20621: (Hermantin)Palm Beach Post-From suburbanite to nation-healer (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

>From suburbanite to nation-healer

By Gariot Louima and Eliot Kleinberg, Palm Beach Post Staff Writers
Thursday, March 11, 2004



People familiar with Gerard Latortue call him the rassembleur, a
well-respected diplomat who can assemble groups at opposite ends of the
ideological spectrum and bring them to common ground.

The suburban Boca Raton resident flew Wednesday from Miami to turbulent
Port-au-Prince to become Haiti's new prime minister. A once-exiled former
Haitian foreign minister, economist and television show host, his ability to
build bridges will be important as he works with interim President Boniface
Alexandre to rebuild the strife-torn nation.

"We are going in the spirit to reconcile the country and bring security and
development and cooperation with the international community," said
Latortue, 69, who has lived with his wife, Marlene, in a gated community
west of Boca Raton for 10 years. "We hope, with the installment of the new
government, we will put an end to the violence."

With Alexandre, Latortue will lead a transitional government that will pave
the way to national elections. That government first must bring stability to
a country reeling from a monthlong rebellion.

Latortue's arrival came as loyalists to former President Jean-Bertrand
Aristide vowed not to accept him and as the U.S. military became more
aggressive, promising to move quickly to stop violence in the streets. Since
Sunday, Marines have killed at least four Haitians, two who opened fire near
the outgoing prime minister's private residence.

In Washington, Florida's U.S. senators, Bob Graham and Bill Nelson, called
for more American troops to restore order and provide security to distribute
food and medical supplies. Graham told the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee that the United States should take the lead in rebuilding Haiti's
police and public infrastructure.

Upon arrival in Port-au-Prince, Latortue said he would rely on retired army
Lt. Gen. Herard Abraham to improve security as minister of defense and said
he wanted to offer money to those willing to disarm. Latortue called
Abraham, one of the finalists for the prime minister's job, "one of the best
Haitians."

Latortue will manage the day-to-day workings of the Haitian government while
Alexandre serves as a ceremonial head of state.

Dressed in a dark suit and carrying a briefcase, Latortue emerged Wednesday
about noon from his peach-colored home in Boca Isles.

"I know I'm going into a very different situation," he said. "We need only
the goodwill and the protection of God. We'll succeed because we are on the
right path. We cannot leave Haiti. If there's a risk, I'm just taking it."

Latortue said the international peacekeeping force assembling in Haiti "will
help us save Haiti from the disaster." He urged Haitians not to try to leave
for America.

Before boarding an afternoon flight at Miami International Airport, Latortue
told reporters he plans to meet with Guy Philippe, the leader of the
rebellion that consumed half the country and sparked the resignation of
Aristide.


Locals describe charisma

Haitian-American community leaders and local activists were happy to hear
that Latortue had been selected.

Philippe Louis "Bob" Jeune, director of the Haitian Citizens United Task
Force, said Latortue is widely respected among Haitian-Americans because
he's nonpartisan.

"For me, he's the guy that we need right now. He's honest," Jeune said. "We
don't need people (in government) who will divide the Haitian people. We
need someone who can come in the middle and make everyone understand."

Daniella Henry, executive director of the Haitian American Community Council
in Delray Beach, said Latortue has the formidable task of appealing to
Haiti's poor, who once overwhelmingly supported Aristide -- whom Latortue
publicly opposed.

"What he needs to do is get everyone together," Henry said. "If people are
still fighting, there is no way you can complete anything."

Disarming the armed gangs outside of the capital might be Latortue's most
difficult task, some observers said.

"Whether they are for the opposition or for Lavalas (Aristide's political
party), as long as you have armed bandits and gangs who are able to kill,
then I don't think you will be able to have a peaceful accord," said
Jean-Robert Lafortune, president of the Haitian American Grassroots
Coalition.

Even while living a private, suburban life, Latortue has put his mediation
skills to good use, said his friend Lesly Jacques, manager of Haiti Amerique
Internationale of Boca Raton.

In March 2001, after Jacques fired a well-known journalist from WHSR-AM 980,
community leaders decried the firing as politically motivated and picketed
Jacques' Boca Raton radio station. The protests ended when Latortue
intervened, Jacques said.

Jacques said Latortue "was the only one who could come in and fix the
problem in the community" because he was the only person who commanded the
respect of everyone involved.

"Haiti is a sick country," Jacques said. "We need a rassembleur, someone who
is able to get everyone together at the same table."

Latortue's friends say his strong personality fits the task at hand.

"He's Christian, a man who believes in principles," said Winnie Edugene
Robbin, 48, of Boca Raton. "He likes people, no matter what you might be."

Latortue and Robbin are members of a Haitian-American social group in Boca
Raton. At club gatherings, Latortue is often the center of attention, Robbin
said.

"Everyone sits around him because he has charisma," she said. "People just
seem to gather around him. You find yourself sitting next to him and you
don't know how you got there, but you listen to every word."


Fled two regimes in Haiti

Latortue was born in Gonaives, Haiti's fourth-largest city. He studied
politics and economics in Paris and returned to Haiti as a lawyer and law
professor. In 1961, he co-founded the Institute of Economics and Business
Study, but two years later he fled the country during the dictatorship of
Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier.

Eventually, Latortue joined the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization, living in the West African nations of Togo and Ivory Coast and
serving as chief negotiator in Vienna.

He returned to Haiti in 1988 and joined the government of Leslie Francois
Manigat, only to flee again when Manigat's government was overthrown by a
military coup d'etat.

Last year, Latortue joined with the creators of the United States' first
Haitian and Creole-language television network, hosting two talk shows.

"He's not afraid to talk and to speak his mind," said Elizabeth Guerin,
program director at the Haitian Television Network in Miami. "He knows how
to talk to people because he's a teacher."

As he left for the airport Wednesday, Latortue stopped to shake hands with
neighbor Chris Connelly.

"Congratulations," said Connelly, a retired businessman who has lived across
the street for 10 years.

"It's a very tough job," Connelly said of Latortue's new post. "That's no
walk in the park."

gariot_louima@pbpost.com, eliot_klienberg@pbpost

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