Haitian Leader Prepares For Battle

He is no stranger to struggle. Jean-Bertrand Aristide was born into poverty, survived several attempts on his life as a priest espousing revolt and was ousted in a coup within months of becoming Haiti's first freely elected leader.

Now, facing an uprising that has killed more than 50 people and destabilized the Caribbean country, the embattled leader refuses to be sidelined a second time.

"I will leave the palace Feb. 7, 2006," — at the end of his term, Aristide, 50, insists.

That kind of resolve has been Aristide's trademark throughout a life scarred early on by violence. Born to peasants in the southern town of Port Salut, Aristide's father was lynched when he was toddler, accused of using black magic to commit evil acts.

At age 6, the young and bright Aristide was taken in by Roman Catholic priests of the Salesian Order. They educated him and sent him to the Dominican Republic, Canada and Israel, where he studied theology and psychology.

Along the way, he learned French, Latin, English, German, Spanish and Hebrew, but he is most eloquent in the native Creole that he used to exhort Haitians to rise against the 29-year Duvalier family dictatorship. Jean-Claude Duvalier fled the country in 1986, and his regime was replaced by a series of interim leaders.

In 1988, the Salesians disowned Aristide for allegedly fomenting revolution through his fiery church sermons aimed at empowering Haiti's poor masses. At the time, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was at odds with young priests in Latin America who preached that violence to overthrow dictators was justified.

Students told the Salesians that Aristide had asked them to lay their machetes on the altar and to name their enemies, according to the Rev. Edward Capelletti, who was in charge of the office in New Rochelle, N.Y., that helped the mission in Haiti.

"He was advocating violence and that's where we had to draw the line," Capelletti said in a telephone interview.

Aristide's activism made him a target. In 1988, thugs backed by the army stormed Aristide's Saint Jean Bosco church during Mass and shot and hacked to death 12 parishioners, but Aristide escaped. He has also escaped two other assassination attempts.

Despite opposition from the army, business leaders, landowners and the United States, Aristide became Haiti's first freely elected leader in 1990, only to be ousted in a military coup eight months later. After he became president, he was relieved of his priestly duties and is now married with two children.

In exile in the United States, Aristide successfully campaigned for U.N. sanctions and a military intervention, and defended himself against CIA claims that he was a psychopath unfit to rule Haiti.

Critics cited his endorsement of "necklacing," a gruesome method of execution where gasoline-soaked tires are thrown over a person's neck and set ablaze. Just Wednesday, former Aristide strongmen necklaced a man in Gonaives, the heart of the current unrest.

"The burning tire, what a beautiful tool! ... It smells good. And wherever you go, you want to smell it," Aristide said on Sept. 27, 1991.

Aristide followers also knew he suffered from depression, and loved him the more for that frailty.

In 1994, President Bill Clinton sent 20,000 troops to restore him but insisted he respect a constitutional term limit and step down in 1995.

Aristide handpicked his successor, Rene Preval, but was considered the power behind the scenes until he won a second term in 2000, in presidential elections marred by a low turnout and an opposition boycott.

Legislative elections that same year were swept by his Lavalas Family party, but allegations that process was rigged led international donors to suspend hundreds of millions of dollars in aid.

Now the diminutive, bespectacled priest who once fired the hearts of Haitians to pursue freedom himself is being called a dictator.

Human rights groups accuse him of using police and armed militants to stifle dissent. Two journalists critical of Aristide have been assassinated, and scores have been wounded or killed during anti-government demonstrations.

Haitian author Laennec Hurbon once called Aristide the "incarnation of a collective dream." He has since said he has had a "painful awakening."

Opposition parties refuse to participate in new elections unless Aristide steps down, and the fighters who began a bloody revolt on Feb. 5 say they will not lay down their arms until he is ousted.

The revolt in northern Haiti is being led by thugs who say Aristide armed them to terrorize his opponents in the city of Gonaives — a charge the president denies.

Although Aristide's hold on power appears to be weakening, he has no clear successor.

The Democratic Coalition, the main political opposition, wants a collective government. One leader is a businessman barred from the presidency because of his dual nationality. Another led a failed coup. In a free election, none are likely to garner more votes than Aristide could.

"Aristide knows the misery of the people," said former Sen. Clones Lans. "He has always been faithful to the people and that is why the people remain faithful to him. ... He is the symbol of hope for Haiti and Haitians."