Aristide wants free elections
2004-10-29 10:12
Brasilia - Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma on Thursday said former Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide, in exile in South Africa, wants Haiti to hold "free and fair elections" allowing Haitians to choose whichever leaders they want.
"President Aristide's wish is whatever happens in Haiti issues in a free and fair election, for the Haitians to choose whoever they would like as their leadership," Dlamini-Zuma told reporters during an official visit in Brasilia.
"That is the main wish of President Aristide," she said.
Aristide fled a popular revolt in Haiti in late February, flying to the Central African Republic and later Jamaica before arriving in South Africa on May 31.
Brazil leads a UN stabilisation force that was deployed in Haiti following Aristide's departure to provide security in the Caribbean nation.
About 30 people have been killed in Haiti since September 30 in violence that has partly been blamed on supporters of Aristide.
Dlamini-Zuma discussed Haiti with Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Amorim said.
"President Aristide is now the guest of South African government, and our friends in Brazil are the head of the peacekeeping force in Haiti," Dlamini-Zuma said. "We have an interest in discussing this matter."
An interim government led by Prime Minister Gerard Latortue took over after Aristide left. Elections are scheduled for 2005.
Brazil also wants free elections in Haiti and bring together all political forces, Amorim said.
"Naturally that is also our desire, and that is why we are working together within our own roles to support Haiti's reconciliation and reconstruction," he said.
The Brazilian president added he did not consider Dlamini-Zuma's comments as "a message" from Aristide, but rather "South Africa's views on the process, and which certainly include some of Aristide's opinions."