Reply #68: Rising Stakes In Haiti as Ex-Duvalier Thugs Take Over Opposition

[Aidoneus]

Rising Stakes In Haiti as Ex-Duvalier Thugs Take Over Opposition
by Jim Lobe

WASHINGTON -- The emergence of former paramilitary and military leaders accused of atrocities committed during Haiti's last period of military rule at the head of spreading rebellion against President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has added urgency to international efforts to deal with the ongoing crisis in the Caribbean nation.

The uprising, which has cut off hundreds of towns and villages in the north and central parts of the country from desperately needed relief supplies, is also fueling fears of a major exodus of poor Haitians by boat and across the border into the Dominican Republic, which has taken steps to close its border.

U.S. relief agencies, including CARE and Catholic Relief Services (CRS), have launched an emergency supply effort for cities and towns taken over by rebels, and in areas where barricades have been erected by contending forces.

"The situation is critical," said Dula James, CRS' Country Representative for Haiti. "Staff have been in contact with communities and partners in the north and report that rural villages lack food, household items, clothing and materials for shelter--a result of ongoing violence and looting."

The uprising began Feb 5 when a gang--called the Cannibal Army when it was allied with Aristide and later renamed the Artibonite Resistance Front (ARF)-- seized the police station in Gonaives, the country's fourth largest city, and subsequently burned and looted other government offices. Several days later, another anti-Aristide gang seized the nearby town of St. Marc, which has since been retaken by government forces.

Tension in Cap-Haitien, Haiti's second biggest city, has risen steadily since yet another rebel group--reportedly led by a former chief of the paramilitary Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti (FRAPH), Louis Jodel Chamblain-- seized the Central Plateau town of Hinche after killing the police chief and two of his officers several days ago. A total of more than 50 people have been killed to date.

The emergence of Chamblain, who apparently slipped across the border from the Dominican Republic where he has lived in exile for almost a decade, and several other personalities associated with FRAPH, drew calls of alarm from human rights groups both in Haiti and other capitals. FRAPH, the descendant of the feared Ton-Ton Macoutes from the Duvalier dynasty, acted primarily as a death squad for the military after it ousted Aristide in 1990 until the former priest was returned to power by 2,000 U.S. troops in 1994.

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http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0219-08.htm