Aristide

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- For years, they were so close that people here routinely referred to them as twin brothers. But now that Rene Preval has succeeded Jean-Bertrand Aristide as president, a sudden case of sibling rivalry appears to be eroding their relationship and threatening the unity of their party.Three months after Preval was sworn in, the Lavalas movement, under whose banner both men were elected, is splintering, with the dominant group supporting Preval but others sticking by Aristide.

WASHINGTON -- In a modern office suite in Georgetown, the exiled government of Haiti is making plans to go home.Advisers fill conference rooms, fine-tuning a blueprint for a new government. Telephones ring constantly, signaling calls from reporters, aides on Capitol Hill and supporters of the exiles.Across town, in a spare apartment, ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide is on the phone hourly with members of the Clinton administration."There is a sense of urgency," said Jean-Claude Martineau, a spokesman for Father Aristide, between live radio interviews.

WASHINGTON -- Exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide came to the White House seeking a concession yesterday but made one instead -- and it is one that the Clinton administration believes will help restore him to power.The State Department, under both President George Bush and President Clinton, had urged Father Aristide to agree on some sort of amnesty for the coup leaders who ousted him. To the Americans, this was a huge sticking point. Short of using force, they couldn't see how they were going to persuade coup leaders to step down if that meant being killed or sent to prison.

TABARRE, Haiti -- Most Haitians yesterday did not know of the U.N.-brokered peace agreement signed Saturday night by exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Radio and television stations on their impoverished island-nation do not broadcast on Sundays.Told of the agreement, one of Father Aristide's neighbors said: "I do not know if it's true or wrong what you've told me. But since I have no other hope besides God, I have no choice but to stay and wait for him."The diplomatic agreement ending a 21-month political crisis came after six days of negotiations in New York between Father Aristide and the man who overthrew him on Sept.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- To "Madame X," who grows orchids in Le Boule, a community of wealth and power high above the capital, a return of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide would be an ill omen of increased bloodshed and revenge by the poor.But as 19-year-old "Filibert" sees it, Father Aristide is the best hope for bringing Haitians together in a climate of peace that would allow him and hundreds other street kids and political activists to come out of hiding from security forces.If Father Aristide does not return it would be the poor, he said, who would be the victims of revenge.

IF ONLY HAITI had a history of constitutional democracy like that of the United States. Were that the case, Wednesday's inauguration of Jean-Bertrand Aristide would have been a cause for celebration - in the small island nation and abroad. Instead, it was marked by a new round of uncertainties, prompted by the abrupt end of talks between Mr. Aristide's party and the 15-party opposition alliance that claimed earlier legislative elections were fraudulent and has named its own provisional president.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Angry soldiers attacked the legislative building where Senate leaders were meeting yesterday evening and forced them at gunpoint to name an interim president to replace ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.Shooting at windows and storming into the building, a mob of 100 soldiers trapped the legislators inside after hearing rumors that they had agreed to demands by the Organization of American States that Father Aristide, who was overthrown eight days ago, be restored to office.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Impassioned government loyalists hurled rocks from atop the national television station onto opposition demonstrators yesterday as they tried to march into the center of Haiti's capital, sparking fights and police gunfire in another display of the deep divisions that some here say signal a looming civil war. Yesterday's march from the hilltop suburb of Petionville into the poor and hostile neighborhoods of central Port-au-Prince was...

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Despite its significance, tomorrow's Haitian presidential election has generated little enthusiasm, which observers attribute in part to the fact that Jean-Bertrand Aristide is not on the ballot.The immensely popular Mr. Aristide, a one-time populist priest, is barred by Haiti's constitution from succeeding himself.Some of Haiti's 3.7 million registered voters "resent having to replace Aristide," said a U.S. official. "If there is a low turnout, it's largely a protest to Aristide leaving."

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - The billboards declaring the inevitable went up even before the first vote had been cast. They boast a huge photograph of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide with the simple and foregone declaration in Creole: "Feb. 7, 2001. Peace in the Head. Peace in the Belly." The date refers to the presidential inauguration that, depending on one's point of view, is seen as Aristide's appointment with destiny or infamy. He is the only real candidate in today's presidential election, because almost all opposition political parties, civic groups and international observers are sitting out the contest after flawed vote-counting in May's legislative elections gave Aristide's Lavalas Party an overwhelming majority in Parliament.