Aristide Flees Haiti for Exile

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —  U.S. Marines arrived Sunday night to secure this ravaged island nation, hours after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide succumbed to international pressure and fled an armed revolt that had left most of Haiti under rebel control.

Aristide, who arrived early today in the Central African Republic, left behind chaos and uncertainty in a nation more poor and more divided than when he became Haiti’s first democratically elected president in 1990. It was Aristide’s second time in exile.

The country’s chief justice was sworn in as Haiti’s interim leader and immediately appealed for calm after riots erupted among angry Aristide supporters who roamed the streets armed with old rifles, pistols, machetes and sticks.

At the White House, President Bush, who authorized the Marine deployment, called Aristide’s departure “the beginning of a new chapter.”

“I would urge the people of Haiti to reject violence, to give this break from the past a chance to work. And the United States is prepared to help,” Bush said.

In New York, the U.N. Security Council, at an emergency meeting Sunday night, authorized international troops to stabilize the country and voted to create a U.N. peacekeeping force to take over in three months. France sent 120 of its troops stationed in the French West Indies, and Canada was also planning to dispatch soldiers.

The message to the Haitian people, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, is “that the international community has not forgotten them. We understand their need and we are standing by them in their hour of need. And the international community will do whatever it can to help stabilize the situation. I know some of them think it is a bit late, but ... it is better late than never.”

Police announced a 6-p.m.-to-6-a.m. curfew, although it remained uncertain how effectively they could enforce it with droves of law enforcement officers having deserted their posts amid widespread lawlessness. Haiti has no army; it was disbanded in 1995 by Aristide.

“I’m begging you to keep calm. No one should take justice into his own hands,” urged Haiti’s Supreme Court chief justice, Boniface Alexandre, after he was sworn in by Aristide’s prime minister.

Alexandre, who is in his 60s, has a reputation for honesty. He was appointed chief justice by Aristide 10 years after becoming a member of the Supreme Court in 1990.

Aristide, in a resignation letter left behind and read by Prime Minister Yvon Neptune two hours after his furtive departure, made clear he resented being driven out but said he left to avoid more bloodshed. “The constitution must not drown in the blood of the Haitian people,” he said.

For weeks, Aristide had insisted on fulfilling the last two years of his term despite pressure from armed rebels and political rivals who charged that the former priest had turned into a corrupt and repressive leader.

Aristide’s rule disappointed many poor Haitians who voted for the former priest in the hope that he would lead this nation of 8.5 million out of despair.

As a fighter for the poorest of the poor in this desperate country, Aristide built a reputation for intellect and compassion. In the 1990 election, he captured roughly two-thirds of the popular vote in a field of more than a dozen candidates.

But his stay in the presidency lasted less than a year before the Haitian military forced him into exile, principally in the U.S., where he was a ceaseless advocate for intervention in Haiti. By 1994, the Clinton administration agreed to restore Aristide, sending about 20,000 troops to the nation. Violence was averted when the key members of the junta fled and Aristide returned to the presidential office.

A close aide succeeded him as president in 1996, but Aristide won reelection in 2000 in voting boycotted by the opposition. Foreign aid dwindled, and the economy faltered.

As the economic situation plunged, so did Aristide’s popularity. As a number of dictators before him, Aristide became more autocratic and human rights advocates stepped up their criticism, saying he had resorted to violence against foes. One of the people reportedly killed was a gang leader whose colleagues launched the offensive that led to Sunday’s ouster.

There were also reports that Aristide’s government received bribes from drug dealers using Haiti as a safe haven to move their contraband to the U.S. Aristide, according to some testimony, personally benefited from the deals. The former president has denied those charges.

But it was the government’s inability to maintain security that was Aristide’s biggest problem. As rebels marched across the nation, his poorly armed police fled or joined the uprising. The capital was racked by armed gangs supporting the president, but they incited looting and anarchy.

Many U.S. and Western officials hailed Aristide’s latest departure as a new chance for Haiti to escape its legacy of poverty and repression, but some friends of the deposed president -- and members of the U.S. Congress -- accused the Bush administration of actions tantamount to a coup d’etat. Senior U.S. officials worked through the weekend to secure Aristide’s departure.

Rep. Charles B. Rangel (D-N.Y.) lamented in an interview on ABC’s “This Week” that the United States was “just as much a part of this coup d’etat as the rebels, looters or anyone else.”

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) said Aristide had been “pushed out by an administration anxious to get rid of him.”

In Haiti, Aristide’s mainstream political opponents, who for years fought for his departure, said they were pleased with his resignation but warned that there was much work ahead to ensure that another despot doesn’t succeed him.

“Today is a day of deliverance, a day of freedom, a conquest of the freedom we’ve been waiting for since 1804 and one achieved thanks to all the people of Haiti,” said Mischa Gaillard, an activist with the Group of 184 movement. He called for national reconciliation between the opposition and Aristide’s Lavalas Party to rebuild the nation and restore respect for all citizens.

“We are pleased the tyrant has left the country. But we are worried about the way security matters are being handled. We have a situation of chaos here at the moment,” said Leopold Berlanger, director of the opposition Foundation for a New Haiti and owner of a radio station attacked in recent days by pro-Aristide militants.

As leaders of the opposition planned to create a transitional government, pro-Aristide gangs raided businesses and warehouses, set fire to property owned by wealthy industrialists and threatened journalists and police. At least one person was shot to death outside the National Palace.

Aristide left with about 40 members of his government and security detail, said Evans Paul, an opposition leader once closely allied with the president. Paul managed Aristide’s wildly successful campaign for the presidency in 1990 but broke with him after corrupted election results in the 2000 parliamentary vote gave Aristide’s Lavalas Party total control of the country.

The whereabouts of Aristide’s wife, Haitian American lawyer Mildred Trouillot, was not immediately clear, although many here assumed that she accompanied him to Africa. On Wednesday, the Aristides sent their two young daughters to stay with relatives in New York.

From all accounts, the U.S. played the major role in securing Aristide’s resignation.

U.S. Ambassador James Foley, whose uncharacteristic morning stubble testified to all-night negotiations that ended in Aristide’s flight, said the United States and other countries would ensure Haiti progressed toward democracy, prosperity and the rule of law.

“President Aristide made a decision for the good of Haiti, and I think he spoke eloquently in his letter of resignation,” Foley said at a news conference.

Foley denied that U.S. and other diplomats strong-armed Aristide into stepping down. Aristide had stated that he would die before being forced out by rebels who began a deadly uprising Feb. 5.

Since then, the violence has claimed about 100 lives. The rebels, among whom are members of gangs once loyal to Aristide and returned exiles who served in the armies and death squads of the nation’s former dictators, announced that they would come to the capital to restore order. That prospect, likely to further enrage armed thugs left behind by Aristide, was believed to have expedited the deployment of the Marines here to prevent bloodletting.

Rebel leader Guy Philippe told CNN in an interview that “the worst is over” and that he would cooperate with international forces headed for Haiti.

Philippe’s insurgents face an uncertain future. They had vowed to lay down their arms as soon as Aristide left office and had threatened to march on the capital if he didn’t leave.

Authorities in the Dominican Republic, where some of the rebels had been living, have said they would arrest any of the fighters caught trying to reenter the country, with which Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola.

The former regime elements among the rebels may have expected to parlay their ouster of Aristide into some role in the next leadership -- an arrangement foreign diplomats have said they would reject because that would sanction the use of violence.

Under an international transition plan, a seven-member Council of Sages will be assembled from a cross-section of Haitian civil society and political groups to guide the president and name a transitional government to replace Neptune’s in the next few weeks.

Foley conceded that the U.S. role in previous efforts to help Haiti build democratic institutions had failed for lack of funds and persistence. He promised unflagging support this time and said his government was committed to helping Haiti reform and recover because “we wanted to be sure the country would be in a better place.”

U.S. efforts during the last few days convinced Aristide to leave, senior officials said.

On Friday, Bush authorized a military deployment, if necessary, to go to Haiti. The next day, when Aristide’s followers “began trashing the city, it was becoming clearer and clearer the Haitian leader had to go,” said a senior administration official.

With Bush at Camp David, top U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard B. Myers, met via teleconference. They decided to issue a blunt statement through the White House on Saturday evening that blamed Aristide for events in Haiti, and raised questions about his fitness for office.

Though Aristide continued to say in interviews that he would remain in office, by mid-evening Saturday, he changed his mind. By 8:30 p.m., U.S. officials received word that Aristide was willing to leave the country, as his former rival, Gen. Raoul Cedras, had 10 years earlier.

That news set off frantic activity. From 9 p.m. Saturday until dawn, Powell made more than three dozen calls to find a country that was willing to take Aristide, and to line up countries to contribute to the peacekeeping efforts. At 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Rice called Bush with news that Aristide wanted to leave. Bush called Rumsfeld, and ordered troops deployed.

Aristide left the National Palace in a hurry Sunday morning. When he climbed aboard a U.S. aircraft, its ultimate destination was still unclear.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, on an official visit to Japan, praised Aristide for a decision that spared his people further suffering.

“With his resignation, President Aristide drew the consequences of the situation. After the tragic events the Haitian population had to go through, there is now a way to come back to constitutional order and to the establishment of a national union. Fights must stop now.”

Annan said the international community now has the opportunity to put Haiti, once and for all, on the road to stability.

“I wish we had been able to build on earlier efforts, but here we are ... back at it,” Annan said. “This time, I hope the international community is not going to put a Band-Aid on, and that we are not only going to help stabilize the current situation, but assist the Haitians over the long haul and really help them pick up the pieces and build a stable country.”

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Haiti uprising at a glance

Haiti, a country of 8 million that shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. A former French colony that gained independence in 1804, it has a history of political instability.

Country snapshot

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Race and ethnicity

Black: 95%

Mixed race or white: 5%

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Religion

Roman Catholic: 80%

Protestant: 16%

Other: 4%

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A history of instability

April 1971: Francois ‘Papa Doc’ Duvalier dies and is replaced by his son Jean-Claude ‘Baby Doc,’ who declares himself president for life.

February 1986: Duvalier forced into exile by an uprising, ending 29-year family dictatorship. Army chief Lt. Gen. Henri Namphy is named to oversee two-year transition to democracy.

January 1988: Political scientist Leslie F. Manigat elected president in army-run elections. Manigat overthrown three days later. Namphy seizes power.

September 1988: Namphy overthrown by Presidential Guard, replaced by Lt. Gen. Prosper Avril, a former Duvalier aide.

March 1990: Avril deposed. Supreme Court Justice Ertha Pascal Trouillot installed.

December 1990: Jean-Bertrand Aristide is landslide winner in presidential elections, Haiti’s first free and peaceful polls.

September 1991: Aristide overthrown in a coup led by Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras.

October 1991: Organization of American States and U.N. demand Aristide be reinstated, impose trade sanctions.

July 1993: Aristide and Cedras sign U.N.-brokered agreement in New York. Pact calls for Aristide to return, Cedras to resign. Cedras refuses to leave office.

September 1994: U.S. calls up 1,600 reservists to prepare for possible invasion. Accord reached in talks led by former President Jimmy Carter averts U.S. invasion, provides for military leaders to step down.

October 1994: After U.S. military intervention, Aristide makes triumphant return as president.

December 1995: Former Prime Minister Rene Preval, from Aristide’s Lavalas Party, is overwhelmingly elected to replace Aristide.

May 2000: Aristide’s party sweeps legislative elections. Observers say voting flawed.

November 2000: Aristide wins presidency. Major opposition parties boycott voting.

December 2001: Gunmen storm National Palace in coup attempt.

Jan. 11, 2004: Thousands march against Aristide.

Feb. 5: Anti-Aristide uprising begins in city of Gonaives.

Feb. 8: Armed revolt spreads to more cities.

Feb. 13: Secretary of State Colin L. Powell warns Haiti’s opposition against ousting Aristide.

Feb. 22: Rebels seize Cap Hatien, Haiti’s second-largest city.

Feb. 23: The U.S. sends about 50 Marines to Haiti to protect U.S. facilities and presses opposition politicians to accept a power-sharing plan.

Feb. 24: Power-sharing deal rejected.

Feb 28: The White House blames Aristide for some of the violent clashes.

Feb 29: Aristide leaves Haiti.

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Sources: Newsday; CIA World Factbook; Reuters; Associated Press

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Times staff writers Maggie Farley at the United Nations and Paul Richter and John Hendren in Washington contributed to this report.