HAITI: THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS CONTINUE TO MARCH AGAINST EMBATTLED PRESIDENT JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE

Record ID: 860400

  • Title: HAITI: THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS CONTINUE TO MARCH AGAINST EMBATTLED PRESIDENT JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE
  • Date: 17th January 2004
  • Summary: (U7) PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI (JANUARY 15, 2004) (REUTERS) SLV DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING IN PROTEST AGAINSTHAITI'S PRESIDENT JEAN-BERTRAND ARISTIDE; SLV POLICE PROTECTING ARISTIDE SUPPORTERS FROM CROWD (9 SHOTS) SLV PROTESTERS DEMONSTRATING
  • Embargoed: 1st February 2004 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PORT-AU-PRINCE, HAITI
  • City:
  • Country: Haiti
  • Topics: Entertainment,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA44TTWAHW8Q6TFOI5HSOP8ELT4
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Thousands of protesters continue to march against embattled Haitian President Jean-Betrand Aristide.
    Thousands of protesters marched in the streets of Port-Au-Prince on Thursday (January 15) demanding the resignation of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
    Keen not to see a repeat of the violence which has gripped the capital city in recent weeks police were out in full force. They encountered small pockets of Aristide supporters, but generally succeeded in preventing the violence that characterized many of the latest anti-Aristide protests.
    Several people have been killed in recent months when increasingly large anti-government marches were attacked by pro-Aristide gunmen.
    The government blamed the opposition for the bloodshed while demonstrators accused Aristide of corruption and human rights violations and have called for his departure.
    Once a hugely popular former Roman Catholic priest, Aristide became Haiti's first democratically elected leader in 1991 only to be deposed in a coup soon after. He was restored to power by a U.S.-led invasion and re-elected in 2000. Since then, he has been at odds with opponents over the tainted results of parliamentary elections that year.
    On Wednesday (January 14), Aristide called for parliamentary elections within six months but civil activists and political opponents said it was impossible to organize elections that quickly.
    Leaders from several Caribbean nations will meet with Haitian opposition leaders next week to try to resolve Haiti's increasingly tense political stalemate, Trinidad's foreign minister said on Thursday.
    Trinidad and Tobago Foreign Minister Knowlson Gift said the delegation hoped to persuade the opposition to shift away from what he described as their "hard-line stance" and their demand for a Aristide to resign.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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