Word: haitian
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...water or sanitation, a voodoo priest sat beneath the corrugated tin roof of his temple. The people of his neighborhood, he said, had supported Clinton despite reprisals from the army that rules the country. "A lot of people were beaten up here because we believed in Clinton, and the Haitian authorities wanted Bush re-elected," he said. "We couldn't talk about Clinton, but we believed. We still believe...
Virtually none of the Haitian boat people brought back by the U.S. Coast Guard that day had even heard of Clinton, much less his decision to continue Bush's policy of returning boat people by force, without checking if any were fleeing persecution by the thugs who run Haiti. Batteries for radios are hard to come by in the countryside where these people had lived. Elias Volcaire, a 24-year-old farmer from St. Marc, just stared blankly when asked if he was angry at Clinton's change of policy. "Clinton? Who's that?" he asked. Only...
...Many Haitians are hungry for quicker solutions. Rumors persist in Port-au- Prince that the American ships offshore harbor U.S. Marines who could land, just as they did in 1915 to restore stability and protect American investments following racial clashes between the country's mulatto and black citizens. Forgetting that the subsequent occupation lasted 19 years -- and was not always a happy one -- Haitian nationalists whisper that U.S. intervention may be the only answer. "You have to impose a solution. You can't negotiate," says one, who never thought he would welcome U.S. troops...
What really matters to most Haitians is Aristide's return. Many of those who are building boats to flee say they will stay home if he comes back, as he urged them in a special Creole broadcast on Voice of America. "The people will not leave now," said a Haitian man in the slum of Cite Boston. "We are waiting for him -- for Aristide." While conceding that he was not the perfect President, Haitians like the priest in the town of Jeremite say "restoring Aristide to power is restoring the democratic process." The exiled President, however, has been less popular...
Stories like these will force the Clinton Administration to put Haiti near the top of its agenda. "The situation is being radicalized," says a young Haitian activist. "If these negotiations are another farce, God save us. The people will take to the streets." The Clinton team is probably safe from a crisis as long as Haitians believe Aristide might really be restored to power. But if he isn't, Haitian eyes will soon turn again toward the U.S. Leaning on a car door to listen to the new President's Inaugural Address on the radio, 10-year-old Reynold looked...