Jean-Bertrand Aristide

 Jean-Bertrand Aristide  (born 15 July 1953) is a Haitian former Catholic priest of the Salesian order and politician who served as Haiti's first democratically elected president.[ 1 ][ 2 ] A proponent of liberation theology,[ 3 ][ 4 ] Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies. He became a focal point for the pro-democracy movement first under Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and then under the military transition regime which followed. He won the Haitian general election, 1990-1991, with 67% of the vote and was briefly president of Haiti, until aSeptember 1991 military coup. The coup regime collapsed in 1994 under US pressure and threat of force (Operation Uphold Democracy). Aristide was then president again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004. However, Aristide was ousted in a 2004 coup d'état, in which one of his former soldiers participated. He accused the United States of orchestrating the coup d'état against him with support from Jamaican prime minister P. J. Patterson, among others.[ 5 ]Aristide was later forced into exile in the Central African Republic[ 5 ] and South Africa. He finally returned to Haiti in 2011 after seven years in exile.[ 6 ]

Early life and church career
Aristide was born into poverty in Port-Salut, Sud Department. His father died three months after Aristide was born,[ 7 ]and he later moved to Port-au-Prince with his mother.[ 8 ] In 1958, Aristide started school with priests of the Salesian order.[ 9 ] He was educated at the College Notre Dame in Cap-Haïtien, graduating with honors in 1974. He then took a course of novitiate studies in La Vega, Dominican Republic, before returning to Haiti to study philosophy at the Grand Séminaire Notre Dame and psychology at the State University of Haiti. After completing his post-graduate studies in 1979, Aristide travelled in Europe, studying in Italy, Greece, [1] [dead link]  and in the Palestinian town of Beit Jala at the Cremisan Monastery. He returned to Haiti in 1982 for his ordination as a Salesian priest,[ 10 ] and was appointed curate of a small parish in Port-au-Prince.

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">During the first three decades of Aristide's life, Haiti was ruled by the family dictatorships of François "Papa Doc" andJean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier. The misery endured by Haiti's poor made a deep impression on Aristide,<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Danner_Verge_8-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 8 ] and he became an outspoken critic of duvalierism.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 11 ] Nor did he spare the hierarchy of the country's church, since a 1966 Vatican Concordat granted Duvalier one-time power to appoint Haiti's bishops.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-12" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 12 ] An exponent of liberation theology, Aristide denounced Duvalier's regime in one of his earliest sermons. This did not go unnoticed by the regime's top echelons. Under pressure, the provincial delegate of the Salesian Order sent Aristide into three years of exile inMontreal.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Danner_Prophet_10-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 10 ] By 1985, as popular opposition to Duvalier's regime grew, Aristide was back preaching in Haiti. His Easter Week sermon, "A call to holiness", delivered at the cathedral of Port-au-Prince and later broadcast throughout Haiti, proclaimed: "The path of those Haitians who reject the regime is the path of righteousness and love."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 13 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Aristide became a leading figure in the ""ti legliz movement"" – Kreyòl for "little church".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 14 ] In September 1985, he was appointed to St. Jean Bosco church, in a poor neighborhood in Port-au-Prince. Struck by the absence of young people in the church, Aristide began to organize youth, sponsoring weekly youth Masses.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Farmer_Uses_15-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 15 ] He founded an orphanage for urban street children in 1986 called Lafanmi Selavi [Family is Life].<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Wilentz_16-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 16 ]<span class="reference" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;white-space:nowrap;">:214  Its program sought to be a model of participatory democracy for the children it served.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 17 ] As Aristide became a leading voice for the aspirations of Haiti's dispossessed, he inevitably became a target for attack.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-18" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 18 ] He survived at least four assassination attempts.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Aristide_no_stranger_to_struggle_9-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 9 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-19" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 19 ] The most widely publicized attempt, the St Jean Bosco massacre, occurred on 11 September 1988,<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-20" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 20 ] when over one hundred armedTontons Macoute wearing red armbands forced their way into St. Jean Bosco as Aristide began Sunday Mass.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-21" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 21 ] As army troops and police stood by, the men fired machine guns at the congregation and attacked fleeing parishioners with machetes. Aristide's church was burned to the ground. Thirteen people are reported to have been killed, and 77 wounded. Aristide survived and went into hiding.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Wilentz_16-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 16 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Subsequently, Salesian officials ordered Aristide to leave Haiti, but tens of thousands of Haitians protested, blocking his access to the airport.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-22" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 22 ] In December 1988, Aristide was expelled from his Salesian order.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-23" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 23 ] A statement prepared by the Salesians called the priest's political activities an "incitement to hatred and violence", out of line with his role as a clergyman.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-24" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 24 ] Aristide appealed the decision, saying: "The crime of which I stand accused is the crime of preaching food for all men and women."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-25" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 25 ] In a January 1988 interview, he said "The solution is revolution, first in the spirit of the Gospel; Jesus could not accept people going hungry. It is a conflict between classes, rich and poor. My role is to preach and organize...."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-webster_7-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 7 ] In 1994, Aristide left priesthood, ending years of tension with the church over his criticism of its hierarchy and his espousal of liberation theology.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-26" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 26 ] The following year, Aristide married Mildred Trouillot, with whom he had two daughters.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-career_27-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 27 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="First_presidency_.281991.E2.80.9396.29" style="box-sizing:border-box;">First presidency (1991–96)
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Following the violence at the aborted national election of 1987, the 1990 election was approached with caution. Aristide announced his candidacy for the presidency. Following a six-week campaign, during which he dubbed his followers the " Front National pour le Changement et la Démocratie " (National Front for Change and Democracy, or FNCD), the "little priest" was elected president in 1990 with 67% of the vote in what is generally recognized as the first honest election in Haitian history. However, just eight months into his presidency he was overthrown by a bloody military coup. He broke from FNCD and created the Struggling People's Organization (OPL, Organisation Politique "Lavalas") – "the flood" or "torrent" in Kréyòl.

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">A coup attempt against Aristide had taken place on 6 January, even before his inauguration, when Roger Lafontant, a Tonton Macoute leader under Duvalier, seized the provisional president Ertha Pascal-Trouillot and declared himself president. After large numbers of Aristide supporters filled the streets in protest and Lafontant attempted to declare martial law, the army crushed the incipient coup.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-28" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 28 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">During Aristide's short-lived first period in office, he attempted to carry out substantial reforms, which brought passionate opposition from Haiti's business and military elite.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-CollinsCole_29-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 29 ] He sought to bring the military under civilian control, retiring the commander in chief of the army Hérard Abraham, initiated investigations of human rights violations, and brought to trial several Tontons Macoute who had not fled the country.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-CollinsCole_29-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 29 ] He also banned the emigration of many well known Haitians until their bank accounts had been examined.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-CollinsCole_29-2" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 29 ] His relationship with the National Assembly soon deteriorated, and he attempted repeatedly to bypass it on judicial, Cabinet and ambassadorial appointments.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-CollinsCole_29-3" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 29 ] His nomination of his close friend and political ally, René Préval, as prime minister, provoked severe criticism from political opponents overlooked, and the National Assembly threatened a no-confidence vote against Préval in August 1991. This led to a crowd of at least 2000 at the National Palace, which threatened violence; together with Aristide's failure to explicitly reject mob violence this permitted the junta which would topple him to accuse him of human rights violations.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-CollinsCole_29-4" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 29 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="1991_coup_d.27.C3.A9tat" style="box-sizing:border-box;">1991 coup d'état
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">In September 1991 the army performed a coup against him (1991 Haitian coup d'état), led by army general Raoul Cédras, who had been promoted by Aristide in June to commander in chief of the army. Aristide was deposed on 29 September 1991, and after several days sent into exile, his life only saved by the intervention of US, French and Venezuelan diplomats.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-30" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 30 ] In accordance with the requirements of article 149 of the Haitian Constitution, Superior Court justice Joseph Nérette was installed as président provisoire to serve until elections were held within 90 days of Aristide's resignation. However, real power was held by army commander Raoul Cédras.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-coup_31-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 31 ] The elections were scheduled, but were cancelled under pressure from the United States government. Aristide and other sources claim that both the coup and the election cancellation were the result of pressure from the American government.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-hallward_32-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 32 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-33" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 33 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-34" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 34 ] High-ranking members of the Haitian National Intelligence Service(SIN), which had been set up and financed in the 1980s by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as part of the war on drugs, were involved in the coup, and were reportedly still receiving funding and training from the CIA for intelligence-gathering activities at the time of the coup, but this funding reportedly ended after the coup.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-weiner_35-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 35 ] The New York Times said that "No evidence suggests that the C.I.A backed the coup or intentionally undermined President Aristide."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-weiner_35-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 35 ] However, press reports about possible CIA involvement in Haitian politics before the coup sparked congressional hearings in the United States.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-LATimes11021993_36-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 36 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">A campaign of terror against Aristide supporters was started by Emmanuel Constant after Aristide was forced out. In 1993, Constant, who had been on the CIA's payroll as an informant since 1992, organized the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti (FRAPH), which targeted and killed Aristide supporters.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-LATimes11021993_36-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 36 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-37" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 37 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-38" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 38 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Aristide spent his exile first in Venezuela and then in the United States, working to develop international support. A United Nations trade embargo during Aristide's exile, intended to force the coup leaders to step down, was a strong blow to Haiti's already weak economy.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-39" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 39 ] President George H.W. Bush granted an exemption from the embargo to many US companies doing business in Haiti, and president Bill Clinton extended this exemption.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-40" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 40 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-41" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 41 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">In addition to this trade with the US, the coup regime was supported by massive profits from the drug trade thanks to the Haitian military's affiliation with the Cali Cartel; Aristide publicly stated that his own pursuit of arresting drug dealers was one event that prompted the coup by drug-affiliated military officials Raul Cedras and Michel Francois (a claim echoed by his former secretary of State Patrick Elie). Representative John Conyers (D-Michigan) expressed concern that the only US government agency to publicly recognize the Haitian junta's role in drug trafficking was the DEA, and that, despite a wealth of evidence provided by the DEA proving the junta's drug connections, the Clinton administration downplayed this factor rather than use it as a hedge against the junta (as the US government had done against Manuel Noriega). Nairn in particular alleged that the CIA's connections to these drug traffickers in the junta not only dated to the creation of SIN, but were ongoing during and after the coup. Nairn's claims are confirmed in part by revelations of Emmanuel Constant regarding the ties of his FRAPH organization to the CIA before and during the coup government.

<span class="mw-headline" id="1994_return" style="box-sizing:border-box;">1994 return
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Following massive peaceful public pro-Aristide demonstrations by Haitian expats (estimated over 250,000 people at a demonstration in New York City) urging Bill Clinton to deliver on his election promise to return Aristide to Haiti, US and international pressure (including United Nations Security Council Resolution 940 on 31 July 1994), persuaded the military regime to back down and US troops were deployed in the country by president Bill Clinton. On 15 October 1994, the Clinton administration returned Aristide to Haiti to complete his term in office.

<span class="mw-headline" id="Opposition_.281996.E2.80.932001.29" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Opposition (1996–2001)
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">In late 1996, Aristide broke from the OPL over what he called its "distance from the people"<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-hallward_32-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 32 ] and created a new political party, the Fanmi Lavalas. The OPL, holding the majority in the Sénat and the Chambre des Députés, renamed itself the Organisation du Peuple en Lutte, maintaining the OPL acronym.

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">The Fanmi Lavalas "won" the 2000 legislative election in May, but a number of Senate seats which should have had second-round runoffs were allocated to Lavalas candidates which, while leading, had not achieved a first-round majority of all votes cast. Fanmi Lavalas controlled the Provisional Election Commission which made the decision.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-42" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 42 ] Aristide then was elected later that year in the 2000 presidential election, an election boycotted by most opposition political parties, now organised into the Convergence Démocratique. Although the US government claimed that the election turnout was hardly over 10%, international observers saw turnout of around 50%, and at the time, CNN reported a turnout of 60% with over 92% voting for Aristide.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-43" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 43 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="Second_presidency_.282001.E2.80.932004.29" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Second presidency (2001–2004)
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Aristide called for France, the former colonizer of the country, to pay $21 billion<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-44" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 44 ] in restitution to Haiti for the 90 million gold francs supplied to France by Haiti in restitution for French property that was misappropriated in the Haitian rebellion, over the period from 1825 to 1947.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-45" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 45 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="2004_coup_d.27.C3.A9tat" style="box-sizing:border-box;">2004 coup d'état
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">In February 2004, the assassination of gang leader Amiot Metayer sparked a violent rebellion that culminated in Aristide's removal from office. Amiot's brother,Buteur Metayer, blamed Aristide for the assassination, and used this as an argument given in order to form the National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Haiti.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-46" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 46 ] Joined by other groups<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-47" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 47 ] the rebels quickly took control of the North, and eventually laid siege to, and then invaded, the capital. Under disputed circumstances, Aristide was flown out of the country by the U.S. with help from Canada and France on 28 February 2004.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-48" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 48 ] Jamaican prime minister P. J. Pattersonreleased a statement saying "we are bound to question whether his resignation was truly voluntary, as it comes after the capture of sections of Haiti by armed insurgents and the failure of the international community to provide the requisite support. The removal of president Aristide in these circumstances sets a dangerous precedent for democratically elected governments anywhere and everywhere, as it promotes the removal of duly elected persons from office by the power of rebel forces."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-edition.cnn.com_5-2" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 5 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">After Aristide was removed from Haiti, looters raided his villa.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-49" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 49 ] Most barricades were lifted the day after Aristide left as the shooting had stopped; order was maintained by Haitian police, along with armed rebels and local vigilante groups.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-50" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 50 ] Almost immediately after the Aristide were transported from Haiti, the prime minister of Jamaica, [http://www.wikiwand.com/en/P.J._Patterson P. J. Patterson], dispatched a member of parliament, Sharon Hay-Webster, to the Central African Republic. The leadership of that country agreed that Aristide and his family could go to Jamaica. The Aristide were in the island for several months until the Jamaican government gained acceptance by the Republic of South Africa for the family to relocate there.

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Aristide later stated that France and the U.S. had a role in what he termed "a kidnapping" that took him from Haiti to South Africa via the Central African Republic.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-51" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 51 ]However, authorities said his temporary asylum there had been negotiated by the United States, France and Gabon.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-52" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 52 ] On 1 March 2004, U.S. congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-CA), along with Aristide family friend Randall Robinson, reported Aristide had told them that he had been forced to resign and had been abducted from the country by the United States and that he had been held hostage by an armed military guard.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-demnow_53-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 53 ] According to representative Maxine Waters D-California, Mildred Aristide called her at her home at 6:30 am to inform her "the coup d'etat has been completed", and Jean-Bertrand Aristide said the U.S. embassy in Haiti's chief of staff came to his house to say he would be killed "and a lot of Haitians would be killed" if he refused to resign immediately and said he "has to go now".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-edition.cnn.com_5-3" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 5 ] Aristide's letter, which is described as his resignation, does not actually have Aristide as clearly and officially resigning. Representative Charles Rangel, D-New York, expressed similar words, saying Aristide had told him he was "disappointed that the international community had let him down" and "that he resigned under pressure" – "As a matter of fact, he was very apprehensive for his life. They made it clear that he had to go now or he would be killed."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-edition.cnn.com_5-4" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 5 ] When asked for his response to these statements Colin Powell said that "it might have been better for members of Congress who have heard these stories to ask us about the stories before going public with them so we don't make a difficult situation that much more difficult" and he alleged that Aristide "did not democratically govern or govern well".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-edition.cnn.com_5-5" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 5 ] CARICOM, an organization of Caribbean countries that included Haiti, called for a United Nations investigation into Aristide's removal, but were reportedly pressured by the U.S. and France to drop their request. Some observers suggest the rebellion and removal of Aristide were covertly orchestrated by these two countries and Canada.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-54" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 54 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-55" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 55 ] In a 2006 interview, Aristide said the United States went back on their word regarding compromises he made with them over privatization of enterprises to ensure that part of the profits would go to the Haitian people and then "relied on a disinformation campaign" to discredit him.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-hallward_32-2" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 32 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="Exile_.282004.E2.80.9311.29" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Exile (2004–11)
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">After being cast into exile, in mid-2004 Aristide, his family, and bodyguards were welcomed to South Africa by several cabinet ministers, 20 senior diplomats, and a guard of honour.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-56" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 56 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-57" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 57 ] Receiving a salary from and provided staff by the South African government,<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-58" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 58 ] Aristide lived with his family in a government villa in Pretoria.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Smith_59-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 59 ] In South Africa, Aristide became an honorary research fellow at the University of South Africa, learned Zulu, and, on 25 April 2007, received a doctorate in African languages.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-60" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 60 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">On 21 December 2007, a speech by Aristide marking the new year and Haiti's Independence Day was broadcast, the fourth such speech since his exile; in the speech he criticized the 2006 presidential election in which Préval was elected, describing it as a "selection", in which "the knife of treason was planted" in the back of the Haitian people.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-61" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 61 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Since the election, some high-ranking members of Lavalas have been targets for violence.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-62" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 62 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-63" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 63 ] Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a leading human rights organizer in Haiti and a member of Lavalas, disappeared in August 2007.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-64" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 64 ] His whereabouts remain unknown and a news article states: "Like many protesters, he [Wilson Mesilien, coordinator of the pro-Aristide 30 September Foundation] wore a T-shirt demanding the return of foundation leader Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a human rights activist and critic of both U.N. and U.S. involvement in Haiti who disappeared in August."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-65" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 65 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="Return_to_Haiti" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Return to Haiti
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">In a 2008 United States embassy cable, former US ambassador to Haiti Janet Sanderson emphasized that: "A premature departure of MINUSTAH would leave the [Haitian] government...vulnerable to...resurgent populist and anti-market economy political forces—reversing gains of the last two years. MINUSTAH is an indispensable tool in realizing core USG [US government] policy interests in Haiti."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-66" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 66 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">At a high-level meeting on 2 August 2006, top US and UN officials declared: "Aristide movement must be stopped."

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">The cable describes how former Guatemalan diplomat Edmond Mulet, then chief of MINUSTAH, "urged US legal action against Aristide to prevent the former president from gaining more traction with the Haitian population and returning to Haiti".

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">At Mulet’s request, UN secretary general Kofi Annan urged South Africa’s president Thabo Mbeki "to ensure that Aristide remained in South Africa".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-67" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 67 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">US ambassador James Foley wrote in a confidential 22 March 2005 cable that an August 2004 poll "showed that Aristide was still the only figure in Haiti with a favorability rating above 50%".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-68" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 68 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">After René Préval, a former ally of Aristide, was elected president of Haiti in 2006, he said it would be possible for Aristide to return to Haiti.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-69" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 69 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-70" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 70 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">On 16 December 2009, several thousand protesters marched through Port-au-Prince calling for Aristide's return to Haiti, and protesting the exclusion of Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party from upcoming elections.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-71" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 71 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">On 12 January 2010, Aristide sent his condolences to victims of the earthquake in Haiti just a few hours after it occurred, and stated that he wishes to return to help rebuild the country.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Smith_59-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 59 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-IOL01152010_72-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 72 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">On 7 November 2010, in an exclusive interview (the last given before his return to Haiti) with independent reporter Nicolas Rossier in Eurasia Review and theHuffington Post, Aristide declared that the 2010 elections were not inclusive of his party Fanmi Lavalas and therefore not fair and free. He also confirmed his wishes to go back to Haiti but that he was not allowed to travel out of South Africa.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-73" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 73 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">In February 2011, Aristide announced "I will return to Haiti" within days of the ruling Haitian government removing impediments to him receiving his Haitian passport.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-74" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 74 ] On 17 March 2011, Aristide departed for Haiti from his exile in South Africa. U.S. president Barack Obama had asked South African president Jacob Zuma to delay Aristide's departure to prevent him from returning to Haiti before a presidential run-off election scheduled for Sunday. Aristide's party was barred from participating in the election, and the U.S. fear his return could be "destabilizing".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-75" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 75 ] On Friday, 18 March 2011, he arrived at Port-au-Prince airport, and was greeted by thousands of supporters.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-76" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 76 ] He told the crowd waiting at the airport: "The exclusion of Fanmi Lavalas is the exclusion of the Haitian people. In 1804, the Haitian revolution marked the end of slavery. Today, may the Haitian people end exiles and coups d’État, while peacefully moving from social exclusion to inclusion."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Randal_C._Archibold_6-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 6 ]

Accomplishments
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Under president Aristide's leadership, his party implemented many major reforms. These included greatly increasing access to health care and education for the general population, increasing adult literacy and protections for those accused of crimes, improving training for judges, prohibiting human trafficking, disbanding the Haitian military (which primarily had been used against the Haitian people), establishing improved human rights and political freedom; doubling the minimum wage, instituting land reform and assistance to small farmers, providing boat construction training to fishermen, establishing a food distribution network to provide low cost food to the poor at below market prices, building low-cost housing, and attempting to reduce the level of government corruption.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-77" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 77 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="Achievements_in_education" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Achievements in education
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">During successive Lavalas administrations, Jean-Bertrand Aristide and René Préval built 195 new primary schools and 104 secondary schools. Prior to Aristide's election in 1990, there were just 34 secondary schools nationwide. Lavalas also provided thousands of scholarships so that children could afford to attend church/private schools. Between 2001 and 2004, the percentage of children enrolled in primary school education rose to 72%, and an estimated 300,000 adults took part in Lavalas sponsored adult literacy campaigns. This helped the adult literacy rate rise from 35% to 55%.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-78" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 78 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="Achievements_in_health_care" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Achievements in health care
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">In addition to numerous educational advances, Aristide and Lavalas embarked on an ambitious plan to develop the public primary health care system with Cuban assistance. Since the devastation unleashed by Hurricane George in 1998, Cuba entered a humanitarian agreement with Haiti whereby Haitian doctors would be trained in Cuba, and Cuban doctors would work in rural areas. At the time of the 12 January earthquake, 573 doctors had been trained in Cuba.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-79" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 79 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Despite operating under an aid embargo, the Lavalas administration succeeded in reducing the infant mortality rate as well as reducing the percentage of underweight newborns. A successful AIDS prevention and treatment program was also established, leading the Catholic Institute for International Relations to state: the "incredible feat of slowing the rate of new infections in Haiti has been achieved despite the lack of international aid to the Haitian government, and despite the notable lack of resources faced by those working in the health field".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-80" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 80 ] ===<span class="mw-headline" id="Disbanding_the_military_and_paramilitaries_-_the_Fad.27H.2C_Tonton_Macoutes.2C_and_Attaches" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Disbanding the military and paramilitaries - the Fad'H, Tonton Macoutes, and Attaches === <p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">The Lavalas political project has long been dedicated to promoting a civilian police force and disband the long-time tools of elite repression in Haiti which have been the country's brutal military and paramilitary forces. The government under Aristide launched the first trial of paramilitary death squads and successfully jailed many after aired on Haitian public television trials of FAdH <span class="noprint Inline-Template" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;white-space:nowrap;">[<span data-title="The text near this tag may need clarification or removal of jargon. (January 2015)" style="box-sizing:border-box;">clarification needed]  and FRAPH <span class="noprint Inline-Template" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;white-space:nowrap;">[<span data-title="The text near this tag may need clarification or removal of jargon. (January 2015)" style="box-sizing:border-box;">clarification needed]  members involved in massacres of civilians. Reforming the country's security services though posed a constant problem for Lavalas, as the U.S. sought to undermine these reform efforts and the corrupting influence of the narco-trade continued to be present among the police as it had in earlier periods.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-MonthlyReview08152012_81-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 81 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="Wikileaks_and_Aristide" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Wikileaks and Aristide
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">The release of many documents through Wikileaks has provided a great deal of insight into how the international community (United States, Canada, France and Brazil) has regarded Aristide, his lasting influence, the coup, and his exile.

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;"> November 2004  Dominican president Leonel Fernandez gave a speech in front of other regional leaders in which he said Aristide commanded "great popular support" within Haiti and called for his inclusion in the country’s democratic future.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-04SANTO_DOMINGO006213_82-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 82 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;"> January 2005  USA pressuring South Africa to hold Aristide, or face the loss of potential UN Security Council seat

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">"Bienvenu later offered to express our shared concerns in Pretoria, perhaps under the pretext that as a country desiring to secure a seat on the UN Security Council, South Africa could not afford to be involved in any way with the destabilization of another country....2 (S) Bienvenu speculated on exactly how Aristide might return, seeing a possible opportunity to hinder him in the logistics of reaching Haiti. If Aristide traveled commercially, Bienvenu reasoned, he would likely need to transit certain countries in order to reach Haiti. Bienvenu suggested a demarche to CARICOM countries by the U.S. and EU to warn them against facilitating any travel or other plans Aristide might have.... Both Bienvenu and Barbier confided that South African mercenaries could be heading towards Haiti, with Bienvenu revealing the GOF had documented evidence that 10 South African citizens had come to Paris and requested Dominican visas between February and the present."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-05PARIS004660_83-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 83 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;"> A June 2005 cable states:  "the GOB (Government of Brazil) officials made clear continued Brazilian resolve to keep Aristide from returning to the country or exerting political influence. The GOB had been encouraged by recent South African Government commitments to Brazil that the GSA (Government of South Africa) would not allow Aristide to use his exile there to undertake political efforts."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-05BRASILIA1578_84-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 84 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;"> Fall of 2008:  On Preval's fear Aristide would return to Haiti via Venezuela

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">President René Préval made reference to these rumors, telling the ambassador that he did not want Aristide "anywhere in the hemisphere". Subsequent to that, he remarked that he was concerned that Aristide would accept the Chávez offer but deflected any discussion of whether Préval himself was prepared to raise the matter with Chávez.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-08PORT_AU_PRINCE001392_85-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 85 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="Accusations_of_human_rights_abuses" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Accusations of human rights abuses
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Human Rights Watch accused the Haitian police force under president Aristide and his political supporters of attacks on opposition rallies. They also said that the emergence of armed rebel groups seeking to overthrow Aristide reflected "the failure of the country's democratic institutions and procedures".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-86" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 86 ] A detailed study on the armed rebel paramilitaries has found that these groups received vital support from a handful of Haitian elites, Dominican governmental sectors, and foreign intelligence. The undermanned Haitian police faced difficulties in fending off cross-border attacks led by the ex-army paramilitary rebels.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-MonthlyReview08152012_81-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 81 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Videos surfaced showing a portion of a speech by Aristide on 27 August 1991, which took place just after army and death squad members attempted to assassinate him, where he says "Don't hesitate to give him what he deserves. What a beautiful tool! What a beautiful instrument! What a beautiful piece of equipment! It's beautiful, yes it's beautiful, it's cute, it's pretty, it has a good smell, wherever you go you want to inhale it."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Haiti_Observateur_87-0" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 87 ] Critics allege that he was endorsing the practice of "necklacing" opposition activists – placing a gasoline-soaked tire around a person's neck and setting the tire ablaze<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-88" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 88 ] – It appears though he was actually speaking about people using the constitution to empower themselves. Earlier in the speech he is quoted as saying "Your tool in hand, your instrument in hand, your constitution in hand! Don't hesitate to give him what he deserves. Your equipment in hand, your trowel in hand, your pencil in hand, your Constitution in hand, don't hesitate to give him what he deserves."<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-Haiti_Observateur_87-1" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 87 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-89" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 89 ]

<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Although there were accusations of human rights abuses, the OAS/UN International Civilian Mission in Haiti, known by the French acronym MICIVIH, found that the human rights situation in Haiti improved dramatically following Aristide's return to power in 1994.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-90" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 90 ] Amnesty International reported that, after Aristide's departure in 2004, Haiti was "descending into a severe humanitarian and human rights crisis".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-91" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 91 ] BBC correspondents say Mr Aristide is seen as a champion of the poor, and remains popular with many in Haiti.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-92" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 92 ] By 2012, Aristide had the biggest base of any political figure in the country, and is considered the only really popular, democratically elected leader Haiti has ever had.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-93" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 93 ]

<span class="mw-headline" id="Accusations_of_corruption" style="box-sizing:border-box;">Accusations of corruption
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">Some officials have been indicted by a US court.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-94" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 94 ] Companies that allegedly made deals with Aristide included [http://www.wikiwand.com/en/IDT_Corp. IDT], Fusion Telecommunications, and Skytel; critics claim the two first companies had political links. AT&T reportedly declined to wire money to "Mont Salem".<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-95" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 95 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-96" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 96 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-97" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 97 ]<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-98" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 98 ] Aristide's supporters say corruption charges against the former president are a deliberate attempt to keep a popular leader from running in elections.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-99" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 99 ]

Views
<p style="box-sizing:border-box;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:15px;">In 2000 Aristide published The Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization, which accused the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund of working on behalf of the world's wealthiest nations rather than in the interest of genuine international development. Aristide called for "a culture of global solidarity" to eliminate poverty as an alternative to the globalization represented by neocolonialism and neoliberalism.<span class="reference" id="cite_ref-100" style="box-sizing:border-box;font-size:0.53em;line-height:0;position:relative;top:-0.5em;">[ 100 ]

Publications

 * (With Laura Flynn) Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization, Common Courage Press, 2000.
 * Dignity, University of Virginia Press, 1996; translated from  Dignité , Éditions du Seuil, 1994.
 * Névrose vétéro-testamentaire, Editions du CIDIHCA, 1994.
 * Aristide: An Autobiography, Orbis Books, 1993.
 *  Tout homme est un homme , Éditions du Seuil, 1992.
 *  Théologie et politique , Editions du CIDIHCA, 1992.
 * (With Amy Wilentz) In the Parish of the Poor: Writings from Haiti, Orbis Books, 1990.