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FT briefing: Crisis in Haiti
Published: February 26 2004 18:28 | Last Updated: February 26 2004
18:28
Haiti, with a population of 7.5 million, is the poorest country in
the Caribbean, with an estimated two-thirds of its population living
in acute poverty. The FT looks at the issues that have led to
growing calls for international intervention to resolve conflict
between President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and rebels who now control
much of the country outside the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Who is President Jean-Bertrand Aristide?
Jean-Bertrand Aristide was first elected president of Haiti in 1990
at the head of a coalition of leftist parties in the country's first
ever free, democratic poll. Then a politically-active Catholic
priest, Aristide replaced the military government that had taken
over the country four years earlier after the overthrow of
Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier.
However, seven months after his inauguration, Aristide was
overthrown in a violent military coup that left some 1,000 people
dead. In 1994, after the failure of UN-brokered negotiations, and
facing an increase in Haitian boat-people heading to Florida,
President Bill Clinton approved the deployment of a 22,000-strong
US-led force that restored Aristide to power. Aristide's ally, Rene
Preval was then elected president in the 1996 elections.
In 2000, Aristide came to power for a second time. But the elections
saw a turn out of around 5 per cent because of a boycott by the
opposition, protesting against irregularities in the preceding
parliamentary poll.
Aristide's opponents accuse him of heading a corrupt regime that
relies on intimidation by paramilitary gangs, known as Chimeres.
Who are the rebels?
Aristide's political opponents have been agitating for the
nullification of the 2000 presidential elections since the results
were announced. At the same time, there has been a steady increase
in violence since unknown gunmen attacked police stations in
Port-au-Prince and the provinces in July 2001.
In February this year, rebel groups began to take control of areas
outside the capital Port-au-Prince, setting up road-blocks and
driving out pro-Aristide police. On February 22, rebel groups moved
into Haiti's second largest city, Cap-Hatien.
However, there is little evidence of a coherent national
organisation behind the rebels' successes, or of coherent links
between the rebel forces and political opposition leaders in the
capital. Reports from around Haiti indicate that the insurrection
involves both formerly peaceful groups opposed to Aristide, as well
as local street gangs, some of whom previously backed the
government, and former members of the national army dissolved by
Aristide in 1995.
Amnesty International has highlighted the reappearance in rebel
ranks of militia leaders Louis Jodel Chamblain and Jean Tatoune,
both convicted of gross human rights violations committed a decade
ago. Their forces are reported to include a number of former
soldiers implicated in human rights abuses in the central plateau region
of Haiti over the last year.
What is the rest of the world doing?
Washington and the European Union suspended direct aid to Haiti
after Aristide's government rebuffed efforts to resolve the 2000
election dispute. International efforts to negotiate a peaceful
settlement, directed by the Organisation of American States, have
foundered.
Washington's main fear is that the crisis in Haiti could lead to a
new flow of Haitian boat-people seeking refuge in Florida, some 600
miles to the north. On February 26, the US coast guard said it was
holding some 500 Haitians at sea, after intercepting boats off the
coast of Haiti in line with administration policy.
Aristide has called for outside military intervention to support
his government. President Bush has said that the US would be
prepared to back another multi-national military intervention in
Haiti only if there is a political settlement between Aristide and
the opposition.
France, which ruled Haiti before independence in 1804, has sought to
mediate in the crisis, proposing a peace plan that would include
Aristide's resignation and the deployment of an international
civilian force to restore order and back up a new "national unity"
government.
Announcing his peace proposals, France's foreign minister Dominique
de Villepin said "a race is under way between those who support
violence and those who are still hoping for a peaceful solution".
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