The was a conflict fought for several weeks in
Haiti during February 2004 that resulted in the premature end of President
Jean-Bertrand Aristide 's second term, and the installment of an interim government led by
Gerard Latortue .
Beginning in Gonaïves with the capture of that city's police station on
February 5 , the rebellion quickly spread to the nearby port city of
Saint-Marc . 150 policemen unsuccessfully attempted to retake Gonaïves on
February 8 , losing between three and 14 officers in the battle. Saint-Marc was, however, recaptured by police and pro-Aristide militants by
February 10 , although sporadic fighting continued in the area. Apparently in cooperation with the rebels in these northern and central cities, the south-western city of
Grand-Goave was taken by rebels at around the same time, but it too was recaptured by police shortly thereafter.
In the following days, the rebels pursued a strategy of advancing toward the country's second-largest city, Cap-Haïtien, and the town of Dondon, just south of Cap-Haïtien, changed hands several times in the fighting. Furthermore, some of the rebels reached the Dominican border, blocking the main road between the two countries and enabling the aforementioned exiled former soldiers to cross into Haiti. By
February 17 , the rebel forces had captured the central town of
Hinche , near the Dominican border.
On
February 19 , rebel leader
Buteur Metayer declared himself president of the areas under his control, with former Cap-Haïtien police chief
Guy Philippe as commander of the rebel army. On
February 22 , the rebels captured Cap-Haïtien with surprisingly little bloodshed; the city's police had already made clear their reluctance to fight, and the well-armed and trained rebels had little difficulty sweeping aside the resistance of the city's pro-Aristide militants. On
February 24 , the rebels followed this success with the capture of the northwestern city of
Port-de-Paix and with the capture of
Tortue Island , off the northern coast, the next day. These gains effectively ended government control in northern Haiti.
On
February 26 , a new band of rebels captured the country's third-largest city,
Les Cayes , in the southwest. More rebel successes followed, as they captured the strategic crossroads of
Mirebalais , 30 miles from the country's capital,
Port-au-Prince . Many foreigners were evacuated from Haiti in anticipation of an assault on Port-au-Prince, but an estimated 20,000 U.S. citizens remained in Haiti as of the end of February.
International mediators led by the United States proposed a peace plan on
February 20 which would have allowed Aristide to serve out his term but with substantially reduced powers, a prime minister from the civilian opposition, and fresh legislative elections. It was virtually the same plan Aristide had agreed to weeks earlier with
Caricom . In a news conference the next day, Aristide agreed to the plan.
The plan, however, was rejected by the opposition, which continued to demand the president's resignation.
France blamed Aristide for the violence and suggested that he should leave office in favor of a transitional government; however, many governments in the region were more supportive of Aristide, alarmed at the precedent that would be set by the overthrow of a democratically elected leader by armed rebels.
The
United States , which intervened in Haiti in 1994 to restore Aristide to power, publicly adopted an ambiguous stance on the issue. While condemning the rebellion and claiming that it did not support the violent overthrow of democratically elected leaders, it also pointedly blamed Aristide for contributing to the violence and has suggested that an end to the crisis might require Aristide's absence from the political scene. For its part, the Haitian government accused the U.S. of supporting the rebels and planning Aristide's ouster.
Some American politicians strongly criticized the Bush's administration's stance on Haiti, on the grounds that it was failing to take a moral stand in defense of Haitian democracy. On
February 25 , for instance, U.S. Congresswoman
Corrine Brown called the Bush Administration's non-intervention in Haiti
Racist .
President Bush refused to soften U.S. policy on Haitian
Refugee s. During the week ending
February 27 , the
U.S. Coast Guard repatriated 867 refugees.
Mainstream media reports suggested that under huge pressure from the rebels as well as from the governments of the
United States and
France , Aristide was removed from office on
February 29 and taken out of the country to the
Central African Republic . According to the same mainstream media sources Aristide first claimed he was kidnapped by
U.S. Marines , then later claimed that a group of Haitians and civilian Americans forced him to resign and then flee into exile (a claim the United States vigorously denied). According to the
Washington Times , an aircraft provided by the U.S. carried the displaced Aristide and his American wife,
Mildred Trouillot Aristide , to the
Central African Republic (CAR) . News accounts at the scene in the CAR indicate Aristide was held against his will, and his subsequent release may have followed approval from the US.
Supreme Court Chief Justice
Boniface Alexandre succeeded him as interim president and petitioned the
United Nations Security Council for the intervention of an international peacekeeping force; the Security Council met within the day to authorize such a mission. As a vanguard of the official UN force, a force of about 1,000
United States Marines arrived in Haiti within the day, and
Canadian and
French troops arrived the next morning; the United Nations indicated it would send a team to assess the situation within days.
Following the departure of Aristide, the rebels entered Port-au-Prince, declaring their intent to protect Alexandre and the people from pro-Aristide militants, popularly known in the government controlled media as "chimeres". In the days since, they have sent mixed messages about their intentions: rebel leader Guy Philippe first declared himself the "chief" of a new Haitian military and vowed to arrest the pro-Aristide prime minister,
Yvon Neptune , but then promised to disarm his forces. On
March 3 , at least three people were killed in a battle between rebels and pro-Aristide militants. Supporters of Aristide have vowed to continue pressing their demands for his return, and on
March 7 , 6 people were reported killed at an anti-Aristide rally.
The death toll from the conflict is believed to have been at least 300. Prime Minister Neptune has estimated that the cost of the rebellion from fighting and looting amounts to about
U.S. $ 300 million.
CARICOM governments denounced the "removal" of Mr. Aristide from government. They also questioned the legality of subsequent American-backed maneouvers to install a new president. The Prime Minister of
Jamaica ,
P.J. Patterson said that, the episode "sets a dangerous precedent for democratically elected governments anywhere and everywhere, as it promotes the removal of duly elected persons from office by the power of rebel forces."
As reported by the BBC, on March 3, CARICOM called for an independent inquiry into the departure of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and says it will not send peacekeepers at this time. The Jamaican Prime Minister Patterson said there had been no indication during discussions with the US and France that the plan which CARICOM had put forward prior to Aristide's departure was not acceptable. "In respect of our partners we can only say this, at no time in our discussions did they convey to us that the plan was unacceptable so long as president Aristide remained in office. Nor did they suggest to us anything of a nature pertaining to the conduct of President Aristide in office that would cause us to come to the judgement ourselves that he was unsuited to be the President of Haiti," Mr. Patterson said. The government of
South Africa has also called for an investigation into the nature of Aristide's departure.
After two weeks in the Central African Republic, Aristide departed for Jamaica and arrived there on
March 15 . The visit was ostensibly for the purpose of enabling Aristide to see his young daughters, but the transitional Haitian government claimed that the visit could destabilize Haiti further by encouraging Aristide's supporters and announced it was breaking off diplomatic relations with Jamaica in protest. In response, Jamaica announced that it would not recognize the new Haitian government.
peacekeeping effort]]
As of April 2004,
Brazilian forces lead the
United Nations peacekeeping troops in Haiti composed of
United States ,
France ,
Canada and
Chile deployments. These peacekeeping troops are part of the ongoing
MINUSTAH operation. On
October 15 ,
2005 Brazil called for more troops to be sent due to the worsening situation in the country.
There is increasing concern that the widespread violence after the forced removal of the elected president of Haiti will not allow for truly democratic elections to happen and that the country will not break from its cycle of violence and become a liberal democratic state.
Many of Aristide's supporters, as well as progressive and independent observers worldwide, denounced the rebellion as a foreign controlled coup d'etat orchestrated by Canada, France and the United States (Goodman, et al, 2004) to remove a publicly elected President.
The argument is that the governments of the United States, France and Canada were interested in the removal of Aristide from power because of his populist tendencies. For example, in 2003, Canada hosted a meeting of Haitian opposition leaders called the
Ottawa Initiative which concluded that "Aristide must go". At the same time, the United States, France and Canada were funding the rebel groups, via opposition
NGOs and the
International Republican Institute , and provided the necessary military and logistic support for the rebellion. Rebel leader
Guy Philippe has been trained by U.S. forces and had been on the CIA payroll. Other prominent rebel figures had also been previously trained by the U.S. despite their participation in previous rebellions and terrorist acts with some living in the U.S.
According to the reporting of
Amy Goodman , Aristide was pressured to resign from office by James B. Foley, U.S. Ambassador to Haiti, and kidnapped by U.S. agents on
February 29 after resisting pressure. This pressure was initially diplomatic but once that failed, the delaying of the arrival of extra bodyguards and dismissal of the current agents would have meant a death sentence to the President. Aristide and his wife along with this former security team was taken to a U.S. aircraft and not informed of their destination until several hours later. They were then told that they would be harbored in the country to the
Central African Republic . Aristide was kept under strict military surveillance and could not communicate freely for days. The United States government denies these allegations. A diplomatic mission composed of U.S. Congresswoman
Corrine Brown and representatives of CARICOM to the
Central African Republic was needed in order to bring Aristide back to the Caribbean.
There is speculation that the United States move on Haiti on
February 29 was rushed by reports that CARICOM nations had offered military help to Haiti but, most importantly, that Venezuela had also offered military support that could arrive the next day.
Other indications of United States, France and Canada influence in the coup d'etat are that at the same time that the diplomatic mission was trying to bring Aristide back to the Caribbean, U.S. officials including Condoleezza Rice and at the time Secretary of State, Colin Powell, gave statements that indicated clearly that the U.S. did not welcome Aristide into the 'western hemisphere'. Not only the United States did not support the elected president of Haiti back into power but
USAID and
CIDA have been actively funding the interim government and helping it to prepare for elections in the fall of 2005/early 2006. USAID, CIDA, and the NED also heavily funded the political opposition throughout the Aristide Administration- the same opposition who supported the embargo which starved the Haitian government of 35% of its federal budget.
Lavalas supporters view the rebellion as an undemocratic attempt to control the Haitian economy. Since the rebellion, Lavalas supporters have engaged in large protests demanding Aristide's return.
Lavalas says it cannot field any candidates due to political violence. It has been suggested that the U.S., France and Canada are glad to see Lavalas excluded because they want the interim government to be perceived as legitimate, but do not want Lavalas to control the Haitian parliament — which many argue would be very likely in a free and fair election.
Supreme Court Chief Justice
Boniface Alexandre succeeded Aristide as interim president and petitioned the
United Nations Security Council for the intervention of an international peacekeeping force; the Security Council met within the day to authorize such a mission. As a vanguard of the official UN force, a force of about 1,000
United States Marines arrived in Haiti within the day, and
Canadian and
French troops arrived the next morning; the United Nations indicated it would send a team to assess the situation within days.
On June 1, 2004, the
Peacekeeping mission was passed to
MINUSTAH and comprise a 7000 strength force lead by
Brazil and back up by
Argentina ,
Chile ,
Jordan ,
Marocco ,
Nepal ,
Peru ,
Philippines ,
Sri Lanka and
Uruguay ( source )
Aristide has said in an interview with
Naomi Klein that the main motivation for the foreign support of his overthrow was
Privatization . Specifically, Aristide has suggested that his refusal to sell state-owned enterprises, such as phones and electricity, resulted in a decision to have him removed. There is some evidence for this assertion, as the
World Bank's Interim Cooperation Framework has stated:
: "''…in key sectors of the economy such as telecommunications, energy, potable water, ports and airports… management contracts will be prepared in those cases where private sector participation is deemed appropriate…''"
It is particularly relevant to the
Coup D'etat that one of the first actions of Aristide's second term was the disbanding of Haitian military which ruled Haiti from 1991 to 1994 on behalf of the old elite of Haiti and was extremely corrupt and authoritarian. This measure received incredible popular support from a civilian population who had suffered under several military coups. Interestingly, this measure was immediately reverted by the interim government put in power by the coup, which seeks to put an end to Aristide's populist policies and rule.
The rebellion began with the capture of the country's fourth-largest city,
Gonaïves , on
February 5 ,
2004 , by a rebel group calling itself the
Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front . This group changed its name to the
National Revolutionary Front For The Liberation Of Haiti on
February 19 .
The rebels and the civilian opposition demanded the resignation of President Aristide, but he emphasized his determination to remain in office until the expiration of his term on
February 7 ,
2006 , saying that Haiti not continue its history of moving from "
Coup D'état to coup d'état," but should instead move from "elected president to elected president." Aristide's opponents, while accepting in principle that Haiti should have an elected president and a constitutional process, disputed his legitimacy and accused him of ruling undemocratically.
According to the rebels and the civilian opposition, the rebellion is a natural consequence of what they consider Aristide's poor governance and the alleged rigging of the 2000 elections by his
Lavalas Family party.
The rebellion was primarily led by former soldiers of the Haitian army, who were responsible for civilian massacres during the early 1990s. Even prior to the widespread violence that engulfed the country, a low-level rebellion was waged by some ex-soldiers in the central part of the country since at least 2003, resulting in several dozen deaths. Furthermore, on
February 14 ,
2004 , a number of former soldiers (including the notorious former militia leader
Louis-Jodel Chamblain ) returned from exile in the
Dominican Republic and announced their intention to join the rebels based in Gonaïves.
According to supporters of Aristide's government, the rebellion is a coup attempt by former soldiers of the now-disbanded army (which ruled Haiti from 1991 to 1994) on behalf of the old elite of Haiti, which seeks to put an end to Aristide's populist policies and rule.
The rebels attributed much of their rapid success to Aristide's failure to disarm the army when he disbanded it in 1995; however, they insisted that the popular support they enjoyed was an equally important reason. Haiti's police force of 5,000 proved too small and poorly armed to be effective in resisting the rebel advance, and in some places, such as
Cap-Haïtien , the police seemed not have mounted any substantial resistance at all.
Another component of the rebellion were the armed gangs which have frequently been a source of violence in Haiti in recent years. The most prominent of these gangs, the "
Cannibal Army ," long acted as Aristide's primary support base in the city of Gonaïves before turning against him in recent years. This gang, which went on to become one of the main elements of the National Revolutionary Front, claimed the weaponry it used to fight the government during the rebellion was given to it by Aristide at a time when it still supported him; allegedly, the main purpose of this was to intimidate the opposition during the 2000 elections. The government, however, said that the rebels possessed firepower far greater than that of the Haitian police, and that the weaponry must therefore have a foreign origin.
To a large extent, Haitian politics has been defined by such gangs for the last decade. While it was an anti-Aristide gang that initiated the rebellion in Gonaïves, pro-Aristide gangs fought back on behalf of the president. Gangs on both sides have been accused of grim atrocities, such as executing supporters of the other side and setting fire to their homes.
According to many supporters of Aristide, the country's civilian opposition acted as a
Fifth Column in support of the rebels. The opposition denied this, but many of its members acknowledged their support for the rebel cause, and stated that they share with the rebels the common goal of Aristide's ouster: according to them, they disagreed with the rebels only on the question of employing violent rebellion to that end.
In line with the assertions that the rebellion was a foreign controlled coup d'etat, Aristide has repeatedly claimed that he was kidnapped or heavily pressured to leave the country.
: "They were telling me that if I don't leave they would start shooting, and be killing in a matter of time. They came at night… There were too many. I couldn't count them."
Some have come forward to support his claim saying they witnessed him being escorted out by American soldiers at gunpoint. The U.S. has unequivocally denied this version of events.
Aristide has also denied that a letter he left behind constitutes an official resignation.
: "There is a document that was signed to avoid a bloodbath, but there was no formal resignation," he said. "This political kidnapping was the price to pay to avoid a bloodbath."
A translation of the letter from Creole by an
Indiana University linguistic professor reads:
: "If tonight it is my resignation that will avoid a bloodbath, I accept to leave with the hope that there will be life and not death."
Aristide insists that he remains legally president. On
March 8 , he issued the following statement at a press conference in the
Central African Republic : "I am the democratically elected president and I remain so. I plead for the restoration of democracy. We appeal for a peaceful resistance."
Many prominent
African-American political figures, including Congresswomen
Maxine Waters and
Barbara Lee , as well as
Randall Robinson , and
Jesse Jackson , have supported and publicized Aristide's claim that he was kidnapped by American-supported armed guards supporting an anti-democratic coup.
Secretary of State
Colin Powell and other U.S. officials strongly deny the claims, saying they acted at Aristide's request. However, the U.S. and France de facto blocked
CARICOM 's request for an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Aristide's removal.
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A spokesman for the
Steele Foundation , the
San Francisco -based organization which supplied Aristide's bodyguards, denied that Aristide had been kidnapped, and pointed out that his employees accompanied the former President to the Central African Republic. "If he was kidnapped, we were kidnapped, too," the spokesman said.
However, the Steele Foundation declined to comment on a report that they were forced by U.S. officials to delay the flight of a small group of extra bodyguards by one day. One day too late to help Aristide.
Supporters of Aristide claim that his election to a second term on
November 26 ,
2000 was "free and fair" and cite the verdicts of observers who judged it to have been so at the time. They also point to the 91.8% of the vote that he received as evidence of his overwhelming popularity.
Others disagree, arguing that Aristide's election was essentially unopposed because opposition candidates withdrew from the race and called for a general boycott. This boycott was claimed to have been in response to the lack of any real chance of a fair election.
However, Aristide supporters note that voter turout was over 50% of those registered.
This came in the wake of what was claimed to have been electoral fraud by government workers counting votes in the legislative elections earlier in the year. According to the Haitian constitution, a seat in the legislature must be won with a 50% majority, but in the 2000
Elections , seven pro-Aristide
Lavalas Family candidates and one independent were declared winners after obtaining only a
Plurality of the vote. According to Aristide's opponents, this was evidence of his blatant disregard for constitutional principles; however, Aristide's supporters note that the eight seats in question would not have affected the overall Lavalas majority even if the opposition had won them all, and make up eight of a total of 7000 elected positions in the country.
The controversy, however, wore on, and in 2001, Aristide convinced the seven Lavalas senators who had won with only a plurality to resign so that by-elections could be held.
Later, U.S. Congressman Conyers wrote:
:"Unfortunately, there were irregularities that occurred in the election and there is a post-election problem of the vote count that is threatening to undo the democratic work of the citizens of Haiti. Without doubt there were irregularities that occurred in the election which have been conceded by the CEP."
The National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR) says that there were delays in the distribution of voter identification cards.
Aristide's supporters claim that an opposition boycott of the election was used as a ploy in order to discredit it and that they did not have anywhere near majority support.
