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Aristide's return to Haiti 'imminent'
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Mar 11 (AFP) -- Former Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide
is poised to end seven years of exile in South Africa and return to Haiti in the
coming days, his aides said Friday.
The United States has warned that Aristide's return would be an unwelcome
distraction as the Caribbean nation goes to the polls on March 20 to choose
a successor to President Rene Preval.
November's first-round election was marred by violence and fraud and the
shattered country is still struggling to rebuild after a devastating
earthquake 14 months ago that killed a quarter of a million people.
Haitian authorities issued Aristide with a new passport at the beginning of
February and the path now appears clear for the three-time former president
to return.
"I spoke to him this morning, his return is imminent," Aristide spokeswoman
Maryse Narcisse told AFP in the capital Port-au-Prince.
"I speak to him every day. Now, it is a matter of days. It's imminent," she
added.
The charismatic shantytown priest burst onto the scene in 1985 to oppose the
Duvalier clan's dictatorial rule, riding his reputation as a champion of the
poor Catholic majority to become the first democratically-elected president.
Aristide served as president on three occasions and was ousted from office
twice, eventually fleeing a 2004 popular uprising aboard a US plane, in turn
accused of massive corruption and violence.
He remains a popular figure in certain quarters in Haiti, especially in the
capital's teeming slums, and in the tent cities that have sprung up since
the January 2010 quake where many decry the slow pace of progress.
His most ardent supporters massed on Friday at the headquarters of the
Aristide Foundation for Democracy in Port-au-Prince, joyously preparing for
their hero's return.
Shortly after former strongman Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier made a
surprise return in January, Aristide said he too was "ready" to move back to
contribute to the recovery of his homeland, particularly through education.
A popular revolt, led in part by Aristide, forced Duvalier to flee the
country in 1986, after a 15-year rule which he had inherited on the death of
his brutally repressive father Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier.
Duvalier is accused by rights groups and opponents of siphoning hundreds of
millions of dollars out of the country and of presiding over widespread
human rights abuses during his 1971-1986 rule.
One group of plaintiffs, including Michele Montas, the former spokeswoman
for UN chief Ban Ki-moon, was granted a hearing Friday for later this month
by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights.
Montas was forced into exile for several years during Duvalier's rule, and
her husband, Jean Dominique, was assassinated in 2000 after repeated
criticism of Aristide.
Aristide has spent his exile as a visiting fellow at a university in
Pretoria, where he has lectured and presented research papers, biding his
time for a possible comeback.
Like Duvalier, Aristide insists he will stay out of politics -- a statement
viewed with suspicion both by political opponents in Haiti and observers
abroad.
Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party has been excluded from most recent elections,
but diehard supporters have been dusting off their portraits in recent weeks
hoping for an unlikely political comeback.
Haiti, long the poorest country in the Americas, is in dire circumstances
following last year's earthquake, which killed more than 225,000 people,
rendered 1.3 million homeless, and left much of the capital in ruins.
Some 4.7 million of the estimated 10 million Haitians will vote on March 20
for a successor to Preval, who is barred from seeking a third term.
Singer Michel Martelly, who is popularly known as "Sweet Micky," led his
rival Mirlande Manigat, a 71-year-old former first lady, in the most recent
opinion poll by 50.8 percent to 46.2 percent.
Martelly, 50, was initially left out of the run-off, prompting rioting in
December that left at least five people dead and raised fears of wider
unrest in a nation that has a notoriously violent political past.
International observers reviewed the results and found widespread
vote-rigging in favor of Preval's favored candidate, Jude Celestin, who was
eliminated after weeks of US-led pressure.
Il ne manquait plus que lui !
P. Jean-Yves Urfié
Paroisse Saint Paul de Furcy
509-37-98-39-69
(Haïti)
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