Jean Bertrand Aristide - Haiti Observer Blog

I have been hearing that the opposition to the government of Michel Martelly is not something that just some individuals who are not satisfied with his government are doing.

According to some Martelly supporters as well as others who are just interested in Haiti politic, this movement is not simple at all. There is one leader and strategist managing the entire movement.

The do name former president Jean Bertrand Aristide to be the mastermind behind this movement.

Whether it is a movement in the city of Les Cayes, Cap-Haitian or Jeremie. Whether it is a public statement by some members of political parties, Human Rights attorneys or many Haitian Senators or Deputies, some people would want us to believe that the hands of former president and Lavalas leader Jean Bertrand Aristide is all over it.

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Following an announcement made on July 8, 2013, University of San Francisco professor of law, Nicole Phillips unveiled plans for a four-year law program, aimed at creating Haiti's next generation of lawyers, to be opened at the University of Aristide Foundation (UniFa). The program, which will have 150 enrollees, is set to begin its first semester of classes this coming fall. Phillips has already been drafted for faculty duty, and the wish is that other educators in the US legal system can be brought to Haiti to impart their knowledge; most significantly through a partnership between UniFa and the University of San Francisco.

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Officials who were investigating the assassination of Mireille Durocher Bertin said, after two weeks of the murder, that they were in complete darkness. Mireille Durocher Bertin was a right-wing critic of the then President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. The murder caused strains with Washington and it was accused that the Interior Ministers of the Aristide administration were involved in the assassination and that the orders of the murder were issued by Aristide himself.

On the day of assassination, Mireille Durocher Bertin was traveling in a white Subaru. The car was blocked in broad daylight and the assassins can riding in red Mitsubishi and shot the front tire (on the side of the driver) of the victim's car and then with automatic weapons, shot from both sides of the Subaru. This killed Mrs. Bertin who was a popular lawyer and a 35-year-old mother of 4.

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Another on Haiti's list of prime ministers who have resigned their posts, Jean-Marie Chérestal tendered his resignation of the post to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide after growing rumors of his corruption became an unbearable rubicon to his political influence.

Haiti's 10th Prime Minister was appointed on March 2, 2001 and served for just ten months before the controversy became publicly known and his continuance as Prime Minister was moot. News reports of the time hinted at statements of his incompetence, given further weight by the decline of the country's economy during his tenure. Adding more fuel to the fire, accusations were made that Jean Marie Cherestal had lined his own pockets with the nation's money and fiddled while Haiti all but burned in poverty.

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Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's 54th president, served as one of a handful of full-term rulers since the island's independence was won in 1804. Controversial, misunderstood, maligned, and a pawn for foreign interests' agendas, he was driven from office at the end of his second term in 2004. Exiled to Africa where he remained until 2011, he continued to exert influence through his party Fanmi Lavalas.

Through his contacts with foundations outside Haiti, he received an endowment to start the Aristide Foundation for Democracy (AFD). With this endowment and other funding from the government of Haiti, Aristide built the Aristide Foundation University (AFUNI). The mission of AFUNI is the advancement of social-justice principles as part of the ethos of AFUNI's purpose.

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Writer, economist, and firebrand Gérard Pierre-Charles was born in Jacmel in 1935. A radical, whose political beliefs were shaped by the government of Haiti's failed attempts at democracy, he co-founded a Marxist organization. In 1959, feared dictator François Duvalier caused him to flee to Mexico.

For the next quarter-century, Pierre-Charles taught economics at Mexico City University. He achieved respect as an academician and political extremist. He co-founded Haitian Unified Communist Party (HUCP) and waited for Jean-Claude Duvalier to be deposed, which happened in 1986.

Back in Haiti, he grew disenchanted with the Communist Party, and became an ally of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who had founded Lavalas Party. Aristide was riding high on a wave of popular support, assuming the presidency in 1991. But military opposition ousted him shortly into his presidency. Pierre-Charles seized control of Lavalas and shaped it into an effective political tool, Lavalas Political Organization.

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The atmosphere after President Jean-Bertrand Aristide was taken out of office in 2004 was expectedly tense. His elected prime minister, Yvon Neptune was first-hand witness to this when, following the removal of Aristide, on March 2, he was almost arrested by a mob claiming he should face corruption charges.

It is said that Guy Philippe was the leader of this crusade and his motive had been in retaliation for interviews Yvon Neptune had given to various news bodies in America and Europe. After having served as Prime Minister since 2002, he found himself replaced by an unelected, provisional new government and the country's 12th Prime Minister, Gérard Latortue.

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Following the statement made by President Michel Martelly in his message during ---- where he said that it was and it is still his objective to have all the former Haitian President to meet. Specifically, President Michel Martelly referred to Jean Claude Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide whom he considers represent the two political forces in the country. Former dictator Jean Claude Duvalier replied to the president by saying that he is all for it.

On Wednesday, May 15, 2013, Jean Claude Duvalier wrote in his Facebook Page:

I carefully followed the intervention of the President of the Republic on the occasion of May 14, 2013. And I have learned with satisfaction his wish to meet with former heads of State.
Besides, I had upon my return to the country publicly expressed this wish. I remain convinced of the urgent need to unite and that only a national consensus can enable us to overcome countless challenges. Haiti First! Haiti forever! Vive Haiti! Long live the people of Haiti!

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The former Haitian president Jean Bertrand Aristide is still a force in Haitian politic. If you were not convinced, the public demonstration from his supports today will probably change your mind.

According to the latest report, thousands of Jean Bertrand Aristide supporters took to the streets to support their leader as he appeared in public for the first time since returning from exile. The leader of the Fanmi Lavalas Party was summoned by Haitian Judge Yvickel Dabresil in regard to the unsolved assassination of the famous Haitian journalist Jean Léopold Dominique and his guard. Jean Bertrand Aristide was accompanied by several elected officials such as Moise Jean Charles, John Joel Joseph, MP Saurel hyacinth and others.

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Former Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide finally has his day in court; however, this is something that might become one of the biggest events of the year. After Jean Claude Duvalier who had his day in court earlier this year, now it is Aristide's turn

I don't know if you have been able to detect trend and similarities within these two highly controversial personalities in Haitian politic, in that I mean Jean Bertrand Aristide and Jean Claude Duvalier, but I do. Let's see:

1) Both Jean Claude Duvalier and Jean Bertrand Aristide have passionate fanatics