Haiti's Neighbors Are Pressing Aristide for Reforms
Jonathas is barely old enough to remember the political revolution that eventually placed a Catholic priest named Jean-Bertrand Aristide in the presidential palace. And yet, Mr. Jonathas hopes to be part of another movement, equal in determination to that earlier campaign waged in the late 1980's but with opposite results."As long as Aristide is in power, there will be no democracy," said Mr. Jonathas, a student at the University of Haiti, wiping his brow moments after he and a few hundred other students finished a march through the winding, pockmarked streets of the capital here calling for Mr. Aristide's ouster. "He must go. We need a new system."
After a nearly four-year deadlock with critics and opponents, Mr. Aristide has faced increasingly frequent protests over the past few months; in the last month, opposition leaders have called for demonstrations almost daily demanding that he step down. Leaders of neighboring Caribbean nations are pressing him to defuse the situation.
War criminal sent back to Haiti
The convicted Haitian war criminal arrested in Orlando almost two weeks ago has been deported and sent to a Haitian prison, according to his attorney.Jean-Claude Duperval was sent back to Haiti Monday, said his attorney Shannon Baruch, where he will likely face a retrial for his role in the 1994 killings of dozens of political dissidents. An angry Baruch claimed his client was returned to Haiti even though Baruch was appealing the decision to a federal court in Atlanta.
Baruch said Duperval's family fears for his safety because Duperval has many enemies in the Haitian government. In addition to appealing Duperval's case in federal court, Baruch said he will ask the United Nations to intervene on Duperval's behalf.
Duperval had been living quietly in the blue-collar neighborhood for about three years -- working at one time as a Disney boat pilot -- after coming to the United States in 1995.
Duperval, a major-general in the Haitian military, was convicted in absentia by a Haitian court in 2000 for his role in the 1994 massacre. In the attack, soldiers rampaged through the seaside town of Raboteau, beating and shooting at least 25 men, women and children.
