haitian officials. jean-bertrand aristide

Here is a picture of Guy Philippe celebrating after he led the 2004 coup d'état against Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Guy Philippe (February 29, 1968) is a Haitian politician, former Tonton Macoutes leader and a presidential candidate (Front for National Reconstruction, a guerrilla group) in the Haitian General Election, 2006 who led the 2004 Haitian coup d'état that ousted Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Philippe was a former Haitian Police Chief, trained by U.S Special Forces in Ecuador in the early 1990s and he was once wanted by the United States for smuggling cocaine. In the year 2000, he was accused of masterminding a coup and was subsequently removed from his post as police chief of Cap-Haïtien and Philippe fled to the Dominican Republic. In February 2004, he returned from the DR, met former militia leader Louis-Jodel Chamblain to join the 2004 Haitian coup d'état against president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

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Here is the return of Jean Bertrand Aristide from Exile, October 5, 1994 with 20,000 US troops to bolster his new administration.

Aristide, the first democratically elected President with 67% supports, was ousted from power by a September 30, 1991 military coup, because his initiated reforms angered the military and Haiti's elite. When the coup regime collapsed in 1994 under US pressure, following a huge peaceful public demonstration of Aristide supporters (about 250,000 people) in New York, urging the U.S President Bill Clinton to deliver on his election promise to return Aristide to Haiti, the U.S and other international communities, including the UN Security Council, persuaded the military regime to let Aristide return to power. On October 15, 1994, President Aristide returned to Haiti to complete his term in President's office.

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These pictures show Jean Bertrand Aristide arriving at Bangui M'Poko International Airport which is an international airport located northwest of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, following his second exile from Haiti.

The second set shows Jean Bertrand Aristis, his wife Mildred Aristide and their two children Christine and Michaelle Aristide arriving in South Africa where he would be allowed to live in exile until he can safely return to Haiti.

For the second coup D'Etat given to Jean Bertrand Aristide, not so much as individuals but rather countries are accused. On February 29, 2004, the US, France and Canada are accused to be the masters behind the overthrew of Jean Bertrand Aristide government.

Following several weeks of conflicts, Jean-Bertrand Aristide was ousted in a 2004 Haitian coup d'état in which one of his former soldiers (Guy Philippe) took the leading role. However, Aristide accused the U.S as one of the accomplices for orchestrating the coup d'état against him with support from Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson and countries like France, Canada and some others. On 25 February, 2004, Guy Philippe and rebel forces surrounded Port-au-Prince and announced plans to arrest Aristide. On 29 February, 2004, Aristide resigned as President and left Haiti with his wife on board a U.S. military plane to the Central African Republic. In an interview on CNN, on March 2, 2004, he said he was told to resign to avoid bloodshed. He later claimed that, his departure was a kidnapping, accusing the U.S. for orchestrating a coup d'état against him.

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Here are some pictures taken following the departure of Jean-Bertrand Aristide to Exile.

One study found that, following the departure of Aristide in 2004, about 8,000 people in Port-au-Prince alone were murdered and over 35,000 sexually assaulted. Armed rebels and angry partisans took control of half the country. In a news conference, Prime Minister Yvon Neptune said, President Aristide resigned to avoid further violence and bloodbath. We might remember that in connection with the resignation and departure of Aristide, about 44 Lavalas opponents were killed in the town of Saint-Marc. Seven people were arrested, including former Prime Minister Yvon Neptune and former Interior Minister and present interim President Jocelerme Privert. However, Yvon Neptune objected to the term 'massacre', because he considered "that was a fight between two different sides. Ramicose, which was an organization close to the opposition, fought with Bale Wouze, which was a popular organization belonging to Lavalas. Since no proper evidence was found, none of the accused was convicted.

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Here is a picture of Jean Bertrand Aristide, Mildred, Christine and Michaelle Aristide arriving in South Africa.

When Haiti's beleaguered President Jean-Bertrand Aristide resigned following a coup d'état, and fled into exile for a second time on Sunday, 29 February 2004, he left the impoverished nation in a chaos. The former Catholic priest was once hailed by the masses as their savior. Aristide later accused the U.S as one of the accomplices for orchestrating the coup d'état against him with support from Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson and countries like France, Canada and some others.

Aristide's enforced departure created a vacuum. Hundreds of gunmen, most of whom were his supporters, and other rebel leaders, outlaws, poured on to the streets of the capital. About 100 U.S. Marines arrived on the night of departure and Canada, France and several Caribbean nations also agreed to send troops to restore law and order in the country. The outstation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004 left a large number of 9 mm weapons, 38's, American-style machine guns, M-14's and hand grenades in the hands of his supporters and other hooligans. As a consequence of this, regular exchange of ammunition among the gangs and with the UN peacekeeping force was a routine matter.

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Here is the former Haitian president with his family. Jean-Bertrand Aristide wife Mildred with their children Christine and Michaelle.

One of the accomplishments of Jean Bertrand Aristide and the Lavalas administration is that the country say a drastic increase in the number of schools in the country. Jean Bertrand Aristide and Rene Preval built 195 new primary schools and 104 secondary schools.
His government was also credited for providing thousands of scholarships so that children could afford to attend schools. During the government of Jean Bertrand Aristide the percentage of children enrolled in primary school education rose to 72%.

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Here is a statement considered to be one of the most famous. In a speech given in 1995, President Jean Bertrand Aristide being very upset of gun violence in the sociery stated: I order that the removal of guns in the streets of Haiti be complete and legal. From now on, regardless of the vehicle that passes doing a drive by shooting, that all the other vehicles bolck the traffic to block these individuals. I am the head of state, responsible for the security of each Haitian and I want, and I can and I want, and I want.

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Victims of the Haitian Military Coup in 1991 against Jean-Bertrand Aristide

In the 1990's Haiti, under the leadership of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was thrust into a worldwide political agenda that would make them a "problem" for the United States. A coup d'etat would occur in 1991 which would lead to the deaths of many of those opposed to the ousting of Aristide and the subsequent rule of the army. It would lead to two years of killings, between '91 and '93 of mass murders, for which the army officials would be granted amnesty. The carnage would continue into Aristide's second term when, in 2004, an untold number of people disappeared and were killed while the UN had control of the country.

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Here is the picture of Alvin P. Adams Jr. who passed away this week.

Alvin P. Adams Jr. (73), a key Figure during Jean-Bertrand Aristide rule and an Ambassador who helped Haiti pursue democracy, died of a heart attack on October 10, 2015, at his home in Portland, Ore. Alvin P. Adams Jr., was an American envoy to Haiti (1989 to 1992) and champion of human rights, but he would be more remembered for his contributory role during the government of Jean Bertrand Aristide and his negotiation in the 1990s with Lt. General Prosper Avril. Gen. Avril was a Haitian military ruler and a protégé of the ousted dictators Francois Duvalier and his son, Jean-Claude Duvalier; Avril had to leave Haiti ultimately on a United States Air Force jet like his predecessor. His departure paved the way for a provisional civilian replacement and, later that year, the government of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's first freely elected president and a Roman Catholic priest. When a military coup overthrew Aristide from power within the same year, Alvin Adams again played a key role in negotiating his exile to Venezuela. Jean Bertrand came back to power in 1994.

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Here is a picture of two former friends and political allies, Evans Paul, K-Plim and former President Jean Bertrand Aristide

Evans Paul, the present Haitian Prime Minister (born 25 November 1955) rose to the political prominence in the 1990s as an ally of the two time controversial former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He is known to his comrades as K-plim (the pen), or Konpè Plim. When on December 25, 2014, Martelly recommended Evans, as a successor to Lamothe following his forced resignation on Dec.13, the nomination of Evans, a former Lavalas, appeared to many as an effort by the President to make consensus with his radical opposition. Evans was the former president of the Democratic United Committee (Komite inite Demokratik, KID); he was elected mayor of Port-au-Prince (with 88% vote) in the 1990 elections that brought Jean-Bertrand Aristide's 'National Front for Change and Democracy Party' to power; and he ran unsuccessfully for the Haitian presidency in the 2006 elections under the Democratic Alliance Party banner.

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