PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Around 3,000 followers of Haiti’s ousted former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide marched in support of his return from exile yesterday, and protest leaders threatened to disrupt an upcoming presidential run-off vote if his homecoming is blocked.
The noisy march by pro-Aristide protesters converged on the earthquake-damaged presidential palace in the crowded capital Port-au-Prince, but ended peacefully under the eyes of Haitian riot police and United Nations peacekeepers.
The demonstrators carried banners with slogans like “Titide (Aristide) we are waiting for you” and chanted “Aristide or Death.” Some waved posters of the firebrand populist former president, who was ousted in a 2004 revolt and has lived in exile in South Africa. He has a passionate following in his Caribbean homeland, the Western Hemisphere’s poorest state.
Aristide’s announcement last month that he plans to come home has generated widespread anticipation in Haiti, which is struggling to recover from a crippling 2010 earthquake and held a chaotic first round of presidential and legislative elections in November.
