Quiet exile for Haitian leader

2006-02-07 11:56

Jean Jacques Cornish

Pretoria - A continent away from the millions of Haitians voting on Tuesday, deposed president Jean Bertrand Aristide is settling into quiet exile in South Africa, keeping mum about the elections in his troubled Caribbean country.

Aristide last June said he was ready to return to Haiti at the appropriate time as he lobbied African governments for support for his claim that he was driven from office under US and French pressure.

But the 52-year-old former president who fled Haiti in February 2004 amid a popular revolt made no public statements about the fate of his nation in the run-up to the election.

He refused an interview request to discuss developments in Haiti.

"It's not going to happen now," his private secretary Sandy Ramnaidoo said last week.

A despot

Since he arrived to a red-carpet welcome in South Africa in May 2004, Aristide, his wife and two daughters have moved into a government-provided home in Pretoria. The government also provides him with security and a vehicle.

Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma defended the decision to grant the Haitian leader refuge in the face of criticism from the opposition, which said Aristide was a despot with blood on his hands.

The government countered that it was sheltering him with the approval of the government of France and the United States, the African Union and the Caribbean community.

"Everyone is working towards Haiti becoming a normal country. I am sure that Haiti will not be roamed by rebels forever," Dlamini Zuma said shortly after Aristide's arrival.

"We have faith that things will stabilise in Haiti and he will be able to go back," she said.

Bowed to pressure

Aristide swept to power in Haiti in 1990, only to be overthrown in a coup eight months later. With backing from the United States, he returned to power in 1994, but fell out of favour with Washington amid claims of vote-rigging in the 2000 elections and political violence.

Faced with an armed insurrection and large street protests, Aristide bowed to pressure from the United States and France and fled Haiti on February 29 2004.

The former Catholic priest has said that he spends his time in South Africa writing his memoirs and staying abreast of developments in Haiti.

"Far from home, I am living here, but always in deep communion with my people," said Aristide.

Aristide, who has written seven books, said more than a year ago he had nearly completed writing an account of his removal from Haiti.

He has repeatedly blamed the US and French governments for being complicit in what he characterises as a kidnapping. Both he and his wife Mildred work as researchers at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, which claims to be the world's largest distance learning university.

The African Union maintains its desire to assist in mediating a solution in Haiti which it regards as a member of the African diaspora.

- SAPA