[Marxism] Death squad commanders join anti-Aristide rebellion

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Haitian death squad commanders join rebels in bid to topple president
Aristide

By Andrew Gumbel in Port-au-Prince
16 February 2004

Armed rebels demanding the overthrow of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti's
president, were back on the offensive yesterday, pushing out from their
stronghold in Gonaives into three small northern towns with the help of
former army officers and death squad commanders returning from exile in
the Dominican Republic.

The rebels, calling themselves the Anti-Aristide Resistance Front, were
reported to have retaken Dondon, a small town they briefly held last
week, and attacked police in Sainte Suzanne. Both are on the way to the
real prize, the northern port of Cap-Haitien, which is the country's
second-largest city. Trou-du-Nord, near the Dominican border, was also
reported to be under attack.

Since the rebellion broke out 10 days ago, police and armed civilians
loyal to the president have fought to maintain control in Cap-Haitien;
burning houses of suspected opponents and intimidating others with
constant volleys of gunfire. Much of the north has been without power or
fuel supplies, and food convoys have not been able to get past Gonaives
on the road north, raising the risk of a major humanitarian crisis.

The pro-government forces now face a new challenge, as prominent members
of the army that Mr Aristide disbanded in 1994 have appeared in
Gonaives, claiming to have brought the men, money and firepower needed
to take over the country.

Visiting journalists have seen only a handful of uniformed men and no
heavy weaponry, but the rebels say they are concentrating their forces
in another town about 30 miles east of Gonaives. The new leaders include
Louis-Jodel Chamblain, who commanded army death squads in the 1980s,
following the end of the Duvalier dictatorship, and went on to found a
militia called the Front for the Advancement of Progress in Haiti, which
fomented trouble after the 1991 coup that toppled Mr Aristide following
his first ascent to the presidency.

full: http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=491733

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