Jean-Bertrand Aristide

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Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Jean-Bertrand Aristide with Bill Clinton in 1994.
39th & 41st President of Haiti
In office
February 7, 1991 – September 30, 1991
October 12, 1994 – February 7, 1996
February 7, 2001 – February 29, 2004
Prime Minister René Préval
Smarck Michel
Claudette Werleigh
Jean Marie Chérestal
Yvon Neptune
Preceded by Ertha Pascal-Trouillot (provisional)
Émile Jonassaint (provisional)
René Préval
Succeeded by Raoul Cédras (Leader of the Military Junta)
René Préval
Boniface Alexandre (provisional)
Born July 15, 1953
Port-Salut, Haiti
Political party Lavalas
Religion Roman Catholic

Jean-Bertrand Aristide (born July 15, 1953) is a former Roman Catholic priest who was President of Haiti in 1991, again from 1994 to 1996, and then from 2001 to 2004. Aristide was the first democratically elected leader of Haiti and was popular among its poor inhabitants. He was overthrown twice, first in a military coup d'état in September, 1991, and subsequently in a February 2004 rebellion in which former soldiers prominently participated. He alleged that he was kidnapped by the U S and Canadian militaries and forced into exile in South Africa. After being deposed a second time he maintained from exile in the Central African Republic that he was still the legal and legitimate president and that United States forces had kidnapped him.[1] His time in office saw a huge expansion in literacy and programs for Haiti's poor but his governments were also beset by conflict with foreign and local wealthy elites.

Contents

[edit] Education and church career

Aristide was born in Port-Salut. He was educated at Salesian schools in Port-au-Prince and at the College Notre Dame, 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, he traveled in Europe, studying in Italy and Israel. Aristide returned to Haiti in 1983 for his ordination as a Salesian priest.

He was appointed curate of a small parish in Port-au-Prince and then a larger one in the La Saline slums, gaining the affectionate Kréyòl nickname "Titide" or "Titid" . An exponent of liberation theology, he became a leading figure in the more radical wing of the Catholic faith in Haiti (the ti legliz — from the Kréyòl for "little church"), and broadcast his sermons on the national Catholic radio station. In a January 1988 interview with National Catholic Reporter, Aristide 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...."[citation needed] Father Aristide was expelled from his Salesian order in 1988.[citation needed] At the time, the Salesians said the priest's political activities were an "incitement to hatred and violence" and out of line with his role as a clergyman. In 1995 Aristide left the priesthood. It enabled him the following year to marry Mildred Trouillot, a US citizen, with whom he now has two daughters.

[edit] Aristide as President

[edit] First presidency and coup

Following the violence at the abortive national elections of 1987, 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 "Lavalas" — "the flood" or "torrent" in Kréyòl — the "little priest" was elected President with 67% of the vote in what is generally considered the first honest election in Haiti's history (the country had gained independence in 1804). Aristide took office on February 7, 1991.

On September 30, 1991, the army staged a coup against Aristide and installed Joseph Nérette as president. However, real power was held by army commander Raoul Cédras.[2]

Aristide spent his exile first in Venezuela and then in the United States, working hard to develop international support. A United Nations embargo during Aristide's exile was a strong blow to Haiti's already weak economy. Under U.S. and international pressure, the military regime backed down and U.S. troops were deployed in the country. On October 15, 1994, Aristide returned to Haiti to complete his term in office. Aristide disbanded the Haitian army, and established a civilian police force.

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 should serve the three years he had lost in exile prior to new elections, 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.[citation needed] This marked the first time in Haitian history that there was a peaceful and democratic transition of power.

[edit] Second presidency

In late 1996, Aristide broke from the OPL (which had supported IMF privatization plans[citation needed]) and created a new political party, the Fanmi Lavalas. The OPL, holding the majority in the Sénat and the Chambre des Députés, renamed itself the Organisation du Peuple en Lutte, maintaining the OPL acronym. The Fanmi Lavalas won the 2000 legislative election but the opposition leaders claimed that a number of the seats were invalid. Aristide then was elected later that year in an election which was boycotted by most opposition political parties.

[edit] 2004 Haitian rebellion

For more details on this topic, see 2004 Haitian rebellion.

After a rebellion in 2004 Aristide left Haiti. The role of the U.S. in this departure is disputed.

[edit] Potential return

After René Préval, a former ally of Aristide, was elected as president of Haiti, he hinted that Aristide might return to Haiti.[3][4] But since then he has not provided a time frame for him to come back and all indications show that he won't do so as not to jeopardize the stability of the country. Following Aristide's ousting in 2004 very few nations continued to recognize Aristide as the democratically elected president of Haiti. Not one member of CARICOM (a Caribbean economic union) recognized the provisional government which replaced Aristide. The interim government was however recognized by the United States, Canada, France and the European Union but once Préval was elected to power, he was recognized as the Haitian head of state by CARICOM.

In South Africa, Aristide became an honorary research fellow at the University of South Africa, learned Zulu, and on April 25, 2007 received a doctorate in African Languages.[5] On December 21, 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.[6]

After the election some high ranking members of Lavalas have been targeted for violence.[7] [8] Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a leading human rights organizer in Haiti and a member of Lavalas, disappeared in August 2007.[9] His whereabouts remain unknown.[10] Members of the former military and interim government that engaged in massive repression and killings during 2004-2006 remain free in the country.

[edit] Position on globalization

In 2004 Aristide published a book, The Eyes of the Heart: Seeking a Path for the Poor in the Age of Globalization, which used Haiti as a case study of globalization. Aristide specifically points out problems with the World Bank and the IMF in creating larger problems within Haitian society and the economy.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "Aristide: US forced me to leave". BBC. Retrieved on July 21, 2006.
  2. ^ "Leader Of Haiti Ousted Military Takes Over After Seizing Aristide" (reprint), St. Louis Post-Dispatch (1991-10-01). 
  3. ^ "Haiti 'to allow' Aristide return". BBC. Retrieved on July 21, 2006.
  4. ^ "Thousands demand Aristide return". BBC. Retrieved on July 21, 2006.
  5. ^ "Exiled Aristide gets SA doctorate", iafrica.com, April 26, 2007.
  6. ^ "Exiled former Haitian president stirs supporters with speech", Associated Press (International Herald Tribune), December 22, 2007.
  7. ^ "Dr. Maryse Narcisse Kidnapped in Haiti" Dr. Maryse Narcisse was a member of the National Commission of the Fanmi Lavalas Party who was kidnapped in Octerber 2007, and later freed after a ransom was paid.
  8. ^ Amnesty International Index: AMR 36/008/2007 — Wilson Mésilien, the successor to Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, had to go into hiding following death threats.
  9. ^ "We are urging for the safe return of Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine"
  10. ^ "Thousands march in Haiti on anniversary of Aristide's departure". The article states "Like many protesters, he wore a T-shirt demanding the return of foundation leader Lovinsky Pierre-Antoine, a human rights activist and critic of both UN and U.S. involvement in Haiti who disappeared in August. "

[edit] References

 The references used in this article may be clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking.
  1. Agence Haitienne de Presse (Independent Haitian News Service) Hidden From the Headlines: The U.S. War Against Haiti, by Laura Flynn, Robert Roth and Pierre Labossiere, published by the Haiti Action Committee, September 2003, available at www.haitiaction.net.
  2. Interviews and site visits conducted by the authors in Port-au-Prince in January and July 2004. L’enfant en Domesticité en Haiti, Produit D’Un Fossé Historique, Mildred Aristide, March 2003. Address of Jean-Bertrand Aristide on the occasion of the Haitian Bicentennial, January 1, 2004.
  3. Haiti Information Project—reports and eyewitness accounts available at www.haitiaction.net. “Option Zero in Haiti,” by Peter Hallward in the New Left Review, May–June 2004. “Haiti’s Wretched of the Earth,” Paul Farmer, Tikkun Magazine, May–June 2004. “Concretizing Democracy” (series of reports) by Michelle Karshan, Office of the Foreign Press Liaison.
  4. Haitian Government Briefing Papers issued February 7, 2003. (February 7, 2003 “The Aids Crisis and Healthcare,” “Haiti’s Police Force,” “Promoting Investment and Raising the Minimum Wage,” “Battling Corruption and Drug Trafficking,” “Justice”). L’Union (Haitian government daily paper of record).
  5. HUMAN RIGHTS REPORTS Report of the Center for the Study of Human Rights, University of Miami Law School, January 18, 2005. The whole report, including photographs, is available at www.ijdh.org/CSHRhaitireport.pdf. The Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti has issued four reports documenting systematic, widespread attacks against Lavalas officials, grassroots activists and the press, and abuse of the judicial system for political reprisals. These reports are available www.ijdh.org. Haiti Accompaniment Project Reports, July 29, 2004, November, 2004, document human rights abuses and the reversal of Lavalas social and economic programs. (available at www.haitiaction.net)
  6. Now unavailable news pieces by Yahoo News, Reuters et al.
  7. Now available as well the film "Aristide and the Endless Revolution" by filmmaker Nicolas Rossier (www.aristidethefilm.com)

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Ertha Pascal-Trouillot		 President of Haiti
1991		 Succeeded by
Raoul Cédras
Preceded by
Marc Bazin		 President of Haiti
1993–1994		 Succeeded by
Émile Jonassaint
Preceded by
Émile Jonassaint		 President of Haiti
1994–1996		 Succeeded by
René Préval
Preceded by
René Préval		 President of Haiti
2001–2004		 Succeeded by
Boniface Alexandre
v • d • e
Haitian Post-Duvalier Heads of State (1986-present)
Namphy · Manigat · Namphy · Avril · Abraham · Pascal-Trouillot · Aristide · Cédras · Nérette · Bazin (provisional) · Aristide · Jonassaint (provisional) · Aristide · Préval (provisional) · Aristide · Alexandre · Préval
 Coat of arms of Haiti
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