18169: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-D.C. protesters assail Aristide (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

Posted on Sat, Jan. 31, 2004

WASHINGTON
D.C. protesters assail Aristide
An anti-Aristide rally in Washington draws several hundred protesters,
including many who once supported the Haitian president.
BY FRANK DAVIES
fdavies@herald.com

WASHINGTON - Several hundred Haitian Americans and recent exiles chanted,
sang and marched in front of the Haitian Embassy on Friday to show their
opposition to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

''I am here to support democracy in my country -- I had to be here today,''
Leon Manus, former head of Haiti's elections commission, told the crowd in
Sheridan Circle on a blustery, subfreezing afternoon.

The hastily organized rally attracted two buses of protesters -- one from
New York, the other from Boston -- and featured speeches from Pierre-Marie
Michel Paquiot, the president of the State University of Haiti whose legs
were broken by pro-Aristide thugs; Ludovic Dauphin, a former Aristide chief
of staff; and Yvelt Chery, a former senator.

One recurring theme of the rally was that longtime foes of Aristide and some
of his former supporters were now joining to seek his removal. Recent
attacks by pro-Aristide forces on students and other demonstrators in Haiti
had galvanized the opposition, several protesters said.

The participants chanted, ''Aristide must go!'' and ''He betrayed us'' in
Creole as they marched in front of the embassy. A few embassy staffers came
and left as three city police officers stood by.

Several signs condemned ''Haiti under gang rule'' and featured photos of
violent street demonstrations in Haiti in recent months that have left at
least 50 dead. Several protesters said they wanted to show solidarity with
students in Haiti.

The rally was sponsored by the Haiti Democracy Project, a Washington-based
advocacy group, and included several members of Group 184, an opposition
coalition in Haiti.

Paquiot, his legs jutting from a wheelchair, made a brief appearance at the
rally, thronged by demonstrators. He has become a hero of the opposition
since he was attacked Dec. 5, forced into hiding and then left the country
Jan. 12. He has been receiving medical treatment in New Orleans.

Paquiot also met briefly Thursday with Roger Noriega, assistant secretary of
state for Western Hemisphere affairs, and Michael Kozak, deputy assistant
secretary of state for human rights.

''Much of the international community is still wedded to Aristide,'' said
Jean Marçeau Lohier of Woodbridge, Va. ``We have to make them realize the
abuses that are being committed.''

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