News

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

Opposition Protests Continue in Haiti

Combined Reports

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Thousands of Haitians staged a protest march against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the capital Port-au-Prince on Sunday as the poorest country in the Americas approached a key milestone in its political crisis.

The terms of most members of parliament are due to expire on Monday with no plan in sight to hold elections to replace them, threatening to plunge Haiti further into disarray.

Aristide, a former priest once widely hailed as a hero of democracy but now accused by his critics of trampling on civil rights, became Haiti's first democratically elected leader in 1991.

Since his re-election in 2000, he has been at odds with opponents over the tainted results of parliamentary elections that year. The dispute has prevented new elections taking place as required by the constitution.

The march began at a church in suburban Petionville with about 1,000 people carrying a banner calling for "Another Haiti." But the crowd swelled to tens of thousands as the protesters approached the capital.

Riot police followed the protest. No injuries were reported but Aristide partisans threw sticks at the marchers at one point.

"Don't be afraid!" said Reverend Pierre Andre Dumas, a Roman Catholic bishop. "We need to take another path so that Haiti can live."

In a separate protest, an Aristide supporter was shot and killed in the town of Miragoane, 80 kilometers west of the capital, private Radio Vision 2000 reported.

It was not clear who shot him but Aristide partisans retaliated and set an anti-government protester on fire, the radio station said. The man was hospitalized but his condition was not available.

During protests in the past four months, at least 46 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded. Both sides blame each other for the violence but most of the deaths have been anti-government protesters.

"We want nonviolent demonstrations, but they want civil war," said Cirvil Bernier, a 44-year-old construction worker and Aristide partisan. "That's why we want to stop them."

Meanwhile, the body of Police Chief Jeanty Edner was found Sunday morning on a street in north-coast Cap-Haitien, news reports said. He was shot in the chest, but the motive was not clear.

Government critics accuse Aristide of hoarding power, while the government accuses the opposition of impeding progress.

Tensions have been rising since Aristide's party won the 2000 legislative elections, which observers said were flawed.

The opposition refuses to participate in new elections unless Aristide steps down, but he says he will serve out his term until 2006.

"We are engaged in a struggle that is pitting the people against the state," said Frandley Denis Julien, an anti-government activist in Cap-Haitien who marched Sunday. "We need institutions. We need leadership. We don't need a charismatic leader to replace Aristide."

(Reuters, AP)