09-02-2011, 09:06 AM
Haiti Issues New Passport for Aristide
By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: February 9, 2011
MEXICO CITY Haitian officials issued a diplomatic passport on Tuesday for Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president and even after years in exile one of the country's most popular and divisive figures.
Enlarge This Image
Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press
A protester rested near a portrait of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Port-au-Prince on Feb. 2 at a pro-Aristide rally.
Mr. Aristide's American lawyer, Ira Kurzban, said he collected the document at dusk in the capital, Port-au-Prince. "It's a long time coming," Mr. Kurzban said. He added that Mr. Aristide, after seven years of exile, mostly in South Africa, "wants to come home as soon as he can."
His reappearance would represent a second stunning return for Haiti: Just three weeks ago, Jean-Claude Duvalier, the dictator known as Baby Doc, who was overthrown in 1986, arrived unexpectedly in Port-au-Prince.
Both Mr. Duvalier and Mr. Aristide claim that they are interested in national reconciliation; both are doubted by critics of their governments. Experts inside and outside Haiti fear that the presence of the two former leaders could further destabilize the country, which is already struggling with cholera, tent cities created by last year's earthquake and political instability before the delayed presidential runoff on March 20.
Once Mr. Duvalier entered Haiti, Mr. Aristide demanded that his exile end, too. "Once Duvalier was back, there could be no rationale for keeping Aristide out," said Jocelyn McCalla, a senior adviser to Haiti's special envoy to the United Nations.
Given the public's deep lack of faith in the nation's political class, many Haitians would welcome the shake-up Mr. Aristide might bring. But members of the international community have expressed concern that Mr. Aristide who was beloved by the poor but criticized by many for demagoguery, corruption and the suppression of political opponents could create widespread instability at a precarious moment.
José Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organization for American States, said Mr. Aristide's return should not be considered until after the next president is sworn in. But the two leading candidates are not Aristide supporters, possibly making it harder for him to return then.
Jon Piechowski, a spokesman for the American Embassy in Haiti, said that while Haiti's government had the right to decide on the timing, "what Haiti needs right now, coming out of a prolonged first round of elections, is a period of calm, not divisive actions that can only distract from the vital task of forming a legitimate and credible government."
Brian Dean Curran, the American ambassador to Haiti during Mr. Aristide's final years in office, offered a far more blunt assessment. "I think it's a colossal mistake," Mr. Curran said. "It's particularly bad at this moment when the political situation is so fragile."
Mr. Aristide has said little about his intentions. Over the last few weeks, he has been reluctant to speak with reporters in South Africa, where the government has paid for a home, a car and security for the past few years.
He explained his desire to return in a recent op-ed article in The Guardian, using pointed language: "What we have learned in one long year of mourning after Haiti's earthquake is that an exogenous plan of reconstruction one that is profit-driven, exclusionary, conceived of and implemented by non-Haitians cannot reconstruct Haiti. It is the solemn obligation of all Haitians to join in the reconstruction and to have a voice in the direction of the nation."
He went on to say that he planned to focus on education "the field I know best and love."
Mr. Curran said he doubted Mr. Aristide would limit himself to teaching. "No one should believe that for an instant," he said.
Indeed, a quiet academic life may not be likely for a populist like Mr. Aristide, whose popularity may surpass any other contemporary political figure. "His return would make very stark the real rouleau-compresseur, or bulldozer power, of the population," said Amy Wilentz, author of "The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier." "I believe they would rise en masse to greet him and that the airport scene would be like nothing anyone has witnessed in recent times in Haiti."
This popular support, Ms. Wilentz said, could protect him from the fate of Mr. Duvalier, who was quickly questioned and now faces charges of corruption and human rights abuses. United Nations officials have already raised the issue of Mr. Aristede's legal vulnerabilities, and other efforts to influence his decision are also likely to be employed, according to diplomats, though they may be counterbalanced by President René Préval. He was a protégé of Mr. Aristide, and even before the earthquake that further damaged his standing he had become concerned with being forced into exile, according to embassy cables published by WikiLeaks.
One theory advanced by some Haiti observers is that Mr. Préval believes that Mr. Aristide, with his large following, could help prevent that from happening.
Celia W. Dugger contributed reporting from Johannesburg, and Deborah Sontag from New York.
By DAMIEN CAVE
Published: February 9, 2011
MEXICO CITY Haitian officials issued a diplomatic passport on Tuesday for Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first democratically elected president and even after years in exile one of the country's most popular and divisive figures.
Enlarge This Image
Rodrigo Abd/Associated Press
A protester rested near a portrait of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in Port-au-Prince on Feb. 2 at a pro-Aristide rally.
Mr. Aristide's American lawyer, Ira Kurzban, said he collected the document at dusk in the capital, Port-au-Prince. "It's a long time coming," Mr. Kurzban said. He added that Mr. Aristide, after seven years of exile, mostly in South Africa, "wants to come home as soon as he can."
His reappearance would represent a second stunning return for Haiti: Just three weeks ago, Jean-Claude Duvalier, the dictator known as Baby Doc, who was overthrown in 1986, arrived unexpectedly in Port-au-Prince.
Both Mr. Duvalier and Mr. Aristide claim that they are interested in national reconciliation; both are doubted by critics of their governments. Experts inside and outside Haiti fear that the presence of the two former leaders could further destabilize the country, which is already struggling with cholera, tent cities created by last year's earthquake and political instability before the delayed presidential runoff on March 20.
Once Mr. Duvalier entered Haiti, Mr. Aristide demanded that his exile end, too. "Once Duvalier was back, there could be no rationale for keeping Aristide out," said Jocelyn McCalla, a senior adviser to Haiti's special envoy to the United Nations.
Given the public's deep lack of faith in the nation's political class, many Haitians would welcome the shake-up Mr. Aristide might bring. But members of the international community have expressed concern that Mr. Aristide who was beloved by the poor but criticized by many for demagoguery, corruption and the suppression of political opponents could create widespread instability at a precarious moment.
José Miguel Insulza, the secretary general of the Organization for American States, said Mr. Aristide's return should not be considered until after the next president is sworn in. But the two leading candidates are not Aristide supporters, possibly making it harder for him to return then.
Jon Piechowski, a spokesman for the American Embassy in Haiti, said that while Haiti's government had the right to decide on the timing, "what Haiti needs right now, coming out of a prolonged first round of elections, is a period of calm, not divisive actions that can only distract from the vital task of forming a legitimate and credible government."
Brian Dean Curran, the American ambassador to Haiti during Mr. Aristide's final years in office, offered a far more blunt assessment. "I think it's a colossal mistake," Mr. Curran said. "It's particularly bad at this moment when the political situation is so fragile."
Mr. Aristide has said little about his intentions. Over the last few weeks, he has been reluctant to speak with reporters in South Africa, where the government has paid for a home, a car and security for the past few years.
He explained his desire to return in a recent op-ed article in The Guardian, using pointed language: "What we have learned in one long year of mourning after Haiti's earthquake is that an exogenous plan of reconstruction one that is profit-driven, exclusionary, conceived of and implemented by non-Haitians cannot reconstruct Haiti. It is the solemn obligation of all Haitians to join in the reconstruction and to have a voice in the direction of the nation."
He went on to say that he planned to focus on education "the field I know best and love."
Mr. Curran said he doubted Mr. Aristide would limit himself to teaching. "No one should believe that for an instant," he said.
Indeed, a quiet academic life may not be likely for a populist like Mr. Aristide, whose popularity may surpass any other contemporary political figure. "His return would make very stark the real rouleau-compresseur, or bulldozer power, of the population," said Amy Wilentz, author of "The Rainy Season: Haiti Since Duvalier." "I believe they would rise en masse to greet him and that the airport scene would be like nothing anyone has witnessed in recent times in Haiti."
This popular support, Ms. Wilentz said, could protect him from the fate of Mr. Duvalier, who was quickly questioned and now faces charges of corruption and human rights abuses. United Nations officials have already raised the issue of Mr. Aristede's legal vulnerabilities, and other efforts to influence his decision are also likely to be employed, according to diplomats, though they may be counterbalanced by President René Préval. He was a protégé of Mr. Aristide, and even before the earthquake that further damaged his standing he had become concerned with being forced into exile, according to embassy cables published by WikiLeaks.
One theory advanced by some Haiti observers is that Mr. Préval believes that Mr. Aristide, with his large following, could help prevent that from happening.
Celia W. Dugger contributed reporting from Johannesburg, and Deborah Sontag from New York.
"Let me issue and control a nation's money and I care not who writes the laws. - Mayer Rothschild
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass
"Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience! People are obedient in the face of poverty, starvation, stupidity, war, and cruelty. Our problem is that grand thieves are running the country. That's our problem!" - Howard Zinn
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and never will" - Frederick Douglass