gate, he doesn't want to work for us
anymore because they beat him badly.''

Local police were killed or fled when the rebels seized Gonaives on Feb. 5,
starting the revolt that eventually forced Aristide to resign. Since then,
the government here has been the men with the guns.

The multinational force in Haiti has said it plans to spread into the
countryside. But so far the troops have done only limited patrolling in the
capital.

The rebels insist they have things under control in Gonaives, Haiti's
fourth-largest city, with about 200,000 people.

FOREIGNERS UNWANTED

''I don't want any other nations coming here and acting like they're helping
us and not doing anything -- look what happened in Port-au-Prince,'' said
rebel leader Ferdinand ''Ti Wil'' Wilfort, wearing sunglasses and a 9mm
pistol in a shoulder holster. ``I promised to put my guns down, and I will,
but first I want to clean up the streets. We can handle this.''

He and his men insisted that there was no problem with robberies or
beatings.

And the rebels do appear to have made some efforts to set up a provisional
administration, recently gathering local leaders to form committees to
handle health, education and justice. Schools reopened this week, and
vendors have returned to the central market.

''The schools are open, the businesses are open; we don't have any problems
here,'' said a man who gave his name as Valentino Joseph and said he lived
in Miami, Delray Beach and Orlando until he was deported back to Haiti a
year ago.

''Everything is going smooth. Everyone is on the street. You don't hear any
gunshots,'' said Joseph, 26. ``We've started cleaning up the streets.''

Joseph declined to say why he was deported other than ``trouble with the
law.''

Also among the rebels is Jean Pierre Baptiste, better known as ''Jean
Tatoune.'' He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for a 1994
massacre that left 20 dead but was forcibly released from prison by friends
last year.

Many of the other fighters are from the Gonaives seaside slum Raboteau, a
long-time redoubt of a rebel gang once known as the Cannibal Army that was
loyal to Aristide.

The top rebel leader in Gonaives, Butteur Métayer of the Cannibal Army,
refused to be interviewed for this report, going so far as to tell a
reporter who had met him previously that he wasn't Métayer.

The nuns aren't the only ones to be attacked since the rebels took over. The
hospital was hit twice, according to director Dr. Paul St. Gilles.

''On Feb. 24, the warehouse was looted of food,'' he said. ``Then on March
5, people with guns threatened the workers. No one would work overnight.''

Asked who was responsible for the attacks, St. Gilles gave a questioning
look as if to say it was obvious. Pressed further, he only shook his head.

RESPECT FOR REBELS

Some residents still seem to revere the rebels.

''It is relaxed here now,'' said Rose Francois, 64, selling fabric from a
large sack in the market. ``Awhile back, before all the bedlam, people would
run from the police. The Resistance Force saved us from that.''

But a few people made it clear that life under rebel rule has not been good,
or even safe, for everyone.

In front of a lottery stand at the market, Ismond Cacique, 22, stood a
little away from the crowd and said, quietly, that he would like to see U.S.
Marines in Gonaives.

''It would be good if the American troops came here, but I don't think they
will,'' he said. ``It's too dangerous. There are guns all over the place.
The Resistance Force, they only provide security in their own neighborhood.
Everywhere else, they make life dangerous.''

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