Aristide, Jean-Bertrand

born July 15, 1953, Port Salut, Haiti

First president of Haiti (1991, 1994–96, 2001–04) to be elected in free democratic elections.

A priest in the Roman Catholic Salesian order, he aligned himself with the poor and opposed the harsh regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier, son of François Duvalier, often putting himself at odds with the church hierarchy and the military. Expelled by the Salesians in 1988, he formally requested that he be relieved of his priestly duties in 1994. In 1990 progressive-centre forces united behind Aristide and swept him into power. He initiated dramatic reforms but was ousted in a military coup after only seven months in office. Though restored to office in 1994 with the help of U.S. occupying troops, he received little aid with which to address his country's endemic ills. Constitutionally prohibited from seeking a consecutive term, he stepped down in 1996 but remained Haiti's most potent political figure. In 2000 he was reelected president amid charges of electoral fraud. A coup against Aristide failed in 2001, but unrest with his rule increased until a full-scale rebellion in 2004 forced him to flee the country.

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▪ 1995

      On Oct. 15, 1994, just over three years after a coup had forced him to flee, Pres. Jean-Bertrand Aristide returned to Haiti, urging, "No to violence, no to vengeance, yes to reconciliation." Whether it would prove to be a triumphant return remained to be seen.

      Aristide had been elected in Haiti's first free democratic election on Dec. 16, 1990, with an overwhelming 67% of the vote. His inauguration on Feb. 7, 1991, represented a victory for Lavalas (which means "flood" or "torrent" in Creole), Haiti's mass movement that had drafted Aristide to run and symbolized hope for the Haitian people (80% of whom earn less than $150 a year). "Alone we are weak, together we are strong; all together we are a flood." In his seven months as president, Aristide proposed raising the minimum wage, initiated a literacy campaign, dismantled the repressive system of rural section chiefs, and oversaw a drastic reduction in human rights violations. The coup of Sept. 30, 1991, led by the military and financed by members of Haiti's small elite, declared that such reforms would not be tolerated. While U.S. pressure and occupying troops allowed the president to reenter the country, they did not begin to address the devastation and despair left by three years of terror. The economy was in shambles, infrastructure almost nonexistent, and more than 4,000 people had been killed. On his return from exile in the U.S., Aristide, who for 20 years had aligned himself with the poor and disenfranchised and often criticized the church hierarchy and the country's powerful elite—regardless of the risks to himself—faced a peculiar challenge. He was constitutionally prohibited from a second term and, despite promises of millions of dollars in aid, none had arrived by year's end. What could he accomplish in his remaining 15 months that would transform the compromises he had been forced to accept into boons for the movement that had nurtured him?

      Aristide was born on July 15, 1953, in Port Salut. He attended a school in Port-au-Prince run by the Roman Catholic Salesian order, where he exhibited a great aptitude for language and a sharp intelligence. In 1966 he moved to the Salesian seminary at Cap-Haïtien and began to prepare for the priesthood. As was common, he spent his novitiate year (1974) in the Dominican Republic. In 1975 Aristide first aligned himself with the poor and Ti Legliz ("Little Church"), which sprang from liberation theology. He returned from his novitiate year in the Dominican Republic to Port-au-Prince to study psychology (B.A., 1979) at the state university. The late 1970s was a time of increasing militancy against the brutal regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier. Aristide, responsible for programming at Radio Cacique (the Roman Catholic radio station), urged change and often found himself at odds with his superiors. Encouraged by them to leave the country, he spent most of the next six years studying biblical theology abroad in Israel, at the University of Montreal, Que. (M.A., 1985), and Greece. He visited Haiti briefly in 1982 for his ordination by the progressive Bishop Willy Romélus. He returned to Haiti in 1985, eventually becoming parish priest at St. Jean Bosco, a centre of resistance in Port-au-Prince. In 1986, the year Duvalier was driven from power, Aristide survived the first of many assassination attempts, was cautioned about his outspoken political views by the Salesians, and founded the orphanage Lafanmi Selavi and others. During the next several years he continued to anger the church hierarchy and the military. An attempt in 1987 to transfer him to a less central parish in the countryside failed when his supporters occupied Port-au-Prince's cathedral and began a hunger strike. An attack on a 1988 mass he was celebrating left 13 people dead and more than 70 injured. He was reprimanded, and the Salesians expelled him in late 1988. (He stopped celebrating mass or preaching in public in order not to anger the hierarchy.) In 1990, when a notorious Duvalierist announced his candidacy for president, progressive-centre forces united to urge Aristide to run for the office. After his election the Vatican continued to pressure Aristide to leave the priesthood. In November 1994 Aristide formally requested that he be relieved of his priestly duties. (ELLEN FINKELSTEIN)

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▪ president of Haiti

born July 15, 1953, Port Salut, Haiti

      Haitian politician and Roman Catholic priest of the Salesian order, who was a vocal champion of the poor and disenfranchised. He was president of the country in 1991, 1994–96, and 2001–04.

      Aristide attended a school in Port-au-Prince run by the Roman Catholic Salesian order, and in 1966 he moved to the Salesian seminary at Cap-Haitien and began to prepare for the priesthood. In 1975 he first aligned himself with the poor and Ti Legliz (“Little Church”), a movement that sprang from liberation theology. The following year he returned to Port-au-Prince to study psychology (B.A., 1979) at the state university. The late 1970s was a time of increasing militancy against the brutal regime of Jean-Claude Duvalier (Duvalier, Jean-Claude), and Aristide, who was responsible for programming at Radio Cacique (the Roman Catholic radio station), urged change. He often found himself at odds with his superiors, who encouraged him to leave the country. Aristide spent most of the next six years studying biblical theology abroad, earning a master's degree in 1985 at the University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada. In 1982 he visited Haiti briefly for his ordination.

      Aristide returned to Haiti in 1985, eventually becoming parish priest at St. Jean Bosco, a centre of resistance in Port-au-Prince. In 1986, the year Duvalier was driven from power, Aristide survived the first of many assassination attempts, was cautioned about his outspoken political views by the Salesians, and founded the orphanage Lafanmi Selavi and others. During the next several years he continued to anger the church hierarchy and the military. An attempt in 1987 to transfer him to a less central parish failed when his supporters occupied Port-au-Prince's cathedral and staged a hunger strike. An attack on a 1988 mass he was celebrating left 13 people dead and more than 70 injured. Objecting to his political activities, the Salesians expelled him in late 1988; in 1994 Aristide formally requested that he be relieved of his priestly duties.

      Encouraged to run for president by the mass movement known as the Lavalas (which means “flood” or “torrent” in Creole), Aristide in 1990 won Haiti's first free democratic election and was inaugurated on February 7, 1991. As president he initiated a literacy program, dismantled the repressive system of rural section chiefs, and oversaw a drastic reduction in human rights violations. His reforms, however, angered the military and Haiti's elite, and on September 30, 1991, Aristide was ousted in a coup. He lived in exile until October 15, 1994, when the military, faced with a U.S. invasion, agreed to let Aristide return to power. He resumed the presidency, and, although he remained popular with the masses, he was unable to find effective solutions to the country's economic problems and social inequalities. Barred constitutionally from seeking a consecutive term, he stepped down as president in 1996.

      In 1997 Aristide formed a new political party, the Lavalas Family, and in 2000 he was again elected president. Although the opposition boycotted the election and charges of electoral fraud led to international calls for new or runoff elections, the results were declared official, and Aristide was inaugurated in February 2001.

      A coup against Aristide failed in July 2001, but during the next several years opposition to his rule increased. He fled the country in February 2004 amid antigovernment protests that had turned into a full-scale rebellion.

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