The leader of the Haitian Democratic and Reform Movement (MODEREH), Pierre Sancon Prince, advises those responsible for the acts of violence in the capital to lay down their weapons.
Prince, who was a guest on the “Encounter” programme, said that the armed Lavalas partisans were making a mistake if they still believed it were possible for Jean-Bertrand Aristide to return to Haiti. The secretary general of the MODEREH party thinks that Operation Baghdad (extreme violence by Lavalas supporters) was initiated by the Lavalas armed gangs mainly in the context of the US presidential electoral campaign. Prince speaks as follows:
These people are using violence to demand the return of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. I want to relate what is happening in the country to the American political reality. The thing is that we are in a geo-political environment, and we are on the eve of the US elections. I do not have data about a possible fight here in Haiti between Republicans and Democrats, but this is something to think about. One thing that should be clear to everyone is that, whether the Republicans or the Democrats win the elections, US policy on Haiti will not change. There are a lot of people who think that if the Democrats win, then this will facilitate intervention by the Black Caucus members for the return of Aristide. I say they are making a mistake. This will not happen.
By the way, it is our practice to operate according to myths, to believe in lies. It is actually a myth that when Aristide telephones somebody, because he talks to all his men on the phone, he asks them to get mobilized, because once the Democrats are in power, he will come back to rule the country again. I think this is misleading. If the Democrats win the elections and they do not help Aristide to return to power, then he will show his true face, the face of a mischievous loser. The people should not believe that what happened in 1994 can happen again today. The political situation, the circumstances, and the practices are no longer the same.
In 1991, there was a popular movement that included several social groups that wanted the country to have a change. This man changed the nature of the movement, and the majority who supported him then are now against him. Besides, in 1991, I was among the students who were demonstrating in favour of Aristide’s return. For the most part, it was society that was asking for his return. Now, the people who are mobilized for his return are the fragile people that he is using from a specific sector to commit extreme violence in his favour.
People should not believe that Jean-Bertrand Aristide will return to Haiti again as president. It is not possible to get history to move backwards.