Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Encyclopedia
Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born 15 July 1953) is a Haiti
an former Catholic priest
and politician who served as Haiti
's first democratically elected
president. A proponent of liberation theology
, 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 a September 1991 military coup
. The coup regime collapsed in 1994 under US pressure and threat of force (Operation Uphold Democracy
) after Aristide agreed to roll back several reforms. Aristide was then President again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004.
Aristide was ousted in a 29 February 2004 coup d'état, in which former soldiers participated. He accused the US of orchestrating the coup d'état
against him with support from, among others, Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson
. Aristide was forced into exile, being flown directly to the Central African Republic
and South Africa
. He finally returned to Haiti on March 18, 2011, after seven years in exile.
, Sud Department
. His father died when Aristide was only three months old, and moved to Port-au-Prince
with his mother, seeking a better life for him. In 1958, Aristide started school with priests of the Salesian order
. 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 Seminaire Notre Dame and psychology
at the State University of Haiti
. After completing his post-graduate studies in 1979, Aristide traveled in Europe
, studying in Italy
, Greece
,http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:y8pI62Nom-gJ:www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/Multicultural/curriculum/Haiti/11JeanBertrandAristide.pdf+Jean-Bertrand+Aristide%27s+father+Greek&hl=el&gl=gr&sig=AHIEtbSKyUkP6nxU_lN51AFz7xsoeoxssQ and Israel
. He returned to Haiti in 1982 for his ordination as a Salesian priest, and was appointed curate
of a small parish
in Port-au-Prince.
Throughout the first three decades of Aristide's life, Haiti was ruled by the family dictatorships of François "Papa Doc"
and Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier
. The misery endured by Haiti's poor made a deep impression on Aristide, and he became an outspoken critic of Duvalierism. Nor did he spare the hierarchy of the country's church, since a 1966 Vatican Concordat granted Duvalier the power to appoint Haiti's bishops. 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 in Montreal
. 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."
Aristide became a leading figure in the ""ti legliz movement"" – Kreyòl
for "little church." 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. He founded an orphanage for urban street children in 1986 called Lafanmi Selavi [Family is Life]. Its program sought to be a model of participatory democracy for the children it served. As Aristide became a leading voice for the aspirations of Haiti's dispossessed, he inevitably became a target for attack. He survived at least four assassination attempts.
The most widely publicized attempt, the St Jean Bosco massacre
, occurred on 11 September 1988, when over one hundred armed Tonton Macoute
wearing red armbands forced their way into St. Jean Bosco as Aristide began Sunday mass. 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.
Subsequently, Salesian officials ordered Aristide to leave Haiti, but tens of thousands of Haitians protested, blocking his access to the airport. In December 1988, Aristide was expelled from his Salesian order. A statement prepared in Rome called the priest's political activities an "incitement to hatred and violence," out of line with his role as a clergyman. Aristide appealed the decision, saying: "The crime of which I stand accused is the crime of preaching food for all men and women." 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...." In 1994, Aristide left priesthood, ending years of tension with the church over his criticism of its hierarchy and his espousal of liberation theology. The following year, Aristide married Mildred Trouillot
, with whom he had two daughters.
, the 1990 elections were approached with caution. Aristide announced his candidacy for the presidency and 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. He was Haiti's first democratically elected president. 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
.
A coup attempt against Aristide had taken place on January 6 , 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.
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. 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. He also banned the emigration of many well known Haitians until their bank accounts had been examined. His relationship with the National Assembly soon deteriorated, and he attempted repeatedly to bypass it on judicial, Cabinet and ambassadorial appointments. 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.
), 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. 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
. The elections were scheduled, but were canceled 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. 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. The New York Times said that "No evidence suggests that the C.I.A backed the coup or intentionally undermined President Aristide." However, press reports about possible CIA involvement in Haitian politics before the coup sparked Congressional hearings in the United States.
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.
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. 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.
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
and the drug-affiliated government in the neighboring Dominican Republic; 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). Rep. 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
). Conyers expressed concern that this silence was due to the CIA's connections to these military officers dating back to the creation of the Haitian Intelligence service known as SIN, as Alan Nairn's research has shown: "We have turned a very deaf ear to what is obviously a moving force... it leads you to wonder if our silence is because we knew this was going on and [because of] our complicity in drug activity..." 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.
on 31 July 1994), the military regime backed down and US troops were deployed in the country
by President Bill Clinton. On 15 October 1994, Aristide returned to Haiti to complete his term in office. Aristide disbanded the Haitian army
, and established a civilian police force. The noted speaker, academic, and historian Noam Chomsky
is highly critical of what he calls hidden American imperialist actions in Haiti: "When Clinton restored Aristide - Clinton of course supported the military junta, another little hidden story... he strongly supported it in fact. He even allowed the Texaco
Oil Company to send oil to the junta in violation of presidential directives; Bush Sr. did so as well - well, he finally allowed the president to return, but on condition that he accept the programs of Marc Bazin
, the US candidate that he had defeated in the 1990 election. And that meant a harsh neoliberal
program, no import barriers.
Aristide's first term ended in February 1996, and the constitution did not allow him to serve consecutive terms. There was some dispute over whether Aristide, prior to new elections, should serve the three years he had lost in exile, or whether his term in office should instead be counted strictly according to the date of his inauguration; it was decided that the latter should be the case. René Préval
, a prominent ally of Aristide and Prime Minister in 1991 under Aristide, ran during the 1995 presidential election and took 88% of the vote. There was about 25% participation in these elections.
. 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.
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. 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. Only later did allegations surface mentioning the above figure of a 10% voter turnout.
, the former colonizer
of the country, to pay $21 billion in restitution to Haiti for the 90 million gold francs extorted from Haiti by France
over the period from 1825 to 1947. Later it was revealed that this claim of repayment from France might have been one of the main reasons behind the coup d'état of 2004.
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
. Joined by other groups 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. on 28 February 2004.
Earlier in February, Aristide's lawyer had claimed that the U.S. was arming anti-Aristide troops. Aristide later stated that France and the US had a role in what he termed "a kidnapping" that took him from Haiti to South Africa via the Central African Republic
. However, authorities said his temporary asylum there had been negotiated by the United States, France and Gabon
. On 1 March 2004, US 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.
After Aristide was removed from Haiti, looters raided his villa. 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. Almost immediately after the Aristides were transported from Haiti, Prime Minister of Jamaica, 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 Aristides 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.
Aristide has accused the U.S. of deposing him. According to Rep. 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 US 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." Rep. 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." 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". 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 US and France to drop their request. Some observers suggest the rebellion and removal of Aristide were covertly orchestrated by these two countries. Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson
released 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." In a 2006 interview, Aristide said the US 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.
by several cabinet ministers, 20 senior diplomats, and a guard of honour. Receiving a salary from and provided staff by the South African government, Aristide lived with his family in a government villa in Pretoria. 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.
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.
Since the election, some high ranking members of Lavalas have been targets for violence. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine
, a leading human rights organizer in Haiti and a member of Lavalas, disappeared in August 2007. His whereabouts remain unknown and a news article states,"Like many protesters, 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 UN and US involvement in Haiti."
, a former ally of Aristide, was elected president of Haiti, he said it would be possible for Aristide to return to Haiti.
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 populist Fanmi Lavalas party from upcoming elections.
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.
On 7 November 2010, in an exclusive interview with independent reporter Nicolas Rossier in Eurasia Review and the Huffington 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.
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. Since he was ousted by the US government in 2004, Aristide has said that he would return to the field of education. This would mark the 2nd return of former political leaders, as former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Haiti in January 2011 An anonymous government official told the Agence France-Presse
news agency that the Haitian government had issued a passport for Aristide on 7 February, but his lawyer stated that they had not received the document, nor been informed of its issue by the government.
On March 15, 2011, Aristide's Lavalas
party stated in an interview that his return is due to both health reasons for needing warmer climate as well as to aid earthquake victims.
On March 17, 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 elections, and the U.S. fears his return could be "destabilizing". On Friday, March 18, 2011, he arrived at Port-au-Prince airport, and was greeted by thousands of supporters. 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 coup d’états, while peacefully moving from social exclusion to inclusion."
Prior to the election of Aristide, health care services had been primarily concentrated in the capital of Port-au-Prince. The Aristide government renovated and built new health care clinics, hospitals and dispensaries throughout the country, spending more on health care than any previous government. 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."
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.
January 2005
USA pressuring South Africa to hold Aristide, or face the loss of potential UN Security Council seat
"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."
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"
Fall of 2008:
On Preval's fear Aristide would return to Haiti via Venezuela
President Rene Preval 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 is concerned that Aristide will accept the Chavez offer but deflected any discussion of whether Preval himself was prepared to raise the matter with Chavez.
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".
Videos surfaced showing a portion of a speech by Aristide on 27 August 1991 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." 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 – However, just earlier in the speech, and edited from the videos, 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." There is some suspicion that Aristide's speech was edited to make it sound as if he were advocating "necklacing" when he was actually urging his supporters not to use violence but to use the constitution and voting instead.
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. Amnesty International
reported that, after Aristide's departure in 2004, Haiti was "descending into a severe humanitarian and human rights crisis."
and money laundering
by Aristide's administration in which millions of dollars of public funds were allegedly lost to sophisticated financial transactions. Aristide has forcefully denied these accusations. The unelected interim government in Haiti, which took office with the support of the U.S. and France, following Aristide's ouster filed a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuit in the US in Miami, Florida, in November 2005, alleging that Aristide and his associates took hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from the long distance company IDT, and that IDT diverted into a secret offshore bank
account controlled by Aristide payments that should have gone to the Haitian company Teleco. The lawsuit was suspended by the elected Preval government on 30 June 2006.
According to a report by Christopher Caldwell in the July 1994 American Spectator, Aristide stole Haiti's telecom revenues while in the United States. Caldwell claims that between 1991 and 1994 Aristide ordered the proceeds from Haiti's international phone traffic handled by the Latin American division of AT&T be moved to a numbered offshore bank account in Panama. At the time Aristide, Haiti's first elected president had been forced into exile by the U.S. funded Haitian military, so money was needed to bring about his return. These remain allegations, as no charges have been ruled on in court.
Some officials have been indicted by a US court.
Companies that allegedly made deals with Aristide included IDT
, Fusion Telecommunications, and Skytel; critics claim the two first companies had political links. AT&T reportedly declined to wire money to "Mont Salem".
In 2000 Aristide published the book Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization that 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
.
In 2005 the documentary Aristide and The Endless Revolution appeared. In the film Nicolas Rossier investigates the events leading up to the 2004 coup against Aristide.
Articles
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
an former Catholic priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
and politician who served as Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
's first democratically elected
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
president. A proponent of liberation theology
Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a Christian movement in political theology which interprets the teachings of Jesus Christ in terms of a liberation from unjust economic, political, or social conditions...
, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
in 1982 after completing his studies. He became a focal point for the pro-democracy movement first under Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier, nicknamed "Bébé Doc" or "Baby Doc" was the President of Haiti from 1971 until his overthrow by a popular uprising in 1986. He succeeded his father, François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, as the ruler of Haiti upon his father's death in 1971...
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 a September 1991 military coup
1991 Haitian coup d'état
The 1991 Haitian coup d'état took place on 29 September 1991 when President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, elected 8 months earlier in the Haitian general election, 1990–1991, was deposed by the Haitian army. The coup was led by Army General Raoul Cédras, Army Chief of Staff Phillipe Biamby and Chief of...
. The coup regime collapsed in 1994 under US pressure and threat of force (Operation Uphold Democracy
Operation Uphold Democracy
Operation Uphold Democracy was an intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide...
) after Aristide agreed to roll back several reforms. Aristide was then President again from 1994 to 1996 and from 2001 to 2004.
Aristide was ousted in a 29 February 2004 coup d'état, in which former soldiers participated. He accused the US of orchestrating the coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
against him with support from, among others, Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson
P. J. Patterson
Percival Noel James Patterson, ON, QC, PC, O.E., was the sixth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006. Until February 2006 he was the leader of the Jamaican People's National Party . The new PNP leader, Portia Simpson-Miller, took over as Prime Minister on 30 March 2006...
. Aristide was forced into exile, being flown directly to the Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. He finally returned to Haiti on March 18, 2011, after seven years in exile.
Early life and church career
Aristide was born into poverty in Port-SalutPort-Salut
Port-Salut is a coastal town in the Sud Department of Haiti and the hometown of Haiti's deposed president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide who was born there in 1953. Port-Salut is a popular destination for local Haitians as well as tourists to a certain degree seeking relaxation and tranquility due to the...
, Sud Department
Sud Department
Sud is one of the ten departments of Haiti. It has an area of and a population of 745,000 . Its capital is Les Cayes. A large part of the population of Haitians in this department is of mixed race, mulattoes along with other mixtures such as Arabs and East Indians...
. His father died when Aristide was only three months old, and moved to Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince
Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....
with his mother, seeking a better life for him. In 1958, Aristide started school with priests of the Salesian order
Salesians of Don Bosco
The Salesians of Don Bosco is a Roman Catholic religious order founded in the late nineteenth century by Saint John Bosco in an attempt, through works of charity, to care for the young and poor children of the industrial revolution...
. He was educated at the College Notre Dame in Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien
Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...
, graduating with honors in 1974. He then took a course of novitiate studies in La Vega, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
before returning to Haiti to study philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the Grand Seminaire Notre Dame and psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
at the State University of Haiti
University of Haiti
The University of Haiti is one of Haiti's most important institutions of higher education. It is located in Port-au-Prince....
. After completing his post-graduate studies in 1979, Aristide traveled in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, studying in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
,http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:y8pI62Nom-gJ:www.palmbeach.k12.fl.us/Multicultural/curriculum/Haiti/11JeanBertrandAristide.pdf+Jean-Bertrand+Aristide%27s+father+Greek&hl=el&gl=gr&sig=AHIEtbSKyUkP6nxU_lN51AFz7xsoeoxssQ and Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. He returned to Haiti in 1982 for his ordination as a Salesian priest, and was appointed curate
Curate
A curate is a person who is invested with the care or cure of souls of a parish. In this sense "curate" correctly means a parish priest but in English-speaking countries a curate is an assistant to the parish priest...
of a small parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
in Port-au-Prince.
Throughout the first three decades of Aristide's life, Haiti was ruled by the family dictatorships of François "Papa Doc"
François Duvalier
François Duvalier was the President of Haiti from 1957 until his death in 1971. Duvalier first won acclaim in fighting diseases, earning him the nickname "Papa Doc" . He opposed a military coup d'état in 1950, and was elected President in 1957 on a populist and black nationalist platform...
and Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier
Jean-Claude Duvalier, nicknamed "Bébé Doc" or "Baby Doc" was the President of Haiti from 1971 until his overthrow by a popular uprising in 1986. He succeeded his father, François "Papa Doc" Duvalier, as the ruler of Haiti upon his father's death in 1971...
. The misery endured by Haiti's poor made a deep impression on Aristide, and he became an outspoken critic of Duvalierism. Nor did he spare the hierarchy of the country's church, since a 1966 Vatican Concordat granted Duvalier the power to appoint Haiti's bishops. 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 in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. 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."
Aristide became a leading figure in the ""ti legliz movement"" – Kreyòl
Haitian Creole language
Haitian Creole language , often called simply Creole or Kreyòl, is a language spoken in Haiti by about twelve million people, which includes all Haitians in Haiti and via emigration, by about two to three million speakers residing in the Bahamas, Cuba, Canada, France, Cayman Islands, French...
for "little church." 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. He founded an orphanage for urban street children in 1986 called Lafanmi Selavi [Family is Life]. Its program sought to be a model of participatory democracy for the children it served. As Aristide became a leading voice for the aspirations of Haiti's dispossessed, he inevitably became a target for attack. He survived at least four assassination attempts.
The most widely publicized attempt, the St Jean Bosco massacre
St Jean Bosco massacre
The St Jean Bosco massacre took place in Haiti on 11 September 1988. At least 13 people were killed and around 80 wounded in a three-hour assault on the Saint-Jean Bosco church in Port-au-Prince, which saw the church burned down...
, occurred on 11 September 1988, when over one hundred armed Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoutes was a Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by President François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier. In 1970, the militia was officially renamed the Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale .Haitians called this force the “Tonton Macoutes,” after the Haitian Creole mythological...
wearing red armbands forced their way into St. Jean Bosco as Aristide began Sunday mass. 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.
Subsequently, Salesian officials ordered Aristide to leave Haiti, but tens of thousands of Haitians protested, blocking his access to the airport. In December 1988, Aristide was expelled from his Salesian order. A statement prepared in Rome called the priest's political activities an "incitement to hatred and violence," out of line with his role as a clergyman. Aristide appealed the decision, saying: "The crime of which I stand accused is the crime of preaching food for all men and women." 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...." In 1994, Aristide left priesthood, ending years of tension with the church over his criticism of its hierarchy and his espousal of liberation theology. The following year, Aristide married Mildred Trouillot
Mildred Trouillot
Mildred Trouillot-Aristide is an American lawyer who married Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former President of Haïti, in 1996.Mildred Trouillot grew up in the Bronx. Both her father, Emile, and mother, Carmelle, were natives of Haïti. He left Haïti in 1958, she in 1960. They found work in New York,...
, with whom he had two daughters.
First presidency (1991–1996)
Following the violence at the aborted national elections of 1987Haitian presidential election, 1987
The 1987 Haitian presidential election took place on 29 November 1987. The election was cancelled after troops led by Service d'Intelligence National member Col Jean Claude Paul massacred 30 - 300 voters on election day. Jimmy Carter later wrote that "Citizens who lined up to vote were mowed down...
, the 1990 elections were approached with caution. Aristide announced his candidacy for the presidency and 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. He was Haiti's first democratically elected president. However, just eight months into his Presidency he was overthrown by a bloody military coup
1991 Haitian coup d'état
The 1991 Haitian coup d'état took place on 29 September 1991 when President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, elected 8 months earlier in the Haitian general election, 1990–1991, was deposed by the Haitian army. The coup was led by Army General Raoul Cédras, Army Chief of Staff Phillipe Biamby and Chief of...
. He broke from FNCD and created the Struggling People's Organization
Struggling People's Organization
The Struggling People's Organization is a Haitian political party originating from the Lavalas political movement...
(OPL,Organisation Politique "Lavalas") – "the flood" or "torrent" in Kréyòl
Kreyol
The word Kreyol may mean:*Liberian Kreyol language*Haitian Creole language *Louisiana Creole language -See also:*Creole peoples*creole language*Kriol *Krio *Kriolu*Criol...
.
A coup attempt against Aristide had taken place on January 6 , even before his inauguration, when Roger Lafontant
Roger Lafontant
Roger Lafontant is the former leader of the Tonton Macoutes and the former Minister of dictator Jean-Claude Duvalier. He was the leader of an attempted coup d'état on January 1991, in Haiti, an effort which ultimately lead to his death....
, a Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoute
Tonton Macoutes was a Haitian paramilitary force created in 1959 by President François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier. In 1970, the militia was officially renamed the Milice de Volontaires de la Sécurité Nationale .Haitians called this force the “Tonton Macoutes,” after the Haitian Creole mythological...
leader under Duvalier, seized the provisional President Ertha Pascal-Trouillot
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot was the provisional President of Haiti from 1990 through 1991. She was the first woman in Haitian history to hold that office.-Background:...
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.
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. He sought to bring the military under civilian control, retiring the Commander in Chief of the Army Hérard Abraham
Hérard Abraham
-Life:Abraham enlisted in the Haïtian army as a young man. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general and became one of the few military members in the inner circle of President Jean-Claude Duvalier. Abraham supported the 1986 coup against Duvalier, and served as foreign minister for the first time...
, initiated investigations of human rights violations, and brought to trial several Tontons Macoute who had not fled the country. He also banned the emigration of many well known Haitians until their bank accounts had been examined. His relationship with the National Assembly soon deteriorated, and he attempted repeatedly to bypass it on judicial, Cabinet and ambassadorial appointments. His nomination of his close friend and political ally, René Préval
René Préval
René Garcia Préval is a Haitian politician and agronomist who was the President of the Republic of Haiti from 14 May 2006 to 14 May 2011. He previously served as President from February 7, 1996, to February 7, 2001, and as Prime Minister from February 1991 to October 11, 1991.-Early life and...
, 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.
1991 coup d'état
In September 1991 the army performed a coup against him (1991 Haitian coup d'état1991 Haitian coup d'état
The 1991 Haitian coup d'état took place on 29 September 1991 when President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, elected 8 months earlier in the Haitian general election, 1990–1991, was deposed by the Haitian army. The coup was led by Army General Raoul Cédras, Army Chief of Staff Phillipe Biamby and Chief of...
), led by Army General Raoul Cédras
Raoul Cédras
Raoul Cédras is a former military officer, and was de facto ruler of Haiti from 1991 to 1994.-Background:Cédras was educated in the United States and was a member of the US-trained Leopard Corps...
, 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. In accordance with the requirements of Article 149 of the Haitian Constitution, Superior Court Justice Joseph Nérette
Joseph Nerette
Joseph Nérette was a Haïtian judge and political figure. He served as the provisional president of Haïti between 1991 and 1992, part of a period in which real political authority rested with the military junta headed by Raoul Cédras and Michel François.He died of lung cancer in Port-au-Prince on...
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
Raoul Cédras
Raoul Cédras is a former military officer, and was de facto ruler of Haiti from 1991 to 1994.-Background:Cédras was educated in the United States and was a member of the US-trained Leopard Corps...
. The elections were scheduled, but were canceled 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. High ranking members of the Haitian National Intelligence Service
Service d'Intelligence National
Service d'Intelligence National was a Haitian intelligence agency created by the US Central Intelligence Agency after the 1986 overthrow of Jean-Claude Duvalier. The unit, staffed by officers of the Haitian army, "engaged in drug trafficking and political violence"...
(SIN), which had been set up and financed in the 1980s by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(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. The New York Times said that "No evidence suggests that the C.I.A backed the coup or intentionally undermined President Aristide." However, press reports about possible CIA involvement in Haitian politics before the coup sparked Congressional hearings in the United States.
A campaign of terror against Aristide supporters was started by Emmanuel Constant
Emmanuel Constant
Emmanuel Constant is the founder of FRAPH, a Haitian death squad organized in mid-1993 to terrorize supporters of exiled president Jean-Bertrand Aristide....
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
Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haïti
The Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti was a far-rightparamilitary group organized in mid-1993. Its goal was to undermine support for the popular Catholic priest Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who served less than eight months as Haïti's president before being deposed, on 29 September 1991,...
(FRAPH), which targeted and killed Aristide supporters.
Aristide spent his exile first in Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
and then in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, working to develop international support. A United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
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. President George H.W. Bush granted an exemption from the embargo to many US companies doing business in Haiti, and President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
extended this exemption.
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
Cali Cartel
The Cali Cartel was a drug cartel based in southern Colombia, around the city of Cali and the Valle del Cauca Department. The Cali Cartel was founded by the Rodríguez Orejuela brothers, Gilberto and Miguel, as well as associate José Santacruz Londoño...
and the drug-affiliated government in the neighboring Dominican Republic; 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). Rep. John Conyers
John Conyers
John Conyers, Jr. is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1965 . He is a member of the Democratic Party...
(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
Manuel Noriega
Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno is a Panamanian politician and soldier. He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989.The 1989 invasion of Panama by the United States removed him from power; he was captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on...
). Conyers expressed concern that this silence was due to the CIA's connections to these military officers dating back to the creation of the Haitian Intelligence service known as SIN, as Alan Nairn's research has shown: "We have turned a very deaf ear to what is obviously a moving force... it leads you to wonder if our silence is because we knew this was going on and [because of] our complicity in drug activity..." 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.
1994 return
Under US and international pressure (including United Nations Security Council Resolution 940United Nations Security Council Resolution 940
United Nations Security Council Resolution 940, adopted on July 31, 1994, after recalling resolutions 841 , 861 , 862 , 867 , 873 , 875 , 905 , 917 and 933 , the Council affirmed the goal of the international community to restore democracy in Haiti and authorised a United States-led multinational...
on 31 July 1994), the military regime backed down and US troops were deployed in the country
Operation Uphold Democracy
Operation Uphold Democracy was an intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide...
by President Bill Clinton. On 15 October 1994, Aristide returned to Haiti to complete his term in office. Aristide disbanded the Haitian army
Military of Haiti
The country of Haiti currently has no regular military. The former Haitian Armed Forces were demobilized.Haiti's current forces consist of the Haitian National Police, which has several paramilitary units, a highly trained and equipped SWAT team, and the Haitian Coast Guard...
, and established a civilian police force. The noted speaker, academic, and historian Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
is highly critical of what he calls hidden American imperialist actions in Haiti: "When Clinton restored Aristide - Clinton of course supported the military junta, another little hidden story... he strongly supported it in fact. He even allowed the Texaco
Texaco
Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....
Oil Company to send oil to the junta in violation of presidential directives; Bush Sr. did so as well - well, he finally allowed the president to return, but on condition that he accept the programs of Marc Bazin
Marc Bazin
Marc Louis Bazin was a World Bank official, former United Nations functionary and Haïtian Minister of Finance and Economy under the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier...
, the US candidate that he had defeated in the 1990 election. And that meant a harsh neoliberal
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
program, no import barriers.
Aristide's first term ended in February 1996, and the constitution did not allow him to serve consecutive terms. There was some dispute over whether Aristide, prior to new elections, should serve the three years he had lost in exile, or whether his term in office should instead be counted strictly according to the date of his inauguration; it was decided that the latter should be the case. René Préval
René Préval
René Garcia Préval is a Haitian politician and agronomist who was the President of the Republic of Haiti from 14 May 2006 to 14 May 2011. He previously served as President from February 7, 1996, to February 7, 2001, and as Prime Minister from February 1991 to October 11, 1991.-Early life and...
, a prominent ally of Aristide and Prime Minister in 1991 under Aristide, ran during the 1995 presidential election and took 88% of the vote. There was about 25% participation in these elections.
Opposition (1996–2001)
In late 1996, Aristide broke from the OPL over what he called its "distance from the people" and created a new political party, the Fanmi LavalasFanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas is a leftist political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1991. Fanmi Lavalas governments supported a policy of "growth with equity" based on Caribbean and Western European social...
. The OPL, holding the majority in the Sénat
Senate of Haiti
The Senate of Haiti is the upper house of Haiti's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly. The lower house of the National Assembly is the Chamber of Deputies. The Senate consists of thirty seats, with three members from each of the ten administrative departments. Prior to the creation of the...
and the Chambre des Députés
Chamber of Deputies of Haïti
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of Haiti's bicameral legislature, the National Assembly. The upper house of the National Assembly is the Senate of Haiti. The Chamber has ninety-nine members who are elected by popular vote to four-year terms...
, renamed itself the Organisation du Peuple en Lutte
Struggling People's Organization
The Struggling People's Organization is a Haitian political party originating from the Lavalas political movement...
, maintaining the OPL acronym.
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. Aristide then was elected later that year in the 2000 presidential election
Haitian presidential election, 2000
Presidential elections were held in Haiti on 26 November 2000. The opposition parties, organised into the recently created Convergence Démocratique, boycotted the election after disputing the results of the parliamentary elections. The result was a landslide victory for Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who...
, an election boycotted by most opposition political parties, now organised into the Convergence Démocratique
Convergence Démocratique
Convergence Démocratique was a Haitian political movement created in summer 2000 in opposition to Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his Fanmi Lavalas party. A group of disparate opposition parties and social organizations, it was crafted and built by the International Republican Institute...
. 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
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
reported a turnout of 60% with over 92% voting for Aristide. Only later did allegations surface mentioning the above figure of a 10% voter turnout.
Second presidency (2001–2004)
Aristide called for FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, the former colonizer
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
of the country, to pay $21 billion in restitution to Haiti for the 90 million gold francs extorted from Haiti by France
Haiti indemnity controversy
The Haiti indemnity controversy refers to events surrounding the 1825 demand by France for a FR₣150 million indemnity to be paid by the Republic of Haiti in claims over property lost through the Haitian Revolution in return for diplomatic recognition...
over the period from 1825 to 1947. Later it was revealed that this claim of repayment from France might have been one of the main reasons behind the coup d'état of 2004.
2004 destabilization and coup
In February 2004, the assassination of gang leader Amiot MetayerAmiot Métayer
Amiot Métayer was a gang leader in Haïti. His gang, based in the northern city of Gonaïves, was called the "Cannibal Army". Although he had once supported Haïtian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the government arrested him for arson on May 21, 2002...
sparked a violent rebellion that culminated in Aristide's removal from office. Amiot's brother, Buteur Metayer
Buteur Métayer
Buteur Métayer was a rebel leader in Haïti during the 2004 Haïti rebellion.Following the assassination of his brother, Amiot Métayer, in 2003, he became the leader of his brother's gang, then known as the "Cannibal Army"...
, 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
National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Haiti
The National Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of Haïti is a rebel group in Haïti that controlled most of the country following the 2004 Haiti Rebellion...
. Joined by other groups 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. on 28 February 2004.
Earlier in February, Aristide's lawyer had claimed that the U.S. was arming anti-Aristide troops. Aristide later stated that France and the US had a role in what he termed "a kidnapping" that took him from Haiti to South Africa via the Central African Republic
Central African Republic
The Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
. However, authorities said his temporary asylum there had been negotiated by the United States, France and Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
. On 1 March 2004, US Congresswoman Maxine Waters
Maxine Waters
Maxine Waters is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 29th district, serving since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party....
(D-CA), along with Aristide family friend Randall Robinson
Randall Robinson
Randall Robinson is an African-American lawyer, author and activist, noted as the founder of TransAfrica. He is known particularly for his impassioned opposition to South African apartheid, and for his advocacy on behalf of Haitian immigrants and Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.-Early...
, 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.
After Aristide was removed from Haiti, looters raided his villa. 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. Almost immediately after the Aristides were transported from Haiti, Prime Minister of Jamaica, P.J. Patterson, dispatched a Member of Parliament, Sharon Hay-Webster
Sharon Hay-Webster
Sharon Hay-Webster is a Jamaican politician, a Member of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Jamaica since 1997, formerly with the People's National Party...
, to the Central African Republic. The leadership of that country agreed that Aristide and his family could go to Jamaica. The Aristides 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.
Aristide has accused the U.S. of deposing him. According to Rep. Maxine Waters
Maxine Waters
Maxine Waters is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 29th district, serving since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party....
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 US 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." Rep. 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." When asked for his response to these statements Colin Powell
Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military...
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". CARICOM, an organization of Caribbean countries that included Haiti, called for a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
investigation into Aristide's removal, but were reportedly pressured by the US and France to drop their request. Some observers suggest the rebellion and removal of Aristide were covertly orchestrated by these two countries. Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson
P. J. Patterson
Percival Noel James Patterson, ON, QC, PC, O.E., was the sixth Prime Minister of Jamaica from 1992 to 2006. Until February 2006 he was the leader of the Jamaican People's National Party . The new PNP leader, Portia Simpson-Miller, took over as Prime Minister on 30 March 2006...
released 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." In a 2006 interview, Aristide said the US 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.
Exile (2004–2011)
After being cast into exile, in mid-2004 Aristide, his family, and bodyguards were welcomed to South AfricaSouth Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
by several cabinet ministers, 20 senior diplomats, and a guard of honour. Receiving a salary from and provided staff by the South African government, Aristide lived with his family in a government villa in Pretoria. In South Africa, Aristide became an honorary research fellow at the University of South Africa
University of South Africa
The University of South Africa is a distance education university, with headquarters in Pretoria, South Africa. With approximately 300 000 enrolled students, it qualifies as one of the world's mega universities.-History:...
, learned Zulu
Zulu language
Zulu is the language of the Zulu people with about 10 million speakers, the vast majority of whom live in South Africa. Zulu is the most widely spoken home language in South Africa as well as being understood by over 50% of the population...
, and on 25 April 2007, received a doctorate in African Languages.
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.
Since the election, some high ranking members of Lavalas have been targets for violence. Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine
Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine
Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine is a Haitian human rights and political activist and former head of the September 30th Foundation, an advocacy group founded to assist victims of the 1991 coup that removed Haiti's first elected president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, from office...
, a leading human rights organizer in Haiti and a member of Lavalas, disappeared in August 2007. His whereabouts remain unknown and a news article states,"Like many protesters, 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 UN and US involvement in Haiti."
Return to Haiti
After René PrévalRené Préval
René Garcia Préval is a Haitian politician and agronomist who was the President of the Republic of Haiti from 14 May 2006 to 14 May 2011. He previously served as President from February 7, 1996, to February 7, 2001, and as Prime Minister from February 1991 to October 11, 1991.-Early life and...
, a former ally of Aristide, was elected president of Haiti, he said it would be possible for Aristide to return to Haiti.
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 populist Fanmi Lavalas party from upcoming elections.
On 12 January 2010, Aristide sent his condolences to victims of the earthquake in Haiti
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
just a few hours after it occurred, and stated that he wishes to return to help rebuild the country.
On 7 November 2010, in an exclusive interview with independent reporter Nicolas Rossier in Eurasia Review and the Huffington 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.
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. Since he was ousted by the US government in 2004, Aristide has said that he would return to the field of education. This would mark the 2nd return of former political leaders, as former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier returned to Haiti in January 2011 An anonymous government official told the Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse
Agence France-Presse is a French news agency, the oldest one in the world, and one of the three largest with Associated Press and Reuters. It is also the largest French news agency. Currently, its CEO is Emmanuel Hoog and its news director Philippe Massonnet...
news agency that the Haitian government had issued a passport for Aristide on 7 February, but his lawyer stated that they had not received the document, nor been informed of its issue by the government.
On March 15, 2011, Aristide's Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas is a leftist political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1991. Fanmi Lavalas governments supported a policy of "growth with equity" based on Caribbean and Western European social...
party stated in an interview that his return is due to both health reasons for needing warmer climate as well as to aid earthquake victims.
On March 17, 2011, Aristide departed for Haiti from his exile in South Africa. U.S. President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
had asked South African President Jacob Zuma
Jacob Zuma
Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma is the President of South Africa, elected by parliament following his party's victory in the 2009 general election....
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 elections, and the U.S. fears his return could be "destabilizing". On Friday, March 18, 2011, he arrived at Port-au-Prince airport, and was greeted by thousands of supporters. He told the crowd waiting at the airport, "The exclusion of Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas
Fanmi Lavalas is a leftist political party in Haiti. Its leader is former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. It has been a powerful force in Haitian politics since 1991. Fanmi Lavalas governments supported a policy of "growth with equity" based on Caribbean and Western European social...
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 coup d’états, while peacefully moving from social exclusion to inclusion."
Accomplishments
Under 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.Achievements in education
During the fragmented rule of Lavalas, Jean Bertrand Aristide and Rene Preval 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 raise from 35% to 55%.Achievements in health care
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 Hurriance 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 January 12th earthquake, 573 doctors had been trained in Cuba.Prior to the election of Aristide, health care services had been primarily concentrated in the capital of Port-au-Prince. The Aristide government renovated and built new health care clinics, hospitals and dispensaries throughout the country, spending more on health care than any previous government. 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."
Wikileaks and Aristide
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.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.
January 2005
USA pressuring South Africa to hold Aristide, or face the loss of potential UN Security Council seat
"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."
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"
Fall of 2008:
On Preval's fear Aristide would return to Haiti via Venezuela
President Rene Preval 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 is concerned that Aristide will accept the Chavez offer but deflected any discussion of whether Preval himself was prepared to raise the matter with Chavez.
Accusations of human rights abuses
Human Rights WatchHuman Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
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".
Videos surfaced showing a portion of a speech by Aristide on 27 August 1991 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." 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 – However, just earlier in the speech, and edited from the videos, 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." There is some suspicion that Aristide's speech was edited to make it sound as if he were advocating "necklacing" when he was actually urging his supporters not to use violence but to use the constitution and voting instead.
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. Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
reported that, after Aristide's departure in 2004, Haiti was "descending into a severe humanitarian and human rights crisis."
Accusations of corruption
Haitian investigators claimed to have discovered extensive embezzlementEmbezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
and money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
by Aristide's administration in which millions of dollars of public funds were allegedly lost to sophisticated financial transactions. Aristide has forcefully denied these accusations. The unelected interim government in Haiti, which took office with the support of the U.S. and France, following Aristide's ouster filed a RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) lawsuit in the US in Miami, Florida, in November 2005, alleging that Aristide and his associates took hundreds of thousands of dollars in kickbacks from the long distance company IDT, and that IDT diverted into a secret offshore bank
Offshore bank
An offshore bank is a bank located outside the country of residence of the depositor, typically in a low tax jurisdiction that provides financial and legal advantages. These advantages typically include:...
account controlled by Aristide payments that should have gone to the Haitian company Teleco. The lawsuit was suspended by the elected Preval government on 30 June 2006.
According to a report by Christopher Caldwell in the July 1994 American Spectator, Aristide stole Haiti's telecom revenues while in the United States. Caldwell claims that between 1991 and 1994 Aristide ordered the proceeds from Haiti's international phone traffic handled by the Latin American division of AT&T be moved to a numbered offshore bank account in Panama. At the time Aristide, Haiti's first elected president had been forced into exile by the U.S. funded Haitian military, so money was needed to bring about his return. These remain allegations, as no charges have been ruled on in court.
Some officials have been indicted by a US court.
Companies that allegedly made deals with Aristide included IDT
IDT Corp.
IDT Corporation is a telecommunications and energy company headquartered in Newark, New Jersey.-History:IDT was founded by entrepreneur Howard Jonas in August 1990...
, Fusion Telecommunications, and Skytel; critics claim the two first companies had political links. AT&T reportedly declined to wire money to "Mont Salem".
Views
Aristide has published a number of books including an autobiography in 1993 and Nevrose vetero-testamentaire (1994) with excerpts of his masters and doctoral theses.In 2000 Aristide published the book Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization that accused the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
and the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
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
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
represented by neocolonialism
Neocolonialism
Neocolonialism is the practice of using capitalism, globalization, and cultural forces to control a country in lieu of direct military or political control...
and neoliberalism
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
.
In 2005 the documentary Aristide and The Endless Revolution appeared. In the film Nicolas Rossier investigates the events leading up to the 2004 coup against Aristide.
Publications
- (with Flynn, Laura) Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization, Common Courage Press, 2000.
- Dignity, University of Virginia PressUniversity of Virginia PressThe University of Virginia Press , founded in 1963, is a university press that is part of the University of Virginia.-External links:*...
, 1996; trans from Dignité, Éditions du SeuilÉditions du SeuilÉditions du Seuil is a French publishing house created in 1935, currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The seuil is the whole excitement of parting and arriving...
, 1994. - Nevrose vetero-testamentaire, Editions du CIDIHCA, 1994.
- Aristide: An Autobiography, Orbis BooksOrbis BooksOrbis Books, is an American imprint of the Maryknoll order, that has been a small but influential publisher of liberation theology works, founded by Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest Miguel D'Escoto with Philip J. Scharper in 1970. It was the first to publish Gustavo Gutiérrez's seminal work A Theology...
, 1993. - Tout homme est un homme, Éditions du SeuilÉditions du SeuilÉditions du Seuil is a French publishing house created in 1935, currently owned by La Martinière Groupe. It owes its name to this goal "The seuil is the whole excitement of parting and arriving...
, 1992. - Théologie et politique, Editions du CIDIHCA, 1992.
- (with Amy Wilentz) In the Parish of the Poor: Writings from Haiti, Orbis BooksOrbis BooksOrbis Books, is an American imprint of the Maryknoll order, that has been a small but influential publisher of liberation theology works, founded by Nicaraguan Maryknoll priest Miguel D'Escoto with Philip J. Scharper in 1970. It was the first to publish Gustavo Gutiérrez's seminal work A Theology...
, 1990.
External links
- On my return to Haiti..., Jean-Bertrand Aristide, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 4 February 2011 - Official investigation of transfers to Aristide's personal accounts by l'Unité Centrale de Renseignements Financiers (UCREF). The 88-page report is in French.
- Who Is Aristide? by Paul Farmer in The Uses of Haiti
- Aristide and the endless revolution, film by filmmaker Nicolas Rossier which investigates the events leading up to the 2004 coup against Aristide
- We Will Not Forget: the Achievements of Lavalas in Haiti by Robert Roth and Laura Flynn.
Articles
- Why they had to Crush Aristide Peter Hallward, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 4 March 2004 - Paul Farmer, Who Removed Aristide? London Review of BooksLondon Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, 15 April 2004 - Peter Hallward, Option Zero in Haiti New Left ReviewNew Left ReviewNew Left Review is a 160-page journal, published every two months from London, devoted to world politics, economy and culture. Often compared to the French-language Les Temps modernes, it is associated with Verso Books , and regularly features the essays of authorities on contemporary social...
, May 2004 - The Other Regime Change by Max BlumenthalMax BlumenthalMax Blumenthal is an American author, journalist, and blogger. A senior writer for The Daily Beast, he is the author of the New York Times bestselling book Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party....
, Salon magazine, July 2004 - "6/7: the massacre of the poor that the world ignored: The US cannot accept that the Haitian president it ousted still has support", Naomi Klein, The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, 18 July 2005 - 'The Return': Aristide, Law and Democracy in Haiti, Brian Concannon Jr., JURISTJURISTJURIST is an online legal news service hosted by the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, powered by a staff of more than 40 law students working in Pittsburgh and other US locations under the direction of founding Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Professor Bernard Hibbitts, Research Director Jaclyn...
, 26 June 2006 - Invisible Violence: Murder in Post-Coup Haiti, Jeb Sprague, Fairness and Accuracy in ReportingFairness and Accuracy in ReportingFairness & Accuracy In Reporting is a progressive media criticism organization based in New York City, founded in 1986.FAIR describes itself on its website as "the national media watch group" and defines its mission as working to "invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity...
, July/August 2006 - The Haiti File, Mary Anastasia O'Grady, The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, 12 February 2007 - An Interview with Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Peter Hallward, London Review of BooksLondon Review of BooksThe London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
, 22 February 2007