Aristide no stranger to struggle
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Jean-Bertrand Aristide
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -- He is no stranger to struggle. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was born into poverty, survived several attempts on his life as a priest espousing revolt and was ousted in a coup within months of becoming Haiti's first freely elected leader.
Aristide, 50, was born to peasants in the southern town of Port Salut. His father was lynched when he was toddler, accused of using black magic to commit evil acts.
At age 6, the young and bright Aristide was taken in by Roman Catholic priests of the Salesian Order. They educated him and sent him to the Dominican Republic, Canada and Israel, where he studied theology and psychology.
Along the way, he learned French, Latin, English, German, Spanish and Hebrew but is most eloquent in the native Creole that he used to exort Haitians to rise against the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship.
Two years after Jean-Claude Duvalier fled to France in 1986, the Salesians disowned Aristide for allegedly fomenting revolution through his fiery church sermons aimed at empowering Haiti's poor masses. At the time, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was at odds with young priests in Latin America who preached that violence to overthrow dictators was justified.
Students told the Salesians that Aristide had asked them to lay their machetes on the altar and to name their enemies, according to the Rev. Edward Cappelletti, who was in charge of the mission office in New Rochelle, New York, which helped the mission in Haiti.
"As a policy we don't get involved in politics," Cappelletti, 83, said in a telephone interview. "He was advocating violence and that's where we had to draw the line."
Despite opposition from the army, business leaders, landowners and the United States, Aristide became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 1990 only to be ousted eight months later.
"He gives the impression of being strong. In fact, he is a coward," said Evans Paul, who directed Aristide's election campaign but turned on his former friend when he was cut out of top government positions. "He cannot help being self-destructive."
In exile in the United States, Aristide successfully campaigned for U.N. sanctions and a military intervention, and defended himself against CIA claims that he was a psychopath unfit to rule Haiti.
Aristide followers knew that the diminutive priest who wears oversize spectacles suffered from depression, and loved him the more for that frailty.
President Bill Clinton sent 20,000 troops to restore him in 1994 but insisted he respect a constitutional term limit and step down in 1995.
Aristide handpicked his successor, Rene Preval, but was considered the power behind the scenes until he won a second term in 2000, at presidential elections marred by a low turnout and an opposition boycott.
International donors suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in aid after his Lavalas Family party -- whose emblem is a fighting cock -- swept flawed legislative elections.
Human rights groups accuse him of using police and armed militants to stifle dissent. Two journalists critical of Aristide have been assassinated. Scores have been wounded or killed during anti-government demonstrations.
The revolt in northern Haiti is being led by thugs who say Aristide armed them to terrorize his opponents in Gonaives -- a charge the president denies.
Aristide is no stranger to bloodshed.
He was the target of three assassination attempts, the worst in 1988 when army-backed thugs stormed his Saint Jean Bosco church during Mass and shot and hacked to death 12 parishioners.
He has also been criticized for endorsing "necklacing," a gruesome method of execution where gasoline-soaked tires are thrown over a person's neck and set ablaze. Just Wednesday, former Aristide strongmen necklaced a man in Gonaives, the heart of the current unrest and cradle of Haiti's independence 200 years ago.
"The burning tire, what a beautiful tool! ... It smells good. And wherever you go, you want to smell it," Aristide said September 27, 1991.
But the man who once fired the hearts of Haitians to pursue freedom himself is being called a dictator.
Haitian author and former friend, Laennec Hurbon once called Aristide the "incarnation of a collective dream." He has since said he has had a "painful awakening."
Aristide has no clear successor.
The Democratic Coalition wants a collective government. One leader is a businessman barred from the presidency because of his dual nationality. Another led a failed coup. In a free election, none are likely to garner more votes than Aristide could.
"Aristide knows the misery of the people," said former Sen. Clones Lans. "He has always been faithful to the people and that is why the people remain faithful to him ... He is the symbol of hope for Haiti and Haitians."
Copyright 2004 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
