Casting himself in the role of a martyr, Jean-Bertrand Aristide arrived in the Central African Republic on Monday, a day after he quit the presidency of Haiti and fled in the face of a three-week uprising that left scores of dead.
The government in Bangui said that as ”a purely humanitarian” gesture of solidarity with the Haitian people, it had agreed to ”take in the former president of the world’s first black republic,” but it did not say how long Aristide would be welcome or where he might go afterwards.
In South Africa, officials said Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma had discussed Aristide’s future ”with counterparts from other countries” and hinted that, while no request had been made to give him asylum, there would be no opposition in principle.
In his first public comments since he left the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, late on Sunday, Aristide said in a radio broadcast in Bangui that the rebels who forced him to flee had ”chopped down the tree of peace, but it will grow again, as its roots are Louverturian”.
This was a reference to Toussaint Louverture, who led a revolt of black slaves in 1791 and established a free state on the whole of the Caribbean island now divided between Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
Toussaint was later arrested by French troops and died in prison in France. Legend says he told the officer who escorted him: ”You have cut down the trunk of the tree of black liberty … It will bloom again, for its roots are deep and strong.”
Details of Aristide’s flight remained confused.
An AFP reporter at Bangui’s M’Poko airport said the former president and his wife Mildred arrived aboard a Haitian civilian airplane at 6.15am GMT, more than 13 hours after they fled Port-au-Prince.
At one point on Sunday, the chief of security in the Dominican Republic said they had landed there, but this was denied in Washington, where United States officials said the US had facilitated their departure.
Panama’s foreign minister, Harmodio Arias, also said his government had agreed to give temporary asylum to Aristide, at the request of the United States.
An airport security official in Port-au-Prince said Aristide boarded a small white plane with no markings, but the plane which landed had Haitian colours.
On arrival, the Haitian couple were greeted by the communications minister and spokesperson for the government of the Central African Republic, Parfait M’Bay.
In a statement later, M’Bay said the government had agreed to give haven to Aristide at the request of President Omar Bongo of Gabon.
Central African Republic ”wishes to assure the brotherly people of Haiti of its solidarity in its current trials and hopes that peace will quickly return to the Cairbbean island,” M’Bay said.
On Sunday, in a farewell statement read by Haitian Prime Minister Yvon Neptune, Aristide said ”my resignation will avoid bloodshed”.
His departure sparked a rampage through the streets of Port-au-Prince by angry pro-Aristide gangs armed with guns and machetes. At least 12 deaths and many more injuries were reported.
Widespread looting targetted warehouses and banks. Some people ran through the streets carrying suitcases of banknotes. But a dusk-till-dawn curfew appeared to be holding with sporadic firing into the night.
In Pretoria, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad told a news conference that no request had been made to give asylum to Aristide, and ”if and when it happens we will have to consider it at cabinet level”.
He said if such a request were made, ”We will want to consult with the regional players Caricom (the 15-nation Caribbean Community) and Organisation of American States and with other key players, France and USA.”
The chairperson of South Africa’s parliamentary foreign affairs commission, Pallo Jordan, said, however, that he would ”in principle not oppose” such a request.
”If it’s going to help things giving even a nasty man political asylum in a country so that solutions may be found to problems in his country, you do it,” he said.
”You might hold your nose while you do it, but you do it nonetheless …” he said.
”If the alternatives are, for example, Aristide is going to go some place, organise an army and try to invade Haiti again, is that a better option?” ‒ Sapa-AFP