20447: (Chamberlain) Aristide returns (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

(WashPost, 16 March 04)


Aristide Back in Caribbean Heat

Before Arriving in Jamaica, Haitian Details 'Coup' by U.S.

By Peter Eisner



KINGSTON, Jamaica, March 15 -- Jean-Bertrand Aristide stepped back into the
white glare of a Caribbean afternoon Monday, wearing a broad smile and the
same dark suit he had on two weeks ago when he was banished from the
presidency of Haiti and deposited into exile half a world away.

"We're here. It's unbelievable, but true," Aristide said, leaning forward
in his seat as a chartered Gulfstream jet taxied toward the end of a
17-hour flight from the Central African Republic, where he and his wife had
been living in a government guesthouse since his ouster on Feb. 29.

Even before the plane touched down, Aristide's return was condemned by
Haiti's interim government and its supporters in the Bush administration.
Haiti's interim prime minister, Gerard Latortue, suspended diplomatic
relations with Jamaica to protest the invitation to Aristide, who will be
115 miles from the Haitian coast during his temporary stay.

During an extended interview on the flight, Aristide was adamant that he
remained Haiti's legitimate leader, but was coy about his plans. "Let us be
wise enough to continue to listen to the voice of the Haitian people," he
said. "They will always know I cannot forget their suffering."

Aristide said he hoped his supporters in Haiti would find comfort in his
proximity. "I do believe many Haitians who are poor or suffering, or in
hiding, think that if I am closer physically, it's better for them instead
of being far away," he said.

The mission to return Aristide to the region was organized by Rep. Maxine
Waters (D-Calif.), Randall Robinson, former president of TransAfrica Forum,
a Washington lobbying and research group, and Aristide's Miami attorney,
Ira Kurzban. He was greeted at the Kingston airport by Jamaica's prime
minister, P. J. Patterson.

Jamaican officials have said Aristide would visit for eight to 10 weeks so
he and his wife, Mildred Trouillot, could be reunited with their two young
daughters, who had been dispatched for safety to the United States.
Aristide and his wife boarded a helicopter at the airport and headed for a
rural guesthouse offered by the Jamaican prime minister.

During the interview, Aristide gave a detailed account of what he alleged
was "a coup and a modern-day kidnapping" carried out by the United States.
U.S. officials have disputed his account, made previously in telephone
interviews and through intermediaries. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell
has characterized his claims as "absurd." The deputy chief of the U.S.
Embassy in Port-au-Prince, Luis Moreno, said in an interview earlier this
month that Aristide willingly accepted the terms of departure and signed a
letter of resignation.

Aristide's version of the events differed markedly from that of U.S.
officials.

The ousted president said that he had been conferring with U.S. Ambassador
James Foley about ways of avoiding violence and bloodshed in Port-au-Prince
on Feb. 28. An armed insurgency -- led by former members of Haiti's feared
military, which Aristide had disbanded, and onetime death squad leaders --
was threatening to attack the capital the following day.

Aristide said Foley agreed that he should go with an American escort to a
location where he could appear on television to appeal for calm.

"I wanted to talk to the press, as I did the night before for more than one
hour and a half talking to the people through the national TV," Aristide
said. "This was my responsibility. And I could do it again and again each
time as was necessary."

But he said that by the time Moreno arrived at his residence on the morning
on Feb. 29, U.S. troops were surrounding it. Aristide said he felt
threatened by the Americans, who told him that "thousands of people
including me would be killed."

"I know there were American military and maybe other militaries from other
countries. I cannot say only Americans," Aristide said. "But there were a
considerable number."