20634: (Craig) NYT: Haiti's New Cabinet and Rebels Hit the Road (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Dan Craig <hoosier@att.net>

Haitis New Cabinet and Rebels Hit the Road
March 21, 2004
By KIRK SEMPLE

GONAIVES, Haiti, March 20 - Gerard Latortue, Haiti's new
prime minister, appeared publicly with rebel leaders in
this crumbling port city on Saturday, seeking to close the
chapter on months of violent upheaval that forced the
recent departure of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

The trip was Mr. Latortue's first outside of the capital,
Port-au-Prince, since he was appointed to lead an interim
government last week, and the event resonated with
symbolism. The armed rebellion that shoved Mr. Aristide
into exile on Feb. 29 sprung from here. So did the slave
revolts that shuffled off Napoleon's rule in 1804, and the
rebellion that led to the fall of the dictator Jean-Claude
Duvalier in 1986.

"From today on we will be celebrating our 200th anniversary
of independence," Mr. Latortue, who is from Gona?ves, told
a crowd of thousands who packed the town's sun-baked
central plaza. "We think there will be a lot of change in
Gona?ves and in Haiti."

Mr. Latortue and his cabinet, which he installed this week,
are trying to send a clear message of stability after
several months of bloody revolt and three years of a
corrupt Aristide administration that have left the public
sector in tatters and exhausted the people's trust.

With Haiti's national police department barely functioning,
rebels have assumed de facto control in several cities,
including Gona?ves where, in early February, they quickly
dispersed an anemic police contingent and destroyed the
police station.

An American-led multinational task force of about 2,800
troops, based in Port-au-Prince, has begun to deploy
detachments in Haiti's hinterlands. But rebel leaders said
in interviews on Saturday that they plan to keep their
weapons until the national police department was strong
enough to protect the citizens.

Mr. Latortue and his retinue, dressed casually in
open-necked shirts and slacks, arrived here in two United
States Army Black Hawk helicopters and a Chinook transport
helicopter flown by American troops. He was greeted by a
rebel army commander in a suit and tie who presented him a
carved wooden key to the city.

Mr. Latortue, who has vowed to lead a nonpartisan
government until elections can be held, hailed the rebels
as "freedom fighters" and said he felt overjoyed to be
among residents of Gona?ves. "I feel at home," he said. "I
see them, I know them."

Then the government officials and their bodyguards, and
rebel commanders and their bodyguards, jumped in a convoy
of S.U.V.'s and sped through dusty streets jammed with
pedestrians, bicycles and bleating mopeds.

The tableau reconstituted itself on a concrete stage in the
city's plaza where the government's representatives and
rebel commanders stood shoulder to shoulder. Among the
rebels was Jean-Pierre Baptiste, also known as Jean
Tatoune, who was freed in a jail break in August while
serving a life sentence for his participation in a massacre
of Aristide supporters in 1994.

Wynter Etienne, a rebel chief who has been the
self-declared mayor here since the revolt began, told the
crowd that the guerrillas "have done a great thing by
providing security to the population."

Gonaives suffered an untold number of suspected political
murders during the last Aristide administration; many have
been blamed on chimeres, thugs who punished Mr. Aristide's
opponents.

As the crowd chanted for chimeres to be arrested, the
minister of justice and public security, Bernard Gousse,
said, "I want all criminals to be judged." Government
officials have not specified how they plan to treat rebels
who are arrested.

Mr. Latortue also promised a series of public works
projects for this impoverished and decrepit city.

In a lunchtime ceremony, the rebels handed over 13 military
assault rifles yet reiterated their vow to keep most of
their weapons until the government could provide a robust
police force throughout Haiti. Many rebel soldiers here are
members of the former Cannibal Army, a gang once loyal to
Mr. Aristide.

About 140 troops of the French Foreign Legion arrived in
Gonaives on Friday and have conducted several showy but
noninvasive street patrols.

Guy Philippe, 36, the personable, media-smart rebel leader
whom American officials suspect of being a drug trafficker,
said in an interview before Mr. Latortue's arrival that he
would put his forces under the prime minister's orders.

"For us, it's officially the end of hostilities with Mr.
Aristide's guys," Mr. Philippe said as he waited for the
helicopters to arrive. He said he had no political
ambitions and that he would be devoting himself to
development projects with a nongovernmental organization.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/21/international/americas/21HAIT.html?ex=1080863037&ei=1&en=c3ffba0d8200f195
Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company