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Haitian president urged to quit to end violence
Leaders of the Democratic Platform, a coalition of political parties, clergy, students and business leaders, who met Caribbean community leaders in the Bahamas yesterday to seek a peaceful resolution, said they had a two-pronged plan to depose him. The first element, said Evans Paul, an opposition politician, was "to show the international community and the Catholic church that Aristide has lost his popularity and should not be supported". The second was to show that he "uses violence to repress our rights to free speech and assembly and that no compromise is possible with his regime". The police fired tear gas and bullets into the air to break up a student protest on Monday. On Sunday a boy of 13 was killed during a protest against the government when shots were fired by men hiding in a state television station. On Saturday Mr Aristide said the opposition rallies constituted an attempted coup, and he refused to step down. The protests have become an almost daily event: 47 people have died and more than 100 have been injured since mid-September. Mr Aristide has become isolated on the world stage since observers questioned the fairness of the parliamentary elections in 2000. He was elected by a landslide later that year, but has been in almost permanent conflict with the opposition, which demands new presidential and parliamentary polls. Mr Aristide told Caribbean leaders last week that he would hold parliamentary elections in six months time. He made the same promise last year. His opponents refuse to take part in elections unless he resigns. The standoff has provoked a bloody spiral of popular protest and state repression in recent months, particularly since Monday when parliament disbanded, leaving Mr Aristide in effect to rule by decree. On Monday students threw stones at private schools which had stayed open despite being asked to close in solidarity with the protests. During the melee a tear gas canister landed in a Roman Catholic girlsâ school, causing the children to panic. On Thursday two pro-government broadcasters, Radio Pyramide and Radio America, were attacked. Three days later two stations with an anti-government bias were set alight. The clashes have marred the bicentennial celebrations of Haitiâs independence from French rule, when it became the worldâs first black-led republic. I didnât receive the script on this one. If he is ousted again, are we supposed to invade and put him back in power? Somebody page Jimmy Carter and let us know. Posted by: Super Hose 2004-01-21 |
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