What to do with Aristide

The Cabinet in the Central African Republic (CAR) went into talks on Friday, reportedly to discuss what to do with their difficult guest, ousted Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide, and took steps to keep him quiet.

National radio announced that all local and foreign journalists with questions relating to Aristide, who has annoyed his hosts with embarrassing statements, must henceforth first address themselves to the CAR authorities.

“All agents of the private press and the foreign press must go to the Foreign Ministry over any matter related to the stay of Jean-Bertrand Aristide, for better coordination and orientation,” said a broadcast government statement.

Aristide arrived in the impoverished, landlocked country on Monday, after fleeing weeks of violence and rebellion on his Caribbean island nation, which has left hundreds dead.

Officials in the CAR said he was just passing through before going into exile somewhere else. They were due to debate his presence on Tuesday but put it off because President Francois Bozize and Prime Minister Celestin Gaombalet were not in the capital.

Since his arrival, Aristide has raised hackles, first by saying in an interview on CNN that he had been ousted by a coup orchestrated by Washington and then complaining that he was a prisoner in Bangui.

That brought a sharp response from the government, which told him to show some respect for his host nation’s hospitality and its allies, without whose help Aristide “would be dead by now”, in M’bay’s words.

Several European and United States media teams have since shown up to cover his story. The government on Friday said they should all seek accreditation.

Government spokesperson Parfait M’bay said the issue would finally be discussed on Friday, a day after Aristide said he planned to go back to Haiti, insisting he had not officially resigned.

Aristide levelled more accusations against the CAR’s friends, accusing France of colluding with the US to remove him from office after he asked Paris to repay Haiti’s “independence debt”, estimated to be worth $21,7-billion.

“It’s as clear as day. I demanded, on behalf of Haiti, the restitution of this debt, which was our right … They [the French] reacted by unkindness, resorting to persecution and a systematic campaign of disinformation, and by colluding in this political kidnapping,” Aristide said in a phone conversation with French writer Claude Ribbe.

He added that he was “not the kind of person to stay in exile”.

Observers have said that Bangui came under pressure from foreign powers to take in Aristide, probably in exchange for aid and international recognition of a post-coup government.

The state coffers have been emptied by years of high-level corruption and political instability, and the current government came to power after the coup on March 15 last year in which elected leader Ange-Felix Patasse was ousted.

But, said a Central African opposition leader during a visit to Gabon, giving refuge to Aristide would not increase the flow of foreign aid.

“The international community knows very well what the situation is in Central Africa. It isn’t going to respond to aid appeals now just because the country has given Aristide refuge,” Joseph Bendounga, head of the opposition Democratic Movement for the Rebirth and Change in Central Africa, said late on Thursday.

Recalling Bozize’s ouster of Patasse last March, he said: “Patasse behaved in the same way in Central Africa as Aristide did in Haiti. How can Bozize, who kicked out Patasse, now give asylum to Jean-Bertrand Aristide who was worse than Patasse?

“Negotiating international aid by taking in Aristide is a very serious mistake. No one has given aid to the CAR since the economic crisis began, and that isn’t going to change now because of Aristide.” — Sapa-AFP