20883: Esser: Aristide's party down, not yet out (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
http://www.ajc.com

March 27, 2004

Aristide's party down, not yet out
By MIKE WILLIAMS

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- It was a powerful political machine, built
skillfully on a populist appeal to the impoverished masses long
ignored by Haitian leaders.
 
Jean-Bertrand Aristide called his political party "Lavalas Family," a
Creole term for "flash flood" or "deluge."
 
But on Feb. 29 it was Aristide himself who was swept away by the
tides of Haitian politics, ousted by an armed rebellion and a
nonviolent coalition of business and peasant groups fed up with what
they charged was his corrupt, violent rule.
 
Now as Haiti struggles to rebuild its government and economy, many
wonder what role Lavalas will play and whether Aristide might seek to
maintain influence in hopes of one day returning to Haiti.
 
His critics vow they will never let that happen. Some of them also
believe Lavalas was so tainted that its chances of playing an
important part in Haitian political life again are dim.
 
"So many of them were on the take, were involved with drug dealing
and political murders," said Charles Baker, a factory owner and
leader of the Group of 184, an opposition coalition. "Anyone who was
not a criminal has a right to be involved, but the criminals will
have to face justice."
 
Even before Aristide fled, several of his Cabinet members left the
country. Others went into hiding after his departure. A few party
members already have been rounded up by police, charged with
political murders and attacks.
 
But Lavalas appears far from dead. The party stood for something
special in Haiti: the inclusion of the 80 percent of the country's 8
million residents who live in dire poverty. Outside observers believe
Haiti cannot build a working democracy while ignoring those masses,
and that likely means Lavalas will play a part in the country's
future.
 
"Although Lavalas is only a pale shadow of what it was in the
mid-1990s, it's still one of the most important political forces in
Haiti," said Dan Erikson of InterAmerican Dialogue, a Washington
think-tank. "It needs to redefine and re-articulate what it stands
for, but it seems any new government must include it."
 
Lavalas leaders say that process is already under way. "Lavalas will
change in the sense that the charismatic leader isn't there, so it
will be a collective leadership that is more decentralized," said
Leslie Voltaire, a party member who served in Aristide's Cabinet.
"But Lavalas is the first party in Haitian politics to give power to
the masses, and it cannot be ignored."
 
Party leaders plan regional conferences and a national congress to
reorganize Lavalas and choose a slate of candidates for Haiti's next
elections, he said. Interim government officials sometimes say a vote
could be held within months but at other times say it may take one to
two years.
 
"That's too long," said Ivon Feuille, a Lavalas member and head of
the Haitian Senate under Aristide. "We believe elections should be
held as soon as possible. We feel a powerful country has come into
Haiti and forced out a democratically elected president. We are not
an independent country now, and this hurts every Haitian."
 
Aristide has charged that American officials sent an armed squad that
forced him to flee the country on Feb. 29, charges the Bush
administration adamantly denies. After spending two weeks in the
Central African Republic, Aristide jetted to Jamaica, where he has
been invited to stay for up to two months. Jamaican officials say he
will settle permanently in South Africa, although an Aristide
spokesman said no final decision has been made.
.