Word: avril
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...much to expect that a hardscrabble little country like Haiti, for | so long devastated by tyrants, disease and poverty, could achieve democracy in any reasonable time. Yet that was the hope 16 months ago, when Lieut. General Prosper Avril, 52, ousted dictator Henri Namphy and swiftly pledged to step aside after holding elections. That promise, Avril declared, was "irreversible...
...much for hope, so much for promises. Last week Haiti lay in the grip of "a state of siege" declared by Avril's government and launched by his 1,200-man Presidential Guard. Citing "an increase of violence," the regime claimed that the crackdown was necessary to "protect the democratic accomplishments against terrorism." In dubious pursuit of that goal, Avril's police and some members of his army embarked upon a frightening expedition, beating up critics of the regime, silencing the media and sweeping up political opponents -- jailing some, exiling others...