Port-with-prince (Reuters) - president Jean-Jean-Bertrand Aristide marked Thursday the bicentenary of the independence of Haiti by multiplying the promises, but the celebrations were wasted by sporadic demonstrations against its government. Formerly very popular, Aristide is the subject today of an increasing dissatisfaction. He promised to the crowd gathered in front of the national Palate, with Port-with-Prince, to work with the eradication of poverty, illiteracy and the disease. The media buildings made state in several places of the country of demonstrations against the president which made at least eight wounded. No other precision was given in the immediate future.
Haiti remains a country afflicted by an extreme poverty and political violences.
The rate of unemployment exceeds the 70% of the working population, the average income does not reach a dollar per day and the average life expectancy oscillates around 50 years. Almost each day, lately, from the thousands of people are gone down in the streets to claim the departure of Aristide. Since mid-September, tens of people died in political violences, for good number in the town of Gonaives, there even where Jean-Jacques Dessalines had proclaimed the independence of Haiti here 200 years. The celebration of the bicentenary began Wednesday in the center from Port-with-Prince and continued Thursday morning by a gathering in front of the national Palate.
GONAIVES, BASTION OF DISPUTE A a moment given, the crowd which pressed itself against a grid of the palate made fall and several people were wounded, brought back media buildings. ' the first black Republic of the world is and remains the epicentre of freedom for the Blacks ', declared Aristide in a speech centered on the efforts made by its government to improve the economic and social conditions. Among the guests of the official ceremonies South-African president Thabo Mbeki appeared which declared with crowd that the revolt of the slaves in Haiti had caused inspiration for the world. This covered rising of success ' carried a mortal blow to the traffickers of slaves who foamed the coasts of Africa Western and Eastern in the search of slaves and who ruined the life of million Africans ', said Mbeki. But of the opponents with Aristide preferred to celebrate the bicentenary while expressing against the government. In a district of the capital, the police force dispersed a demonstration anti-Aristide by using teargases and while drawing in the air, brought back media buildings. The radio one gave a report on antigovernment demonstrations in Jacmel, Moragoane and Dull Gros where, it paid, two people, whose police officer, were wounded. In the afternoon, Aristide went of Port-with-Prince to Gonaives, cradle of independence and today bastion of the dispute where, in the morning, the police force exchanged shootings with militants anti-Aristide. Thousands of covered people of shirts to the effigy of Aristide, provided by the government, had gathered in Gonaives to listen to the speech of the former catholic priest.
CORRUPTION With the whole beginning of the years 1990, Aristide, then very popular, became the first chair democratically elected, carrying it by a tidal wave. But a little later it was driven out capacity by a military coup d'etat. On his return of exile in 1994, thanks to the assistance of the American forces and UNO which drove out the dictator Raoul Cedras, Aristide had taken again his functions but its popularity started to decline. Its party gained the hand high the legislative elections of 2000 and Aristide was re-elected this year with the presidency, but the leaders of the opposition seriously questioned the legitimacy of the two polls. Certain former partisans then showed Aristide to betray his allies and to forget its electoral promises. The international backers started to wonder where finished the lent sums and of the opponents, both in Haiti and in exile, pointed finger the corruption of the Aristide mode. The more openly the population expressed its opposition to the head of the State, the more the police force, the militia of the party to the capacity and the bands of malfrats retorted by physical threats or violences. The movement anti-Aristide knew a turning on last 5 December when partisans of the president intervened against a demonstration at the national University, passing to tobacco a score of people. Since then, of the thousands of academics, doctors, lawyers and other personalities of the civil company express almost daily against the president.
http://www.haiti-info.com/article.php3?id_article=981
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